Dan Trachtenberg's "Predator: Planet of Death" for the first time makes the main character not a human, but an intergalactic hunter, and Weta FX studio had to work hard to convey his emotions.
For almost forty years, viewers have become accustomed to fearing predators, but director Dan Trachtenberg and Weta FX studio, working on "Predator: Planet of Death", decided to show the other side of these creatures - the emotional one.
The main character, Dek, was played by New Zealand actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi. His character is an outcast and a "weakling" in his tribe, who goes to an alien planet to prove his own strength and avenge his brother. For Weta FX, the task turned out to be not just technical, but almost philosophical. It was necessary to make the viewer empathize with a creature without human features and at the same time intuitively read his emotions.
The studio notes that Schuster-Koloamatangi's acting became a solid foundation for animation, but transferring human emotions to a character without lips and with four mandibles turned into a task with many "asterisks". Although practical effects and animatronics were used in Dek's image, it quickly became clear that this was not enough for a pronounced emotional range. The team had to reinvent many solutions - up to the articulation of consonants for the fictional Yautja language.
As a result, it was possible to expand the palette of emotions only thanks to the CG replacement of the face, and at the same time, the animators constantly made sure that the image did not become excessively cartoonish.
Judging by the audience's reaction, the efforts paid off. "Planet of Death" received 86% approval from critics and a record 95% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. You can read our review of the film at the following link.
