Practical Horror: Creators of "Return to Silent Hill" Talk About How They Created Monsters for the Film
Christophe Gans once again relied on practical effects, as in the first "Silent Hill" in 2006.
Umbrella Entertainment channel released a new featurette dedicated to the creation of monsters in the movie "Return to Silent Hill". The video shows how Christophe Gans' team transferred the images of creatures from Silent Hill 2 to the screen using practical effects, actors and dancers, minimizing the use of computer graphics.
According to the director, the film directly relies on Silent Hill 2 for PlayStation 2. Gans emphasizes that the design of monsters in the original game was largely determined by the technical limitations of the console, while the new adaptation allowed to rethink familiar images without these limitations.
This comment suggests that either work on the film began before the release of the Silent Hill 2 remake from Bloober Team, or we are talking about a common "inherited" convention of design, preserved in the new version.
Creative designer Patrick Tatopoulos noted that in the film, viewers will see the same monsters, but in a slightly updated form. He developed all the images manually, drawing pencil sketches without using 3D models. This approach, he said, allowed him to work more intuitively and freely, without losing touch with the original.
Gans separately emphasized that all changes in the design of creatures were agreed with Konami as the copyright holder of the franchise. It was fundamentally important for the director to preserve the recognizability and respectful attitude to the world of Silent Hill.
One of the key ideas of the film, inherited from the first film adaptation, was the use of dancers, acrobats and stuntmen instead of fully digital monsters. All creatures in the frame are real people, whose plasticity and physical capabilities are far from the usual acting, which gives the images a "frightening humanity".
Actress Hannah Emily Anderson, who played Maria, noted that the performers of the monsters move in a way that an ordinary actor could not. According to her, they have their own "language of movement", and the chase scenes in the dark corridors turned out to be so intense that she had nightmares for several days after filming.
VFX supervisor Manuel Hufschmid added that the presence of live actors on the set greatly simplified the work with visual effects. As an example, he cited a handless monster: its basic image was created by a live performer, and then only refined in post-production - by speeding up movements and adjusting proportions.
Pyramid Head performer Robert Strange emphasized that he especially appreciates working with prosthetics and practical effects. According to him, physically tangible creatures look much more creepy and convincing than completely digital images.
In the finale, Gans spoke about staging scenes with nurses, where choreography again played a key role. Choreographer Roberto Camponello worked on the movements, as in the first film. The director noted that he always strives to find "beauty in horror and horror in beauty" - he considers this contrast to be the basis of the visual language of "Return to Silent Hill" and his other works.
The film will premiere in Russian cinemas on January 22.
The video is available at the following link.
