The director of the new "Resident Evil," Zach Cregger, spoke about one of the film's monsters. For the filming, the Legacy Effects team, led by Shane Mahan, created a huge model of the creature weighing about 907 kg:
"Shane built a 2000-pound puppet that was operated by four people. We had to disassemble it and transport it in pieces to Prague, where the filming took place."
Mahan specializes in practical effects and has worked on many major Hollywood films throughout his career, including "Aliens" and "Terminator 2." His experience was useful to Cregger, who tried to use physical creatures wherever possible.
Even in scenes that required computer graphics, the team first created a physical model of the monster and filmed it on set. Then, visual effects specialists refined the creature's movements. According to Cregger, this allowed the actors to interact with a real object, and the monsters themselves looked more natural on screen.
"It was great because the actors were interacting with a real creature. They didn't have to look at a tennis ball on a stick and imagine that a monster would appear there someday. It was already in front of them. Even for some scenes where visual effects were ultimately used, Shane would first create a physical model, and we would shoot it on set. Then, with VFX, we would refine the animation. When you start with practical effects, everything takes on a real tangibility and naturally exists in space."
The new "Resident Evil" tells the story of medical courier Brian, played by Austin Abrams, who finds himself in Raccoon City during an epidemic. The film will be released internationally on September 18.
Earlier, the first reviews of the film appeared. Some authors called the new "Resident Evil" one of the best video game adaptations and one of the best horror films of recent years.