We take a look at the Predator Badlands stunts, visual effects and creature design…
Predator creature designer Alec Gillis—who began his career working on the OG “Alien” and “Predator” films under the legendary special effects master Stan Winston, and has since worked on almost all the films within those franchises since—reunited with Trachtenberg after working with the director on 2022’s “Prey.”
· To have Genna, the deadliest planet in the universe, live up to its billing, Gillis worked with Trachtenberg to make both flora and fauna equally terrifying. Everything—from the bone bison and razor grass, to Bud and the Kalisk, to the squirts and elephant trees—was conceptualized to make every inch of Genna deadly.
· Trachtenberg, Gillis and Wētā FX drew inspiration for the design of the Kalisk from a number of beasts, both real and fictional, including the lovable creatures of Hayao Miyazaki films, video games such as “Shadow of the Colossus,” and deep sea creatures from our very own planet.
· According to Gillis, “The challenge behind creating Bud was knowing what she’d evolve into. She seems harmless at first, but then you realize she can tear you to shreds.” He looked toward nature’s own strange series of evolutions, like tadpoles and the frogs they’d eventually become, for inspiration.
· Gillis worked hand-in-hand with Wētā Workshop to create the incredibly detailed prosthetic Predator suits and weaponry. He kept in mind that Dek is a young Predator (roughly 14 or 15 years old) who is not as physically imposing as other Yautja, but ferocious nonetheless. Dek’s limbs were made shorter and thicker, which gives him the appearance of a “stocky fireplug.”
*** VISUAL EFFECTS ***
· With every frame of the film requiring some form of VFX wizardry to immerse viewers in the world of Genna, “Badlands” needed a VFX legend at the helm. Enter visual effects supervisor Olivier Dumont (“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings”), who served as the maestro overseeing a veritable murderers’ row of acclaimed effects houses in order to achieve the stunning look of the film. The houses included New Zealand’s famed Wētā Workshop, Framestore, ILM, Trixster, Perception, and ILP.
· “Badlands” marks the first time in the “Predator” franchise where the eponymous character stays unmasked for most of the film. Initially, the team explored capturing Dek with an animatronic mask that was remote controlled, but Trachtenberg quickly realized “the emotional demands of the character in this movie were far beyond anything we’ve ever done before… expression that, up until now, has been largely fear- and intimidation-based. But now, we need this creature with these giant mandibles and fangs to really deliver a powerhouse performance that we can see ourselves in, despite it being a monster.”
To capture the nuances of Dek’s emotions and facial expressions, actor Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi filmed all his scenes in full costume, but with an open cowl exposing his real face. Wētā digital then used Dimitrius’s facial capture in its VFX, with the final result giving us a Predator unlike any we’ve seen before: one whose anger, hurt, determination, ferocity and, in fleeting moments, sense of humor show beneath those famous mandibles.
Says Dumont: “It’s a big step, I feel, having a monster we’ve seen before now being able to express emotions. This is now a character. So, the goal during the shoot was to try to get as much emotion from our actor as possible and not have him wear a mask.”
· Elle Fanning’s character, Thia, spends a good portion of the film strapped to Dek’s back. This, of course, required Fanning’s lower half to be digitally erased in post-production, but capturing the effect during filming required more practical ingenuity. To give Fanning a more weightless effect while strapped to Schuster-Koloamatangi’s back, the actress was actually seated in an “L” position, with her legs propped up with harnesses and wires, wheelbarrows, or rolling benches, depending on the landscape they were shooting in.
*** PREDATOR BADLANDS STUNTS ***
· For the Predator Badlands stunts coordinator Jacob Tomuri (a veteran stunt performer who served as Tom Hardy’s double in “Mad Max: Fury Road”) tailored Dek’s skillset to what the story called for, using his smaller stature to his advantage and making him more agile and nimble than other Yautja. It also helped that Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi is naturally athletic, which allowed him to pick up quickly on whatever training (primarily footwork, strength conditioning and swordsmanship) was thrown his way quickly.
· For a jaw-dropping sequence involving both halves of Thia, two stunt doubles—Abigail Swain and Rosalie Button—worked alongside Elle Fanning to capture a one-of-a-kind buddy fight. Swain doubled as Fanning’s torso for certain moves that were too risky for Fanning to film herself, while Button’s legs doubled as Thia’s lower half. Button also performed her choreography with her hands behind her back, to not only make her movements more convincing, but also help the VFX team out in post-production.
Making the sequence even more challenging was the need for Thia to fight several synths, all of whom are played by the same actor who needed to learn the choreography for each individual fight with Thia.
· Mike Homik, the actor who plays Dek’s older brother, Kwei, was deliberately cast for his height—he’s 6’8″—and for his background as a former stunt performer.
related feature : Predator (part 1 interview) – director John McTiernan talks about the making of the classic film
related feature : The best and worst Predator films
Elle Fanning & Dan Trachtenberg & DEK THE PREDATOR at the Predator Badlands London special screening……
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