A lot of movie fans prefer practical effects to CGI. Take Star Wars, for example; many of the practical effects used in A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back have aged much better than the dated CGI that appears in Attack of the Clones. Over the last 10 years, there has been an attempt to course correct, with many directors using a mix of practical effects alongside digital. Until Dawn director David F. Sandberg has released a new video detailing many of the practical effects viewers can expect to see in the film, and how they were pulled off.
Practical effects have long been a staple of the horror movie genre, where they’ve been used to pull off deaths, dismemberments, and everything between. From Sandberg’s new video, it seems the director plans to draw on that background for Until Dawn. In the video, Sandberg breaks down how practical effects were used for one scene where a character’s face is repeatedly smashed into the ground. Rather than using CGI, the director was able to use editing and prosthetics to make the whole thing look like it was playing out in one cut. The video can be found below.
Following that, Sandberg details another sequence from the movie, in which a character is suddenly stabbed through the back with a pickaxe. Sandberg breaks down how the pickaxe was actually made with cardboard for the test sequence (it’s swapped for a real prop later), and the character being lifted up was pulled off by having the actress stand on a chair. Sandberg opted to cut the lift from the finished movie, but it’s a great glimpse into the thought process that goes into making the effect.
For the next effect, Sandberg dug into a scene from one of Until Dawn‘s trailers. In the scene, one of the characters has a worm crawling out of a hole in her face. This is an example of both practical effects and CGI being used together. The worm itself was designed and created by a group called Applied Arts FX (who also worked with Sandberg on Shazam!). However, some CGI was used to hide the “seams” of the prosthetic, which go up to the ear of the actress.
RELATED: Until Dawn First Look Explains the Movie’s Differences from the Game
Obviously, some effects in Until Dawn will use all CGI. Sandberg talks about how a 30-foot monster that appears at one point is completely digital, because it would have been too hard to pull off. However, this blend of both practical and digital effects should hold a lot of appeal for fans of the horror genre. There’s clearly a lot of artistry on display in the film, and it will be interesting to see the finished product when the movie is released on April 25th. So far, what Sandberg has shown is a mix of both beautiful and disgusting, and horror fans wouldn’t have it any other way!
Are you excited to see these visual effects on display in Until Dawn? Does this make you more likely to see the movie? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!
The post Until Dawn Director Reveals Film’s Extensive Practical Effects (And It’s Disgusting) appeared first on ComicBook.com.
