Deadpool VFX Reel Shows The Process of Ryan Reynolds' Transformation

Deadpool may not have a budget as big as most superhero films these days but it still used a good amount of visual effects to bring its story to life. Rodeo FX made 215 of those VFX shots, and they just released a reel showing off what they've done for the film. Check out the reel: 

Deadpool - VFX Breakdown - Rodeo FX from Rodeo FX on Vimeo.

The company was behind the VFX that made Reynolds look gross and ugly, and on their website, they shared some interesting info about the process: 

The mutation introduced into Wilson’s body changes the structure of his skin and, once he becomes Deadpool, he is hideous to look at without his tight red Spandex. Brinton and his team did concepts for skin decomposition at different stages, using time-lapse photography of rotting vegetables and meat for inspiration. They found that the production plates were too dark to show the subtleties of what they wanted to do, so they added more detail and shape to the skin, modeling with ZBrush, doing lighting passes, and finally compositing in the textures. “This was my favorite sequence to work on and the most satisfying,” said Brinton. “I knew we’d nailed it when the people around me in the theater gasped in disgust when they saw Deadpool’s skin mutation.” Wilson is held in a torture chamber during this transformation, then escapes as the room burns to the ground. This scene was shot continually in one room that had been fitted with gas pipes emitting flames, making the usual practice of submitting individual shots for approval inefficient and awkward. Instead, Rodeo FX asked to submit the finished sequence in its entirety to Rothbart. This meant that every shot in the submitted sequence had to be final, with all shots at the same level of quality. “At first this was nerve wracking for us and, I imagine, for the production team,” Brinton said. “But we knew that this was the most efficient way to complete this scene and it worked perfectly.”

Check out RodeoFX's website for more details on how they created VFX for Deadpool. 

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