Cinesite Reveal VFX Breakdown for ‘Fantastic Beasts’

After the release of special behind-the-scenes videos revealed the true magic behind the special effects of Deathly Hallows, visual effects studio Cinesite has released similar content for Fantastic Beasts!

Cinesite’s contribution to the visual effects shots for both the Harry Potter series and Fantastic Beasts has not gone unnoticed – the CGI work in Fantastic Beasts in particular was astonishing – Frank the Thunderbird was simply glorious, and we were pretty convinced a Niffler must actually be a real creature by the end of the movie.

The video focusses on the dinner scene in the Goldstein sister’s flat, where Queenie expertly prepares a beautiful apple strudel with magic. Yahoo reports:

“Having multiple CG plates, bowls, apples, napkins, cutlery and glass flying through the air meant careful choreography was required, plus many objects had transparent surfaces, requiring refraction. The lighting environment around the CG table was also very complex, with multiple light sources around the room to replicate.

The shot was built with custom FX. Heavy animated texturing, shading and displacement work was required to give the appearance of cooking whilst the strudel floats through the air. Extra blend shapes were also added to allow the whole pastry to appear as though it shrinks down a little as it cooks.

On top of that, Cinesite extended the sets beyond the girls’ windows to recreate 1920s New York with digital matte paintings. These were created using a mix of 3D rendered buildings, 3D projected building detail and projected digital matte paintings.”

The VFX Festival 2017 will take place in London from 7th-9th February, and Cinesite will be there presenting their visual effects work on Independence Day: Resurgence. Check out tickets here, and watch the video on Fantastic Beasts below: