R-rated superhero movie, Deadpool, heated up the big screen last month, captivating viewers and fans of the comic book character, whose dark, twisted sense of humor takes him on a search to find the man who nearly destroyed his life. Rodeo FX, a team of creative, passionate people, devoted to VFX, had an extraordinary hand creating outstanding special effects. The studio, led by VFX Supervisor, Wayne Brinton, worked on complex sequences that included grotesque skin alterations, fire, set alterations and more. Wayne talked to ProductionHUB about the process, how he transformed Wade, and the ideas he brought to the table for the film.
PH: How did you get on board with Deadpool? And even the teaser promo before production started?
Wayne Brinton: We’re well-connected in Hollywood, having worked on plenty of high-profile feature films, but this was our first time working with Tim Miller [director] and Blur Studios. We just came off a successful collaboration on The Walk with Atomic Fiction and know those guys really well. We were fortunate that they invited us into this inner circle of Deadpool fans, artists who wanted to bring that character to the screen. For me, it was a thrill because I’m a huge comics fan and know the Deadpool story inside-out.
The first thing they asked us to do was the promo piece announcing that the film would be R-rated.
See it here:
We pushed the April Fool’s promo video through while we had huge deadlines on other projects.
Everybody who got involved at Rodeo FX was enthusiastic even if they were working on things that wouldn’t normally be their responsibility. This was a good launching point to show how invested we were in the project. From that point on, we were ready anytime they came calling with any request. Besides being a lot of fun to do, it established for the production what we were capable of and built trust.
PH: What ideas did you bring to the table for the director for the film? How was your knowledge of the Deadpool comics an asset?
Wayne Brinton: Because the film is R-rated, it let us explore aspects of the character that appear in the comic that might not be appropriate for a family film.
PH: How did you approach transforming Wade into Deadpool? Was there a lot of pressure to get it right?
Wayne Brinton: There’s always lots of pressure to get it right and, for me, there was added pressure because this character means a lot to me. This was one of the most collaborative sequences we worked on, and the most fun. We started with concepts that Tim and Jonathan [Rothbart, the production VFX supervisor] approved.
PH: When did you know it was successful?
Wayne Brinton: I knew we were successful at the preview we attended when the audience around me gasped in horror when the transformation occurred. It made me smile.
PH: Describe why and how you used time lapse photography on foods to create Deadpool's grotesque look.
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Wayne Brinton: The makeup artists [Bill Corso was the makeup designer] did a fantastic job of creating the grotesque look, which we added to in CG. We helped create the transformed look by referencing video of rotting food. We used fruit, vegetables, even meat. It was disgusting, but we wanted Deadpool’s skin to look like it was rotting and, given the audience reaction, we were successful. We projected a series of skin textures onto the live plates of Reynolds as well as a digi-double.
PH: What was your favorite part of working on the film?
Wayne Brinton: The finished product. This is the best adaptation of a comic book character yet and I’m proud that we were part of bringing him to life.
PH: How challenging was filming the torture chamber scene in one continuous sequence?
Wayne Brinton: We worked on two main sequences, the torture chamber and the helicarrier crash. We did both sequence-based. We wanted to do the torture chamber scene as sequence-based because the whole scene was shot in one room. The challenge was that we had to have every shot final before sending the whole sequence to production for approval. All the shots had to be at the same level. Another challenge was that we were asked to add the flying punchbowl to the explosion scene after the sequence was nearly complete. We had to light the asset within the fire environment and build FX simulations into the explosion.
PH: How does it feel to have a hand in bringing Deadpool to life?
Wayne Brinton: Fantastic. To have a hand in bringing a comics character to life that I grew up with is satisfying. Occasionally we get these magical productions at Rodeo FX that fly through the facility, with overall excitement. It was like that from day one. Even toward the end, we never felt the project get away from us. We knew where we were, the production knew where we were. We saw it as a success. We hadn’t worked with these guys before and we walked away with strong relationships with all of them. Mission accomplished.
About Wayne Brinton
Wayne Brinton, VFX supervisor on Deadpool for Rodeo FX, has worked on such films as Cinderella, Now You See Me, Parker, The Avengers, Mirror Mirror, and Source Code. He is the 2D supervisor at Rodeo FX for Game of Thrones, for which Rodeo FX has won two Emmy Awards and a VES Award.
