In nuce: In this VFX breakdown, Cinesite shows you how to tame a duo of basilisks (which in The Witcher look like a cross between a Jurassic Park raptor and a snake) with the weapons of the VFXs. Incidentally, the effects were created for the final episode of the second season. The episode in question is entitled “Family”.
What’s behind the effects? The team at Cinesite spent a whole year developing the look of the terrifying basilisks. They were modelled on numerous real-world animals and their anatomies. The particular challenge was to give the basilisk’s surface a mixture of fur, feathers and scales that looked natural – a real Herculean task for the creature designers! Cinesite also had to harmonise the fight choreography of the actors, who tumbled around in front of the cameras on set, with the movements of the animated basilisks.
More for Witcher fans: If you want to find out what Platige Image conjured up for the first series season, read our illuminating interview with Visual Effects Supervisor Mateusz Tokarz, Compositor and Art Director Rafal Sadowy, and VFX Producer Krzysztof Krok, which we made available to you free of charge on 29 September 2021 .
More for Witcher fans: Looking for more Witcher reading material? Then click back to 05.01.2022 and find out what the success-spoilt Poles were able to achieve with the major gaming project The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings.
Geralt von Riva slaying at Animago? By the way: Our very own Animago also made Witcher history. You can find out what we mean by this by clicking on 3 February 2022, when we told you how the launch cinematic “Wild Hunt” for the video game “The Witcher 3” picked up an Animago Award in 2015. We think so: If you want to know who will win the vampire-vamp battle against Geralt of Riva, you should add this launch cinematic to your watchlist.
Click further: If you want to learn more about Cinesite’s dragon-powered VFXs, click through the lavishly illustrated case study that Cinesite put online on the occasion of their work on the 2nd Witcher season.
Cinesite The Witcher S2 Basilisk Breakdown Reel
