DON’T MESS WITH THE MECH

A DELOS RIOT CONTROL ROBOT RC3110, AKA THE MECH, ASSEMBLES ITSELF AND DECIDES TO AID THE UPRISING…

Assembling The Mech onscreen was a tricky moment to execute. “It starts off with what looks like an array of five suitcases laid out on the floor that sprout out with hatches and connect together to become this hulking 12 to 15-foot droid,” remarks DNEG animation supervisor Ben Wiggs. “So much of the design of how that would work was left up to us.” The assembly was a one-off effect. “Jonathan Nolan did not want it to look like Transformers,” states DNEG VFX supervisor Jeremy Fernsler. “It came down to how the panels pop open and trying to make it feel step-by-step mechanical and overlapping that work. All of that was built on top of a bespoke one-off rigging solution.”

Conveying the proper weight and scale was important. “The Mech needed to move like a gorilla where you have this incredible mass that moves fluidly,” notes Fernsler. “It comes down to stance, how those steps move, and how far they lift their legs off of the ground. On top of that there were a range of motion issues that we had to work against given how boxy The Mech was.” The Mech punches through a wall and attacks. “You sense that The Mech has an aggressive attitude when it takes a power stance against the two guards before dispatching them. For the wall punch, special effects had a wall with a hole in it and had done a canon blast in a separate take. Primarily that sequence is visual effects driven with the wall collapse, dust, and debris on the ground done in Houdini.”