WANDAVISION

MARVEL/DISNEY+

Paul Bettany, who plays “synthezoid” superhero Vision in the series, was filmed with special effects makeup and a bald cap “to replicate the hue and sheen of Vision’s skin,” explains VFX supervisor Tara DeMarco. “Makeup tracking markers were placed on the skin in the location of Vision’s metal crown, chin piece and Infinity Stone. In visual effects, we precisely tracked the head and all facial expressions. We added the CG crown with a metal sheen and slight VFX weathering. The Infinity Stone has a hint of a glow and a subtle interior movement throughout.” Vision also has CG panels embedded in the skin that the team composited into a cleaned-up version of the original actor plate.

These passes and elements were combined to form the finished shot. “We accomplished this work with two filmed elements,” DeMarco says. “Our first element is filming the actor in the set. The second element is a clean pass. We ultimately use quite a lot of the take with the actor and use the clean pass [of only Bettany in the frame] for a small bit of cleanup, like removing the actor’s ears. Synthezoid ear panels are smaller than human ears.” She adds that Vision is more robotic in the Avengers films and displays less emotion than in WandaVision, where he lives in the series’ sitcom environments. “The difference in acting style required additional subtle facial differences in the CG. We strived to maintain as much of the original performance as possible.”

Paul Bettany (with Elizabeth Olsen in WandaVision) wore special effects makeup to capture Vision’s emotional moments.