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For decades, Kraven the Hunter has stood as one of Spider-Mans most relentless and intriguing adversariesa man driven by an unwavering desire to prove himself as the worlds greatest hunter. With his live-action debut, Kraven the Hunter brings Sergei Kravinoffs fierce and deeply layered character from the comic book pages to the big screen, exploring his origins and setting the stage for his connection to Spider-Mans universe.The film is also notable for reimagining another iconic character, Rhino, whose transformation from man to beast plays a pivotal role in the storys high-stakes action and drama.Image Engine took on the mission of delivering 162 visual effects shots that brought this Marvel antiheros world to life. From crafting sprawling, immersive environments to executing explosive action sequences and delivering a stunning new version of Rhino, our team contributed to key moments that defined this thrilling cinematic adventure.Building on our work in Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Spider-Man: Far From Home, Image Engine continues to push the boundaries of visual effects in the Spider-Man universe.Explore our creative process and insights in the Q&A below with:Martyn Culpitt, visual effects supervisorAndy Walker, visual effects supervisorBrian Sepanzyk, visual effects producerJack Evans, CG supervisorJeremy Mesana, animation supervisorDan Rubin, compositing supervisorCrafting Kravens worldFrom sprawling African plains to overgrown hideouts, Kraven the Hunter required environments as dynamic and untamed as the character himself. Combining CG extensions with the original plates, Image Engine transformed Kravens mountainous home into a lush, dilapidated retreat and constructed a dramatic valley expanse.Q: Can you tell us about the environment extensions?Brian: We created extensive environment extensions throughout the film. Kravens lair is a dome that we transformed into a lush, overgrown environment. It had to be shrouded in rich vegetation and feel dilapidated, so what we improved on from the plate was quite drastic. The challenge was to create a beautiful vista but also keep your attention in the middle of the frame, and I think we did a great job of that.Martyn: Our goal was to build a world that immersed viewers and connected them to Kravens world. We spent a lot of time trying to find the right look and feel for where he would live in the mountains with the clients concepts. Once approved, we brought it to life with full CG landscapes, vegetation, digital matte painting skies, and distant mountains. The final shots in the film are a dramatic transformation from the original plate photography. FinalBrian: Another environment was adding a valley expanse as our character walks out of the dome, along the side and then settles on an over-the-shoulder as he observes the wide landscape. They shot the actor against white flags, so we had to integrate the African plains as we move along with our character, through vegetation and trees and not have it feel digital. In my opinion, its one of the best shots that we achieved.In all of the examples, we married plate footage with a fully CG image in a seamless way where the viewer isnt able to tell what is plate and what is real. Final Q: How did you approach the VFX for the helicopter scene?Martyn: The helicopter scene was challenging to keep consistency and we tried really hard throughout to keep it feeling realistic. The timing on the falling bombs was driven by animation and then FX used the timing to add their FX work coming from the falling missiles. The client wanted it to feel like he was in a war zone and that his life was in peril as he dodged explosions. We added a lot of debris, rocks, dirt, pine cones, needles and a bunch of dust kick-up to help sell it all. We also had to add realistic explosions rather than white flashes.Brian: This was a tricky sequence. We had a lot of practical elements that were filmed, but they didnt feel dangerous or intense enough. For the helicopter, they had nothing firing out of the bottom, so we worked with the FX team to meticulously add realistic phosphorus missile launches and explosions that rained down on Kraven to create a frenetic experience for the audience. Brian: As Kraven ran through the explosions, we had to add more smoke and debris while maintaining the phosphorus trails. We studied a lot of military references and iterated until the scene felt realistic and accurate. In the end, we created an exciting sequence that the director was really happy with. From man to beastIn Kraven the Hunter, Aleksei Sytsevich undergoes a dramatic transformation into Rhino, shifting between his human form and a monstrous, thick-skinned beast. Unlike previous adaptations which relied on a mechanical suit, this version of Rhino is the result of a biological enhancement he undergoes, which is triggered uncontrollably during moments of intense emotion, pain, or angerThese volatile transformations are central to Alekseis storyline, emphasizing the tension between his humanity and his beastly side. Image Engine contributed to every stage of this complex evolution, from the initial facial contortions to the full-body metamorphosis. Our team combined intricate CG modelling, muscle simulations, and dynamic texturing to highlight the physical strain and emotional turmoil of Alekseis transformation, ensuring it felt raw, grounded, and deeply connected to the characters internal struggle.Q: What direction were you given for creating the Rhino character?Martyn: Rhino appeared once before in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but this time, Kraven the Hunter opted for a different take on the character. Hes a more physically animalistic version of the villain.We didnt have a clear idea of how he should look in the final state after he transforms from Aleksei, played by Alessandro Nivola, into Rhino. So we went through a lot of iterations for the character as it was so important to the director, J.C. Chandor and the studio that he had a link to the actor and the Marvel Machete, as well as being human.Brian: Our initial concept grew and grew. We eventually settled on a version that was a mix of the classic Marvel concept and a new updated vision for Rhino.Even though hes a fantastical hybrid, J.C. Chandor wanted him to feel human through it all, so that was a big part of how we animated and created the character so that we could have that quality still shine through, no matter how crazy he looked in the end. Jack: One particularly challenging aspect of this sequence was stretching out the transformation across so many shots while maintaining a cohesive and dynamic effect.We went through several rounds of animations to get the timing just right so each shot had dynamic movement without feeling too slow or rushed.We also needed to find the right balance between the full rhino armoured skin look and his natural human skin. Fine details can easily get lost when the character is further from the screen, so it took some experimenting to strike the right balance.These same fine details required very careful integration between comp and lighting to make sure the transformation didnt just look cool, but felt real and part of his body. Q: Can you tell us about the Rhino transformation?Martyn: Transforming Aleksei into Rhino was a complex undertaking. We had to ensure seamless tracking to blend CG elements with live-action footage while also creating a completely original and organic transformation effect.We didnt have a clear idea of how he should look in the final state as Rhino, so creating the transformation state was even more ambiguous. It was super fun to work with the client through concepts and find lots of interesting references to finally land on the details we have in the film.One of the coolest references our CG supervisor, Fred Sundqvist found was some dried-up river bed of clay that had started to flake and peel in the sun and this is what we used for inspiration for the cracking on his skin as he transforms.Mario Anger, one of our lead modelers, took the clients original concept of Rhino and fully redeveloped the look. It was a fascinating process to see Rhino emerge from the 3D world. We had done some initial 2D concepts, but when we started to involve Mario and build it in 3D, it entirely changed the way we saw Rhino and helped considerably to get the client and director to buy off on the final design.Brian: The Rhino transformation was a really unique approach that was left to Image Engine to develop, so that felt like something that we had part ownership of and were able to help drive creatively.The director wanted the transformation to feel painful, so we made sure to maintain that feel when we see the effect coming on and then the relief when it starts to subside. But we didnt want it to look excessively graphic.They didnt have a look for us to emulate, so it was up to us and the FX team to create an organic, original transformation for Rhino. We had a lot of back and forth before landing on the look we see in the end. The hard work was worth it as it feels and looks so unique, especially in the Marvel universe.Jeremy: The transformation we designed had 4 key elements to it: the muscle volume, the rhino plate formation, the skin transition, and the color transition. We built an animation rig that would have separate controls over all of those aspects with blend shapes and lookdev attribute controls. This allowed animation to have full control over those elements to time the transformation elements as per the sequence needs. The FX department would take these base animations and drive a more complex setup in Houdini to the final transformation effect. Q: What was the process of digitally replacing the characters arm when its changing and he smashes the table?Martyn: The challenges for replacing the arm with CG Rhino were mainly the tracking of the arms and body and finding the overall look.The process of replacing his arm was tricky to find the right timing. The tracking needs to be super tight to the actors performance as we did end up using the plate skin in areas from his hand and forearm. We used matchmove as far as we could using our digital version of Alessandro but then had to shot sculpt the hands and arms to get a perfect match so our digital version would blend seamlessly with the actor. Martyn: We did this with the animation team using masks to reveal the Rhino. Anim had multiple levels of controls over the colour of the muscles and the bulk so we could define when and where Alessandro would change into the Rhino.Once we had this timing for the whole sequence agreed upon with the client, we would then pass the anim to shot sculpt. From there, the team could adjust and tweak the look and feel of the transformation to match the actor closer so FX could then run their simulations using anims timing maps.Because Rhino was so powerful once he transformed, we had to portray that in the film. The client asked us to create a full CG table so that when Rhino slams his fist on it, we could have it crack and have pieces of concrete, dust and debris flying everywhere. Its a pretty dramatic shot.The connection between Alessandro and the Rhino character was a fine balance, especially on his face as they still wanted to keep the likeness of the actor, but also have it be Rhino. We created a full CG version of Alessandro so we could blend seamlessly between areas and the plate and not know if it was CG or plate. It took a lot of close anim matching and shot sculpt to the actors performance to make this work.These shots were unquestionably a complex build that had to be stitched together from all departments, and in the end, the compositing team had to piece it all together. Overall, I think the look was awesome and very different from anything we have seen before.Jeremy: Another tricky thing we encountered was properly portraying the size growth when Alessandro was transforming to Rhino. We needed to progress through about 2 feet of height as well as 400ish lbs of muscle volume. Revealing a tighter and tighter shirt as the muscle volume increased as well as showing a height change while still maintaining the plate framing was a challenge.Q: Could you discuss the sequences featuring the fully CG Rhino? What techniques were used to bring these effects to life?Brian: We had to replace the actor with a full CG Rhino character and match his expressions and dialogue with our full CG facial system. We had to blend in the organic skin so that the character felt as though it was in the same space as the real actors. Martyn: Creating a fully CG character presents a different challenge than a character transformation into a rhino. We ended up using a lot of the references of Alessandros performance from the plates and timing and built on top of those to find the Rhino characters own unique performance while still maintaining the likeness to the actor.Its a lot to fit into a CG characters look, emotions, movements and presence on the screen. We build a whole library of FACs shapes for both the actor and Rhino which we put into our facial system to make Rhino come to life and talk. We built many different muscle and bulk shapes that animation could drive so we could make Rhino grow where needed and become bigger in bulk and shape. Making Rhino talk and be Rhino was certainly difficult as he is so much bigger than the actor but I think we managed to really make him feel like his own character but still have a sense of Alessandro.CG Asset Alessandro Nivola Rhino TransformationCG Rhino Asset for both Transformation blending and Full CG Rhino NON Damaged version.Q: How did you approach creating the wounded and damaged appearance of Rhino?Jack: This was a unique conceptual challenge. How do you kill a seemingly indestructible Rhino-human hybrid? The logic was that he had sustained internal injuries during his fight with Kraven which weakened him enough that being trampled by a herd of buffalo was too much for him to survive.Our first step was to create concept paintovers of the base renders that we could show the director to work out what exactly we wanted him to look like so we could formulate our plan for how to execute the work.Once we had an approved concept, the majority of the work was hand-sculpted by EungHo Lo, organic modeler. Blood and other details were painted into his textures and enhanced in the shaders.FX provided dynamic blood effects when he coughed up blood during his dialogue with Kraven.As he begins to die, he starts to transform back to Aleksei. Once again, we needed to figure out exactly how much he would transform.The directors top priority was to keep Rhinos look organic and naturalistic while preserving as much of the actors performance as possible. If we werent careful, the transformation could end up looking like a man in a rubber suit with the mask removed, rather than a true biological evolution.After extensive animation and FX testing, we refined the transformation to the partial version seen in the final cutstriking a balance that preserves enough of the actors real face in his final moment.Q: Were there any specific references used for his damaged look?Jack: In VFX, you have to work from reality to create realistic images, so finding these real-world references often leads to a very questionable search history.Unfortunately, some of the best references were images you really dont want to see. We used images of rhinos that had been the victims of poachers, some other various injured armored animals, as well as other general medical-related source material.CG Rhino Asset Full CG Rhino Damaged version Brian: Each sequence came with its challenges, as they all had different looks and levels of transformation. It was particularly challenging when were seeing the transformation up close, witnessing it with our villain as he watches himself change and grow.Animation spent a lot of time with assets to create blend shapes so that when he spoke and emoted, it felt real and still human. So a lot of time was spent to make sure this felt authentic and to not take the viewer out of the scene.Martyn: Once we found the look the client was after with animation, we then did a lot of shot sculpt work to define and mold the look of specific face shapes and muscles. We definitely had to think outside of the box when it came to the animation, scale and poses of Rhino as he was supposed to be 7 feet tall and yet our actor was not that tall. So it was a challenge to get him to fit into some of the camera spaces and vehicles being that big. In the end, it worked out pretty well.Unmasking DmitriRevealing his newfound abilities, Dmitri Kravinoff, played by Fred Hechinger, highlights the evolution of his shapeshifting powers in this sequence where he transforms his face to mirror his brother, Kraven and moments later, his face transforms to look like the all-white, featureless maska nod to the Chameleons iconic comic-book look, before transforming back into his own human appearance.This scene was one of the longest shots Image Engine worked on for the film. Our team handled the digi-double work for Dmitris face transformation, focusing on delivering a seamless progression through his various appearances. Achieving the perfect look for the Chameleon mask required careful iteration to capture the original comic-book representation and balancing that with the Marvel Universe aesthetics.Q: What were the most challenging aspects of crafting the seamless face morph between Dmitri, his brother Kraven, and the Chameleon mask?Dan: To create the fluid transition between Dmitris and Kravens face, a clean plate was created removing Dmitris head from the plate and then tracking in Kravens head, which was shot on bluescreen. It was important for the Chameleon mask to feel as if it was part of the transition, skin flaking and cracking elements were composited over the edges of the actors and the CG mask to help the integration.Q: What was your approach in achieving the comic-book look for Chameleons mask?Jack: This part proved to be a significant challenge to retain the general design of the comic books while grounding it all in reality. We initially had designed the Chameleon face to be an actual mask, like we see in some of the comics.After several iterations, we settled on the look of the mask being incorporated into his actual facial features, so the Chameleon face was what his actual face looked like when he wasnt mimicking someone else. We exaggerated the brow ridge to emulate the squared off look of the masks eye holes and kept the center line as a ridge embedded down the center of his face.The dark, contrasty plate made it especially challenging for the white Chameleon mask to read properly as a kind of unnaturally white skin. If he was too white, it would lose the realistic look of flesh, but if we brought in too much subsurface detail, he would stop looking white enough. It was a delicate balance to find just the right look that we wanted to achieve.Q: What was the collaboration process like with the director and creative team on this sequence?Jack: This was where our great relationship with the creative team really paid off. The overall look of Chameleon was evolving as the project developed. What seemed like the right idea at the outset ended up not feeling right near the end, requiring a redesign to what we see in the final film. We sent a number of concepts and collaborated closely with them throughout the process until we narrowed down what felt like the best look in the end. The final result is a creepy, but cool look that ties in the designs in the comic books while creating something new in the process.Chasing the wildBuilding the backstory in Kraven the Hunter, a young Sergei Kravinoff, portrayed by Levi Miller, appears in the film to explore the origins of Kravens unique skills, intense determination, and primal connection to nature.In this scene, he demonstrates his extraordinary speed and hunting instincts by pursuing a stag (male deer) through the forest. The chase builds to a dramatic moment as Sergei successfully captures the stag, showcasing his agility and the relentless drive that will shape his character throughout the film.Q: Can you tell us about the sequence with the stag being chased? What did the visual effects entail?Martyn: We had to have the CG stag capable of jumping over obstacles in the forest and leaping across full CG environments, all while staying connected to the scene. We built a derailed, full hi-res ground with leaves, sticks, dirt, debris, and dust that the stag would disturb, adding life and energy to the shots. The stags fur was fully groomed, and we created creature FX muscle systems to ensure its movement mirrored that of a real deer. Once the animation was approved, we ran simulations on the fur to react to the movement and environmental forces.While the plate photography provided was great, we needed to enhance it with CG plants, trees, and debris. One of the key tasks was adding a full CG ravine, enhancing the feeling of peril as Sergei and the stag leapt over it. We created Full CG Geometry cliffs to seamlessly blend into the plate, scattering additional CG plants, trees, and leaves to complete the scene. There was a tricky moment where we had to split the original plate and shift it to make the ravine wider. This required blending the practical with the CG in a way that looked flawless, but it was definitely a challenging task to pull off.CG Asset Reflecting on the huntImage Engine played a crucial role in bringing Kraven the Hunter to life. From dynamic environments to explosive action sequences and intricate character transformations, we continuously pushed creative and technical boundaries. Our teams expertise ensured a balance of power and emotional depth, especially with Rhinos unforgettable presence. This project not only showcased our innovative VFX but also reinforced our commitment to delivering cutting-edge work that complements the vibrant Marvel universe.Were incredibly proud of the hard work and passion our team poured into this project, contributing to Kravens action-packed journey.Q: How did you collaborate with the director to ensure the visual effects met the vision for the film?Brian: Close collaboration with the director was essential to ensure the visual effects aligned perfectly with the films vision. We had to keep up with J.C.s pace for when there would be a pivot on the briefs or a new story direction. We took each new directive with great professionalism as we would often have to go back to the drawing board on our major sequences multiple times. But this was due to an evolving story for the film. We started to understand what worked best for J.C. and what he needed to see before he could make his final decisions, so knowing that later in the process helped us turn around useful versions for him to choose from.The projects scope kept growing organically and I think that is because the client saw the exceptional quality of our work and could rely on us. Their trust in Image Engines abilities led them to continue bringing us back for more creative collaboration. In the end, JC was really grateful to have our team on board and loved the work.Q: Looking back, what are you most proud of from Image Engines work on Kraven the Hunter?Martyn: What stands out to me is the dedication and skill shown by the whole team. Of course, Rhino is the centerpiece. Hes such a unique character. Designing and creating a CG character from the ground up always comes with challenges, but seeing him come to life and knowing the client was thrilled by the result was incredibly rewarding.The way we were able to capture both the ferocity of the rhino and the essence of Alessandros performance is a testament to the teams skill. And the seamless blend between CG and live-action footage during his transformation was a huge achievement. The techniques we developed for this sequence will certainly pave the way for even more ambitious work on future projects. And, honestly, he looks amazingglasses and all!
