Five Different Artists and Actors Created Colossus From 'Deadpool'  

A whole lot of people saw Deadpool this past weekend, which means those people want to know a whole lot more about Deadpool. Whether you liked the movie or not, one of the standout details of director Tim Miller’s foul-mouthed debut were the special effects. Miller, who came from a visual effects background before getting the Deadpool gig, made sure that his titular character (played by actor and human embodiment of an acquired taste, Ryan Reynolds) blended seamlessly into his absolutely bonkers comic book world. But he also grounded it with the movie’s key X-Men-related CG creation: Colossus.

A new video on WIRED runs through how Miller and his visual effects team at Digital Domain created the hulking metallic standout using a total of five different actors to complete the effect. It stresses how gorgeous special effects like Colossus are a collaborative effort, and the product of a lot of hard work that usually goes unnoticed.

Check out the video below.

So let’s count how many people it took to perfect Colossus on-screen:

1. Remote motion capture actor

2. An on-location actor in a motion capture tracking suit and platform shoes

3. Facial reference performer

4. Dialogue performer

5. A Digital Domain artist that re-performed the dialogue to make the facial performance even more specific

That’s a lot to handle. And on top of that, the effects artists even created something called “live texturing” to adjust the metal work of the character to keep his metallic form intact. It looks like the filmmakers behind Deadpool got a lot out of their relatively small budget, and they’re laughing all the way to the bank.

Deadpool is in theaters now, and currently still making a buttload of money.