VFX THE SUBSTANCE
WORDS Miriam Balanescu
A horror film without some form of terror-inducing visual effects would be incomplete, but with plenty of blood and gore to go around, standing out from the crowd is no easy task. Teeming with grotesque transformations, organ spillage and blood-spatter galore, The Substance is the sophomore feature of French director Coralie Fargeat, a film that picks apart the shallowness – and dangerous potential – of the beauty industry. Starring Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley as faded Hollywood star Elisabeth Sparkle and her younger counterpart Sue respectively, the plot revolves around the titular ‘substance’. This dubious green serum allows Elisabeth to spawn a younger, improved version of herself – Sue – who, in a gruesome twist, climbs forth from her spine. Conveniently, Sue is able to replace Elisabeth as host of her long-running aerobics show – after Elisabeth is axed for being too old. MAKING A SPLASH From festering wounds to the final grisly iteration of Elisabeth Sparkle, ‘Monstra’, Noid Studio was commissioned to work on the gory extravaganzas – fuelled by Elisabeth’s overuse of the substance – which would become the film’s main talking point. VFX supervisor Chervin Shafaghi was responsible for the film’s final sequence – an off-the-wall, breathtaking showcase of horror imagery which uses innovative VFX techniques. “We were involved on two beautiful creatures,” Shafaghi teases. “I can't say beautiful in the film, but it was very cool to work with these two assets. Working
Demi Moore-starring body horror The Substance boasts some of the most outlandish VFX seen in recent cinema. The team at Noid Studio explain how they created the film’s spectacularly gory sequences
alongside Bryan Jones, production VFX supervisor, we collaborated closely with Coralie to define the look of her creature. A lot of it was based on Pierre Olivier Persin’s prosthetics.” The two monsters comprised Monstra and the ‘crawling bug’ Moore’s character eventually becomes. Employing Persin’s Monstra suit as the foundation for the VFX, Shafaghi and his team had to finesse the edit they were provided with, as well as applying animation. This included creating an animated version of Demi Moore’s face which would be attached to the prosthetic suit to bring the inanimate model to life.
SHOT FOR SHOT Fargeat (right) working closely with her camera operator
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