A viral behind-the-scenes clip of performers strapped together and practicing the Pedestrian’s rolling movement led some viewers to believe the Resident Evil creature was mostly a practical effect. Wētā visual effects supervisor Smith told Polygon that the footage was an experiment, not a plan for how the monster would appear in the film. The creature was created digitally rather than by simply combining circus performers with computer-generated enhancements.
The Pedestrian is formed from infected bodies fused together by the T-Virus. Director Zach Cregger had a specific vision for the creature’s movement: it had to roll. Wētā’s animation supervisor Eric Reynolds said the team arranged the bodies at different angles instead of lining them up symmetrically, giving the monster a less natural shape.
The team also added a third body before the creature’s first appearance, when it emerges from a farmhouse and pursues protagonist Bryan. The initial version included just two bodies, but tests showed that adding another made the monster more unsettling. Reynolds said the extra body made it harder to distinguish the creature’s limbs.
Wētā also worked on other monsters in the film. The Fat Man, a huge creature discovered in a sewer, was a 2,000-pound practical prop made by Legacy Effects and creature designer Shane Mahan. The mutant rats that burst from its stomach, along with the accompanying effects, were added digitally using photographs and a scan of the set and prop.
Bryan’s final mutation was built around actor Austin Abrams, though the creature was scaled up to make it more imposing. VFX producer Janet Walters said the monster stood about eight and a half feet tall. Reynolds noted that the character’s head was enlarged along with the rest of the body to achieve that scale.
Resident Evil is available to rent or buy digitally.
Sources: Polygon.