Candyman VFX Artists Explain How They Made That Terrifying Mirror Image

The VFX artists behind the 2021 horror sequel, Candyman, recently broke down how the movie’s terrifying mirror image was made. Produced by Jordan Peele, the latest Candyman installment is a direct continuation of the original movie of the same name from 1992. The sequel focuses on Anthony McCoy, the baby saved from a fiery demise caused by Candyman himself in the original. He returns to his childhood neighborhood of Cabrini-Green, now a gentrified neighborhood, and begins to fall down a rabbit hole as he unravels the legend of the Candyman. 

Candyman was directed by Nia DaCosta with Yahya Abdul-Mateen II leading the cast alongside Teyonah Parris, Nathan Stewart-Jarrett, Colman Domingo and Kyle Kaminsky. The film also features the returns of original stars Vanessa Williams, Virginia Madsen, and Tony Todd, reprising their roles of Anne-Marie McCoy, Helen Lyle and Daniel Robitaille, better known as the Candyman himself. Hitting theaters in August, 2021 to strong reviews from critics and audiences, fans can now get a detailed breakdown of how the mind boggling mirror scene and the rest of the digital effects were executed. 

In the new featurette released by Collider, Luma Pictures’ VFX supervisor, Andrew Zink, discusses the complex visual effects process behind the Candyman character himself. Zink specifically broke down the notable hallway mirror scene, citing it as one of the more difficult scenes to create, because they were working with a digital body double that needed to mimic Abdul-Mateen II’s movements. Read Zink’s quote on the mirror scene below:

“Another challenge was the hallway scene where Sherman mimics Anthony’s reflection. The actors had been filmed together, working with a choreographer to match each other’s movements through a fake mirror. However, the plate of the performance didn’t provide us with all the information we’d need to inform our match-move criteria. So our animation department, led by Raphael Pimentel, stepped in to fill in the gaps, such as hands, arms, legs, and the facial performance, which had all been obstructed by Anthony.”

In this scene, protagonist Anthony McCoy sees Candyman inside many mirrors until the apparition of the spirit takes the place of his own reflection. It is surprising to find out just how much of the spirit in the movie is actually a 3D model instead of an actual actor. And while it could already be assumed that shooting this particular scene was challenging, hearing just how complicated it really was is intriguing.

Candyman was a surprise hit in 2021, exceeding box-office opening expectations. It gave audiences a modernized take on the 1992 classic while enlightening them with a moral lesson on gentrification. Candyman also provided audiences with gruesome and unnerving scares as well as innovative visual effects techniques. ​​Candyman currently holds an 85% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the most successful horror movies of 2021. While there are no current plans for a sequel, it would be extremely interesting to see what other stories can come out of the Cabrini-Green haunts. 

Source: Collider

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