Justice League: Creating 'Steppenwolf'

Warner Bros.’ much anticipated Justice League movie sees some of the comic book world’s most famed heroes coming together—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg, and The Flash—but what about the film’s ‘Big Bad’? 

The supervillain Steppenwolf never stepped foot on set, but instead was pieced together from motion capture shoots. Animatrik, a world leader in motion capture service, was brought on board to build a specialist stage on the Universal lot last November. The team coordinated an isolated, six-day shoot; providing the motion capture and virtual cinematography services behind Justice League.

“Our main focus was on Ciaran Hinds’ character, Steppenwolf,” recalls president and CTO of Animatrik,  Brett Ineson. “Though we did some other bits and pieces as well – Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) came in for a day.”

“We had the fantastic opportunity to work closely with Director Zack Snyder, as well as the film’s Producer, VFX Supervisor and the Director of Photography. It was an intimate, creative moment.”

Technologically face-to-face

World conqueror and lieutenant of the arch-villain Darkseid, Steppenwolf will unleash an army of parademons on Earth so dangerous it forces superheroic DC icons to team up. The character’s menacing, otherworldly appearance – a craggily face, alien heritage and dramatic Loki-esque helmet – prompted his inception as a fully CG digital creation.

A wide assortment of production technology was used to deliver Hollywood-grade, life-like replications of the Hind’s performance. Different parts of the human body move in different ways and therefore can be tracked much more accurately using a specialized tool, tailored to that particular geometry. The Justice League mocap stage was made up of many different technical components, as Brett explains:

“Animatrik was there recording subtle body movements and facial expressions with our partner DI40. We used a Technoprops helmet to capture the actor’s face with stereo pair and then did surface reconstruction with the DI40 system. Then we used OptiTrack Prime 41 cameras to capture the body and the LEI/Giant system to solve it in post.”

Cataloging villainous monologues

Animatrik’s work on the shoot was less focused on action-packed fight scenes and more about attention to minuscule detail. Gloating. Monologuing. It's what villains do – and Animatrik’s job was to make sure Steppenwolf looks good doing it.

“All the stunts we captured were quite minor, like falling down and a little bit of weapon swinging,” confirms Brett. “We were focused a lot more on character movement, walk and talk moments, the intimate things.”

Stepping aside from the chaos of practical film set, Brett and his team were able to put all of their concentration into Steppenwolf, pinpointing subtle expressions and gestures, working on the character’s personality.  

“With mocap, there are no real interactions, waiting for lighting setups or anything like that, so they were able to just focus on the character,” says Brett. “We were able to get it all done across that shoot with time to spare, and no reshoots.“

Using a motion capture system meant less logistical constraints, operating without the circus of activity that comes part-and-parcel of a live-action shoot. The director, actors and support staff could get down to business without distraction.

Hinds’ first time

For Ciaran Hinds, previously the King Beyond The Wall from Game of Thrones, this was his first time in a motion-capture suit. To prepare for the performance, Ciaran read up on several pamphlets about motion-capture acting. He also enlisted the help of mocap veteran Liam Neeson, who last year portrayed the giant tree-creature from A Monster Calls. 

Speaking about his experiences on the Justice League stage, Ciaran said: “So… they stick a helmet on your head, they put two cameras around, and they capture all your expressions, facial expressions. 

“So basically, they’re going to concoct some kind of construction and they will use my facial expressions – eyes, mouth, voice – they’ll turn into this murderous, avenging Steppenwolf from the planet Apokolips, apparently. Who’s bent on Hell on Earth.”

Small crew, big results

Although lacking manpower, the cast and crew on Justice League’s motion capture stage made up for it with efficiency. Animatrik was able to seamlessly integrate with staff at the Universal Lot, adapting to the director’s vision and consulting on best motion capture practices where necessary. The shoot, originally scheduled across eight days, ended on the sixth. 

“It was actually quite a chilled, relaxed shoot,” concludes Brett. “We had the time, there was no need to panic and it was a small crew. We really knew what the director was looking to get, and we were focused on getting it.”