One of the processes that is most interesting today is the composition of scenes through visual effects. Technological development has revolutionized a good part of the film industry and many productions are marked by this factor. One of the most recent is Wednesdayfrom Netflix, who has something more in Cosa than just a partner for the protagonist.
This character, perhaps the most eccentric of the Addams Family, accompanies Wednesday Addams —the protagonist played by Jenna Ortega— from here to there; especially within this Netflix story, focused mainly on her. The curious thing, in relation to Thing, is that it is not only a visual recreation through multiple effects, but also a quite striking interpretive work.
This could be known through content offered by Netflix in which Victor Dorobantu, the actor who plays Thing, describes part of his acting process. The foregoing is accompanied by a series of images prior to the post-production of the series of Netflix in which he can be seen giving life to the character, although he has never had a face.
It is a video of almost four minutes long. It involves different people involved in the production. Tom Turnbull, the visual effects supervisor for Wednesday, explained the following: “Fingers is a classic character within the Addams family. On the first call I had with Tim (Burton), he told me that he wanted Thing to be played by an actor.”
WednesdayThing and the visual effects process behind the character
How was part of that selection process? According to Turnbull’s own description, he involved finding someone who had a specific type of hand, with agile fingers to perform different movements. In addition to being a person with the physical capacity to be able to make different movements inside closed spaces or in situations in which the body was in uncomfortable positions, out of the natural ones for an interpreter.
Who was the chosen one? The magician Victor Dorobantu. Dorobantu, before being able to consider himself as an actor in a formal way, before his incorporation into WednesdayHe had another job. This is how Turnbull commented in the Netflix special: “I had never acted.”
Regarding the process, Dorobantu said:
“It is very difficult to create from start to finish. It is complex to find movements through which emotions can be expressedlike love or anger. Everything is thornier when it comes to doing it with real actors. On set, you have to set up the scenes with the visual effects people, see what angle they want you to use, what position they want Thing to be in or look for something under the bed, for example.”
The short Netflix clip about Wednesday and Thing offers a fairly clear version of the process. This involves the different scales of production. All of this is summed up efficiently. This is how the visual effects and the interpretive value of an actor can result in a gratifying synergy for the different parties involved. Where does this stem from? In a better result for the viewer’s enjoyment.
