The hustle and bustle of old New York feels almost contemporary, despite it being a time before neon had even been invented. Like most of my work for Fantastic Beasts this illustration (and the one on pp. 248–9) is a result of a group effort. My time on the project had almost run out and I was already committed to a new job when Stuart asked me to come up with concepts for the Times Square set on a Friday afternoon. I remember sketching it out on a weekend after Hayley had set up buildings in 3D and the set decoration team provided plan views and research.
I started working on the Obscurus during the first two weeks of work on the project. I loved the challenge of capturing such a unique entity and worked hard to portray the look of an invisible being in a cloud of dust.
I was asked to show the Obscurus trapped in a box or tablet shape. I like the idea of who very different ideas colliding, the rigid square box and the swirling almost liquid force that yearns to be released.
The ‘hero’ scenic painting was huge, detailed and beautiful. The visual was done after the canvas was finished as a means to explore the extent to which the Obscurus wrecks it along with the political stage. We only had one chance to tear the portrait to match Stuart’s desired look so he sketched an outline for where to make the rips and gave me a description of the marks it was to have left. A scaled version of the visual was then used as a guide by the prop department for where and how to make the damage. For the approval process, they did test pieces showing smoke marks, and various ripped and burnt edges. The look was intended to convey the entity’s huge force and sinister nature, without defining its mode of destruction. Left precariously suspended, the torn and smouldering image of Shaw is identifiable but greatly diminished to create a lingering sense of threat.
I built this chandelier in 3D and conceptualized it for Stuart and the art director in charge of the location in Liverpool. The props art director wanted to show the level of destruction attained as it fell from the roof while still attached by its power cord.
Here are two early character studies showing the creeping menace of the Obscurus edging towards Credence, moments before it takes him over.
Another Credence and Obscurus study showing the Obscurus as something barely tangible, visibly, yet oozing power and malevolence.
A further study showing the box idea, this time made from a more organic mass, with a hint of what is kept inside.
The parameters had already been set by David and J.K. Rowling about it being in a glass enclosure, like a vial the size of a carrier bag, which made me immediately think of Damien Hirst.
In this variation of the Obscurus, a young girl suffering from her repressed magic is bound by a rectangular shell. I created this image to illustrate the anguish of this tormented soul.
This set of concepts was composed to illustrate the progression of Credence transforming into the Obscurus. The Obscurus material consumes Credence until human shapes are difficult to discern. The challenge was pushing the design towards something unique and unfamiliar.
Referencing the artwork of Russ Mills, this exercise was an attempt to embed features of Credence in an abstract manner using a base sculpt of Ezra Miller by Kouji Tajima. Early ideas of surface movement included extracting sound data from performances of Ezra Miller and using the information to drive effects simulations in Houdini.
At this stage, we were exploring subtleties of colour on the surface of the Obscurus material to introduce another narrative device for conveying emotion. To move away from the overall shape of the Obscurus looking like an ‘angry ball’, we worked on abstracting the core form, referencing sculptors Umberto Boccioni and Barbara Hepworth.
In these studies I atempted to illustrate the evolution of the Obscurus face. I extracted elements of ‘Obscurus membrane’ from a 3D render by Frederic Valleur and, while referencing images of Ezra Miller, distorted the material into recognizable features of Credence.
The idea was it would always be moving between either a gas, liquid or a solid state. I wanted most areas to be vague with hints of a face or a limb moving in and out of the obscurity.
This is a sketch sequence done on my first day on the project. Here, I tried to imagine the unseen character of the Obscurus in my sketches.
The Obscurus is all swirling dark matter, similar to oil.
Early on in the development of the Obscurus, we began referencing artwork by various artists, such as Russ Mills, to explore the idea of emotion through bold lines and abstract shapes. I produced various portraits of the actor using traditional media, such as charcoal, acrylic and oil on paper.
The Obscurus was one of the most challenging visual tasks I encountered. In this image I was asked to show it smashing through the windows of a New York building and gliding down the facade. The idea here was to visualize the Obscurus through the use of the falling debris which, touching his invisible body, would show the audience quick glimpses of his outline and shapes. The final effect was achieved through a subtle manipulation of the particle cloud, revealing the Obscurus’ outline in just a few places and just enough to show the audience that something mysterious is moving in the debris.
‘THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW YORK CITY IS VERY WELL DOCUMENTED IN CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY. BUT IN ORDER TO TELL OUR STORY WE NEEDED TO FIND ANGLES THAT HADN’T BEEN SEEN BEFORE. AFTER I PROJECTED AN OLD PHOTOGRAPH ON A 3D GEOMETRY OF THE CITY WE WERE ABLE TO CHANGE THE PERSPECTIVE TO EXACTLY THE ANGLE WE WANTED.’
This image illustrates several set pieces from different places that would be built partly on our backlot and partly on location in Liverpool. It was my task to create a believable environment, using digital set extensions for the background areas.
The reverse of the view on the previous pages showing more damage done to the subway station beneath.
A reverse angle shows Newt, Tina and Jacob looking out over New York from the rooftop vantage point; tighter shot as the group of friends look out over New York from the rooftop; the view from the rooftop past our heroes as we see the trail of destruction across New York; Newt, Tina, Queenie and Jacob Disapparate on to a rooftop in an attempt to track the Obscurus.
Sometimes sets are built only to be torn down again. This illustration was investigating the amount of damage done to the subway station during the final showdown.
At the earliest stages of the work, I had very little information about the Obscurus, so I just experimented with different materials.
These were difficult to draw because there were few firm ideas about the Obscurus’ appearance and its abilities. This led to a series of key frame studies based around Credence and the Obscurus’ possession of his body.
How would the Obscurus enter and exit his host and what would it/he look like?
Are they always attached in some way or are there moments of separation? Fun ideas that make Credence look a little like a rag doll or puppet on a string. () Credence being consumed by the Obscurus. () The Obscurus as a wave of pure evil drags Credence like a rag doll behind it. () Credence under the control of the Obscurus. () Credence is consumed by the black mass of the Obscurus. () Credence within the Obscurus. () The Obscurus as a shadow that follows Credence. () The Obscurus leaves Credence’s body. () The Obscurus protects Credence as he rests. () Credence, the host for the Obscurus. () The Obscurus enters Credence. () The Obscurus and Credence are one. Frames 2, 4, 6 & 8 are more elaborate and finished frames – drawn in an attempt to sell certain concepts and ideas whilst developing the final act. 1920s New York streets proved a fun setting for the finale of the film.
Here it rises from a cloud of smoke and dust.
Shown here as an abstract mass of glowing matter.
This series of four images show how once the Obscurus is let loose, and possibly invisible, we would get glimpses of its form through distortion of its surroundings. In this case turning a car in to an orange peel-like sculpture, a swirling mass of broken glass and metal, blasting its way through the streets of New York.
At first it is invisible but it is eventually defined by the debris from the mayhem it has created on New York’s streets.
This series of storyboards was to sell the sinister mood of the subway sequence, with Newt duelling with Graves and the Obscurus’ attack. It was great to have a change from drawing quick storyboards and have a whole day to come up with a dozen or so of these.
The idea here is that the afflicted person would expel a sort of ectoplasm mass that would engulf the person, eventually growing and taking control with the person trapped inside.
The Obscurus is the most complex character: just imagine that you need to draw an invisible villain. During the first few days of work I was in a state of shock!
This series was an attempt to explore the Obscurus in motion, a chaotic mass of energy. The challenge was to create something with enough weight and structure to believably wreak havoc and cause destruction to the surrounding environment. Our solution was to reference sculptures of artists, such as Barbara Hepworth and Henry Moore, to create a core form for the Obscurus that would transform over the duration of a shot. As an appendage of the Obscurus bears weight, its mass evolves. The core form was animated, then handed over to the effects team to produce a simulation that would give surface detail and character to the overall look of the Obscurus.
For very brief moments, we see the suggestion of the warped ‘monster face’ of the Obscurus. This face embodies the distorted anguish and evil torment of Credence’s suppressed magic. I worked up a sculpt in ZBrush which was then refined by Thomas Bolt.
Credence is constrained within the core of the Obscurus, a tangled nest of membranes and tendrils. Using a distorted base model of Ezra Miller by David Frylund Otzen, Tania Richard composed this image to explore the bound abstraction of Credence whilst retaining recognizable features such as the character’s eyes.
The purpose of this concept was to explore motion, destruction and the evolution of form within a shot as the Obscurus blindly smashes through the streets of New York. We went through various incarnations of the Obscurus, inspired by the emotional performances of Ezra Miller, from abstract and distorted shapes to a classic creature design. Kouji Tajima attempted to convey in this image a sense of the creature within a chaotic mass of membranes and lashing appendages.
I painted this image as one of a series of aerial shots to show the shape of New York at the time of the story. It was a challenge to show the scale and complexity of the structures whilst keeping the mood and atmosphere.
