The KM Effects team has shared some new behind-the-scenes photos of a practical Clayface costume that was created to serve as an on-set lighting reference for the CG "Sewer Creature" Matt Hagen transforms into at the end of the movie.
While Clayface's final form was clearly influenced by the comics, the creature design retained some of actor Tom Rhys Harries' features. These images reveal a far more faithful recreation of the Batman villain's monstrous look, although one half of the face does still have a slightly more humanoid appearance.
"Last year we were hired to make prosthetic blood effects, fake dummies, props and VFX lighting models for the recent Clayface movie. I will post more Clayface items over the coming weeks in between current jobs when I get time to get through some images etc., but for now this post shows the Clayface VFX lighting creature costume we were asked to build. This was to help with framing and shadows and for VFX to animate over."
During a recent interview with Variety, director James Watkins explained how he decided on the character's final form.
"I took everything as a reference and tried to choose, because there are so many versions in the comics. We did about 19 different iterations. You want to honor the comics, but at the same time, you want to make sure it can work as live-action because it’s obviously a different medium. The key thing for me was making sure that it captured the emotion, the man inside the monster. I was particularly obsessed with his left eye and the pain and the heartbreak within that and the scream, the quality of his voice. I first responded in Mike’s script to the idea of the tragedy and the journey of his character and where he ends up and going with him."
Clayface, which had a reported production budget of around $44 million, has been performing fairly well at the box office, but it certainly wasn't anything close to a smash hit. James Gunn has confirmed that there are plans to do more with the character in the future, but it remains to be seen if he'll face off against the DCU's Batman - whoever that turns out to be.
DC Studios’ first-ever foray into the genre, Clayface is a horror thriller from director James Watkins, starring Tom Rhys Harries in the title role of the Gotham City villain. Clayface unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.
The film also stars Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella and Eddie Marsan, as well as Nancy Carroll and Joshua James. James Watkins directs from a screenplay by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, story by Flanagan, based on characters from DC.
Clayface is produced by Matt Reeves, Lynn Harris, James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Michael E. Uslan, Rafi Crohn, Paul Ritchie, Chantal Nong Vo and Lars P. Winther executive producing.