Building a Better Vampire: How Digital Domain's VFX Helped Morbius' Evolve Beyond Practical Effects
Brie Clayton June 16, 2022
0 Comments
Fully Emotive, Monstrous Faces Created Using an Evolution of the Tech Used to Make Thanos; Virtual Production Employed to Finalize the Final Battle
In Sony Pictures' latest foray into the world of comic-based superheroes, the title character of Morbius is something of an anomaly. One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen as Oscar -winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil -or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges? His existence is both extraordinary and tortured, which lead both the filmmakers and star to consider new ways to express those emotions, while remaining true to the inhuman, vampiric look of the character. That led the studio to tap into the expertise of the leading digital human experts, award-winning VFX studio, Digital Domain.
Some contents or functionalities here are not available due to your cookie preferences!
This happens because the functionality/content marked as Google Youtube uses cookies that you choosed to keep disabled. In order to view this content or use this functionality, please enable cookies: click here to open your cookie preferences.
Our digital human team is creating technology that makes it possible for visual effects to expand storytelling in ways that just weren't possible even a few years ago, while also enhancing the performances of the talent on screen, said John Fragomeni, global president of Digital Domain. As the primary VFX vendor on Morbius, we've been working closely with both the stars and filmmakers, and that has given us the freedom to really iterate on the designs and push the technology.
A Modern Day Monster Digital Domain began its work on Morbius by designing the final look for each character's vampiric forms, with the goal of creating photorealistic, monstrous looks, without restricting them through the use of prosthetics or sitting in a makeup chair for hours each day. Despite having a rough idea of what the character Morbius should look like thanks to his comic origins, the final look still required countless tweaks to ensure everything fit the filmmakers' vision -from the jagged teeth to the exact pigmentation in the skin. The character of Milo's vampiric form (Matt Smith) was also an original design, created by Digital Domain.
In Morbius, the advances to Digital Domain's facial capture software allowed the team to record nearly double the geometry resolution and details used to create Thanos in the Avengers films, another character created by Digital Domain. With the final look of each vampire determined, the stars performed their scenes live on set wearing facial capture markers. Each performer also recorded a full range of facial expressions and movements, in order to create a complete facial geometry for each subject. Following principal photography, several scenes were then later re-filmed on a motion capture stage, giving Director Daniel Espinosa the ability to adjust and fine-tune the monster performances as needed.
With the facial data secured, Digital Domain then employed its facial capture system Masquerade, a proprietary tool designed to produce the highest fidelity facial animation possible, faster than ever before, all without limiting the performer's on-set movements. From there, artists were able to turn the high-resolution face model into a high-resolution, photorealistic digital character. Artists then made the necessary adjustments to ensure that the CG version of the character was an exact match to the original subject's performance, including all the nuance conveyed by the award-winning cast. The VFX house also altered the CG faces as needed to adjust the proportions. That included digitally removing and replacing the performers' cheek bones as needed, to highlight the more sunken look.
Along with the core look of the vampiric characters, Digital Domain also created multiple variations of the character Morbius, highlighting his evolution throughout the film. Five separate versions of the character were seen, from the earliest moments where just hints of the coming transformation are present to a final form where Morbius gives into his rage and unleashes a truly monstrous look at the character. The filmmakers were also able to introduce another unique story element, known as the bloom, where the characters are seen to momentarily morph from their human visage to their vampiric alter ego, adding another storytelling tool to the filmmakers' arsenal.
Masquerade is in a class of its own, and it gives filmmakers the ability to create better CG faces faster, without sacrificing the nuance and subtlety of the actor's performance, said Digital Domain's Matthew Butler, production visual effects supervisor on Morbius. It was already the most advanced tool of its kind when Digital Domain's Digital Human Group developed it to create Thanos, and the version we used on Morbius is at least a generation more advanced.
Vampiric Powers Unleashed To complement the design of the vampires, Digital Domain also developed the look of the superpowered effects throughout the film. This included the speed and fighting sequences, which primarily used animated digidoubles of the characters, created after a two-week motion capture session featuring the main performers and stunt people. Digital Domain also developed the look of Morbius' echo-loca
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
28/11/2025
Nadia Fall attends the 2025 Sundance Film Festival premiere of Brides at the Egyptian Theatre on January 24, 2025, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Donyale West/...
28/11/2025
It's easy to ignore those little red update available badges. But when it ...
28/11/2025
WASHINGTON Federal Communications Commission has released a tentative agenda for the December Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Thursday, December 18, 2025 ...
28/11/2025
The Professional Fighters League is looking to super-serve fans of mixed martial...
28/11/2025
Fubo has released in beta on select Roku devices a new feature that lets users display up to four simultaneous streams at once....
28/11/2025
The WNBA playoffs and Week 4 of the NFL regular season highlight the list of live sports events airing on television this weekend....
28/11/2025
The 32nd class of honorees to the B+C Hall of Fame took to the stage at New York's Ziegfeld Ballroom on September 26 for a gala induction event. Click below...
28/11/2025
We hold in our hands the very last Next Text for Next TV, the weekly back-and-fo...
28/11/2025
DirecTV said it made a deal with EchoStar to buy EchoStar's video businesses, including satellite-TV provider Dish TV and virtual MVPD Sling TV, for $1 plus...
28/11/2025
The Broadcasting+Cable Hall of Fame, the premier industry event paying tribute to the influencers, innovators and shining lights of broadcast, cable and streami...
28/11/2025
Friday 28 November 2025
Sky Sports x Slawn drop limited-edition football jersey...
28/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz shows resilience in a challenging environment, revenue exceeds t...
28/11/2025
Unwrapped: The Toy Show Appeal - airing this Sunday on RT One and RT Player- s...
27/11/2025
LONDON Vizrt has added several AI-driven advanced features offering improved speed, intelligence and accuracy in the newest version of its media asset managemen...
27/11/2025
Prime Video has launched AI-powered video season recaps in a beta version for select English-language Prime Original series in the U.S., a move Amazon is callin...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Netflix's Raat Akeli Hai: The Bansal Murders Marks a Grand...
27/11/2025
27 Nov 2025
GSMA brings M360 Eurasia 2026 to Samarkand in partnership with VEON...
27/11/2025
Tahar Rahim and Izuka Hoyle star in the gripping six-part Sky Original from Acad...
27/11/2025
Thursday 27 November 2025
Sky Arts Reveals the Nation's Greatest Basslines - and Queen Reign Supreme
The UK's most iconic basslines have been revealed...
27/11/2025
Back to All News
Stranger Things 5': Prepare for One Last Adventure With O...
27/11/2025
The media industry has a paradox at its core. It's an industry built on light, color and imagination, yet behind the scenes, it's powered by one of the ...
27/11/2025
Rating reflects rating progress across areas including policies, diversity & inclusion, health & safety and Net Zero leadership
Winchester, UK, 27 November 202...
27/11/2025
What are the industry standards for Retail Media? Kathryn explains that certification is based on the IAB Europe Retail Media Measurement Standards and the IAB ...
27/11/2025
World champion boxer and Irish sporting icon Katie Taylor will be in studio this...
27/11/2025
Roblox, one of the world's most popular online gaming platforms for primary ...
27/11/2025
Black Friday is leveling up. Get ready to score one of the biggest deals of the season - 50% off the first three months of a new GeForce NOW Ultimate membership...
26/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Prime Video EP Mike Muriano Previews Massive Black Friday Slate Fe...
26/11/2025
A cinematic snow sculpture at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. Photo by Randall Michelson...
26/11/2025
Book podcasts are booming. On Spotify, you'll find everything from celebrity book clubs to deep dives with bestselling authors. And in markets where audiobo...
26/11/2025
Mumbai, November 24, 2025: In a first-of-its-kind initiative, JioStar, in collab...
26/11/2025
LONDON Factual content producer ITN Productions has launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins....
26/11/2025
MIAMI TelevisaUnivision said it struck a new multiyear distribution agreement with YouTube TV that includes distribution of TelevisaUnivision's U.S. network...
26/11/2025
OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and data services, today announced the launch of the Atlas Corporate Creative Solution. This new Atl...
26/11/2025
Disguise, the industry-leading company powering the world's biggest live performances, is partnering with pioneering LED wall manufacturer DVS to give atten...
26/11/2025
HighField AI, the pioneer in agentic and multimodal automation for broadcast and media production, today announced the expansion of its global channel partner n...
26/11/2025
As high-stakes Premier League fixtures approach and additional premium content launches, with MONO positioning themselves to dominate Thailand's sports stre...
26/11/2025
Hosting a wide variety of events from high-intensity NHL games to complex live music concerts and major entertainment productions, Montreal's 21,000 capacit...
26/11/2025
Vizrt, the leader in live production technology revolutionizing viewer engagement and experience, releases AI-driven advances focusing on speed, intelligence, a...
26/11/2025
ITN Productions, an award-winning factual content producer, today launched a new low-latency IP gallery for news bulletins. Responsible for delivering a leading...
26/11/2025
Ikegami reports ongoing advances throughout 2025 in developing and delivering coordinated television production solutions that maximize quality, versatility and...
26/11/2025
Following the Nov. 21 blackout of NBCUniversal channels on Fubo, the two sides have traded barbs about their inability to reach a new carriage deal....
26/11/2025
LONDON As TV sports rights become increasingly important for both broadcasters and streamers, Ampere Analysis predicts global investment in the genre will surpa...
26/11/2025
LOS ANGELES Vubiquity said it has achieved the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Media & Entertainment Competency as part of the AWS Partner Network (APN). This designa...
26/11/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission's Enforcement Bureau said it has entered into a consent decree with Comcast calling for the cable company t...
26/11/2025
Berklee Named to the Hollywood Reporters Top Music Schools List The publication highlights the college's screen scoring program, industry partnerships, and ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
Animated Series Love Through a Prism' Casts New Light on ...
26/11/2025
Back to All News
NALIP Unveils Fifth Cohort of Director Incubator
Social Impact
26 November 2025
United States
Link copied to clipboard
The National Assoc...
26/11/2025
YouView Achieves Greenly Gold Certification for SustainabilityNov 26, 2025
YouView is proud to announce a Gold Certification award from Greenly for our perform...
Building a Better Vampire: How Digital Domain's VFX Helped Morbius' Evolve Beyond Practical Effects 
