Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

MastersFX Creates Creepy Doll Special Effects for Lakeshore Entertainment and STX Entertainments Feature Film the Boy

28/01/2016

Character FX artists from MASTERSFX (www.mastersfx.com ) have created the featured creepy doll Brahms, the title character starring in Lakeshore Entertainment and STX Entertainment's horror film, The Boy.

For The Boy, which opened on January 22nd, MASTERSFX's Vancouver Studio created the title character - a four-foot tall doll that seems to rule the household of a remote manor. In the film, a young American woman, Greta, (Lauren Cohan of AMC's The Walking Dead), takes a job as a live-in nanny in rural England. She comes to find out that the child she was hired to care for is not an actual 8-year-old boy, but instead, a life-sized porcelain doll named Brahms.

Company president Todd Masters said, We have a long-standing relationship with our friends at Lakeshore Entertainment, usually making vampires and werewolves for their Underworld films. But this time, creating Brahms,' was a completely different challenge.

We knew that this Brahms' doll needed to be more like a supporting cast member for Lauren Cohan to play against, rather than just serve as her prop, Masters adds, So we added all sorts of weird little forms and details within his features. We wanted to depict a good deal of realism with his appearance, even by his ability to make a simple turn of his head. Adding in cinematographer Daniel Pearl's (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) incredible lighting, he, director William Brent Bell, and especially producer Richard Wright were instrumental in helping us to present Brahms' simple, downplayed, yet truly bizarre features.

MASTERSFX's Vancouver Studio created several Brahams dolls to accommodate the needs of various stages of the production. MFX's Lead Artist Yukiyo Okajima sculpted Brahms' delicate features, and finished each life-like doll with her special touch. This was tough in some ways, as sometimes subtle' nuances can be more painstaking, than, say creating a Lycan - where we have fur and slime to help us hide some of our FX tricks. But with The Boy, our team has really outdone themselves by creating a truly creepy doll' for the movie ages, Masters concludes. Working on-set, MASTERSFX artist Tannis Hegan operated and maintained each of the Brahms dolls to ensure that each dolls' features would reflect the proper emotion and tone. Each doll was articulated as though a large stop-motion armature was inside it. In this manner, Hegan could allow Brahms to make the slightest of head turns, or move into a body pose that would convincingly portray the appropriate character's emotion as each scene required.

The Boy is a haunting thriller, filled with more than meets the eye - from director William Brent Bell (The Devil Inside.)

In addition to the company's work on The Boy, MASTERSFX also recently completed its special makeup FX contributions to Underworld: Next Generation, for Lakeshore Entertainment -- the 5th installment in the successful action sci-fi franchise, starring Kate Beckinsale. MASTERSFX has once again provided the practical, on-set Lycan characters for this film, which recently completed principal photography in Prague. Anna Foerster directs Underworld: Next Generation, which Sony Pictures Entertainment will release.

About MASTERSFX:

Founded in 1987 by Emmy Award winner Todd Masters, MASTERSFX is a multi-award winning character and special FX house with studios in Vancouver, British Colombia, and Los Angeles. MASTERSFXs creative teams produce a unique blend of practical and digital makeup and special FX, prosthetics and animatronics, through a process called dMFX, for hundreds of hit feature films, TV shows, and commercials.

Included among the TV projects to which MASTERSFX has contributed its work are True Blood, Six Feet Under, Tales from the Crypt and Fringe. Among the companys Film credits are RoboCop, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Haunting in Connecticut, Star Trek: First Contact, The Horse Whisperer, Slither, Snakes on a Plane, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Look Whos Talking, and many more.

Todd Masters won an Emmy Award in 2003 for the 2001/2002 Season of Six Feet Under in the category Best Special Effects Makeup. MASTERSFX is also the winner of a 2006 Saturn Award for Best MakeUp FX for its work on the film Slither. See more at www.mastersfx.com

About STX Entertainment:

STX Entertainment is a fully-integrated global media company specializing in the production, marketing, and distribution of talent-driven films, television programming and digital content. It is the first major entertainment media company to be launched at this scale in Hollywood in more than twenty years.

STX Entertainment's motion picture division recently released their first feature films, the critically-acclaimed box office success The Gift, and the mystery thriller Secret in Their Eyes. The company will next release the horror film The Boy; the epic action-drama Free State of Jones; Hardcore, an adrenaline-fueled action film; Desierto, a gripping and suspense-filled thriller; the interplanetary adventure The Space Between Us; and the coming-of-age comedy Besties.Additionally, STX has five films set to start production over the next 6 months.

About Lakeshore Entertainment:

Lakeshore Entertainment is one of the leading independent production, finance and international sales and distribution companies. Founded in 1994 by Chairman and CEO Tom Rosenberg, Lakeshore has produced more than 60 films including the Academy Award winning Million Dollar Babyas well as the Underworldfranchise, The Lincoln Lawyer, Runaway Bride, The Ugly Truth, The Mothman Prophecies, Exorcism of Emily Rose, Crank, The Gift, Autumn in New Yorkand Arlington Road. Lakeshore recently released The Age of Adaline,starring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford and Ellen Burstyn. Upcoming releases include The Boy, which will be released with STX
LINK: https://news.creativecow.net/story/880613...
See more stories from creativecow

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

30/09/2026

Clear-Com's Arcadia Central Station Brings Professional Production Communications to...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

30/09/2026

AWARN Alliance Urges FCC to Let Broadcasters Tap Full 3.0 Capabilities

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Senator Asks If All-GOP FCC Would Violate Federal Law

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Marshall PTZ Cameras Bring Legendary Progressive Rock Exp...

The An Evening with Emerson, Lake and Palmer tour brings one of rock's most iconic bands back to the stage. These performances seamlessly blend live foota...

30/09/2026

Schibsted Media Chooses DHD RX2 and TX2 Mixers for Remote...

Schibsted Media, one of Norways largest and most influential digital media publishers and content producers, has invested in mixers and digital signal processor...

30/09/2026

Big Blue Marble adds live multiview channels to its video...

Big Blue Marble announces the addition of live multiview channels to Cloud Video Kit, its broadcast-grade video processing platform. The feature is powered by A...

30/09/2026

Telekom Slovenije brings local advertising to internation...

Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced that Telekom Slovenije, Slovenia's largest provider of telecommunications and TV services, is open...

30/09/2026

PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow

PODCAST EXPO 2026 Recorded Using Blackmagic Design Workflow Brie Clayton September 29, 2026 0 Comments Conference featuring 24 sessions over two days ...

30/09/2026

IBC2026 Show Report

IBC2026 Show Report David Kirk September 29, 2026 0 Comments The International Broadcasting Convention has long been Europe's equivalent of the US...

30/09/2026

SGO Unveils Workflows Slate To Enable Automated Burn-ins, Slates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Public Advocacy Group Urges Broadcasters to Stop Airing Trump Taxpayer Funded Ad

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Qvest Promotes Katlyn Alexander to CEO, North America

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

30/09/2026

Mavis Camera 8-2 adds iPhone 18 Pro Support with Variable...

Mavis has launched Mavis Camera 8.2, the latest release of its professional camera app for the iPhone and iPad. This update brings support for iPhone 18 Pro and...

30/09/2026

Claire Brock and Sophie Morris discover how consumers can shop smarter in new RT documentary series

How to Shop Well Now starts Monday at 9.35pm on RT One and RT Player On the...

30/09/2026

From Training to Production, NVIDIA and CoreWeave Close the Loop on Agentic AI

Building on nearly a decade of co-engineering, CoreWeave has built NVIDIA compute, networking and software into a cloud purpose-built for AI that's still re...

29/09/2026

Oak View Group Names Cisco as Official Technology Partner

Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...

29/09/2026

SportsNet Pittsburgh Wins Three Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards

SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards. Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...

29/09/2026

CBC, PWHL Revive Hockey Night in Canada' on Saturdays

The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...

29/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Recognized as MXL Contributor Following IBC Innovation Award

Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...

29/09/2026

Fubo Launches My Local Sports RSN Add-On Package

FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...

29/09/2026

ANI Deploys Grass Valley AMPP and Framelight X for News Operations

Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...

29/09/2026

SABC Deploys Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras for IP-Based Production

South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...

29/09/2026

Busy in Bristol: ESPN Headquarters Come Alive With New Studio W, Remote-Production Workflows

REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...

29/09/2026

NASCAR Productions' Keith D'Alessandro on the Continued Evolution of Its Centralized Production Hub

Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...

29/09/2026

NBC Sports Brings Robust Sunday Night Baseball Production Playbook to MLB Wild Card Round

NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...

29/09/2026

Sundance Institute Announces 2026 Doc Fund Grantees

19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary LOS ...

29/09/2026

Zynaptiq introduce Loud & Wide

Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...

29/09/2026

Wes Audio unveil the ngOmniBox

All-in-one bus processor revealed Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...

29/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Drastically Upgrades Production Communications with...

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......

29/09/2026

Fubo TV Launches My Local Sports'

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ARRI Targets Content Creators with New HONOR Smartphone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Asian News International Enhances Workflow with Grass Valley AMPP, FramelightX

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Chooses Ikegami UHK-X600 Cameras to Support IP Studio Transition

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

SABC Upgrades to IP-Based Production with Ikegami UHK-X60...

Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...

29/09/2026

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone

Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone Brie Clayton September 29, 2026 0 Comments Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...

29/09/2026

Ease Live Reports over 75 Million Interactive Sessions Du...

Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...

29/09/2026

Ease Live to monetise key moments in live sports

Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...

29/09/2026

Rise AV launches awards celebrating the women advocates a...

Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...

29/09/2026

Netflix Deploys Advanced Sony PTZ Cameras For Wonka's The Golden Ticket' Production

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Massachusetts Broadcasters Association Names Gene Lavanchy 2026 Broadcaster of the Year

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

ESPN Reports Its Most-Watched WNBA Regular Season

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Scripps Taps Digital News Veteran Sean McGarvy to Lead News Strategy

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Gray Raises Political Ad Revenue Estimates

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

Edward Czarnecki Uses Game Theory to Assess ATSC 3.0 Transition Policies

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

29/09/2026

First Baptist Nashville Drastically Upgrades Production C...

Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...

29/09/2026

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch

Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch Brie Clayton September 28, 2026 0 Comments Camera's portable design and dynamic range...