What was the process of creating that technology like? It’s different implementations of it, but it’s the same basic concept that was back on Gollum. It spreads the light as it goes through the surface so you get that skin-like feel. It’s basically like, if you light a wax candle, you see the diffusion of the light through it. Yeah, it’s called Subsurface and we actually got an Oscar for that technology. That was something that had never been done before. I remember reading that the reflection of light on and under Gollum’s skin and the way you could see his veins was one of the biggest innovations that you guys pioneered.

Because he was so skinny, you saw all of the muscles moving under his skin. And because we were inventing technology as we were doing it, it was a huge challenge. Up to that point, you’d seen a lot of CG creatures, but none to the level of Gollum, where the detail him an actor on screen, rather than just a scary monster, which is what a lot of the CG creatures up to that point had been. Eric Saindon: When we did Gollum, no one had really done a CG creature mixed with live action that you were supposed to believe was just a creature in the scene.

Gollum from lord of the rings png