27 November 2020
Video: Bringing daemons and ice bears to life in His Dark Materials
If you’re a His Dark Materials fan, you’ll know that in the books, Lyra’s daemon Pan has about 35 different forms – as the spirit animals or ‘daemons’ of children aren’t fixed in form. When it came to bringing Pan and all his forms to life, the special effects crew of HDM settled on about eight different forms to express Lyra’s thoughts and feelings.
Watch the video on the making of the ice bears and daemons
This is just one of the interesting things we learned watching HBO’s behind-the-scenes featurette on Bringing Daemons and Bears to Life in His Dark Materials, now streaming on Showmax.
“The show has an unusually high baseline for visual effects,” explains Russel Dodgson, VFX Supervisor. Did you know that the bear fight at the end of season one took six months of animation? There were 1,500 creature shots in total in season one, 50 different daemons, and the eight-episode first season contained a total of three full viewing hours of visual effects – the same as a feature-length film done entirely in CGI.
Watch the latest episodes of His Dark Materials Season 2 on Showmax, express from the US.
Youngins S2, now on Showmax
Soft Life, now streaming on Showmax
More Mzansi gold
Outopsie S1-3
Senior forensic pathologist Dr Hestelle van Staden reveals what really happens behind closed doors in captivating cases where forensic pathology played a central role.
Great African Crimes with Mandy Wiener (2024)
This one-off special explores three dramatic cases that left South Africa stunned: Daisy de Melker, the so-called Sea Cottage incident, and the Krugersdorp bank robbery.
Zarelda de Bruin on her breakout debut role in Spooksoeker
The 17-year-old Zarelda de Bruin plays Melissa in the Showmax Original Spooksoeker, now available to stream. Catch new episodes every Thursday.
9 reasons that 2024 was the best year yet for local TV
Stream the best local content on Showmax in 2024, featuring iEmmy winners, record-breaking documentaries, SAFTA winners, and globally acclaimed hits.