In Damsel, the new dark fantasy feature film released to Netflix on March 8, a dutiful young lady agrees to marry a prince, only to discover that the royal family has intended her for a much more terrifying destiny. Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, who helmed the Oscar-nominated short Linked and the global hit horror sequel 28 Weeks Later, and written by Dan Mazeau (Wrath of the Titans, Fast X), this modern fairy tale offered the filmmaking team a variety of visual playgrounds, as well as a Medieval monster.
The film stars Millie Bobby Brown as Elodie; Ray Winstone and Angela Bassett as her parents, Lord and Lady Bayford; Nick Robinson as Prince Henry; Robin Wright as Queen Isabelle; Milo Twomey as King Roderick; and Oscar-nominated Iranian-American actress Shohreh Aghdashloo as the voice of the Dragon.
Visual effects supervisor Nigel Denton-Howes and production designer Patrick Tatopoulos recently answered a few burning questions about crafting the world of Damsel and its fresh take on antiquity’s fearsome beast:
Animation Magazine: Can you tell us a bit about how you got involved with this project?
Patrick Tatopoulos: A year after I designed Maleficent: Mistress of Evil for Disney and [Roth/Kirschenbaum Films], I was approached by Jeff Kirshenbaum and Chris Castaldi from RK. They introduced me to a couple of new projects they were producing, and one of them was Damsel. I found it to be very original, different from anything I had read before. There was a brand-new world to create, a unique kingdom, a giant cave system and the cherry on top: a dragon. I have always picked projects which give me the opportunity to design the world as well as the characters which belong in it, but I have never designed a dragon for film before. Here, I had to create this amazing, ancient, female dragon from scratch, and I was ecstatic.
Nigel Denton-Howes: I started on the project after principal photography was done. Netflix and the producers of the film asked me to come on to help push the dragon forward both from a look and performance perspective.
When you first read the script, what sparked your imagination?
Patrick : The fact that the story was set in the Medieval time and bounced between reality and fantasy really sparked my imagination. There are three distinctly different worlds in Damsel: the land where Elodie comes from (somewhere in northern England — cold, bleak and poor), the Kingdom of Aurea (warm, lush and rich) and the cave. The cave had to suit the dragon’s needs and allow her not only to stalk and kill her victims, but also play a game of cat and mouse with them. We needed a tight symbiosis between the architecture in the cave and the creature that inhabits it. But before any of the worlds and kingdoms were figured out, I wanted to design the dragon. We had to figure out who the dragon was before we gave her a home.
Nigel : The script was a great read from the first moment. Its focus on Elodie and her growth through the course of the film to become a very self-assured woman able to act both with violence but also empathy was an excellent hook. The world of Aurea and its contrast with the homeland was also wonderfully laid out.
How is the dragon featured in the movie different from other CG dragons we have seen in some of our favorite TV shows and movies in recent years?
Patrick: My first thought was that I had to create a dragon different from ones we’ve seen before. I went through an intensive design phase with our director. The process went on for a bit until I approached the design of our dragon more as a cat than a lizard, a feline rather than a reptile. I believed the anatomy of a cat would allow us to create more femininity in the dragon. Reptiles move in a rather mechanical way that sometimes feels lumbering and not very elegant. The dragon had to be scary, but also sensual and mysterious. The idea of a cat-like dragon led me to design a creature that is closer to a Manticore or a Sphinx than a traditional dragon. Aside from her skin being scaly, the whole creature is more like a panther than a dragon.
I was lucky to be invited almost all the way to the end of post-production to assist the team in keeping this “cat concept” in mind. The post-production was such an amazing time, as I was able to see the dragon slowly come to life in CGI. My collaboration with Nigel was the friendliest and most rewarding as we both kept forging forward in the same creative direction. It was some of the best teamwork I ever experienced.
Nigel: The dragon in Damsel definitely strays away from simply being a beast. With a compelling character arc on her own, the dragon is a key character in the film, not just a creature there as a prop or simple minded bad guy. Physically, the dragon is quite different from others we have seen in the past. Her anatomy is much closer to a large cat rather than being based on something similar to a lizard. This gave us the freedom to have her move through the environment in many different ways. She’s just as comfortable running and leaping as she is flying.
What were your biggest sources of inspiration?
Patrick: I often revisit classical art from Medieval times through the Romanticism and Neoclassicism of the late 19th century. I found a pool of inspiration from paintings, engravings, sculptures and architecture. I love exploring a worldwide source of inspiration. Different religions and cultures offer different visions on common myths. I really tried to avoid finding inspiration in contemporary art and entertainment, and enjoyed going further away from those tendencies. I think you always have to go back to the source and search for answers there.
Nigel: We were very much guided by the original concept work and production design for all aspects of the visual effects. For the character performances we referenced that of Shohreh Aghdashloo, who we filmed when recording her lines.
The dragon fire was quite unique and is a mix of gaseous and liquid flames, almost like napalm or lava. A lot of reference was gathered from real world footage and combined together to come up with the final look.
Overall, how many VFX shots were created for the movie and which VFX houses worked on the project?
Nigel: There are 1202 visual effects shots in the film. We had 10 VFX houses working on the film:
- One of Us (primary vendor)
- Rodeo FX
- PXO
- The Yard
- Important Looking Pirates
- Rising Sun Pictures
- Rebel Unit
- Atomic Arts
- Primary VFX
- NetFX
How long did production take?
Patrick: Because of the pandemic, the project took around three years to complete. With stages in London and locations set in North England, Portugal and Spain, we were able to create a variety of looks and seasons to help create a sense of travel and adventure.
Nigel: The film actually was supposed to shoot at the beginning of 2020, which was very much disrupted. After the world went back to filming when the worst of COVID was behind us principal photography began. It wrapped up spring of 2022 and we finished the last shots in January of 2024.
What were your biggest challenges on this project?
Nigel: Bringing life to the dragon was a big part of the film and of course took a lot of work to get right. The dragon really is a principal character in the film and needed to stand up to acting alongside Millie Bobby Brown. One of Us really pushed hard to get our dragon up to that point which was of course a tremendous challenge but also very rewarding.
Patrick: My biggest challenges were more logistical than creative. In building the large cave system we found ourselves in a bit of an impasse, as London was very busy at the time. Most stages in town were already being used, so we had to figure out a way to pack these large multi-level sets across town. Sometimes we shot in stages which were still in construction, or were too small. It was a challenge, but it’s all part of the job! Some of these situations force you to be more creative and bring out ideas that enhance your vision.
Nigel: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and I really worked hand-in-glove for the duration of my time on the film. He’s an extremely collaborative director who loves to bounce ideas off others as the film progresses. It was a lot of fun throughout and really gave me a chance to be a part of the creative team on the film.
Patrick: I was beyond excited to work with Juan Carlos. We quickly clicked, and our dialogue was very open with no boundaries. We worked together intensively, but it was always great fun. The fact that development took around two years gave us lots of time to get to know each other and develop our vision together. You don’t always have the luxury to spend that kind of time with the director. We had some great satisfactions, but also some very hard times, and these situations forged between us a great friendship that I truly cherish.
What is your take on the unpredictable state of the VFX industry as we embark on a new year?
Nigel: The last year was really the unpredictable state of the entire film industry more than specifically visual effects, with strikes by both writers and actors essentially putting the film industry in the West on hold. VFX is very exposed to disruption from other parts of the film making process and unfortunately the last year has damaged us quite badly. Hopefully as we move forward and things start to pick up again, film makers and studios make sustainable choices that help even out the bumps in production more than we’ve seen in previous years. We could all use a bit more stability at the moment.
That aside, the challenges of AI and generative art may well start to influence how we work, although there are many legal challenges around how those models are trained to be figured out before there can be mass adoption of the tools.
Patrick: AI is the word. Almost everything is possible now. It comes easy for everyone. The technology is so advanced that the gap between the VFX world and the day-to-day tools everyone can use at home is shrinking every day. It’s hard to say where that will take us. What worries me most is the lack of creative control that comes with such technology. When everything is done for you people barely have to think or create, and that could make us creatively lazy.
The new tools to push our visions further are compelling and exciting, but we have to remember how important it is to never abandon the old pencil and sketchbook. I always pride myself for never starting to design any project without a pencil sketch on paper. But that’s just me.
Damsel is now streaming on Netflix worldwide.
