Just as Frankenstein’s Monster could only be created by man, so, too, will Guillermo del Toro’s sets. The director and visionary has been widely outspoken against the use of AI and he is one of the most prominent directors out there and he is, expectedly, putting it all out there with his latest film, Frankenstein.
We all know that Guillermo del Toro loves practical effects and makeup – no doubt spawning from his love of early horror – so for Frankenstein, he absolutely had to avoid AI, even if it would have been easier. As he told Variety, “I want real sets. I don’t want digital. I don’t want AI. I don’t want simulation. I want old-fashioned craftsmanship. I want people painting, building, hammering, plastering.” There were even 360-degree sets of Victor Frankenstein’s laboratory and more built, further immersing the cast and crew in the environment and encouraging actual craftsmanship on his set.
Certainly del Toro could have gone another easy route and used CGI or AI to create or enhance Frankenstein’s Monster, but he had Jacob Elordi go through the entire makeup ordeal, here lasting 10 hours per session. As Elordi detailed, “There’s so many different layers to the costume. When he’s born, he’s wearing nearly nothing. His chest is open and his head is high. Then, as he starts to experience pain, as we do as a teenager, he starts to hunch his shoulders. And as an adult, he closes off.”
Frankenstein will premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival, where it’s competing for the Golden Lion, a prize del Toro won in 2017 with eventual Best Picture winner The Shape of Water. After that, it will be given a limited theatrical release on October 17th before hitting Netflix on November 7th.
Not that we needed another reason to hate over-excessive AI in movies, but that Guillermo del Toro has always stuck to it is making us even more excited for the more technical aspects – like production design and makeup – of Frankenstein.
Will you be seeing Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein on the big screen or will you wait for its release on Netflix? Let us know your plan in the comments section below.
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