Discover the movie magic behind the visual effects of The Electric State in this stunning behind-the-scenes look! From futuristic landscapes to larger-than-life robots, the VFX team breaks down how they brought the film’s sci-fi world to life with cutting-edge technology and creative artistry. Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt react to the incredible transformations that turned green screens into epic cinematic moments. Go beyond the screen and see how The Electric State became a visual masterpiece—now streaming on Netflix!
The Electric State Cast:
Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Norman, with Giancarlo Esposito and Stanley Tucci. Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, Colman Domingo and Alan Tudyk
Stream The Electric State now on Netflix!
The Electric State Cast:
Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Jason Alexander, Woody Norman, with Giancarlo Esposito and Stanley Tucci. Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie, Brian Cox, Jenny Slate, Hank Azaria, Colman Domingo and Alan Tudyk
Stream The Electric State now on Netflix!
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Rolling.
00:01Rolling.
00:02Here we go.
00:03Ready and action.
00:06Arm!
00:07Ah!
00:08Ah!
00:09Ah!
00:10Ah!
00:11Ah!
00:12Ah!
00:13Ah!
00:14There's an entire universe that exists here
00:16that I think is fresh and new.
00:18It does feel like you're entirely immersed in this world.
00:22It comes from this extraordinary graphic novel,
00:24The Electric State.
00:25For me, the book is like a keyhole into a world,
00:28and so it's really exciting to see them coming in
00:30and bust the doors wide open.
00:33This film is one of the most ambitious visual effects movies
00:36I've ever worked on in terms of the number of CG characters
00:39that we have to develop, design, animate, and give voice to.
00:42Unbelievable.
00:44The design of these robots are retrofuturistic.
00:47Most of them are heavily inspired from the book.
00:50Kid Cosmo is in the original book,
00:52and the visual effects department did a test very early on.
00:56They put a mo-cap suit on a little girl
00:58and had her just move around naturally.
01:00Because that's what Cosmo is.
01:02It's Kid Cosmo.
01:03It is Christopher in this new shell,
01:05and I wanted Cosmo's movements to feel like a kid,
01:08and being a kid's pretty fun.
01:10They have a full-size Kid Cosmo on set for our reference,
01:15and it's just so cool-looking.
01:17You're my special friend.
01:19We have been working with the top motion capture actors
01:23and experts in the world
01:25to imbue these characters with heart and emotion.
01:28Part of how we do that is, when we're on set,
01:30we're working with a troop of motion capture performers
01:32in the scenes with us that is led by the amazing Terry Notary.
01:36They all have their own unique personalities, their attributes,
01:39and so I wanted to create a little band of misfits.
01:42We did come here for five weeks before we even started shooting.
01:46And he took us through our paces, discovering a robotic world.
01:49We would rehearse the scenes, and we would help each other.
01:53And through that, we started to carve out some of these characters.
01:56We are building this world together as a unit, and it's really special.
02:00They breathe so much life into these robots
02:03that you're going to fall in love with them.
02:05When I read the script, I thought,
02:07oh, this is going to be primarily a voiceover role.
02:09My voice will come out of this machine.
02:11They said, well, the mo-cap actor will do this,
02:13and the mo-cap actor will do that.
02:15And I said, well, could I do the motion capture?
02:18And they went, you want to do it?
02:21My immediate thought was, did I just bite off more than I can chew?
02:24It was a great deal of fun,
02:26and it allowed me to be organically in the scenes with Millie,
02:29not just as a voice.
02:31For a human, you make a pretty great robot.
02:34They just loved all of our robot actors.
02:37They just did a wonderful job in bringing this to life for us.
02:41Devon was Cosmo for me.
02:43You kind of have to do one take with her and one take without her,
02:46and as soon as they take her away, I'm like, no.
02:50I don't like it either.
02:52The top VFX companies are all working with us on Electric State,
02:57using the most cutting-edge technology
02:59to bring these characters to life in a way that you've never seen before.
03:02Charge!
03:05That's very impressive.
03:07These movement specialists, they wear a suit called an XM suit.
03:11This is a newer technology.
03:13It's a motion capture system based on accelerometers.
03:16It's recording acceleration and integrating velocity to position.
03:20We decided to do that because we really wanted to gain the information
03:23of what Jerry Nedrin and his team were actually creating.
03:26It's also great because the directors can direct someone.
03:29You can frame appropriately.
03:31Action!
03:32Later on, we go back to the Vicon stage,
03:34which is the optical-based motion capture,
03:36and recapture performance.
03:38We then go through and remap some of the characters.
03:41We tweak their actions.
03:43They are in there for days and weeks at a time.
03:46The awesome thing about being here is we get to see the actual robot,
03:50and then we get to see us moving so we can tell what really reads.
03:54So this is kind of where we get to make our magic happen.
03:57It's a win-win for everyone because on set,
04:00we get the takes that we need for Chris and Millie,
04:03and then we can come back in the volume here
04:05and really fine-tune our performances.
04:07It's a raw mixture. That's what glues it all together.
04:11Perm? Hit it.
04:13Alan Silvestri's scoring this movie.
04:15He is actually one of the greatest composers of all time.
04:18I actually like this song.
04:19And I think that music helps the film's visual effects
04:22feel grounded and familiar.
04:24It reminds me of music and the culture from that era,
04:28and I think that goes into the visual effects.
04:30Alan's recording an orchestral score for the film.
04:32It'll be in the vein of some of the great scores that he's done in the past,
04:35like Back to the Future.
04:37To see my book so truthfully translated, it's surreal.
04:41It's like, how is this even possible?
04:43The animation is truly state-of-the-art.
04:46There's a great adventure in it,
04:48but it's also very emotional and very, very funny.
04:50I think it's extraordinary. I've never seen anything quite like it.
04:53It's so fun. Like, it was unbelievable.
04:56What the hell is that?
04:58Look out!
05:03Perm, get us out of here!
05:07Get us out of here!