Y2K Movie Features Heaviest Practical Effects Suit Weta Has Ever Made

Kyle Mooney new film “Y2K” features sci-fi horror concept It's so incredibly simple that you won't believe no one has taken advantage of it on this scale until now. It's New Year's Eve 1999, and a big high school party is about to be interrupted by the sudden appearance of techno monsters formed by the current technology of the time, ranging from large tube televisions and computer screens to Jeep Power Wheels and VCRs. They are all controlled by a computer hive mind that intends to turn humans into microchip-controlled drones that will carry out their orders.

While Jaeden Martell (the recent “IT” films), Julian Dennison (“Deadpool 2” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople”) and Rachel Zegler (Steven Spielberg's vibrant “West Side Story”) are the stars of this film as they face this dark and hilarious techno apocalypse, don't sleep on the incredible practical effects from Wētā Workshop that bring these creatures to life. The special effects masters were able to realize the vision that director Kyle Mooney (of “Saturday Night Live” fame) and co-writer/producer Evan Winter had in mind, right down to the actual built-in television and computer screens to the creatures themselves. .

Ahead of the release of “Y2K,” we spoke with Mooney and Winter about working with Wētā Workshop to bring these monsters to life on camera, where we learned that one of the creations really pushed the effects workshop specials to new heights.

When it came to the look of the techno creatures, Mooney and Winter knew what they wanted from the start. Mooney explained:

“It's something that Evan and I talked about pretty early on in terms of conceptualizing this thing. We always wanted it to feel like a movie made from the era, and so it made perfect sense to being practical whenever we could We were really lucky to work with Wētā, and what's so amazing about them is that we had some pretty decent ideas about where we wanted to go. appearance of these creatures, but in reality, their first set of concept art was so close, I think, to what we had in mind It's rare that you find yourself in these situations where you're working with collaborators who can not only sync up with your vision, but also. add something completely awesome to it, so we were excited about the whole process.”

Winter echoed these sentiments and talked about the actual process of making the practical suits worn by the stunt performers:

“It was incredible. It probably took almost a year. We started working with them very soon after we started making the film, and it probably took the better part of a year to develop the designs, get there, and then they “

Of course, when you create practical effects like this, they also pose production challenges. Winter recalled:

“I think they told us that the largest creature was the heaviest practical suit they had ever built for a single person that wasn't assisted by puppeteers, and that the way it distributed the weight, so that these screens work in a practical way, emits light so that we can interact with our performers on set, inside they have controls, claws and different joysticks that can move other elements, and just the logistics to make it all work while simultaneously allowing the performers to be able to be in these costumes and this work for hours on end, it's such a needle to thread. It was amazing to see it all come together.

You can see these incredible practical effects in “Y2K,” which is now playing in theaters around the world, and you can listen to more of our conversation with Mooney and Winter, as well as stars Jaeden Martell and Julian Dennison, in this episode from / Daily Film Podcast:

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