Creating a Mystical World: A Conversation with Special Effects guru Justin Raleigh for the Home Entertainment release of THE LAST WITCH HUNTER
Get ready for big swords, big battles and big action as Vin Diesel stars in this year’s most action-packed film, THE LAST WITCH HUNTER. From visionary Director Breck Eisner (Sahara, The Crazies) and the producers of 300, Riddick and the Fast & Furious franchise, don’t miss THE LAST WITCH HUNTER, available on digital download from 29th February 2016 and on Blu-rayTM and DVD from 7th March 2016, courtesy of Entertainment One.
Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious franchise, xXx, Riddick) heads up THE LAST WITCH HUNTER as Kaulder, the eponymous protagonist, alongside an acclaimed and mighty cast including; Oscar Winner© Michael Caine (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Kingsman: The Secret Service), a priest and Kaulder’s keeper, also known as the 36th ‘Dolan’; Elijah Wood (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Sin City The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) is a young priest, who is chosen as the 37th Dolan; and Rose Leslie (Game of Thrones, Downton Abbey, Luther) plays Chloe, a young witch.
Hundreds of years ago, the mighty warrior Kaulder (Diesel) vanquished the all-powerful Witch Queen, thus defeating the witches who had wreaked bloodshed on the world for centuries once and for all. But in moments before her death the Witch Queen cursed Kaulder with immortality, forever separating him from his beloved family. 
Today, Kaulder is THE LAST WITCH HUNTER – the only one of his kind remaining and the only thing standing between humanity and the witches that secretly still live in our midst. When the Witch Queen is resurrected, Kaulder is drawn into an epic battle that will determine the survival of the human race.
To mark the release, The Fan Carpet’s Jessen Aroonachellum spoke to Justin Raleigh, the Head of the Make Up and Special Effects and the CEO of Fractured FX, he tells us about getting into the industry, the inspiration behind The Last Witch Hunter and the challenges he faced when bringing this world to life...
Was there a defining moment for you to get into the film industry, was there a special effect you wanted to do?
I was always a fan of artists as a child and fan of b-movies. So growing up with the Exorcist and RoboCop, all of Rick Baker early films and Stan Wilson projects like Terminator, Aliens. Yeah, I was drawn to living breathing pieces of art so was a natural progression to be part of this industry.
Can you talk about the inspiration behind the look of the "The Last Witch Hunter"?
Yeah, sure. One of my first meeting with Breck Eisner (Director of The Last Witch Hunter) we went into this room and we had all these pictures of witches on the wall. So, we began to think of the world they lived in. Julie Berghoff (Production Designer) gave it a very feral look. Camouflage with the leaves etc, the Queen was hidden. We didn't want them to be grotesque but feral in a human form.
Did you get inspiration from films featuring witches or historical books?
Nothing really was inspired other films it was driven by the production art work. That was inspired by trees and by the artist Beksinski. He has a very interesting way of drawing things, very webby. A lot of his style was incorporated in the film.
Can you talk about the challenges of bringing this world to life?
The Witch Queen was an incredible challenge with the action. She had to be beautiful and still be scary. The environment was a challenge; they had to film in fire, smoke, rain and snow. You name it. That can degrade the prosthetics and long days of shooting. We had a good amount of time to design the characters and was happy with the work.
The Last Witch Hunter Film Page
THE LAST WITCH HUNTER is out on Blu-ray™ and DVD on the 7th March, courtesy of Entertainment One
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