Disney
Zombies 4:
Dawn of The Vampires
Zombies 4 & 808 Ltd.
Zed (Milo Manheim) and Addison (Meg Donelly) are settling into college life when an exciting summer trip takes them far from Seabrook, and deep into the unknown. What starts as a fun adventure soon leads them into an ancient world of secrets, supernatural forces, and powerful new rivals. As they uncover what lies beneath the surface, their bond is tested like never before in this next chapter of their epic journey.
From zombies to werewolves and membranes to energy pulses, 808 Ltd. was tasked with bringing 230 visual effects shots to life in Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires, directed by Paul Hoen.
Under the supervision of Scott Chambers, our team contributed to key sequences with transformation effects, green screens, and 3D elements, helping bring the magical and mysterious world of Dawn of the Vampires to life.
CASE STUDY
808 Ltd. VFX Breakdown
Travelling out of Seabrooke, the filming of Zombies 4 took place in New Zealand’s North Island. The work from 808 Ltd focused on enhancing the story’s supernatural elements with clean and seamless effects. From sparks of magic and energy pulses to transformations into zombies and werewolves, our role was to make these moments feel natural within the film’s world while supporting the flow of the story. A central effect across the franchise is Zed’s iconic Zombie transformation.
“This Disney project was a perfect fit for the Z4 team at 808 Ltd., an exciting mix of intricate compositing as well as CG work - and they knocked it out of the park.”
To achieve a more realistic appearance, the director chose to bring the zombie look to life in visual effects rather than traditional makeup. Makeup risked looking painted on, while VFX allowed for the veins and bruising to come to life through depth and motion. Veins could be seen growing from the chest up toward the eyes and spreading out to the hands of Zed and Eliza. Pairing layered bruising techniques with textured veins on Zed and Eliza gave them their signature zombie look.
Zombie Flesh in Motion
Glimmering Beasts of the Night
Werewolves don’t just lurk in the shadows, they shine. With glowing eyes and statement jewels that steal the show, this look is unforgettable. The jewels and eyes make for a perfect pairing for werewolves to shine under the moonlight.
This before and after image shows the wolf look on the left with the glowing eyes and a fierce presence, while the zombie look on the right brings a haunting energy. Together they show how striking creature design can be.
To bring the mysterious energy surge seen throughout the film to life, 808 Ltd. started by camera tracking the scene and building 3D geometry and sometimes even recreating sets when scans weren’t available. This 3D groundwork gave the energy surge visual depth as it moved through the shots.
Energy Surges
We turned to Embergen for magical smoke and utility passes. We included a heat map that activates only when the pulse hits an object, gradually decaying from red to blue. Finally, we used Nuke to tie it all together and added the main effect: plate distortion. By animating noise on the pulse’s UV pass and feeding it through a glass node, we could warp the plate exactly how we wanted.
Merging 2D & 3D Techniques
While saying farewell to Seabrook, Zed, Addison, Willa, and Eliza run into a bit of trouble during their departing road trip. As Zed fights off his zombie transformation while driving, he swerves chaotically around the woods, hitting a tree branch and causing all of their luggage to fall off the top of the car. By digitally creating the tree and recreating the stacked luggage on the car we were able bring this vision to life.
Furthermore, to depict travel between dimensions, we crafted a membrane using a combination of 2D and 3D techniques. In Blender, we animated a plane to create the shifting motion. We then brought that movement into Nuke, where we layered in effects to gradually reveal the contrasting worlds of day and night.
808 Ltd. helped craft Addison’s luma lens, a device that gives her extraordinary abilities. Starting with a extremely accurate camera track and matchmove, geometry was created and tracked on to the prop luma lens. From this base, the team expertly combined simulated caustics, atmospheric glows and optical lens flares to not only continue with an established series look, but also adding a new look at Addison’s alien powers.
Vampires are known for gliding effortlessly through the air, but what happens to the world around them as they fly? Though it may seem subtle, the way the wind stirs the grass and drifts across the landscape is just as important for creating a believable scene.
From green screen sets to hilltop shots, our craftsmanship brought the atmosphere to life by cultivating realistic grass and wind clouds for the vampires wind dance scene.
Dancing in the Wind
“ Congrats again to 808 for amazing work on Z4. The premiere was fantastic and the wind dance received quite the applause when it showed up; seamless! Thanks again for your team’s work on such a fun show. ”
- Jason Dowdeswell, Zombies 4 VFX Supervisor
Watch the Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires Trailer Here
808 Ltd. would like to thank Paul Hoen and Disney, and Jason Dowdeswell and Matteo Veglia
for being great partners in bringing this magical adventure to life.