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Friday, October 10, 2025
Look at the Gorgeous Practical Miniatures Guillermo del Toro Used on 'Frankenstein'
gizmodo.com: We’re two weeks away from finally getting to see the film Guillermo del Toro was born to make, Frankenstein. It hits theaters on October 17 before its November 7 drop on Netflix, and the Oscar-winning director just shared some really beautiful behind-the-scenes photos.
Del Toro is an absolute master of his work, and this movie is no exception. I feel that his use of both practical and non practical miniatures is absolutely fabulous, and a bit of a lost art within film culture. I was able to see the archives of work from his adaptation of Pinocchio, and it was absolutely eye-opening. Not only am I so excited to see this when it comes out in theaters, but to release collections of the work that went into the movie on display in museums. (Pinocchio was displayed in the MoMA). Already from the photographs that have been released, these buildings are absolutely gorgeous. In the explanation, the purpose of these miniatures is to show such an intense scale, which is important, but a smaller detail. There is so much work that has gone into producing Del Toro’s complete and utter artistic vision. As an artist that is something that I hope to strive for in the future of my career.
This is so cool! I have always heard of people in the film and television industry using miniatures in order to make the illusion of having a large practical set but I have not actually seen practical photos. In today's day and age when most things are made via special effects and digital backgrounds this is an awesome alternative. It bridges the gap between the physical demand of creating full scale structures and still wanting a physical tactical element. It goes to show just how much our perception of scale can be warped by what our brains deem ‘correct’. I particularly find the photo in the second tweet interesting. When we think of miniatures we think of tiny things however this miniature is bigger than a person. This also reminded me of Hogwarts at Universal Studios. They use a clever form of perspective to make the school appear much larger than it actually is in real life.
Not even making it more then 6 sentences into the article I thought it was interesting how the author called “Frankenstein” the film Guillermo Del Toro was born to make. After seeing some of his other movies I do totally get why they said that though. Anyway, from what I’ve heard I’m not totally convinced Jacob Elordi of all people is a great choice for playing Frankensteins monster. Everyone else makes sense to me in the roles that they are in but it’s just Jacob that doesn’t make sense to me. Yes he’s a popular and famous actor but really? Frankenstein? I am very excited to watch this movie though and I absolutely love Guillermo Del Toros movies and they are absolutely beautiful, especially the cinematography. My favorite movie by Del Toro is Crimson Peak so I am expecting this movie to be pretty good since my expectations are fairly high from watching a couple of his other movies.
I was already extremely excited to see this film, now more so. When it's so easy and standard to use CGI in movies to get complex backgrounds, and as much as it pains me to say even AI soon, it's amazing to see that there are still big directors out there who value the artistry and quality of practical effects. It's one of the reasons I’m such a big fan of NBC’s Hannibal, practical effects in general read and age better than computer ones. In an industry where we’re seeing the effects aging in a movie before it’s even able to be released, practicals have that insurance that it will still hold up at least 10 years after filming. While I trust Del Toro’s ability to get well-done CGI, Pacific Rim being a prime example, knowing that these sets were done with miniatures shows how much care, time, and humanity he’s putting into this story. With a story like Frankenstien, humanity throughout the story is one of the most important aspects and I have a lot of faith that this will be my favorite adaptation.
It is really cool to see practical effects and miniatures being used in entertainment in the current age of CGI and other technological advancements that allow for digitally created art within current movies and TV. It is good to know that current artists still appreciate practical effects and choose to use them over other options. In my opinion it almost seems like there has been a recent emergence of more practical effects being used with a slight decline in pure CGI imagery, and I for one am glad to see it. Even in the moments were you can tell that something is a practical effect and it stands out amongst actors it is cool to know that the practical effect is being used. I personally am also really excited to see this new production of Frankenstein, and that is only elevated when I know that Guillermo del Toro is the one creating it. His artistic style is so unique and different, and I know it will make for an amazing production of Frankenstein. I look forward to seeing how these miniatures are used in the film.
I’m obsessed with the miniature sets used in movies to build huge worlds on feasible scales. I saw posts about the scenery in Frankenstein and was SO happy to learn many elements were miniature versions and not CGI. I love scale model making. I imagine this type of model making is very difficult but rewarding. I’d love to know what they used specifically to do the different landscaping. The hyper detail on rock fades to the baby spires on the castle thing are stunning. The pictures remind me of the miniatures used in theme parks to make structures and locations look further away than they actually are. I wonder what the budget and labor looks like for elements of a film like this. I imagine deciding to make some scenes miniatures may be cost saving as opposed to really building the scenes, but more expensive than CGI (unfortunately CGI artists are criminally underpaid).
When I first heard miniature, I had thought of something the size of my finger, or even maybe my hand at the largest. This comes from a background knowledge of Dungeon and Dragons miniatures, of which the scale is mirrored in what I would often consider to be a general size for miniatures. Instead, this term seems to refer to anything smaller than life size in the film world. I love the detail that goes into these smaller versions of huge creations. Looking at the building that del Toro created, there seems to be a never ending series of carvings in the walls. I feel like I could shrink down to the size of humans that would live in this building and it would still look so realistic. We discussed these ideas in video media design the other day, as the props in the background of a set need to look super realistic in film because they might get zoomed in on.
7 comments:
Del Toro is an absolute master of his work, and this movie is no exception. I feel that his use of both practical and non practical miniatures is absolutely fabulous, and a bit of a lost art within film culture. I was able to see the archives of work from his adaptation of Pinocchio, and it was absolutely eye-opening. Not only am I so excited to see this when it comes out in theaters, but to release collections of the work that went into the movie on display in museums. (Pinocchio was displayed in the MoMA). Already from the photographs that have been released, these buildings are absolutely gorgeous. In the explanation, the purpose of these miniatures is to show such an intense scale, which is important, but a smaller detail. There is so much work that has gone into producing Del Toro’s complete and utter artistic vision. As an artist that is something that I hope to strive for in the future of my career.
This is so cool! I have always heard of people in the film and television industry using miniatures in order to make the illusion of having a large practical set but I have not actually seen practical photos. In today's day and age when most things are made via special effects and digital backgrounds this is an awesome alternative. It bridges the gap between the physical demand of creating full scale structures and still wanting a physical tactical element. It goes to show just how much our perception of scale can be warped by what our brains deem ‘correct’. I particularly find the photo in the second tweet interesting. When we think of miniatures we think of tiny things however this miniature is bigger than a person. This also reminded me of Hogwarts at Universal Studios. They use a clever form of perspective to make the school appear much larger than it actually is in real life.
Not even making it more then 6 sentences into the article I thought it was interesting how the author called “Frankenstein” the film Guillermo Del Toro was born to make. After seeing some of his other movies I do totally get why they said that though. Anyway, from what I’ve heard I’m not totally convinced Jacob Elordi of all people is a great choice for playing Frankensteins monster. Everyone else makes sense to me in the roles that they are in but it’s just Jacob that doesn’t make sense to me. Yes he’s a popular and famous actor but really? Frankenstein? I am very excited to watch this movie though and I absolutely love Guillermo Del Toros movies and they are absolutely beautiful, especially the cinematography. My favorite movie by Del Toro is Crimson Peak so I am expecting this movie to be pretty good since my expectations are fairly high from watching a couple of his other movies.
I was already extremely excited to see this film, now more so. When it's so easy and standard to use CGI in movies to get complex backgrounds, and as much as it pains me to say even AI soon, it's amazing to see that there are still big directors out there who value the artistry and quality of practical effects. It's one of the reasons I’m such a big fan of NBC’s Hannibal, practical effects in general read and age better than computer ones. In an industry where we’re seeing the effects aging in a movie before it’s even able to be released, practicals have that insurance that it will still hold up at least 10 years after filming. While I trust Del Toro’s ability to get well-done CGI, Pacific Rim being a prime example, knowing that these sets were done with miniatures shows how much care, time, and humanity he’s putting into this story. With a story like Frankenstien, humanity throughout the story is one of the most important aspects and I have a lot of faith that this will be my favorite adaptation.
It is really cool to see practical effects and miniatures being used in entertainment in the current age of CGI and other technological advancements that allow for digitally created art within current movies and TV. It is good to know that current artists still appreciate practical effects and choose to use them over other options. In my opinion it almost seems like there has been a recent emergence of more practical effects being used with a slight decline in pure CGI imagery, and I for one am glad to see it. Even in the moments were you can tell that something is a practical effect and it stands out amongst actors it is cool to know that the practical effect is being used. I personally am also really excited to see this new production of Frankenstein, and that is only elevated when I know that Guillermo del Toro is the one creating it. His artistic style is so unique and different, and I know it will make for an amazing production of Frankenstein. I look forward to seeing how these miniatures are used in the film.
I’m obsessed with the miniature sets used in movies to build huge worlds on feasible scales. I saw posts about the scenery in Frankenstein and was SO happy to learn many elements were miniature versions and not CGI. I love scale model making. I imagine this type of model making is very difficult but rewarding. I’d love to know what they used specifically to do the different landscaping. The hyper detail on rock fades to the baby spires on the castle thing are stunning. The pictures remind me of the miniatures used in theme parks to make structures and locations look further away than they actually are. I wonder what the budget and labor looks like for elements of a film like this. I imagine deciding to make some scenes miniatures may be cost saving as opposed to really building the scenes, but more expensive than CGI (unfortunately CGI artists are criminally underpaid).
When I first heard miniature, I had thought of something the size of my finger, or even maybe my hand at the largest. This comes from a background knowledge of Dungeon and Dragons miniatures, of which the scale is mirrored in what I would often consider to be a general size for miniatures. Instead, this term seems to refer to anything smaller than life size in the film world. I love the detail that goes into these smaller versions of huge creations. Looking at the building that del Toro created, there seems to be a never ending series of carvings in the walls. I feel like I could shrink down to the size of humans that would live in this building and it would still look so realistic. We discussed these ideas in video media design the other day, as the props in the background of a set need to look super realistic in film because they might get zoomed in on.
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