Ghostbusters - Frozen Empire: Art Department

To develop the look of the Sewer Dragon, Art Director Jonathan Opgenhaffen opted for quick sketches to be able to get a wide range of ideas within the bounds of the brief, such as the visible skeleton, the eel-like feel of the design, and the elongated body.  

"It is a huge part of our process to be able to rapidly iterate many different ideas through sketch form, before committing to the more polished artworks we create," says Opgenhaffen. "In the end, the final creature feels like an amalgamation of all the visual ideas which were explored in these early development sketches."

The story called for some of the newer Ghostbusters to be turned into ghosts. The Art Department had to visually explore and develop what the ghost form of a human might look like. "Whilst Melody had a gentle blue flame-like nature to her form, Phoebe had a more subtle nebulous plasma form to her," explains Opgenhaffen. 

Using photos as a base, the team produced concepts in the form of a sequence of studies showing the ghost effect in a range from “barely visible” to “fully on”, which could potentially correlate to their emotional state or intensity.

"Garraka is the final monster ghost in the film," syas Opgenhaffen. "This was an enigmatic process, as the brief was to read the passages from the screenplay, and give an interpretation of it without too much sway or influence from the production team." 

Opgenhaffen was able to produce several iterations based on different physical states for Garraka - ranging from strong human form to a more monstrous skeletal shape. During this process, he also explored the different cultural references made throughout the film, and how to incorporate those into the costume.