The Phantasmic Makeup & Creature FX of Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Expecting much more digital work, new and old cast members were amazed at the amount of practical work implemented. Consequently, they were able to immerse themselves in the sets, makeups and puppets. [...]

For the splitting dummy, Arjen's team, led by mold supervisor Brian Rae, had to create a mechanical device that would split open on cue. Thankfully on the shoot day the gag went off smoothly. Arjen recalls, "We dressed [Ivor's splitting body] with slime, shot it twice, and that was it. We had it. It was a success, and they loved it." [...]

Seeing the finished puppet on-set was a treat for the entire crew. Arjen smiles, "I remember the crew jumping up and down seeing a practical Terror Dog. I think it's the only show that I got applause."

Even the VFX department and the actors were in awe. "I remember Paul Rudd being ecstatic about it being an actual [Terror Dog] puppet on his car. When I looked at the video village to my left on set, I just saw everybody smiling. The visual effects supervisor Alessandro Ongaro came up to me, and he said, 'you know, if [practical effects] are done right, there's something about it. You can't predict it. It's beautiful. We are going to leave it just the way it is.'"

More on Terror Dog Anatomy from Brynn Metheney:

One of the jobs I had on Ghostbusters Afterlife was to revamp the Terror Dog. I updated parts of the anatomy and created some fun lore about the eyes and toenails.

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