Deadpool's mask had its own visual effects team

20th Century Fox

If a genetic experiment turned your face into a pile of cancerous sludge, you'd want the perfect mask too. 

Tech Insider recently spoke with Dave Gougé, head of marketing and communications at Weta Digital, the studio responsible for animating Deadpool's signature red-and-black mask in the film. That's right, Deadpool's mask had its own effects team.

"It was very specific, we built a couple of custom tools to allows us to get in and do work [on the mask] very efficiently and, we believe, quite well," said Gougé.

Weta made sure Ryan Reynolds, who audiences agreed was near perfect in the titular role, could deliver a memorable performance that wasn't obscured. 

"Our job," Gougé said, "was to make sure that his line readings ... came through the mask."

Reynold's mask was neither entirely real, nor entirely CG. Reynolds filmed wearing a mask, which the studio then used "custom tools" to enhance. 

"It was solely focused on the facial work," Gougé told us. "We did a lot of what we would call 2D manipulation of the mask to help bring out and heighten the expression that Ryan Reynolds was giving when he was delivering the lines, but didn't quite read though the mask."

The New Zealand studio, perhaps best known for its work on "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, is no stranger to superhero work. They also contributed to "Batman v Superman," "Iron Man 3," and "X-Men: First Class." Their work can also be seen in two of Disney's 2016 releases, "The Jungle Book" and "The BFG."

"Deadpool," meanwhile, was a box-office smash and a sequel is already in production. Reynolds announced the Blu-ray release for the first movie will be May 10. 

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