I was seriously excited when I got The Legend of Tarzan. It was one of those jobs packed with large-scale practical effects from beginning to end, working with a great cast including Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Christoph Waltz and Djimon Hounsou.

One of our biggest builds was the jungle stage, where we rigged the entire interior with 24 large spinner heads to create a continuous deluge of rain. A working stream ran through the middle of the set, which we repeatedly redressed and redirected for different scenes. At times, keeping up with the drainage became almost as big a challenge as creating the rain itself.

We also built a full-size collapsing pier section, constructed from enormous timbers and incorporating a working overhead conveyor system. Beneath it, we engineered a winch and track system that allowed Tarzan to ride with the wildebeest before the pier collapses around him.

For the Kuba village sequence we carried out a large-scale practical burn, setting the straw huts alight and controlling the fire across the set.

Rom’s boat brought another sizeable engineering challenge. We built the paddle wheel, working furnace and the large gimbal supporting the vessel, allowing the boat to move and progressively sink during the sequence.

Another standout was the waterfall set. We created a huge practical waterfall, flooded the set and filled the environment with Mee Mist to recreate the low cloud and atmosphere around the falls. It was one of those effects that really worked — it looked fantastic in camera and gave the whole sequence a scale that would have been difficult to achieve any other way.

A big, physical Special Effects job with rain, water, fire, mechanical rigs, collapsing structures and large-scale set pieces — exactly the kind of production you want to be part of.

Go-Pro test footage

Sinking boat test

Collapsing Pier test

Art Department Models