The Wolfman was Joe Johnston’s gothic reworking of the 1941 Universal classic, starring Benicio del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Emily Blunt and Hugo Weaving. Visually it was a beautiful film — dark Victorian interiors, misty woodland and some great old-school horror imagery.

For this one I was back on the tools as a senior technician, working again with Paul Corbould. My main involvement was in the climactic fight sequence, where the room gradually becomes engulfed in fire around the performers.

We did some great close-quarter fire work with the stunt team, with flames running across the room while the fight continued amongst it.

One effect I developed on the film was a way of making the large rugs appear to burn continuously without actually being destroyed. We printed the rug pattern directly onto ceramic fibre blanket, then piped propane through it from underneath. Once lit, the whole thing could sit there apparently burning for take after take — theoretically for days — while the material itself remained intact.

It was a simple idea that worked extremely well on camera and allowed us to put the performers much closer to a convincing burning environment than we could have done with a conventional rug.

A very atmospheric film, some excellent practical fire work and another enjoyable job with Paul Corbould.