SCENESTEALER

Creating a “real” fantasy means riding herd on digital characters to avoid the temptation to squish and stretch them into awkward -- not to mention anatomically incorrect -- poses. When making “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” director Mark Waters and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel blocked camera moves to accommodate the live actors, and visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett made sure that the digital creations got the same respect. Take the scene where the bull goblin Red Cap (voiced by Ron Perlman) breaks through a barred window and tries to wrest a book from the hands of Jared (Freddie Highmore). As originally framed, Red Cap’s arms would have had to have been much longer in order to reach the object. When the filmmakers asked if his digital arms could stretch to accommodate the shot, Tippett explained: “He’s not a Saturday morning cartoon character. He’s made of genuine flesh and bone and has to obey the laws of reality.” It was Highmore who was moved so Red Cap wouldn’t have to grow unrealistically long arms. The result was a believable tug of war between the human and digital characters.