Here's how visual effects artists turn Jennifer Lawrence into Mystique in the 'X-Men' movies
Of all the mutants in the "X-Men" universe, the shape shifting Mystique is the most visually striking.
The role was originally played by Rebecca Romijin, and now by Jennifer Lawrence.
The character's creation involves a lot of work from the visual effects team. In 2014, Digital Domain, one of the visual effects companies that worked on "X-Men: Days of Future Past," released a thorough breakdown video that showed off their work on the last "X-Men" film. The video shows how the team brought Mystique to life.
The process of turning Jennifer Lawrence into a mutant literally had layers:
Her scales are created in a process they refer to as "feather groom development:"
Those scales are then added to her body:
They can even make the scales move:
Watch the full breakdown, which also includes additional work Digital Domain did on the film, here: