The Innocents Transformation Suit

Asylum provided a key special effect for Netflix’s hit series ‘The Innocents’. With a concealable muscle suit composed of inflatable bladders, we helped create the illusion of physical transformation.

Using measurements from the two starring actors, we designed patterns that matched both their arms. The shapes of each muscle groups were then cut out of elastic cotton, then stitched together in two layers, bottom layer for one actor and top for the other.

Therefore the suit would fit snuggly against the smaller actor and, when inflated, assume the body shape of the second. The whole suit was then covered with ripstop exteriors and fitted with mechanisms that controlled its movement.

To manipulate the suits, our in-house designed control system was used. Being fully programmable, it allowed total control over the sequence and rate in which each of the “muscles” were inflated. We also incorporated several vacuum ejectors which allowed rapid deflation of the suit in order to achieve the desired effect.