For Chapter 4 of The Dinosaurs, producer and director Darren Williams wanted the aftermath of the T. rex and Ankylosaurus battle to feel heavy, awkward and real.

Following an epic battle, a victorious T. rex is seen dragging her Ankylosaurus kill through the forest to her waiting hatchlings. To capture the weight and close physical interaction of the body catching on tree roots, striking rocks and being pulled through water, the production created a full life-size practical model.

Starting with the digital creature designed by Industrial Light & Magic, Mangostone model maker Matthew Healey constructed the Ankylosaurus around a welded steel frame. A polystyrene form was wrapped in hessian and developed into a detailed clay sculpt, with its muscles, scales, nose and distinctive osteoderms carefully matched to ILM’s digital asset.

Once the sculpt had been approved, the team had just three weeks to complete the casting and moulding process, create its silicone skin and apply the final paintwork. The finished model also included a practical blood rig and was built to withstand being repeatedly dragged and dropped on location.

Filming took place across a mossy forest and riverbed, with the team using a digger and specially designed rigs to capture the Ankylosaurus colliding with the landscape and crashing into the water. These practical-effects shots were then seamlessly combined with the wider VFX sequence.

The result brought genuine weight, texture and physical interaction to a scene that would have been extremely difficult to create through visual effects alone.

Watch the full behind-the-scenes film on the Silverback Films YouTube channel.

The Dinosaurs is streaming now on Netflix.