The Walking Dead’s CGI tiger is actually a stuntman in a skintight mocap suit

Tech

Believe it or not, The Walking Dead’s biggest special effects star this past season wasn’t the animation of countless gruesome and gory zombie deaths. It was a tiger — her name is Shiva! — owned by a pretend-monarch called King Ezekiel, and the deadly virtual feline played a big role in Sunday’s season 7 finale. It turns out that it’s a bit too cumbersome, and maybe dangerous, to bring a real-life tiger on the set of a TV show, so AMC and special effects guru Greg Nicotero decided to go full CGI.

That brings us to stunt man Scott Hunter, who donned a blue mocap suit to act as Shiva’s on-set stand-in. In a behind-the-scenes look at the episode released yesterday, we get to see exactly what the shots looked like from behind the camera….

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