JOHN WICK 4 (Crowd Simulation & Motion Capture Supervision)

  • Nile Hylton
As the Crowd Supervisor for the iconic nightclub fight sequence in John Wick: Chapter 4, I worked with One of Us to bring the scene to life.
To ensure the dynamic, high-energy environment was believable, I led the planning and execution of a motion capture shoot. Collaborating with our in-house CG Supervisor and the immensely talented dancer and movement supervisor Nicole Bondzie, we captured performances from four talented dancers, choreographed to reflect the style and energy of the on-set dancers.

These vignettes were tailored to different spatial zones, enabling crowd artists to seamlessly integrate the clips into their scenes. The workflow I designed ensured:

  • Accurate placement of crowd agents
  • Minimised intersection issues
  • A natural flow to the nightclub’s atmosphere

This approach allowed the team to focus on enhancing the scene's intensity without being hindered by technical constraints, ensuring every frame felt alive and immersive.
All crowds were rendered with my crowd rendering framework Tribe, spearheaded the development of cloth support and utilised the addition of procedural skinned groom rendering for additional visual fidelity.