Popverse's top stories

• DC to reveal the secret history of the Absolute Universe, and how it changes Superman's place in it all
• Watch now: Warner Bros.'s official Mortal Kombat II panel from NYCC 2025
• Sadie Sink's Max Mayfield Is the True Hero of Stranger Things — and could be the heart of the show’s series finale

For such an iconic creature of the silver screen, it's kind of ironic that one of the things the Predator is known for is being invisible. Well, no, that's not quite true - the titular galactic game hunter isn't completely untraceable to the audience, giving off a sort of "clear sheen" that has become just as much a part of the character's oeuvre as his iconic helmet. And that's all thanks to the movie's SFX team, led by Joel Hynek.

It's Made in '87 week here at Popverse, and since that's the year that Predator exploded onto the screen and into our hearts, we've been diving deep into the film's history. Specifically, we took a look into The Hollywood Reporter's 2017 history of the film that would beget a franchise, and it's there we learned of Xanadu and Commando FX designer Joel Hynek, and the borderline impossible task set out for him.

"So the [Predator's] camouflage effect was in the script as something that was invisible, yet visible, which was the trick there," explained Hynek. "I had worked out a method for creating outlines of whatever, titles or people. And it occurred to me I could make a series of inline mattes, that is, instead of making an outline, making an inline, and create a whole series of concentric inline mats."

"And then," Hynek continued, "In that series of inline mattes, put the background, shot separately, and reduce a little bit per each inline, and that gave the camouflage effect, which looked kind of like a Fresnel lens and also little leaves on ferns."

In case you're some kind of uncultured buffoon that doesn't know what a Fresnel lens is (it's me, I'm the uncultured buffoon who had to look this up), Hynek is referring to a particular optical design used to make large, but lighter-weight lenses. Originally used in lighthouses, Fresnel lenses are separated into sections and overlayed, producing a diamondy effect for anyone looking through them.

"It worked well in the jungle," Hyenk continued. "[Producer] Joel Silver shows up, we show it to him, and he looks over at [visual consultant] Richard Greenberg and says, 'Richard, what do you think?' And Richard says, 'Good, Joel. Good.' And so Joel was like, 'OK, we got a movie. Let’s do this.'"