Benedict Cumberbatch Crawls Around Covered in Sensors Behind the Scenes of 'The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug'

Actor Benedict Cumberbatch slinks along the floor while covered in sensors in a behind-the-scenes clip of the actor expertly performing the role of the fearsome dragon Smaug in the 2013 film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. The motion-capture sensors on his suit provide a map of the actor’s motions over time so that animators and special effects artists can create the image of Smaug on top of the movements.

In a 2012 interview with GamesRadar, Cumberbatch spoke about his experience using the motion-capture suit.

It’s very freeing, once you put the suit on and the sensors. I’ve never felt less encumbered, actually. And you have to be. You have to be free.

You just have to lose your shit on a carpeted floor, in a place that looks a little bit like a mundane government building. It was just me as well, with four static cameras and all the sensors. Then the boys at Weta work their magic.