Malaga's own Venom builder

When he arrived, the site was little more than barren wasteland. Just six weeks later, anyone passing by would have been taken aback by the extraordinary sight before them. A military base had appeared, complete with massive hangars, silos filled with tonnes of acid, a towering 15-metre structure and a vast array of military vehicles: tanks, helicopters and armoured cars. According to the script, this wasn't just any base, but the iconic Area 51 featured in Venom: The Last Dance, the third instalment of the Marvel and Sony Superhero franchise, which has dominated the box office this week. However, despite the credits claiming this secret base, supposedly holding classified government information about alien life, is located somewhere in Nevada, it was actually built for the film at the Ciudad de la Luz studios in Alicante. The mastermind behind it all was Malaga-born Nahia Fito, the construction manager for the Spanish part of the production of this Hollywood blockbuster.

"We had just weeks to set up Area 51, which is where half of the film takes place. We started with a field of hundreds of thousands of square metres and transformed it into the secret military base," the designer tells SUR, now back at his headquarters in Coín, which is home to his company Artset, specialising in set construction for film and TV.

Nahio Fito is already involved in new projects, although he can't reveal any details due to confidentiality clauses in these international megaprojects.

What he can talk about is Venom III, which is dominating cinemas worldwide and which he doesn't hesitate to call the biggest, most expensive and most ambitious project he has ever worked on.

His previous experience includes transforming modern-day Barcelona into 1990s Paris for The Crown, as well as changing the streets of Tenerife into Brussels' Rues neighbourhood for the upcoming thriller Den of Thieves 2: Pantera, due for release in January.

In Venom III, Tom Hardy once again takes centre stage, reprising his dual role as Eddie and his alien alter ego, in what has been announced as the final instalment of the trilogy. The storyline kicks off with the main character's escape, as Eddie and the alien symbiote he hosts go on the run after other extraterrestrial beings discover his presence on Earth. This flight leads him to Area 51, designed specifically for the film by Chris Lowe.

"The military base had to feel realistic, something you could imagine in today's world but with a sci-fi edge. This set was Chris's biggest challenge, mainly due to its size. It had three floors and we wanted to be able to move seamlessly from one area to another during scenes, so he had to build the entire complex," according to director and screenwriter Kelly Marcel.

Construction chief Nahia Fito was on-site overseeing the build of the secret base, bringing the designs to life in just six weeks with the support of a skilled team of 45 carpenters, painters and metalworkers. Together, they crafted, assembled and added the final realistic touches to the plasterboard sets for filming in February. Working against the clock, the set-design team earned their "superhero" reputation. "The schedule was extremely tight, so we had to work like a well-oiled machine," says Fito, who managed both the assembly of prefabricated sets from England and the on-site construction of 30% of the scenery. This included a mountainous area and a river replica, initially filmed in Huesca and later completed at Ciudad de la Luz, thanks to the expertise of the technical crew.

One of the biggest challenges, however, was creating a scene with a vehicle that appears to "walk" on water. "In a tank five metres deep and twenty metres long, we built a superstructure of wood and iron, which served as a platform for a 30-tonne truck to drive across. It was a spectactular challenge and it was all built right there on set," says Nahia Fito.

He frequently praises his team, most of whom are from Malaga or the rest of Andalucía. "When I watched it the other day in the cinema with my kids, even I was surprised by how well the digital effects integrated with the set design, because it's all an illusion, and the eye is deceived," admits the construction manager.

He also gives credit to Mario García, a painter based in Granada, who was responsible for the finishing touches on the sets. "On screen, you can see how he's added a layer of realism to structures that look like iron and stone, or even seem ancient, when they were actually brand new. It's these details that make a set so believable," says Fito, who has had a passion for construction since he was a child, sweeping floors in his family's carpentry workshop. His career later took him to the film world, where he created fictional cave homes for The Wizard of Oz in Emerald City and fantastical worlds for the latest Matrix film, shot in Germany.

With his company Artset, which he founded a year ago, Nahia Fito has also expanded into civil construction, as architecture firms now approach him for specialised projects. The conversation shifts back to the fine line between digital effects and traditional set design. While it might seem that the venom saga is the product of computer-generated imagery alone, Fito offers a very different perspective.

"Of course, the main monster and much of the action are digital, but what I loved about this project from the start was that it had a substantial budget to invest in physical sets, which really brings realism to the screen," says this expert in both large and small-scale structures. He adds that the digital effects are only enhanced when you have physical sets like those in this fantastical film. "

Moreover, the special effects team was led by Pau Cosa, a genius in his field, with whom I previously worked on Society of the Snow," the construction manager explains. While the focus of the set design and special effects in that case centred on bringing a plane crash to life, this time the "magic" was about creating the fantastical world of the insatiable Venom. The mission didn't end with the creation of Area 51.

"After that came the four weeks of filming, when all the set design came to life on camera and had to be constantly adjusted. The sets explode, collapse or change, so we had to modify them every day," explains Fito, who worked alongside the lead actor.

"Tom Hardy was around, he is very friendly," says the head of the department, who didn't want any spoilers to be given away but shared that they worked through entire nights using heavy-duty cranes and elevating platforms to transform the military base under the chaos caused by the troublesome alien protagonist.

An unexpected challenge on set was the wind. "We had days with winds of 70 to 80 kilometres per hour, so making sure these massive structures stayed secure and safe was a real struggle," explains the founder of Artset. He adds that bringing Chris Lowe's ambitious design to life while keeping within budget was another major challenge.

"On screen, the director made brilliant use of the 360-degree set, offering a range of shooting angles no matter where you looked," says Nahia Fito, who also supervised the dismantling of Area 51 after filming. By the end, the landscape had reverted to a desert, with almost nothing left behind. "A truck took away all the pieces we'd built - some to be reused for the rest of the shoot and others as mementos," he saysproudly. Fito and his team even managed to impress the cast, including actor Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill and House of the Dragon). "I think it was one of the largest sets I have ever worked on. It was like a small city," the actor said.