New Episode
Episode 019 | Robert Swarthe, Part 2
We chat with animator and VFX artist Robert Swarthe about his work on One From the Heart, The Outsiders, a short film test with an early HD video camera, and his unproduced adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke’s The Fountains of Paradise.
VFX & Special Effects
Ex Machina - VFX Q&A
Graham Edwards, on the Cinefex Blog, sits down for a VFX Q&A with Double Negative’s Andrew Whitehurst, the production visual effects supervisor for Ex Machina. He explores how they shot Alicia Vikander (Ava) on set, and preserved her performance while replacing her human parts with robot ones.
Slimy Piece of Worm-Ridden Filth – Life Inside Jabba the Hutt
Filmumentaries creator Jamie Benning goes deep under the rubber exterior of Jabba the Hutt to interview Toby Philpott, one of Jabba's puppeteers.
Up close with the ships, props, and costumes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
The Verge shows off an extensive look a the models, costumes, and props on display at Star Wars Celebration last weekend. It looks like the Falcon finally got a new radar dish after the last one got scraped off in Jedi.
The Making of Robot Overlords
The Cinefex Blog explores the VFX of Robot Overlords (▶︎ trailer), the low-budget British sci-fi adventure. Graham Edwards writes up an extensively detailed story that's only slightly less intense than the usual articles in the print magazine, with concept art, VFX breakdowns and production photos galore.
Around the Web
Crew Call Podcast — Season Two Kickstarter
A podcast after my own heart, Crew Call interviews the below-the-line crew that really make movies happen. They're gearing up for season two, and could really use your support.
And Finally…
▶ The Avengers '78
The new Avengers movie is out this weekend, and so is this brilliant retro-awful spoof trailer that shows what the Avengers might have been like in a 1978 made-for-TV movie. “They face off with their greatest foe yet... KISS, under the power of Loki, played by Paul Lynde.”
Howdy! It’s been a little while since I’ve sent out the newsletter, so we’re doing some catch-up this week. I’ve only included the latest episode below, but if you haven’t been back to the website in a while, check out the ones you missed, on E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Something Wicked This Way Comes, matte painter Jesse Silver, and the first half of our interview with animator and VFX artist Robert Swarthe.
Mark Boszko