New Episode
Episode 021 — Jurassic: From Park to World
Cinefex Editor Jody Duncan comes on to discuss the evolution of digital VFX technology from the original Jurassic Park to the new Jurassic World, including her time on the set of The Lost World: Jurassic Park.
VFX & Special Effects
Jurassic World: Building the Apatosaurus
One of the big differences in the effects of Jurassic Park and Jurassic World was the balance of practical to digital effects, usually in favor of digital. However, for Jurassic World's most touching scene, Legacy Effects was asked to bring their practical effects skills to the table and create an emotive puppet for the lead actors to interact with. Go behind the scenes with the Legacy team as they use both new and traditional methods to create an animatronic apatosaurus.
How a Nikon F3 Still SLR Was Modified to Film Indiana Jones in 1983
dSLR video is all the rage these days, but 35mm film SLRs have been also converted to shoot film on occasion — especially if it's the only camera that will fit in the miniature set! This Petapixel article gathers behind-the-scenes photos and an interview with Dennis Muren to show how ILM shot the mine car chase from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
The Jurassic Park III T-Rex You Never Saw
In this Stan Winston Studio Behind-the-Scenes footage, you'll see early testing and final rehearsals for a variety of SWS rod puppet characters, including early T-Rex tests for Jurassic Park III, Teddy tests for AI: Artificial Intelligence, and fight choreography rehearsal from Small Soldiers.
Film Technology
The Mechanics of the Film Projector
Professor Bill Hammack of the University of Illinois (a.k.a. “EngineerGuy” on YouTube), dissects the engineering of a film projector movement.
History
The Untold Story of ILM, a Titan That Forever Changed Film
Wired presents an wide-ranging oral history of ILM, from it's creation to present day and beyond. This piece made the rounds a few weeks ago, but if you haven't read it yet, it's definitely worth a read. So many candid comments from great names: George Lucas, Dennis Muren, Phil Tippett, John Dykstra, Mark Dippé, and more.
Inside the Nuclear Bunker Where America Preserves Its Movie History
If you know anything about nitrate film stock, you know that it’s incredibly flammable — it can’t even be put out once it starts burning, because it supplies its own oxygen. Many of these films are now in the care of George Willeman, the Nitrate Film Vault Manager at The Library of Congress’ Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation, and the precautions put in place to prevent their decay and self-destruction (and the preservation methods for those that have already decayed) are amazingly thorough.
Around the Web
Industrial Light & Magic wants to bring virtual reality to the movies
A new division called ILMxLab is working on a Star Wars-based virtual reality entertainment for later this year, and it looks like it may be based on some of the technology ILM now uses to live preview effects on the set of motion pictures.
Rick Baker Memorabilia Fetches more than $1 million in L.A. auction
When legendary makeup effects artist Rick Baker, winner of seven Oscars, announced his retirement late last year, he also shuttered the 60,000-square-foot Glendale facility where he had crafted cinematic makeups, puppets, and other artwork for over 20 years. On May 29, most of that iconic memorabilia was auctioned at the Prop Store in Los Angeles, with about 40 collectors attending in person, and hundreds more bidding online.
The summer is churning along, and we've seen some excellent VFX films, Cinefex 142 is out, with coverage of Jurassic World, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mad Max: Fury Road (“What a lovely day!”), and San Andreas, and we also recently chatted with Jamie Benning of Filmumentaries about the effects of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in Episode 020. On top of all of that, we had a Jurassic-fest with Cinefex editor Jody Duncan (see below) in Episode 021!
We've taken a little impromptu hiatus, with some guest scheduling slips (and a Seattle summer so hot, it's been hard to move at all), but we've got some great interviews and chats planned soon, so stay tuned!
— Mark Boszko