Agent Knox vs. Eli Thompson:Boardwalk Empire’s Brian Geraghty on Season 4 Finale
Spoiler alert. For those of you not caught up with Boardwalk Empire, do not watch the video or read the below.
In one corner, you've got Agent Warren Knox (Brian Geraghty), the young comer at the Bureau of Investigation whose clean shaven baby face belies a murderer's malice. In the other corner stands Eli Thompson (Shea Whigham), little brother to Atlantic City's crime boss Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi), a former police chief,
Creating the Incredible Time Travel Sequence in Lucy
If you have not seen Luc Besson’s Lucy but plan to, do not read this article. Just stop. There are SPOILERS AHEAD.
Towards the end of Luc Besson’s mind-bending Lucy, Scarlett Johansson's title character, having nearly reached harnessing 100% of her brain capacity, travels back in time. This capability, which was brought on by having a drug she was forced to smuggle, internally, leak inside of her, sends her back eons to the birth of the universe.
How Into The Storm‘s DP Filmed in Torrential Rain & 100-mph Wind
How do you take a moderately budgeted action film that requires Biblically ferocious storms causing massive damage and make it look like money was no concern at all? With ingenious filmmaking techniques, expertise along a broad spectrum of skills, and a whole lot of problem solving is how. Into the Storm was initially contracted with the VFX house Rhythm & Hues to handle the creation of the cataclysmic tornados that are the film’s raison d’etre,
Industrial Light & Magic’s Cody Gramstad on Painting Lucy’s World
There have been plenty of spectacular special effects to feast on this summer, which has really been the case every summer since the blockbuster was invented. Edge of Tomorrow offered Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt on a time-looped platter for voracious aliens, while Guardians of the Galaxy’s glorious, color-soaked space epic includes the spectacle of a gun-toting raccoon and a sentient tree-person that feeds off the flowers that grow on his own body.
Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne on Gearing Up the Guardians
Oscar-winning costume designer Alexandra Byrne is a major reason why Guardians of the Galaxy doesn't look like your average space epic. Part of the film's appeal is its visual splendor and wit—along with all of the eye-popping special effects there is an undeniable charm and style on display that bring to mind Han Solo's timeless black vest and buttonless collared deep-v (also known as the pared-down space pirate look). From Peter Quill's leather jacket to Rocket's sleeveless armored vest to Gamora's battle-ready green bustier,
Garrett Brown: An Interview With a Visionary—Part II
In part one of our two-part conversation with Steadicam inventor Garrett Brown, the Philadelphia-based cinematographer talked about holing up in a motel for a week in the early 1970s to experiment with designs for a more commercial version of his revolutionary camera stabilizer. He talked about shooting his first-ever feature film using a Steadicam on Bound for Glory. And he described his improvised solution for filming one of the most famous scenes in all of cinema history: Sylvester Stallone running up the steps of the Philadelphia Art Museum in Rocky.
Master of Mayhem: Prosthetic Supervisor Conor O’Sullivan
There’s not a scratch, scrape, slash or bite mark he can’t create. Broken bones and severed heads aren’t a problem. Welts, warts, rashes and burns are perfectly doable. Whether you need prosthetics for a superhero, war hero, or son or daughter of Westeros, Conor O’Sullivan is your man. O’Sullivan doesn’t only work in the realm of gore—he’s also created one of the most famous noses in film history, turning Nicole Kidman’s perfect sniffer into Virginia Woolf’s more pronounced proboscis for The Hours,
Hairstylist Aldo Signoretti Wigs Out on Set of Hercules
He’s done hair and makeup for the epic battles between ancient Greeks (Troy) and warring Mayans (Apocalypto). He’s created wigs for the sordid characters scheming and seducing their way through the 15th century Vatican (Borgias), 19th century gangsters vying for supremacy in the Five Points (Gangs of New York), and 20th century bohemians reveling and raving in a Paris cabaret (Moulin Rogue!
Richard Linklater on his Masterful, Moving Family Epic Boyhood
It's hard not to be a Richard Linklater fan. Before Boyhood came out, we got the chance to sit down with him, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy to discuss their incredible 18-year odyssey making the Before trilogy. They were, unsurprisingly, passionate about what it was they'd accomplished—they captured a single relationship and covered it, in nine year increments, over 18-years. In Before Sunset, Jesse (Hawke) and Celine (Delpy) are young,
Hercules Stunt Coordinator Greg Powell Talks Epic Battles
Greg Powell was born to do stunts. “I’ve been doing stunts since I was fourteen, so that’s forty-five years now,” he says. “I wake up a little bit stiff in the morning, but that’s the name of the game, and I still enjoy it." His father, Frederick “Nosher” Powell, was a stuntman, actor and boxer—he was once was a sparring partner for Joe Louis, Sugar Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. Greg’s uncle Dennis, Nosher’s younger brother,
Evolving Man into Ape: Simian Choreographer & Actor Terry Notary
This summer’s most highly anticipated sequel, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, packs a serious blockbuster punch: it has state-of-the-art digital effects, sweeping apocalyptic scenes, and a cast and crew of thousands. But one man alone is responsible for the most crucial element of the film—teaching actors to convincingly portray apes.
Actor and movement coach Terry Notary is Hollywood’s resident go-to ape expert,
Writer/Director David Cronenberg on Technology, Transformation & Money
David Cronenberg has a new short film , The Nest, that was recently commissioned by the International Film Festival in Rotterdam. The film is a single shot, 9-minute take in which a woman (Evelyne Brochu) is undergoing a surgery consultation with an unseen doctor (voiced by Cronenberg). The short doesn’t have any of Cronenberg’s trademark visual potency—nothing molts, explodes, or mutates—but what it does deliver, in spades, is his fascination with technology,
How Transformers Construction Coordinator Jonas Kirk Managed a Crew of 200
The role of the construction coordinator is a massive one. For Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, Jonas Kirk was the man responsible for the building and manufacturing of the massive sets the film required, which meant bringing in all the equipment, building and moving massive structures, managing the production budget and keeping his 200-man crew on schedule and on budget.
This was a tall order considering the production took place in Texas,
Super Computing: Inside Industrial Light & Magic’s Wonder Emporium
We interviewed three different Industrial Light & Magic employees last week to find out how they helped create the visual splendor that is Transformers 4: Age of Extinction. We got so much out of the interviews we couldn’t fit it all in to last week's interviews, so we've compiled a lot of the hard facts on the magnitude of their computing powers for today's story, which have grown each year to keep up with the increasingly sophisticated computer-generated demands of directors like Michael Bay.
Barney Frank on Doc Compared to What, Hollywood, Politics, & More
By the time Barney Frank retired, he was one of the most beloved figures in Congress, and also one of the most vilified from a certain segment of the population. On the local level, especially in his Fourth District in southern Massachusetts, which includes the liberal Boston suburbs of Newton and Brookline, Frank was admired for his candor and respected for his commitment to his constituents. You don't get re-elected sixteen straight times without having earned the trust and respect of your district.
Two Industrial Light & Magic Wizards on Creating Destruction for Transformers
When your film centers around alien robot colossi laying waste to each other and their surroundings, it's pretty crucial that the wreckage look real. Two of the job titles responsible for making Michael Bay's latest carnival of destruction, Transformers 4: Age of Extinction, look realistic (and, in its way, beautiful) are the creature supervisor and the FX technical director, so we spoke to both, Michael Balog and Sheldon Serrao.
“My group deals with anything geometry based,”
How Industrial Light & Magic Makes Transformers 4: Age of Extinction Shine
Michael Bay’s Transformers 4: Age of Extinction is the most technologically ambitious film in the franchise. Working again with Industrial Light and Magic, Age of Extinction showcases astonishingly fluid, realistic robotic shape-shifting—somehow they’ve managed to make robots transforming into vehicles and back again into a kind of visual poetry. Age of Extinction, which will be released in 2D, 3D, and Imax 3D, is the work of hundreds of people,
More Winger, Please: Talking With Icon Debra Winger at Provincetown Film Festival
Debra Winger was recently the recipient of a lifetime achievement award at the 13th annual Transylvania International Film Festival. This was a mistake on the festival’s part. Of course Winger is worthy of an award, there’s just no need to give her one with the word “lifetime” attached to it. Winger reportedly told Michael Kutza, the founder of the Chicago International Film Festival and feature film jury president in Transylvania this year, that the festival would be wise to change the award’s name to “career”
Dawn of the Planets of the Apes Location Manager on Filming in Rainforests
It has been ten years since the last human and ape contact. That last contact was combat, and it took place on the Golden Gate Bridge in a frenzied battle between a recently intellectually enhanced ape faction, led by the chimpanzee Caesar, and the bewildered humans who were not prepared for the coordinated assault of their suddenly intelligent, formerly captive simian subjects. The film ends with Caesar and his primate army heading into Muir Woods,
Chatting With Greer Grammer of MTV’s hit Series Awkward
Greer Grammer knows a thing or two about multitasking. The young actress, currently shooting the fourth season of MTV’s breakout scripted drama Awkward, is also making her way through her junior year at the University of Southern California. This sometimes means being on set until 5 a.m., returning to her apartment for two hours of sleep and then heading off to class. The theater major’s not complaining, however. Having nabbed a regular role on the critically acclaimed Awkward,
