How Taboo’s DP Conjured Painterly Tableaux of 19th Century London
When cinematographer Mark Patten got hired to shoot Tom Hardy's moody 19th century period thriller Taboo, he immediately invited Danish director Kristoffer Nyholm to check out British masterpieces at London museums. "I took Krisotoffer to see landscape paintings by William J. Turner, who was painting the Thames at the time of our story," Patten recalls. "We wanted to understand the way the light looks and start with that knowledge about the river because it gives so much life to Tom Hardy's character.
Meet Ramin Djawadi, the Man Behind The Music of Game of Thrones
The last time we checked in with Game of Thrones, we were unpacking the epic second trailer for season seven, and we were going behind-the-scenes with the special effects team to meet the folks who put the fire in Drogon's breath. Today, we're taking a look—and a listen—to the composer who gives the show its signature sound—Ramin Djawadi. HBO has released a new "Inside Game of Thrones" that highlights Djawadi's work,
Japanese Sci-Fi Series FACE: Cyber Crimes Special Investigation Unit Coming to Amazon
Japan is a sci-fi mecca, having given us everything from Godzilla to anime and manga, with sci-fi roots that stretch all the way back to the 8th century, when a kind of proto sci-fi story, ‘Urashima Taro,’ involved time travel. The Japanese have a long, rich sci-fi history, and the news that Amazon has ordered its first original Japanese sci-fi drama series is very intriguing.
The Hollywood Reporter writes that Amazon will be streaming FACE: Cyber Crime Special Investigation Unit,
Star Trek: Discovery Plot Details & More
We are excited about Star Trek: Discovery for a bunch of reasons. First, the iconic sci-fi franchise’s return to TV is, in itself, a big deal. We’ve been waiting since 2005 for the Starfleet to be back on the small screen, and to know its being shepherded by Hannibal’s Bryan Fuller and The Mummy’s Alex Kurtzman only sweetened the deal. Then, there was the casting of The Walking Dead’s Sonequa Martin-Green in the lead role,
Get in the Ring With GLOW‘s Women Wrestlers
You know you’ve hit upon a tantalizing subject for a new series when the creator of the mega popular, critically acclaimed musical Hamilton Tweets this:
GLOW, Netflix’s new series, is loosely based on the real-life low-budget wrestling show “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” and was created by two seriously talented people; Liz Flahive (Homeland, Nurse Jackie) and Carly Mensch (Nurse Jackie,
Austin Composers Use Old Synthesizers for New Stranger Things Music
Ever since they bonded over a shared obsession with electronic dance music as Texas fourteen-year olds, Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein spent every spare minute listening to techno artists like Aphex Twin and creating tracks on their laptops. But after college, Dixon and Stein shared an epiphany that would eventually lead to a break-through gig as co-composers for '80s-era Netflix hit thriller Stranger Things. "We didn't even knowing there had been these things called synthesizers in our teens,"
Unpacking the new Game of Thrones Season 7 Trailer
Summer has arrived in the northern hemisphere, but for the perpetually warring folks of Westeros, winter has finally come. That is made painfully, beautifully real in a brand new trailer for Game of Thrones’ seventh (and penultimate) season, nearly two minutes of fresh footage that speaks to a lot of what we were thinking (and hoping) was going to happen this season, and a lot of what we've been reading. Let’s have a look at the trailer and discuss. Spoiler alert—some of the below is based on speculation that,
Mars Executive Producer Justin Wilkes Talks the Category Defying Miniseries
Last fall, National Geographic premiered a new series that was as ambitious and innovative as its subject: the first manned mission to Mars. Over seven episodes, Mars featured inspiring interviews with some of the greatest minds of our age while visualizing the first human colonization of the red planet. Experts delve into the history of space exploration, the unbelievable technology that’s already been developed, and what it will take to make home on a new planet.
Winter Officially Arrives in Game of Thrones Season 7 Premiere
What better day to confirm that Winter has officially arrived in Game of Thrones than on the summer solstice (for us northern hemispherians)? HBO confirmed in a brand new social media campaign that winter will arrive in the first episode of the season on July 16 via some “winterizing” activations across Twitter, Reddit, and Google.
First, they revealed this via a winter-themed promo for Season 7, which showcases how with winter comes the Night King and his army.
Lost & The Leftovers‘ Damon Lindelof Developing Watchmen for HBO
Arguably the most iconic comic book series of all time looks like it might be coming to HBO. Variety reports that Damon Lindelof, the co-creator of Lost and The Leftovers, is in talks to develop a TV adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ brilliant comic book series "Watchmen." Lindelof is no stranger to this material; in 2015, he tried to bring the story to the small screen.
"Watchmen" takes place in an alternate history in which superheroes work in league with the government and helped shape the course of the 20th Century.
Check out This Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Clip From Nat Geo’s Genius
Last week we shared with you the story of how the hair and make-up departments working on National Geographic's Genius have transformed stars Johnny Flynn and Geoffrey Rush into the young and not-so-young Albert Einstein at the different stages of his life. Now, we've got an exclusive clip from behind-the-scenes of the show (Nat Geo’s first foray into scripted drama, by the way) that showcases the work of showrunner Ken Biller and cinematographer Mathias Herndl.
Dear White People Creator Justin Simien Talks Race and Comedy
In Netflix series Dear White People, sarcastic black radio host Samantha (Logan Browning), worn out after a long day of anti-racist activism at fictional Ivy League Winchester College, asks her best friend Joelle (Ashley Blaine Featherson) to "Say something funny and specific." Joelle obliges with a snappy one liner involving Drake and his ancient sitcom Degrassi High, propelling the show into its next scene on a buoyant comedic note.
Genius‘s Hair & Make-up Department on Creating Einstein’s Look
Genius marks National Geographic’s first foray into scripted drama. The series, which is based on Walter Isaacson’s book Einstein: His Life and Universe and executive produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, charts the rise of the disruptive physicist who changed the way we understand the universe. We chat to Fae Hammond (hair) and Davina Lamont (make-up) about the process of transforming stars Geoffrey Rush and Johnny Flynn into the wild-haired genius at the different stages of his life.
Ryan Murphy’s Next American Crime Story Will be About Gianna Versace
Ryan Murphy’s (Glee, American Horror Story) critically acclaimed anthology American Crime Story has been pushed back to air the next cycle until early 2018.
The second cycle was originally slotted to be Katrina: American Crime Story. Instead, Versace: American Crime Story will air first in early 2018 and Katrina will follow in late 2018.
Watch Video That Captures Every Single Death in Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones became a cultural phenomenon in part due to the show’s fearlessness with which it approached the death of major characters. Granted, this was in large part because show creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were committed to staying as true to George R.R. Martin’s source material as possible, but it was still a shock to see arguably the main character, Sean Bean’s Ned Stark, get killed in season one.
Meet the Fire Starters: Go Behind-the-Scenes With Game of Thrones‘ Special Effects Team
Last week we told you that Game of Thrones had likely entered the Guinness Book of World Records with a massive stunt they pulled off for season 7. In the upcoming season, thanks to Dany's dragons now being the size of 747s, the stunt, visual and special effects department cooked up a massive sequence in which 20 stunt professionals were set on fire simultaneously. Now,
Remembering Adam West
Friday night, the world lost the original Batman, Adam West. West, 88, passed away after a short battle with leukemia.
West played the original Batman in the 1960s television series. Following his run on the show, he went on to pursue other ventures in his acting career, and was beloved for never taking himself too seriously, being kind to those both in and outside the industry, and forever making Batman a part of the American cultural landscape.
More Monsters and Horror Coming in Season Two of Stranger Things
Season two of Stranger Things is going to be all hands on deck for the VFX team. Season one rekindled the excitement of 1980s era mastery of practical effects that was seriously amped up by digital techniques. The CGI was awesome and anyone who watched the series had at least one nightmare about the deadly demogorgon. As VFX supervisor Marc Kolbe told us, "What the Duffers saw [in season one] can be done digitally,
Stranger Things VFX Supervisor on Making Monster Mayhem
The Duffer Brothers' Stranger Things was a critical smash for Netflix, a medley of throwback charm, real tension, ace casting and superb pacing. The setting (small town Indiana) and the era (1983) were handled with loving attention and period-perfect detail, as we followed the mysterious case of a missing child, his friends' courageous attempts to find him, and the deepening weirdness that involved government experiments, supernatural creatures and worlds, and a possibly superpowered little girl who goes by Eleven.
Matt Smith on Playing Petulant Royalty in Netflix’s The Crown
One of television’s priciest shows to date, the first season of The Crown offers a faithfully detailed portrait of Elizabeth II’s early years as sovereign. Claire Foy plays the graceful if young queen; the difficult glory faced by her husband, Prince Philip, is portrayed equally well by the British actor Matt Smith (previously one of the doctors on Dr. Who). A lauded naval officer during World War II, Philip had to give up his career as he transitioned into being,
