See how They Made Black Panther’s Suit
Last week we shared the news with you that Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War was created entirely in post-production. The suit was the product of state-of-the-art visual effects, necessary beacuse the look directors Anthony and Joe Russo wanted would have been impossible to achieve practically.
Luckily, the VFX studio Cinesite was there to help. Civil War was their third Marvel collaboration, and they were prepared to help make Black Panther's suit by far the coolest superhero duds around.
See how They Filmed Jurassic World in new Behind-the-Scenes Videos
This might be the largest release of behind-the-scenes footage by a studio on their YouTube page ever. I mean, wow. Universal Studios' Jurrasic World YouTube page has made an absolute ton of awesome footage available—this includes, behind the scenes b-roll footage, rough-cut dailies, previs, interviews and a whole lot more.
We're giving you just a few of these videos (there's too many to stuff on a single post) for you to enjoy.
Jonás Cuarón Talks About his Savagely Intense Film Desierto
Desierto, Mexico’s official submission as Best Foreign Language Film to the next Academy Awards, doesn’t seem a likely inspiration for Gravity, which won seven Oscars in 2014. But when young filmmaker Jonás Cuarón showed the first draft of the script to his father Alfonso nearly 10 years ago, the elder Cuarón said he wanted to make a movie like it — in space.
“Like Gravity,
Talking to the Director Robert Kenner & Writer Eric Schlosser About Command & Control
In September 1980, a Titan II missile bearing a nuclear warhead caught on fire in a Air Force silo near Damascus, Arkansas. The incident was reported at the time, but the full implications of the conflagration weren't widely known until Eric Schlosser's book, Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety, was published in 2013.
The author interviewed Harold Brown, then the U.S. Secretary of Defense;
Cinematographer Kirsten Johnson Creates Cinematic Memoir From Outtakes
Sifting through outtakes from some three dozen documentaries she shot over the years, cinematographer Kirsten Johnson initially came up with a cinematic memoir she now calls the "trauma cut." Johnson, whose credits include Fahrenheit 9/11 and Oscar-winning Citizenfour and, says "I reached out for material that had been the most haunting to me."
The New York filmmaker had plenty of disturbing stuff to pick from,
Jonathan Ames Talks Season 2 of Blunt Talk
The idea was an inspired one. Novelist, screenwriter and TV creator Jonathan Ames, the man behind HBO's beloved (but short-lived) detective comedy Bored to Death, got an email from his agent saying that Seth McFarlane was looking to create a comedy for Sir Patrick Stewart. Stewart had proven his comedic chops by lending his voice to several episodes of McFardland's Family Guy, and now the budding mogul wanted to create a whole show around the legendary British thespian and movie star.
Black Panther’s all CGI Suit a True Marvel
The inclusion of the new Spider-Man in Captain America: Civil War was a big deal for Marvel-heads. What was especially interesting was his new look—specifically his clearly CGI-assisted changing eye sizes (which the internet has speculated are actually camera-assisted eyes, thanks to Tony Stark). The look was a hit, and fans went away very excited for the Tom Holland-led version of Spidey going forward. Then there was Giant-Man, which we touched upon yesterday.
Tim Squyres on Editing Ang Lee’s Groundbreaking Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk
Tim Squyres has been director Ang Lee’s go-to film editor for years. The pair first worked together in the early 1990s when Lee was shooting his debut film, Pushing Hands. “They would have liked an editor who spoke Mandarin, but they couldn’t find one,” says Squyres, who remembers editing that feature in a closet off of a noisy production office.
Times have certainly changed since then. Squyres now performs his cinematic magic in a fully equipped,
Talking to Veep‘s Emmy-Nominated Director About Art Imitating Life
Veep Assistant Director Dale Stern has been the creative right hand man to show creator Armando Iannucci for four seasons, steering the series toward critical and audience acclaim. In the fifth season, Stern took over the directing chair for a single episode that was so brilliantly executed it earned him an Emmy nomination. In mid-season standout Mother, Stern took on some of the darkest material the show has tackled and it turned out to be some of the funniest.
See how They Created the Visual Effects for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Industrial Light & Magic has made as massive impact on filmmaking. ILM's imprint is all over the entirety of the Star Wars saga, and has touched so many of our most visually dazzling films it's hard to understate their impact. We've interviewed multiple ILM employees over the years to find out how they made alien robot-car hyrbids walk and talk, how they created the amazing time travel sequence at the end of
See how they Filmed the Fight Scene Between Captain America and the Winter Soldier
There were a lot of big, bruising brawls in Captain America: Civil War, but none are more personal than when Cap fights his best friend (of 80 years!) the Winter Soldier, aka Bucky Barnes. In this behind-the-scenes clip unveiled by Marvel, directors Joe and Anthony Russo show us how they built this fight early in the film.
Fight coordinator James Young explains that the key to crafting a believable, emotional fight is to remember that these brawls need to be "character moments."
Gene Wilder: 1933-2016
The dreamers of the world are heartbroken today by the passing of one of the most imaginative talents of our time, Gene Wilder. His nephew, Jordan Walker-Perlman, reported that the comedic legend died from complications from Alzheimer’s disease. He was 83 years old.
Wilder’s performances were steeped in sincerity that resonated with children and adults. His breakout role in Mel Brooks’ 1967 classic The Producers launched one of Hollywood’s funniest collaborations.
Lennie James on Playing the Moral Center of The Walking Dead
Audiences may have tuned in to The Walking Dead expecting a zombie gore fest, which is often what they get, but the emotional draw of the characters has carried the story through six seasons. The show reached an emotional high as fans have been left to agonize all summer wondering, “Who did Negan kill?” But the moral and emotional tone was introduced by one of the show’s most beloved characters,
How Daredevil‘s Emmy-Nominated Sound Designer Makes the Punches Pop
During a marathon stairway brawl early in Daredevil's second Netflix season, hero Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) sounds like he's beating a gang of bikers to a bloody pulp. In fact, the hits seem far more furious than they really are thanks to Emmy-nominated sound designer Jordan Wilby. "There's a lot of different ways we get our sounds," explains Wilby, who gave voice to every punch in the fight using audio files from his massive library of sound sources.
From Senator to Bad-Ass, Tovah Feldshuh Talks The Walking Dead
Her first day on Georgia set of The Walking Dead Season Five, Tovah Feldshuh shared a nine-page scene with star Andrew Lincoln to establish her Deanna Monroe character as the level-headed leader of Alexandria's "Safe Zone" gated community. By the time Season Six began, Deanna was instructing Lincoln's Rick Grimes to kill the murderer of her husband with two succinct words: "Do it." Summing up her character arc showcased in The Walking Dead: The Complete Sixth Season (released today,
See how the Gorgeous Opening of Kubo and the Two Strings was Created
Travis Knight's Kubo and the two Strings is a gorgeous, animated meditation on the love between a mother and a son. The luscious look of the film, created by Laika's brilliant stop-motion animation, is something to behold (this is to say nothing of the the sound of the film, which includes a glorious theme song by Regina Spektor). Knight is Laika's CEO, and his first foray into filmmaking begins with a cold open,
Cinematographer Crescenzo Notarile on his Emmy Nominated work on Gotham
Whether you’re a fan of movies, television, or music videos, Crescenzo Notarile’s award winning cinematography has permeated nearly every medium of entertainment. Notarile has worked with some of the most iconic directors, musicians and brands in the industry for more than 30 years. He was there at the very beginning of the CSI series, helping to shape it into one of the most watched television programs in the world.
Notarile is now nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Cinematography for transforming New York into a pre-Batman Gotham.
YouTube-Inspired Director Used GoPro Cameras to Capture Ben-Hur Chariot Action
Before Timur Bekmambetov shot a single frame of the new Ben-Hur, he wanted to find out exactly what it felt like to be in the kind of four-horse chariot race that propelled its 1959 predecessor to 11 Academy Awards.
So the Russian director got behind the reins himself.
"I asked our stunt coordinator to let me ride the chariot, which was absolutely illegal because it's dangerous,"
Watch Assassin’s Creed Stunt Performer’s Historic 125 Foot Free Fall
It's actually hard to watch. Michael Fassbender's stunt double in Assassin's Creed pulls off one of the highest free falls in almost 35 years. Stunt performer Damien Walters is one of the best in the business, which is why they trusted he could pull off this death-defying feat successfully. Director Justin Kurzel wanted to ground the action of Assassin's Creed in reality as much as possible, which meant that the "Leap of Faith,"
Chatting with Jessica Jones’ Emmy-Nominated Composer Sean Callery
If you couldn’t stop your pulse from pounding while watching Jack Bauer’s clock tick down (24) or you held your breath as Carrie Mathison navigated terrorist plots in the CIA (Homeland), Sean Callery is likely to blame. His music has driven viewers to the edge of their seats in some of TV’s most pulse-pounding thrillers and earned him a stunning 16 Emmy nominations.
