GeekSugar

Buzz at WonderCon: Talking With the Creators of Pixar's Up

BuzzSugar — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 12:30:07 PST

I enjoy learning pretty much anything related to the wizardry that goes on at Pixar which is why I jumped at the chance to chat with director Pete Docter and producer Jonas Rivera at WonderCon all about Pixar's forthcoming film, Up.

We spoke directly after the two men previewed clips from the movie to a large and enthusiastic crowd and later that evening I watched a special screening of the first 45 minutes of the film. I don't want to give anything away because I know how much I enjoyed my first peek, but I'll say there is much more to this movie than the trailer implies.

The footage I viewed contains everything we've come to expect from Pixar: outstanding animation, charming characters, and big laughs. And like Wall-E, the movie touches on some adult concepts. In fact, the entire audience (including myself!) was crying within the first 15 minutes.

We talked about this sophisticated nature of Pixar's storytelling compared to other animated films and lots more during our roundtable with the guys. To check out the interview,

Warning: The following interview may be a bit spoilery so if you don't want to know a thing about this movie before watching it then look away friend, look away!

On animating humans vs. robots (or cars, or fish, etc.):
Docter: It's a good question because especially on this film we made a concerted effort from the onset to make it more caricatured and stylized and so you'll see [the movie's main character] Carl moving in a much more stylized way than say Mom in Toy Story. We just felt like this is a world where you have a house floating into the sky - it's gotta have a sense of caricature and simplicity to it that supports that reality.

On making nearly all Pixar characters so freaking adorable:
Rivera: It's just really about draw and draw and draw and draw and get those designs where we think they're just really super appealing. In our medium . . . humans are really, really hard to make look real and if they look too real they start looking dead and creepy and weird and so we found that mooshing the shapes and caricaturing them - Carl's only three heads high and so forth - and really playing with proportions to make them appealing almost made them look more real.

On whether or not they feel an inordinate amount of pressure after the success of Wall-E:
Rivera: I do!
Docter: Where I feel the most pressure is the other guys that I work with. Before we show it to you guys or the rest of the world I have to make [Wall-E director] Andrew Stanton and [writer/director Ratatouille] Brad Bird laugh or cry or whatever. You know, that's a tough order. But that's I think a part of the success of the films.
Rivera: I mean, this is the tenth film we've done and, you know, everyone's really liked the films so far that we've done so you do definitely hope they like it as much because you're so close to it. I mean honestly we've been in there for four years and have been looking at this every day and somehow you go home and you're like, "Man, dogs talk and . . . I don't know. Is this good? I don't know?"
Docter: Yeah, is this just weird or is it funny. . . .?

On telling surprisingly sophisticated stories through animation:
Docter: I think that for me when I sit down in a movie theater and the lights go down, I want to see something that speaks to me that I can recognize about myself and about the world. So we don't really think of these as, "Oh, we're making little kid movies" or " oh, we're making animated movies." We're just making movies and they happen to use this amazing technology that Pixar's developed and we get to work with these incredible artists, but first and foremost we're just telling stories that speak to us.

On what goes into research at Pixar:
Docter: Actually this film has a lot born out of Peter Pan in terms of the styling. One of the great things about working at Pixar - a bunch of us go down to South America and do some research and as we were walking around we were like, "Hey that looks like Peter Pan!" We actually got to hike up one of these tabletop mountains.
Rivera: That's how big of dorks we are. We're in the jungle saying "That looks like Peter Pan!"

Images courtesy of Walt Disney Pictures

Wondercon 2009: Putrid Pals

GeekSugar — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 02:01:02 PST

Remember when I said there was plenty of cute to be found on the expo floor of Wondercon? Well, I kind of couldn't get over these little guys, called Putrid Pals which as described by artist Michael Fleming, were "undead French boys." I could see how that description may gross some people out, but look at them! Totally cute, and only $20 bucks each. If I were a rich girl, I may have come home with lots of little trinkets that would have overrun my desk here at work. But Michael doesn't just create toys, he's also a great artist who does prints, comics, and posters for a local dance troupe based in SF. Check out a few more pics of his work in the gallery.

View 5 Photos ›

Are You Seeing Watchmen This Weekend?

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 09:00:10 PST

Obviously one of the most anticipated panels at this year's Wondercon was Watchmen. Buzz and I got to the Moscone Center early on Saturday to catch director Zack Snyder talk about the filming process, and catch a glimpse of the stars up close and in person. The room filled up quickly, and you could tell that everyone was hoping that we would get to see some exclusive footage of the movie.

And boy did we ever! After Zack showed us the first 20 minutes (or so) of the film, I was more excited than ever to see the most celebrated graphic novel hit the big screen - I've had my opening day IMAX tickets for a few weeks already! Are you as excited as I am to see Watchmen this weekend?

Wondercon 2009: Loter

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 04:01:18 PST

Although it seemed that the expo hall at this year's Wondercon was a little less robust than years' past, there was plenty of cute to go around among all that geekiness. Take Loter for example. Makers of tees, toys, cards, and prints, their booth caught my eye from across the room with its retro vibe. I picked up a few of their prints and cards on my way out, which remind me a little of the stylized art of Eric Tam, who draws the awesome 60's era Disney movie posters. Obviously I'm a fan of retro, so this little figurine would fit in quite well with the other nicknacks I keep on my desk.

Check out some more pics of Loter's awesome booth and their sweetly geeky goods.

View 5 Photos ›

Wondercon 2009: Chuck Is a Gaming Geek On and Off Screen

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:00:42 PST

On Sunday, Buzz got the chance of a lifetime for any Chuck fan: she hung with the cast backstage and moderated the panel at this year's Wondercon! Since I don't watch the show on a regular basis (um, where have I been?!), I totally geeked-out when Adam Baldwin took the stage. He plays super spy John Casey in the show, but of course I (and apparently the rest of the audience) love him from his time on Firefly. But that wasn't the only surprise of the day: BSG's Number Six, Trisha Helfer, will be guest starring on a few new episodes, and Chuck star Zachary Levi is a total gaming nerd.

When asked about how similar he is to his character, Zachary started chatting about his gaming skills, how he plays Fear 2, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and how excited he is for Resident Evil 5 to hit store shelves. He also went off about how the controls on Street Fighter IV were a little too wonky for his liking. With his previous displays of geekiness at the TCAs, and now knowing that he's also a gamer, Zachary Levi may just be the dark horse that swipes the crown of Celeb Geek King from Ashton! He better watch out.

BuzzSugar at WonderCon: Star Trek and Terminator Preach to the Choir

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 09:30:10 PST

It was an insane - not to mention insanely fun - weekend at WonderCon here in San Francisco. I already reported back on the exciting Watchmen panel, and now I'm giving the lowdown on the panels I attended for Star Trek and Terminator Salvation. The directors of both movies showed up to explain to a crowd of devotees how they think they've done right by fans with these reboots. To read what J.J. Abrams and McG had to say about reviving beloved franchises with care,

Warning!: The following might be considered spoilery.

Star Trek:

Well, Heroes may not be pleasing all the fans lately, but Zachary Quinto (who plays Spock in the movie) remains a hot commodity to this crowd - the lady screams were loud and long when he appeared onstage. Chris Pine (Kirk) and Zoe Saldana (Lt. Nyota Uhura) also showed up alongside J.J. Abrams for the panel.
Anton Yelchin has big parts in both Star Trek and Terminator but didn't take the stage for Star Trek.
Everyone talked with deep reverence for the Trek canon, though their levels of fandom vary (Abrams admitted he never really watched the show but was still excited about this movie).

It sounded like Quinto got a lot of time with Leonard Nimoy, and Pine said of following in William Shatner's footsteps, "Mr. Shatner's incredibly funny . . . it's that twinkle in his eye that's like, you know, anything can happen. Something I couldn't try to re-create for the life of me."
We saw a brand new world premiere trailer that is similar to the last one, but includes new goose-bump-inducing scenes like a young Kirk sitting down in the captain's seat on the Enterprise bridge for the first time.
J.J. Abrams threw the crowd some Cloverfield sequel news crumbs, too, saying, "We have an idea for something that's pretty cool . . . the idea is pretty sweet!"

Terminator Salvation

Director McG entered the stage and was pumped about his movie. He kicked things off with the premiere of a whole new trailer that fans will see before Watchmen and that is totally different than anything we've seen so far. This one focuses more on story and less on robots, as we learn that humans are being collected and harvested by Skynet.
One of the funniest moments of the panel was when McG responded to the moderator's request to address the now infamous Christian Bale on-set meltdown with, "What don't you f*cking understand?"
Talent included Yelchin (who plays Kyle Reese, Connor's dad), Bryce Dallas Howard (Kate Connor), Common and Moon Bloodgood. They all seemed genuinely impressed and speechless after seeing this new trailer along with the crowd for the first time.
Another cute moment came from Common who answered a question about how he got involved with this movie: "I wanted to do a movie with Christian Bale."
We saw a few more unfinished clips and it's a lot of action, a lot of robots, etc. Pretty heart-pounding, though not at all unexpected.
I thought it was funny how everyone on the panel constantly gushed about the first two Terminator films - the elephant in the room being the third movie, directed by Jonathan Mostow. Everyone sort of agreed to be polite about it but it was clear they consider it a blemish on the franchise.
Finally, McG danced around it a bit, but he made it seem like the odds were pretty decent that the T-800 will make an appearance, which is the model Arnold Schwarzenegger played in the series. Will the Governator make an appearance? I'm betting yes.

Wondercon 2009: Pixar's Up!

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 07:33:54 PST

I look forward to Wondercon all year, mostly because it's in my hometown so I don't have to worry about flying, hotels, and cabs, but also because I get to check out tons of upcoming movies. Day two of Wondercon was packed (and I mean packed) with geeky and celebrity goodness. There's a lot to cover, but first up, is Up! We got a sneak peek at Pixar's newest film at the Up panel, plus I got to chat with director Pete Doctor and producer Jonas Rivera about the movie, and check out an exclusive screening of the first 45 minutes of the film.

Up (which is coming out in 3D this May) is about a 78 year-old man who attaches a ton of helium-filled balloons to his house in order to float his way to South America. Up also stars an eight-year-old "Wilderness Explorer," a few hilarious dogs, and a really big bird. But by far the star of the film is the animation! To hear what the guys had to say about working in 3D versus 2D, and hear about some hidden tidbits you'll find in the film, just

Jonas Rivera on developing a 3D movie: There's really no difference in how we animate a 3D movie than when we animate a 2D movie. From day one, our software allows us to animate in 3D, it's just that we're now projecting in 3D.

Pete Doctor on finding "Easter Eggs" in each of the Pixar films: There are objects that you'll find in each of our films, like the Pizza Planet truck has been in just about all of the movies, other things like the yellow ball with the star - you just gotta keep your eyes open and you'll start to recognize them.

On how they come up with movie ideas:
PD: To be honest, every one of them was totally different. Like for Monsters Inc. I literally thought of the concept in the shower, although it totally changed from there. And Up was almost like an intellectual exercise at some point, kind of constructing what made the old man who he is, making it an intriguing idea. They are all different, and I think that's the key to the success of the films is that there are no rules.
JR: The only commonality is that Pixar supports - there's a development department that, you know, when the director's done, you have an environment that supports and nurtures the development of an idea.

Check out the trailer here, and then tell me: are you excited to see Pixar's latest creation?

McG Calls Christian Bale on His Blackberry Pearl

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 04:00:48 PST

As I said on Twitter over the weekend, there was a party going on at Wondercon, and it was called the Terminator: Salvation panel! I witnessed firsthand how quickly McG can get a crowd of geeks excited for a killer robot flick, and he started the hour off with a call to his buddy Christian Bale, who unfortunately was not at the event on Saturday. Whipping out his Blackberry Pearl, we all got a chance to chime in on the message left on Christian's home voicemail, and the director even slipped in a little jab referencing the stars' -ahem- freakout on set. Check out the fun in the video below.

Chuck vs. the WonderCon

BuzzSugar — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:45:07 PST

The highest point of my WonderCon experience came Sunday afternoon, when I moderated the Chuck panel with Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski, Adam Baldwin, Joshua Gomez, and cocreators Chris Fedak and Josh Schwartz. It was an absolute delight: Everyone on the panel was lively, funny, and eager to chat about a show that obviously makes them all proud.

The crowd definitely reciprocated their warmth. I couldn't see all the way to the back of the Esplanade Ballroom, but folks in the crowd estimated that somewhere around 2,000 people showed up for Chuck. There was a huge line for audience Q&A and lots of enthusiastic cheering, especially for references to the Chuck/Sarah romantic entanglements, Scott Bakula's first appearance in the five-minute trailer we screened, and pretty much anything Adam Baldwin did. In fact, Levi gave a very genuine and impassioned thank you to the crowd at the end of the panel, and everyone told me they're thrilled with - and extremely thankful for - the kind reception they've always gotten at fan events. If you couldn't be in the room, read on for some of the highlights:

First of all, the five-minute clip from the upcoming episodes was intense; I'll discuss some of the more spoilery stuff after the jump. But it also drew a bunch of big laughs from the crowd. In one section, we saw Tony Hale's Emmett fighting (and, it seems, losing) a battle at the Buy More. In another, Chuck appeared to be undergoing some kind of torture and seems proud to be rating it at about an eight out of 10 - until Sarah tells him the torture hasn't even started yet. Oh, and there was also a scene of Jeff clad in nothing but a bathrobe.
Does the entrance of Chuck's dad signal that wedding bells are on the way before the end of season two? Schwartz said there will be not one but two weddings before the season is up (which prompted Levi and Gomez to joke - I think - about the impending Chuck/Morgan nuptials).

To find out the details of Chuck's first spy move, what's coming up in the Chuck/Sarah relationship, which past characters might be returning before the season's up, and a special bonus answer to a question I ran out of time to ask on stage, just

I asked if Chuck is ever going to learn any spy moves, and Levi said that yes, in fact, he is. He then hopped up on his chair to demonstrate "The Morgan," which looks sort of like the Heisman Trophy pose if you were more concerned with covering your face and "the jewels" than going in for a score. However: The episode in which The Morgan appears is called "Chuck vs. the First Kill." Take from that what you will.
The Chuck and Sarah romance will be something the show tackles head-on for the rest of the season, Schwartz said. That said, it won't be easy, especially because in an arc that starts with tonight's episode, Sarah will be cozying up to an MI-6 agent, and her motives may not be entirely work-related.
I asked what episodes the cast and creators felt were most representative of what the series wanted to be, and Levi suggested the first season's "Chuck vs. the Wookie" and this year's "Chuck vs. the Seduction" guest-starring John Larroquette. Gomez threw out "Chuck vs. the Best Friend" and then named a couple of other Morgan-centric episodes, causing Schwartz to suggest that maybe there was a pattern there.
On the topic of guest stars, Schwartz and Fedak said they write the roles first and then look for people for the parts. They like to cast against type, like making the baby-faced Andy Richter the head of a menacing Fulcrum sect. Schwartz said one of his favorite guest-castings of the season has been Reginald VelJohnson as Big Al.
I asked about the guest stars the cast had most admired, and Gomez said for him, it's the athletes like Michael Strahan and Jerome Bettis who have appeared on the show because he knows he could never in a million years do what they do.

Pretty much anything Adam Baldwin said got a roar from the crowd, but he was especially funny when the writers were talking about the little touches he brings to the role, like having Casey sit down for a dinner scene and start absentmindedly sharpening his knife and fork.
The end of season two is a big potential game-changer, Schwartz said - so it's definitely written as a season finale and not a series finale. The episodes leading up to it are also the most serialized they've ever done. Schwartz asked the crowd if they'd be ready to mobilize to convince NBC that Chuck deserves a third season, and not surprisingly, there was a huge cheer.
That's probably as good a place as any to talk about the Chuck's dad spoiler from the clip: Somehow, Chuck's dad and Chevy Chase's character know each other, and there are definitely some hints that Chuck's dad may have been a spy, or at least worked with them, years earlier. I, uh, may have audibly gasped at that part.
Gomez says he thinks that Morgan does, at this point, suspect that Chuck has something going on besides Nerd Herding, but as a good friend, he sees his role as covering for Chuck when necessary and not asking questions.
Strahovski said one of her favorite fight scenes from the two seasons of the show was the choreographed fight with Bryce when they were back-to-back, mirroring each other's moves.
Speaking of Bryce, I asked if he'd be returning, and the crowd reaction was definitely mixed - from where I stood, it sounded like maybe 25 percent of the room was in favor of more Bryce, while 75 percent of the room wanted him to stay away. Schwartz and Fedak decided to neither confirm nor deny anything after hearing that reaction.

We definitely haven't seen the last of Jill: Levi said she returns for another episode this season.
Jeffster! will be back!
In talking about how much Chuck's geekiness is actually Zach's geekiness, Levi - who was attempting to draw a line in the sand between the two - ended up delivering a long diatribe about video games, offering his critiques of some new titles, and even starting a dialogue with some audience members about his opinions. At which point Gomez leaned into his microphone and said, "So they're completely different."

During the fan Q&A portion, one questioner asked which other characters on the show the cast would like to play. Gomez offered up that he'd like to be Sarah Lancaster, "and I'd just stare at myself all day." Strahovski said she'd like to be Lester.

I'd planned to ask if Chuck was ever named anything but Chuck in early drafts of the script, but we ran out of time on the panel. Luckily, though, Fedak was kind enough to answer backstage. He said Chuck did initially have a different name, but while he and Schwartz were working on the show, they were reading some Chuck Klosterman, and Schwartz decided their show's main character should get Klosterman's name. Fedak wasn't sold initially, but after his loved ones told him he was an idiot for not going with it, he eventually came around.

It also bears mentioning that all the panelists seemed legitimately hopeful about their chances for a third season. Shooting wraps up this week, and then it's just a wait to hear from NBC about the future. So, if you're a fan, finger-crossing time starts now.

BuzzSugar at WonderCon: Watchmen Takes the Stage!

BuzzSugar — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 07:30:07 PST

Saturday at WonderCon started with a bang: Watchmen director Zack Snyder appeared before an extremely packed house along with his cast to reveal about 20 minutes of footage from the movie, including the opening credits.

The conversation was lively and the footage very exciting. Of course, I can't give my final opinion till I've seen the movie start to finish, but based on what I saw this weekend, it's hard for me to imagine this film stumbling too hard. I'm a huge fan of the graphic novel, so I may be a wee bit biased - though it's hard to tell if that would make me easier or harder on the film. I guess I'll know soon, but to see my thoughts on the panel and more details about the clips,

The ballroom crowd went wild when, in addition to director Zack Snyder, most of the major cast members showed up on stage. They included Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Billy Crudup, Malin Akerman, Jackie Earle Haley, and Patrick Wilson.

After some chatting about the movie, Snyder announced he was showing us the first 20 minutes or so of the movie. The opening credits of Watchmen are astonishing and manage to cram in the history and back story of the movie's alternate reality, all set to Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin."
We also got to see a scene of Rorschach (Haley) in prison that practically had the crowd on its feet by the end. I'll just say this: it's violent, it's kick-ass, and I think it's a taste at how satisfying seeing this graphic novel on the big screen could be.
A couple of funny moments: Morgan said that in approaching his role as The Comedian, he had to somehow make the character seem human in the midst of "killing, raping and pillaging throughout the world." Crudup said in order to make Dr. Manhattan seem distracted, he just thought of "walking on the surface of the sun and things like that."

If there's a sequel, it probably won't involve Snyder, who called such rumors "crazy talk" and added, "To me it seems impossible to even talk about. That's like a sequel to Moby Dick."
For the record, Snyder couldn't be cuter in person.
If the film does well it will almost certainly get a director's cut re-release this July. Currently, the movie is 2 hours and 43 minutes long, and the director's cut will be 3 hours and 10 minutes.
When talking about all the cuts Snyder had to make for the theatrical release, he mentioned the studio requesting less of two things: violence and Dr. Manhattan's blue, er, private areas.
Snyder also said that the companion story to the comic, Black Freighter, has been created as an animation and will be released on DVD a week after the movie hits theaters.
Dave Gibbons, the novel's illustrator, had nothing but kind words for the movie, saying "It's completely surreal" and "This is like the movie I saw in my head, and these are like the people I saw in my dreams."
Fun fact: Little Rorschach, whom we see in the opening credits, is played by Snyder's own son.