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Behind the Scenes at ILM: The Making of Indiana Jones

GeekSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:00:40 -0700

It's been 19 years since we last saw Indiana Jones - who just so happens to be one of my favorite heroes in film - so I was stoked to see the latest installment to hit the big screen. However, I'm even more excited to take home my own copy of the film tonight to add to my collection. Not only to relive the adventure, but to see the extras that come with the DVD!

During my visit to the ILM studios, I was not only treated to some juicy behind the scenes info on the making of Iron Man, but also got the inside scoop on the making of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. We chatted with Visual Effects Supervisor Pablo Helman and Art Director Christian Alzmann here in San Francisco a few weeks ago, and talked about the challenges of movie making, and how visual effects really enhance film. To see what they offered up, just read more.

Scenes for the film were shot in Hawaii, Russia, Brazil, and New Mexico.
Although there were a lot of special effects used in the blockbuster, Pablo Helman (Visual Effects Supervisor) wanted to use real landscapes and location shots whenever possible - usually he used at least 50 percent of actual footage, with the rest being visual effects.

The nuclear bomb scene in the first half of the film was shot using miniature models - the entire town was scaled down, except for the one house Indy ran into to hide from the bomb.
The chase scene through the jungle contained a huge number of visual effects. The road they were driving on was in Hawaii, but the cliffs were pieced in from shots they took in Brazil.
The attacking ants were programmed with artificial intelligence, so the animators didn't have to animate every single ant's path.
To get the special effects right for the Maccupiccu scenes, a photographer was sent on location to photograph the landscape for three days. Later, animators and visual effects designers could match the light, contours, and backgrounds to the photos, since the Maccupiccu scenes were shot on a set.
Interesting, but obvious: George Lucas prefers working with special effects, whereas Steven Spielberg likes to work with actual film and footage.

Will you be getting your copy of the DVD today? You know where I'll be after work!

Indiana Jones Coming on DVD Tomorrow!

GeekSugar — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 02:00:22 -0700

Sugar staffers around the office are stoked for the Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull release on DVD tomorrow. Why? Two words: Shia LaBeouf. Yes, some of us have a total "Teen Beat" crush on the superstar, and his role in the film only perpetuates that bad boy image that most girls fall for. We're all suckers - admit it, you are too. Whether you're stoked for some Jones because of the story, or the cast, I've got my hands on some exclusive pics for you to feast on until you get your own copy of the movie tomorrow. Check them out in this slideshow, and stay tuned for more geeky-behind-the-scenes details on the special effects that went into the film tomorrow!

View Slideshow ›

Behind the Scenes at ILM: The Making of Iron Man

GeekSugar — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 02:00:52 -0700

When I took my tour of ILM studios a few weeks back, I was lucky enough to get some behind-the-scenes info on the special effects and animation that went into making Iron Man; straight from the guys who worked on it. Unfortunately for me that only made it harder to wait until I could own my very own copy of the Summer blockbuster!

A small group of us got a special Q&A session with Ben Snow (VFX Supervisor), Hal Hickel (Animation Supervisor), and Aaron McBride (Art Director, who by the way is pretty much John Krasinski's twin, but with longer hair - this made it very hard to pay attention), and got some fun details on the Iron Man suit, the flying sequences, and how cool it was to work with director John Favreau. To check out some geeky-but-fun facts from the film, just read more.

Although a full, tactile Iron Man suit was made for reference, they used visual effects for almost all of the scenes with Robert Downey Jr. in the suit.
Iron Man was chock-full of visual effects! ILM produced about 400 of the 800 visual effects shots in the film.
A bunch of the shots had to be filmed twice, once with the real Iron Man suit, and once as CGI.
John Favreau wanted Iron Man to fly the opposite way that Superman does: "Superman takes off fast and lands slow, if you think about it. He takes off really fast and always comes down for those soft landings. Iron Man is the opposite. He takes off slow and lands fast," which makes total sense with the weight of his suit!
The "Suit-Up sequence" (where those big arms place all of Iron Man's plates on Tony Stark's body) was completely CGI! They digitally placed Robert Downey Jr.'s head in to that scene.
John Favreau is one cool dude. Not only does Buzz think he was the perfect man for the job, but he's easy to work with as well. All three guys said it was refreshing to have the director ask for input from the crew, since it made the project more fun for them, and more of a collaborative environment.

I think it's a safe bet that there's going to be a ton of extras on the DVD, including the ILM test shot of Iron Man - the first shot they ever produced for the film. Needless to say, I'm leaving work today on a mission - to get my own copy of the movie, STAT! I have lots more information to share with you from my day at ILM, so stay tuned for some insider info on the making of Indiana Jones: The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull!

Daily Tech: New DS Lite Colors Are Sweet Like Candy

GeekSugar — Tue, 27 May 2008 12:03:47 -0700

Red, lime, and pastel-blue DS Lite's will be hitting Europe on June 13. Let's keep our fingers crossed that they'll make a US debut before the end of Summer! - Engadget
Although the just-released Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull features over 450 computer-generated images, director Steven Spielberg wanted them to go unnoticed so that they would look like other Indy films. - Cnet News
After returning from London where laptops can stay in your bag through the X-ray security scan, I was happy to hear that the TSA in the US has decided that laptop bags that meet certain specifications can pass through the X-ray. . . with the laptop inside! - Gizmodo
Film and music video director Brett Ratner is hoping to make movies based on video games since the games business is really booming right now. - Kotaku
This is so neat! Learn how to hack your DS and turn it into a fun digital sketchbook. - Wired
It's giveaway time! Be sure to log into your TeamSugar account for your chance to win a Wii Fit! - geeksugar