Gizmodo Australia Visits Lucasfilm, Meets Star Wars FX Guru Dennis Muren 
Gizmodo Visits Skywalker Sound: Samples, Fruit Bats And Phillip Island Penguins 
Giz Interviews Weta Digital's Effects Guru, Joe Letteri 
Exclusive: How Tron Starred A Young Jeff Bridges 
BOOM! How Comic Book Sounds Become Movie Sounds 
Interview: The Man Who Really Built Iron Man 
Matthew Wood is a 21 year veteran of Skywalker Sound, tasked with bringing all six Star Wars films up to a 6.1 channel audio mix for the Blu-ray release. We spoke with Wood about the process of remastering audio, working with Ben Burtt, and how some very Australian sounds became the ‘voice’ of the Geonosians.
With the release of Star Wars on Blu-ray this week, you’ll find three collections in stores to choose from. Only the nine-disc complete collection comes with any bonus content, and while some may want to avoid buying any prequel EVAR, owning unseen footage like Greedo’s real dialogue or a wampa attack on the Hoth base might make this unmissable. We went hands on with the extra content to see what’s what.
Computer-generated animations have come a long way in a relatively short time span. Starting as a series of rudimentary renders in the late ’70s, it’s amusing to think these animations left people in awe. But they probably did.
Rise of the Planet of the Apes hit cinemas yesterday, and for a special effects blockbuster, I was surprised by its cautionary tone and heart. The film centres on main ape, Caesar, an amazing CG realisation from Weta Digital and Andy “Gollum” Serkis. I sat down with Senior Visual Effects Supervisor, Joe Letteri, to ask how performance capture has progressed since Avatar and Lord of the Rings, and find out if Weta has contemplated video games.
Perhaps it’s because I’m used to TV series with blatantly obvious special effects but, after seeing this behind-the-scenes video of HBO’s Game of Thrones, I’m amazed at the number of architectural structures and elements that aren’t real. It’s simply awesome.
This special effects bonanza from Shay Carl isn’t notable because of its technical proficiency, although there’s plenty of it. No, what’s going to stay with you after watching the epic throwdown that is Epic War’s 2:17 is toy soldiers, blasting away, shooting off mortars, and seeing everything that went on in your head when you were eight brought to life on the small screen.
When the teaser trailer for Steven Spielberg’s Tintin trailer came out, I had reservations. The post, the styling, the action, they all looked terrific. But why couldn’t we see anyone talking? As the new full-length trailer mercifully reveals, turns out they had nothing to hide.
Soundworks Collection has a great little feature on a very big movie called Transformers 3. Heard of it? Sure! In this video you get to see how the movie’s sound effects were made using dry ice, electric guitars and more.
What’s it like experiencing Martin Gamal’s visual effects showreel for the first time? It’s like watching Transformers, if Michael Bay had a 20 dollar budget and hooks for hands. Better acting, though.
