We here on the East Coast are just as eager to hear all the cool news from San Diego as you are. It can be kind of overwhelming to comb through the enormous amount information streaming out as studios and filmmakers do everything they can to compete for eyeballs amidst a circus of promotions, teases, trailers, panels, interviews, press conferences, etc. Naturally there are a lot of great people and sites out there swimming through the insanity, and I’ve done my best to keep up with it.
Below you’ll find a quirk and dirty rundown of the big news that has emerged and caught my eye, along with some great coverage from different people. Naturally I hope you’ll tab these pieces out and stick around for all the great content here (for example: the latest video, or upcoming Cap reviews from Nick and I), but there’s plenty of exploration for a geek to do out in the wide. As the Con continues, I’ll definitely be running more of these, as I try and keep up myself.
Prometheus
Sir Ridley Scott debuted a surprisingly detailed batch of footage at Comic Con, though it seems the teasers was mostly quick flashes of content. Some narration provided by the director himself makes it quite clear that the film is built on the DNA of the original Alien, and is attempting to be another ground-breaking horror film, but that it’s a whole new world.
Here’s a few snippets of impressions, all coming from detailed full reports that you can find at the links.
First we get an idea of how Lindelof became a part of the project, and a little insight into Charlize Theron’s character…
“Moderator Damon Lindelof begins by telling the story of how Ridley Scott contacted him to write the script for Prometheus. He recounts how he sat down with Scott and Co. after reading the existing script for the Alien prequel and telling them what he would do differently.
Theron came out to speak with Lindelof and she tells him that she’s “a suit” essentially, and she runs the machine that sends this ship into space. She says she’s not a scientist or a believer, but it seems like she’s in it for the economics, she’s a bit of an enigma and comes across as mysterious.”
The question of how the film will look, and what relationship (visual and story-wise) the film will have with Alien becomes a little more clearly answered….
“What we saw was disconnected and fragmented, but atmospheric and beautiful. The design looks to be exactly midway between Alien – there’s a spaceship dining area that seems to be right off the Nostromo – and Blade Runner and every movie Blade Runner inspired.
…We saw a scene of people walking through what appeared to be an egg chamber like in the first film, but the eggs were cylindrical, and almost looked like vases. There was a shot of a platform that looks an awful lot like the Space Jockey platform from the first film, minus a Space Jockey. There’s also a lot of biomechanical looking stuff, all kinds of Giger-esque hallways.”
And along with hints towards the film’s secrets, Scott also promises some new ideas…
“And Scott hinted that “there may be two robots in Prometheus,” not just the one android who’s rumored to be in the film. He added: “I think robots and androids and Replicants have become so much part of the actual science fiction scenario and landscape, that they’re no longer unique. [So] you’ve got to come up with those unique notions that make something fresh.”
Finally he made it very clear that’s he’s firmly on the 3D bandwagon…
“3D has been a wonderful exercise. I started as a cameraman, so I quickly realized that it’s really about lensing and picking the right lenses to make the 3D work. I’ve had help from Darius (Khondji) and his crew. Now that I’ve done it, I’ll never work without 3D again, even for small dialogue scenes. It opens up the whole universe.”
Don’t know about you, but I couldn’t be more excited for Prometheus at this point, and I hope to see that footage for myself soon. I also can’t wait to see what one of the most visually masterful directors ever is able to pull off with modern 3D. Make sure you let us know where Prometheus falls on your anticipation list…
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Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Wired scored a very nice interview with both Rupert Wyatt and Andy Serkis, the respective director and star of the film. While the director is always an unseen force behind a film, in this case the start of the film is also an unseen force as his performance has been coated with a digital creation that more and more people are calling “incredible” and “groundbreaking.”
The two have a great conversation about working in this new realm that involves such a novel method of integrating FX and reality in service of genuine emotional storytelling. Check it out here…
Adam at Collider was certainly impressed with what he saw at the panel, which apparently had Serkis and Wyatt reiterating many of their points from the video above, along with showing some new impressive footage.
“The visual effects on all the footage we saw was absolutely breathtaking. The emotion on Caesar’s face is unlike anything we’ve seen before, and it looks as though Weta Digital has really outdone itself. It remains to be seen if the actual rise of the apes will be as intriguing as it sounds, but the sizzle reel has me hopeful.”
Nick covered the release of that footage already, and if you haven’t seen it yet, hope over and take a look.
I think it’s definitely a strong indicator of the filmmaker’s desire to convey character through effects as much as thrill. Still very much up in the air if the story will support this groundbreaking approach though…
As I mentioned above, I’ll be running more of these coverage re-caps, so you know exactly where to go for the best info. Let us know what you think of everything via twitter, in the comments below, or on the boards.