All Posts in "behind the scenes"

Star Trek’s CGI Pioneers

These days we all know about computer generated imagery. In fact many of us think that the Star Wars prequels had way too much of it and suffered because of this. Star Trek has always been a pioneer of the art-form and as such has helped shape the technology behind it. These videos are from a 1987 Open University documentary on computer aided design, highlighting some early examples of CGI and how it was used in Star Trek.

Both are well worth your time. It’s a fascinating look back at effects that we take for granted today. The first video looks at Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. The second video looks at some of the work done on the Genesis Device sequence from Star Trek II.

via The Trek Collective

Scifi Staff by — October 21, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
X-Men: Days Of Future Past VFX Breakdown Featuring Mystique, Magneto And Quicksilver

This stunning VFX breakdown from Digital Domain, who worked on X-Men: Days of Future Past is a must watch. A lot of hard work goes into turning Jennifer Lawrence into Mystique. Sometimes it takes a whole other actor. The video shows the models and effects used for the scenes and much more.

It is amazing just how much work it takes to take the two actors and transform the scene. Oh and all of those amazing details at RFK stadium? That took a lot of work too and it looked great. Also check out Quicksilver’s VFX video. Great stuff. They are both very fascinating to watch.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyFo559P2DQ

Scifi Staff by — October 13, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Behind The Scenes Of The Dark Knight Trilogy

With Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice still being a year and a half away from theaters, we need a Batman fix now more than ever. Well, feast your eyes on these behind the scenes images from Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.

Luckily for us these movies were very well documented, so we get to take a look at what went on behind the camera. Nolan really nailed Batman and even if I didn’t care for much of The Dark Knight Rises, Nolan really understood Batman in a way that other filmmakers have not.

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

dark knight behind the scenes

via Movie Pilot

Scifi Staff by — October 8, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Star Trek: Voyager – Aeroshuttle Test Footage And Unused Voyager Designs

The Enterprise D had a Captain’s Yacht, and likewise Voyager had an Aeroshuttle. Although we never saw it on screen. It was a small craft attached to the underside of the USS Voyager’s saucer section. It was there the whole time. You can see it attached to the Saucer. It was just never used.

The Delta Flyer basically took over its role. Now we can see the launch sequence thanks to visual effects artist Adam “Mojo” Lebowitz who posted a concept test video of the Aeroshuttle launch. Star Trek designer Rick Sternbach has also been sharing some behind the scenes Voyager stuff lately. A LOT of it. This is because next year is the 20th anniversary of the series. Below you can see some concept art for the Aeroshuttle as well as some earlier concept art for Voyager herself and even a foamcore mockup.

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

Voyager Aeroshuttle and ship designs

via The Trek Collective

Scifi Staff by — September 8, 2014 in Art 0
Concept Art From David Lynch’s Dune

Many consider David Lynch’s Dune to be a messy adaptation of the books, others see it as a visual masterpiece. It is dark, epic and sprawling. And if you watch it enough times, you’ll see that it is carefully painted in layers, with a depth that you won’t find in most Sci-Fi movies. Is it good film? That’s up to you and your own experience with it. It IS a work of art in it’s own right however. I loved the sheer alien-ness of the film back in 1984. It was all just large and foreign and new to my eyes in the way that Star Wars had been years before.

Author Ron Miller was the production illustrator for the film, and has a large collection of sketches, production paintings, and photos of spacecrafts and sandworms and much more. Here we can glimpse a bit of that collection in some concept art and behind the scenes photos.

dune concept art

dune concept art

dune concept art

dune concept art

dune concept art

dune concept art

dune concept art

via The Verge

Scifi Staff by — August 26, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Alien Makeup Designs from Guardians Of The Galaxy

These are some really nice behind the scenes photos that show off different alien makeup designs created for Guardians of the Galaxy. You have to love the retro look and feel of this movie and admire all of the practical effects that were used to pull it off. These designs have so much detail!

Dave White, the special effects makeup designer helped to create the designs for Gamora, Drax, Nebula, Yondu, Korath, and other aliens. They are all done practically and are free from modern alien design influences. The end results in the film were simply amazing. You’ll find more at the link.

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

guardians of the galaxy aliens

via Geektyrant

Scifi Staff by — August 18, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Behind the Scenes Photos of Metropolis

Check out these amazing behind the scenes photographs from the classic sci-fi movie Metropolis from 1927. This was a gargantuan production for its time. Looking at all of these images, that is what really strikes you. The entire thing was massive.

Today massive productions are nothing and millions are spent just procuring actors alone. These photos really give you a sense of the sheer enormity of putting this movie together in that era and it really paved the way for many movies that came after it. The story represented in these stills are like a movie behind the movie. Love these.

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

metropolis

via Gizmodo

Images are from the Hulton Archive via Getty Images.

Scifi Staff by — July 28, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Behind The Scenes Photo Gallery From Ridley Scott’s Alien

We can thank Imgur member Valaquen for these lovely behind-the-scenes photos from Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi/horror film Alien. Valaquen recently uploaded over 253 images, with more to come. These images provide an interesting look at the making of the classic film.

We’ve got rare concept art, newspaper/magazine clippings, vehicle models, cast and crew pics, pics of H.R. Giger himself, costume designs and so much more. You can easily lose yourself for hours looking through all of them. Trust me, I’ve done it. These images make me appreciate the movie on a whole other level. I can only imagine what a thrill it was to work on this movie and help put it all together. To walk in these alien sets. Just amazing.

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

alien behind the scenes

Scifi Staff by — July 14, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Creating Empire Strikes Back’s AT-AT Scenes

Joe Johnston recently revealed this behind-the-scenes video detailing the making of one of the shots from Empire Strikes Back featuring the AT-ATs. I have nothing but respect for these old school stop motion guys. It is slow work and about as low-tech as it gets, but it can produce amazing shots that rival today’s special effects.

Johnston:

Original Trilogy fans…here’s the digitized super 8mm clip of Phil Tippett, Jon Berg and Doug Bestwick stop-motion animating a snow walker shot from THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. As I watch this for the first time in thirty-five years I am truly amazed at the amount of work that went into the creation of just one shot in this iconic sequence. I love stop motion with all it’s archaic flaws and charm. This is a great example of what will hopefully not become a lost art form.

I remember changing the frame rate a couple of times before switching to live action. In the later settings it’s easier to see the walkers’ progress. The VistaVision camera recording the shot is the large black shape at bottom center, which gives you a hint as to which shot in the sequence the guys are animating. Watch the cut sequence…it’s pretty obvious which shot this is. The video camera on the stand to the left of it is for the animators’ reference monitor.

I had forgotten that there’s a short snippet of Mike Pangrazio painting one of his incredible panoramic landscapes that formed the backgrounds for the majority of the stop-motion shots. There’s even a brief shot of a very focused Nilo Rodis at the end. This was a blast from the past for me and I hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for watching!

via io9

Scifi Staff by — July 8, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0
Empire Strikes Back Set Photo: “Good Times On Hoth”

Check out this vintage photo from the set of The Empire Strikes Back via @mccrabb_will. The caption reads “Good times on Hoth.” Just look at those smiles. These three must know that they are making film history. In the process, they are obviously having a good time.

Carrie Fisher has her hair down and is all smiles. Who doesn’t like seeing old set photos from the old Star Wars films? This picture is proof that it was a magical time behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera.

good times on hoth

via Geektyrant

Scifi Staff by — June 29, 2014 in Behind The Scenes 0