Sci-Ficandy: 1-7-oh-wonderful!

A fistfull of years ago, I did a few covers for Star Trek: The Magazine.  Sadly, this slickly-produced, lovingly written periodical folded in 2003, but as I was digging through my archives (in other words, as I was finally looking to see what was on a bunch of old CD-ROMS entitled “label me”), I ran across the original, hi-res renders created for the publication.   Knowing how bad I am with technology, it’s entirely possible that I put the CD in my drive and accidentally uploaded them to my blog, where anyone can download and enjoy them…  

The Best Star Wars Movie You’ve Never Seen

 

Put a group of Star Wars  fans in a room for long enough and I guarantee the conversation will eventually turn to prequel bashing.  No matter how much time has passed, we just can’t seem to forgive and forget the poodoo that our long-awaited prequels turned out to be.  Personally, I felt Episode Two was the most frustrating; at it’s core, it has a complex plot and compelling story, but the film is so hampered by clumsy dialog, misplaced humor and bloated action sequences it feels like a Robert DeNiro performance trapped inside the body of Pauly Shore. Imagine a version of “Attack of the Clones” where Threepio’s head doesn’t get put on a Battle Droid’s body, Ben never visits a robot burger joint and Anakin makes no reference to “sand”. Well, Jedis and Jedettes, that movie is here and you can watch it now…

happy birthday star wars – updated!

[NOTE: This post has been updated with new goodies – check back as I will continue to update with more material as it comes in]

Today (May 25th) is the 31st anniversary of Star Wars!  It’s time for all good nerds to silently give thanks to George for creating the world we live in.  Without Star Wars, there would be no Battlestar Galactica,  Star Trek might never have come back and flash lights would just be flash lights.  I’m sure in some crazy, parallel universe, George Lucas was killed in that high school car crash and Logan’s Run  had five sequels so, Jar Jar or not, be grateful!  I’ve got a few goodies for you inside to help celebrate…

movie review: indiana jones and the kingdom of the oh whatever

Ok it’s late.  I saw Indy 4 last night (this morning?) at midnight, didn’t get much sleep and spent the whole day hard at work tossing Vipers around and bitching about the movie.   It’s past midnight now so this will be a short, spoiler-free review, but see the picture up above?  That’s basically how I feel about it…

bsg lolcats!

Unless you’ve either been living under a rock or traveling through space looking for Earth, you’re probably familiar with the “lolcat” phenomenon.  Well, Craig from Puntabulous has cooked up a whole series of lolcats in a BSG stylee!  

BSG VFX: “Guess What’s (not) Coming To Dinner”

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of working on Battlestar Galactica  is the creative freedom we’re given; Ron Moore encourages his team to go the extra mile by always being open to new ideas and concepts.  Many writer/producers expect to see their script produced verbatim on screen,  while Ron sees the entire film making process as very fluid.  In a sense, the final draft of the script  becomes the first draft of the show; on stage, contributions from the cast and director begin to evolve the process, while the editing suite becomes Ron’s typewriter for the final draft of the episode.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (Pon Farr Edition)

It seems like only yesterday that a crack team of visual effects artist back at Foundation Imaging embarked on the project of a lifetime – creating a special edition DVD of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.  The goal?  To actually finish the movie.  Director Robert Wise was so rushed to get the thing out the door he never felt like the movie was done, so finally, almost 25 years later, Paramount invited him to come back, pick up the pieces and make them all fit right.  One “special feature” that was never going to make it on the DVD is presented here for the first time – proving that even room full of computer nerds have a sense of humor:

More on the making of this clip after you get done choking on your coffee.

happy one-month anniversary!

Isn’t it sickening when someone you know is so head-over-heals for their current fling they go around proudly proclaiming their one month anniversary?  One month?  Gimme a break, I could do a month with Jennifer Aniston if I really had to.   Still, the unbridled enthusiasm of the newly infatuated sure is fun; you see each other all the time, talk incessantly every night and the sex is still great.

stormtroopers drool, cylons rule

WHO WOULD YOU RATHER BE?

Oh look, another guy dressed as a Stormtrooper! YAWN!  Ok, we get it.  I mean, does anyone even notice Stormtroopers at conventions anymore?  How many thousands of those black and white Michellin-man wannabes are out there?  The first time I saw one it was cool. Maybe even the fourth and twentieth time. But now? Even fans yell “get a life” at these guys.  But when you’re dressed as a Cylon?  Now that’s style.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE ASSASSINATION OF SPEED RACER

“We come to bury Speed Racer, not to praise him” might as well have been imprinted on the foreheads of critics as they marched into their screenings of the new Wachowski flick. Sure enough, page after page of critical vitriol has been spewed all over this film, creating the widespread perception that Speed Racer is the “must avoid” movie of the summer.

So, it was with little-to-no enthusiasm that the Super Summer Movie Fun Club – Go!  took their seats last weekend, prepared to endure the headache-inducing groan-fest that we’ve all been warned about.

bsg vfx: anatomy of a cylon – extras

Wow, response to “Anatomy of a Cylon” has been overwhelming!  I’m holding  back tears of joy as I read all of your enthusiastic comments, emails and forum posts.  Pierre is so thrilled by the feedback I think he’s getting ready to hand out cigars as all of you fawn over his new baby.  By popular demand, I’ve been digging through the files to find a few more tidbits that didn’t make it into the main body of the article…

bsg vfx: anatomy of a cylon

It’s no secret that I’m the biggest fan of the original Battlestar currently working on the new incarnation; you could almost say I’m the “ambassador” of the 1979 version, always looking for opportunities to include classic Galactica material on the current series. It was maybe two years ago that I was talking to [writer/producer] David Weddle and hypothesized, “you know, if we ever did a flashback to the first Cylon war (maybe something that showed us what Adama was like as a young pilot), it would showcase the original hardware! Remember the miniseries museum scene?” He thought about it for a second and said, “yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

Of course, a flashback like that would be a wet dream for any fan of the original series, but would it ever happen?

your speed racer weekend survival kit

With early reviews confirming what the trailer suggests, Speed Racer  is most likely going to make us all feel like we’re driving way too fast on drugs.  Millions of hyped-up moviegoers are going to leave the theater, eager to recapture the sensation of drug-fuelled autocrossing.  Should any of you decide to actually take drugs and go for a drive, you’ll be pleased to know that Mixmag (the preeminent rave music magazine), once did a study to find out exactly how driving was affected by various chemical influences…

Will the real wachowskis please stand up?

The Wachowski brothers (supposedly pictured above) are infamously reclusive; while their summer Blockbuster Speed Racer is planted firmly on everyone’s radar, these guys have remained MIA.  For their entire careers, they’ve avoided the spotlight by refusing to do interviews or publicity tours and are rarely even photographed.  All this leads me to wonder: are the guys you see in the above picture actually the Wachowski brothers?

sci-ficandy: hi tech trek

Way, way back in the footloose and fancy-free year of 2001, fellow Star Trek visual effects alum Rob Bonchune and I created renderings for a book called “Starship Spotter,” a guidebook to the magnificent flying machines of the Trek universe.  We were both CG Supervisors on Voyager at the time and used the actual computer models from the various Trek series to liven up the book with all sort of tasty imagery.

BSG nerd wins Emmy, cops open fire (almost)

 

It was the evening of September 8, 2007 and I was sitting in a taxi on my way to the Emmys.

Dressed as a Colonial Warrior.

We were already halfway to the Shrine Auditorium and there was only one thing on my mind: we weren’t supposed to win.

For almost a decade now, more and more innovative CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) meant that spaceships, once the bread-and-butter of the visual effects industry, just didn’t win Emmys anymore. Sure, “Exodus – Part II” was exciting, and I had the time of my life facing the Pegasus off against three Baseships, but it just never crossed my mind that it would come to this.

B5 flashback #1: building the central corridor

Welcome to the first Babylon Five flashback!  I served as a visual effects artist and supervisor on the series when it was with Foundation Imaging (we began work on the original pilot in 1992 and continued through the end of season three).  B5 was my “big break” and I will be digging through my archives – and memory – to bring you stories and neat stuff that has been gathering dust since…. well, since The Gathering!  For this first installment, I bring you a few photos from my personal collection.

This was taken in late June of 1992 at Santa Clarita Studios (the series was shot in North Hollywood, but Valencia was the home of the pilot).  Foundation Imaging (the visual effects facility formed to create the computer generated space scenes for the show) was a short walk from the sound stages, so I took the opportunity to document the construction of the central corridor, our biggest set.