AvP - A New World Vision

Started by Darkness, Jul 14, 2004, 02:08:34 PM

Author
AvP - A New World Vision (Read 16,733 times)

Los Angeles Artist

Los Angeles Artist

#45
Lurker | 15 Jul 2004 06:33 am  Hey Los Angeles Artist,  assuming you work/worked for ADI, here's a few Q's   1) Do all the Pred's have the same inner jaw structure as seen in the previous Fangoria mag (top gums filled with teeth)?  2) Did one guy (Ian Whyte) play all the preds?  3) Is ADI a shoe-in for AVP2?  4) Could you tell just from working on your bit on the film how the end product will end up? ie. are we gonna get an Aliens, or are we gonna get Congo?  Hey Lurker and Bringer of Death,  I'll try to answer your questions. First thing: I did NOT go to Prague for the filming. Only Tom, Alec (who also make cameos as scientists) and 5 other KEY people went to set (as far as I know). Two: Just because I or any other artist that worked at ADI was in the shop( on Plummer and Winnetka Streets in Chatsworth near the Northridge Mall ) doesn't mean that we are priviliged to be told or know any or everything that goes on there. It's work, although quite rewarding not always priviliged. Kind of like "A need to know basis and we didn't need to know much." Not many people even got to read the script. Third: There is an artbook being published by ADI called AVP: The Creature Effects of ADI. It comes out around the same time as the film. It will answer MANY of your questions. The cover is a more rendered version of the US release white poster. The Predator dreads have been filled in and the Alien was retouched further. Fourth: The Alien IS the IDENTICAL Alien from AR. Same molds with modified hands, feet, tail tip and paint job. They tried sculpting the protruding spine on the back like the original but the head kept hitting it and restricted movement. Don't believe me? You guys are the best judges. You'll see when more pictures are made available.  Fifth: Stan Winston's UNDER BID the project! ADI was awarded the film because : (GOSSIP) Tom or Alec was good friends with one of the producers. So my GUESS is that they ARE a shoe in for AVP 2 unless they piss someone off or the producers change.  Jaw Structure: Only ONE new predator head was sculpted for this show while I worked there. The elder Predators have appliances added to that ONE head. Scars, wrinkles, tusks. Things are changed and modified ON SET based on the needs during the filming process. For example: The queen head was borrowed from Bob Burns, clay added to that for the new design, cast, painted and then sent to the set in pristine condition. During filming as far as I know, the idea was to cut away at it to take it through the phases that were designed for her scarring.  Ian Whyte: When he first came in to the studio for a fitting he almost passed out from the weight and heat of the costume. HE was the only one fitted properly for the suit. Everything else was modified on set to the other actors and stunt men. The skin was sculpted to his body cast BUT the body cast was repositioned to sculpt on because the guys in Prague that did the life cast didn't pose him in the best position for suit work. So from what I was told there was A LOT of duct tape and Zip Ties holding the Predators armor together. It was flying all over. Hence a one piece sculpt would have been IDEAL.  ALIENS or CONGO? To be really honest I DON'T KNOW. I know a few things though.I liked the trailer. It's exciting to see your work on the internet and on screen!  Most everyone that worked on the practical effects is a fan of BOTH franchises. They did their best to make the sculptures, models, weapons and armor, the helmets and paint jobs, the mechanical and the foam running the best they could with the budget and TIME to do it. You'd be surprised to hear how many of us were upset that they DIDN'T sculpt a NEW Alien. Or that they sculpted the Predator skin separate from the armor. (The original Predator was almost all one piece of foam. This explains the BULKY Predators. Early on we were told that there were scenes where the Predators did not have their armor on. So  instead of sculpting TWO separate Predators ie. One with armor and one without it was decided to save on money and sculpt the armor separately. The painters were only given ONE day to paint the ENTIRE Predator skin! Can you believe that. But one thing for sure is that the film LOOKS like it COULD be pretty cool. I'm not much of a Paul W.S. Anderson fan, but I am an ALIEN and PREDATOR fan and I'm sure it will be fun.   Remember this though, this is my opinion and you can take from my comments whatever you like. Some is from gossip some info from my very own eyes and ears. I know what I saw and most of what I saw was really cool in the shop. It does look a hell of a lot better with the lighting, DP and Cinematographers touches. It's all up to what you WANT to believe. Paul Anderson may have done a great job. We won't know until the 13th of August. But if you don't go in the movie expecting the comic books or ALIEN or ALIENS or PREDATOR you will probably like it more than if you go into it wishing it to be a certain film that it's not.   I sent a jpeg of the embroidered logo on our crew shirt (ADI AVP) with the Alien head hovering over the Predator to the Submit News address of AVP Galaxy so that you could verify that I wasn't bull shitting you.

RyanPoli

RyanPoli

#46
Long post, but read it all.  Thanks.

Los Angeles Artist

Los Angeles Artist

#47
Sorry for the long post. There is a lot to talk about and discuss. After all it's Hollywood. There is A LOT of poiltics and a lot of Bullshit. It's always surprising to see that a flim ever gets made when you see all the crap that goes on. Most of the creative artists just want to make a COOL film, have fun doing it and be true to the genre and franchise. Then you have the business side and the money people and the marketing, producers and Blah blah blah. But one thing to keep in mind is the "BUSINESS" in Show Business.  All the Best,  Los Angeles Artist

RyanPoli

RyanPoli

#48
Yea I understand.  People need to make money, why else would they make movies.  If the big wig thinks the movie will make more money with choice (a) rather than choice (b) then choice a will be taken.  Of course thats annoying to me, mr joe schmoe just waiting to see the movie.  But for the people working on the movie im sure its even worse, trying to make the decision on what the public will like more.  And how do the big wigs feel when van helsing happens?  When around the world in.... happens?  Im tired, kinda cranky, and sick, so im calling it a night.  I just hope one of these mornings when I wake up and check my regular list of movie news sites Ill finally hear some credable bit of *good* news for this film.  *sigh* night.

Super Alien

Super Alien

#49
What the f__k is the deal with that new bladed weapon!?! The Predators are just fine with their regular weapons. And I really wish they didn't change the Predator mask. It looks crappy. I know for a fact that if this movie sucks like Alien: Resurrection, Alien 3, and Predator 2 their will be absolutely NO Alien 5, Predator 3, or Alien vs. Predator 2 movies. If this movie sucks it will COMPLETELY KILL the Alien and Predator franchise! THERE WILL BE NO MORE OF ALIENS OR PREDATOR IF THUS MOVIE SUCKS!!! NO MORE GAMES, MOVIES, OR PROBABLY EVEN BOOKS/COMICS!!! And I'm a HUGE AvP fan so I don't want to see that happen!!!

Lurker

Lurker

#50
Thanks LA Artist,   it's definitely cool to see an insider's perspective of a huge Hollywood production.

Regicidal_Maniac

Regicidal_Maniac

#51
Hey Los Angeles Artist very nice stuff thanks a bunch.  I noticed that the AVP Alien sculpt is lazily similar to the Resurrection sculpt, which is a damn shame. As lovely as ADI's work is, and it is lovely, the Alien has become too 'creaturey' and is straying too far from the biomechanical designs of Hans Rudi Giger which the wonderful sculptors at SOTA (for Palisades) have got down pat in their Alien busts.  I'd really like to see a return to the purposeful 'designedness' of the Necronom biomech paintings. There was a lost civilisation/ancient technology run amok look to the Alien at first that has diminished with each new picture in favour of a standard arthropod turned space-bug look that is just so ordinary looking and is becoming less 'alien' and just kind of boringly familiar instead.  I'm a Sydney (Australia of course) based writer/artist/sculptor and filmmaker specialising in make-up and effects myself and I'm actually interested in what you consider to be your strengths as an artist, ie: creature, props, make-up design etc. You know your main specialty.  Oh and by the way to those that think differently, Van Helsing stunk out loud. Seriously. If you enjoyed it more power to ya but it was a truly horrendous film, and not in a good way. Almost everything about it is woeful from conception to execution. Lame script, uneven acting, unforgivably bad CGI, overuse of said CGI. However the creature designs were interesting and Hugh's costume was pretty cool but production design alone does not a good movie make. Just ask Tarsem Singh. Heads should not roll but they should be hanging in shame.   However Van Helsing's suckitude is not what we're here to discuss.  We're here to discuss AVP's rockitude.  Which as long as it lives up to its title/premise will be without question.

Lurker

Lurker

#52
LA Artist, one more question....  Is Tom Woodruff the right person to be in the Alien suit?  Surely it can't be hard too find some lithe, athletic gymnasts/acrobats that can fit the bill.  Instead, we've got a managing partner of an FX house doning the costume for three Alien movies since 1992.  IIRC,  they used gymnasts in Aliens, which was used to great effect in the crashing ceiling tiles scene.

Bringer of Death

Bringer of Death

#53
Good Point there Lurker, I personaly dont care to much for woodruffs alien performances.Even though he couldnt see what he was doing in resurection and mabey part 3 he dosnt seem to feel for the part, imean he dosnt seem alien enough to me but the people playing them in aliens were great very creepy and flexible, like the part were ripley is saving newt and an alien comes at her jumping from wall to wall sideways was very well done and has always stuck in my head as a part of the movie i think of when i think or hear about the aliens movie.But what makes me mad is that woodruff was probably the one who wanted the resurection shity alien design to be in this one and thats a shame because i cant stand that design,   ???  .And the dont even credit Giger as the original alien design in this one they credi Dan o bannon and Ron shusett who wrot the original alien story but didnt make the infampus design.Oh well no more complaining from me but that will always piss me off.

Los Angeles Artist

Los Angeles Artist

#54
Lurker | 17 Jul 2004 12:25 am  LA Artist, one more question....   Is Tom Woodruff the right person to be in the Alien suit?   Hey Lurker, I don't think he's right for the part but he is part owner of the EFX shop. Like I said "Hollywood is very political and there is extreme amounts of nepotism here. He has gained some wait in the mid section so the suit "stretches a little". Hope that's hidden in the shadows. But if you had the option to get paid maybe a few thousand dollars a day + or - a few bucks  (educated guess) besides the money from the gig, to hop around in a laytex suit. a free trip with perdiem to Prague wouldn't you take the offer?  Regicidal_Maniac | 16 Jul 2004 03:35 pm   Hey RM,  This business is evolving and you need to be flexible and versatile. Film efx vary on each project so the more you know the more you can stay employed. If you only do creatures and the next film doesn't have any then...Bye, Bye $$$ and on to unemployment. I personally am trying to stay on top of each aspect of the efx processes so that I can stay employed through out their creation. The gold mine is going to set where the extra money is paid. And you need experience and an uncanny ability to think on the fly. Something may not work and needs fixing or the paint job may not look as good the way it's lit so you have to pull out the airbrush. I still have heard only one horror story about AVP so far and that was that ADI didn't send one of the crates with some of the efx on time or something to that extant and it didn't make it to Prague before shooting started and the Prague crew had to Jerry Rig parts of the costume until the pieces arrived.   Best

Lurker

Lurker

#55
This featurette is now on Apple's trailer site:  http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox/avp/featurette4/

Maurice "HopeOfTheFuture" Huijs

Maurice "HopeOfTheFuture" Huijs

#56
New links on apple like Lurker said. I got the direct links to the files  Large 19,3 MB http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/avp/avp_featurette_4_m480.mov  Medium 9,9 MB http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/avp/avp_featurette_4_m320.mov  Small 4,8 MB http://movies.apple.com/movies/fox/avp/avp_featurette_4_m240.mov  Enjoy!

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