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Article
by Joe Fordham
Directed
by Steven Spielberg -- from a story by Sacha Gervasi and Andrew
Niccol, and a screenplay by Gervasi and Jeff Nathanson -- The
Terminal tells the tale of airline passenger Viktor Navorksi
(Tom Hanks), who is forced to live for 11 months in a New York
airport terminal after the coup-initiated collapse of his Eastern
European homeland.
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Set
almost entirely in the airport terminal, the movie posed
significant logistical concerns for the filmmakers. "JFK
was very keen to have us shoot in their terminal four,"
recalled production designer Alex McDowell. "But since
it was an active airport, we would have had no control over
the passengers passing through. Trying to portray 11 months
of screen time, night and day, would have been impossible."
Post 9/11 security issues were also a concern. "If
the government announced an Orange Alert, they could have
commandeered the airport for military use. There was no
guarantee that we could own an airport once we'd committed
to it."
The
filmmakers selected Mirabel in Montreal, Canada -- a site
that specializes in cargo services -- to stage peripheral
scenes and runway action. To depict action in the terminal,
they determined the most practical means was to build one.
Two vacated military aircraft hangars in Palmdale, California
housed the terminal sets, designed by McDowell with a team
of architectural designers and Proof, a 3D previsualization
studio. Concepts first focused on the engineering of a steel
truss that formed the backbone of the set, supporting lights
and structures above the 75,000-square-foot floor space.
While McDowell's team generated sketches, blueprints and
miniature foam core mockups, Proof built 3D models of sets
and determined the overall shape of the terminal, incorporating
elements from an array of airports, from Kansai to Charles
de Gaulle.
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Previz
artist Ben Proctor constructed a 3D model of the terminal in Softimage
XSI, which became a point of reference for set construction, camera
and lighting departments and helped develop a strategy for handling
views outside a three-story-high window that dominated one side
of the set. "Steven wanted to concentrate on the drama,"
stated McDowell, "and keep the visual effects low profile.
We didn't want to commit to bluescreen shots every time we looked
towards this very large expanse of glass on one side of the set."
McDowell opted to create the view outside the window through a
backdrop based on a 3D previz model, thus avoiding the two-dimensionality
of a large-scale photographic projection. "We distorted a
view of the previz model to compensate for the curve of the backing,
and lit and modeled the image at a very high degree of detail.
It was an amalgam of traditional techniques and previz technology."
(continued
below)
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(continued
from above)
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Visual
effects art director Robert Stromberg at Digital Backlot
generated a 2D matte painting from the previz model, combining
photographic texture reference of JFK and Mirabel with photorealistic
lighting and skies. JC Backings then used that image to
create a 650-by-48-foot backing. Lighting director David
Devlin rigged the backdrop with more than 2,000 practical
light sources and, with director of photography Janusz Kaminski,
developed a front-lit lighting setup to simulate a daytime
look or a darker nighttime glow.
Digital
effects enhanced window views. "The intent was to use
the backdrop in passing," explained visual effects
supervisor Charles Gibson. "When we lingered on it
for any period of time we were going to add computer-generated
air traffic, security and luggage vehicles, people walking
around. It ended up being a great idea. Steven was able
to stage many scenes with the backing, without revealing
there weren't vehicles or planes. A surprisingly small number
of shots required the additional digital material."
Digital
Film Works provided visual effects, supervised by Cosmas
Paul Bolger, Jr. Artists spent one day surveying the terminal
set then, by referencing architectural plans and previz
models, tracked in digital enhancements without motion control
or onset tracking markers. "We used photo surveys of
the set to reconstruct textures and patterns on the windows
and the columns," said Gibson.
When
a blizzard descends on the airport, the weather change required
Robert Stromberg to prepare new conceptual images of the
snowbound terminal and runway. Digital Film Works tracked
particle animation snowfall into windows, shot with sympathetic
lighting. "Janusz and Dave Devlin established a style
of lighting to create appropriate contrast on the backing
to suggested those weather conditions," said Gibson.
"We fit our elements into that, only adding snow when
needed. Steven was constantly coming up with clever ways
to shoot everything in-camera, without detracting from the
production value. He was brilliant at that."
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Despite
the slender visual effects shot count -- 55 shots, compared to
an early estimate of 200 -- effects technology contributed immeasurably
to the production, blurring the line between production design
and visual effects. "Digital design has enabled us to collaborate
with every part of production very early on," concluded McDowell.
"Previz enables us to immerse ourselves in a very pure flow
of design, which everyone has access to. By giving all the departments
so much more access to the information at hand, you can alter
the way that you approach the film. In my view, it is changing
the way that production is conducted."
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James
Cameron: Reporting on casting rumors for filmmaker
James Cameron's next film -- a top-secret, 3D science
fiction vehicle, reportedly budgeted at $200 million --
Moviehole.com states that Brian Cox, Arnold Schwarzenegger
and Sylvester Stallone have been linked to the project.
Cameron, speaking at the Large Format Cinema Association
conference and festival last month, is quoted: "I
think (the movie) is going to be huge, and it's going
to be a huge enabler for the 3D experience." Despite
considerable speculation, no story details have been confirmed.
The film is scheduled to start shooting in November.
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Bedbugs:
Variety reports New Line Cinema is developing this
horror screenplay by Carter Blanchard about a small town
infested by parasitic carniverous insects. Beau Flynn
and Tripp Vinson are producing for Contrafilm.
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Monster
House: FilmJerk.com reports DreamWorks is developing
this screenplay about three young suburbanites who discover
a house in their neigborhood to be a child-eating monster.
The project was previously developed to the point of storyboards
and visual effects animatic previsualizations by Robert
Zemeckis' Imagemovers. Film school graduate Gil Kenan
remains attached to the project, making his feature film
directorial debut. Production is scheduled to begin August
23. Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis will executive
produce.
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Pixar:
Click
here for an article in Wired about Pixar Animation
Studios co-founder and president Ed Catmull, the rise
of the company and of computer animated films, and Pixar's
upcoming superhero comedy, The Incredibles, directed by
Brad Bird.
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Superman
5: Variety reports that Warner Brothers has
announced its aim to start production on this sequel in
late 2004, which, it notes, is indicative of the studio's
"fierce appetite for additional tentpoles."
Neal Moritz and Gilbert Adler are in negotiations to produce.
The picture has not been greenlit, nor is McG set to direct,
although the report confirms the Charlie's Angels director
did test six actors recently for the title role.
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Antarctica:
Per The Hollywood Reporter, producer/director Frank
Marshall will next direct this Antarctic adventure story
for Walt Disney Pictures, aiming to start production in
late January, possibly at locations in Canada. Written
by David DiGilio and Mike Rich, the screenplay is a remake
of a 1983 Japanese film that was based on a true story
about two explorers who abandon their sled dogs because
of harsh weather conditions, then return to rescue them.
David Hoberman is producing for Mandeville Films. This
will be Marshall's first directing assignment since Congo
in 1995.
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Thunderbirds:
Yahoo has posted a gallery of 15 fanciful vehicle
designs here
from Jonathan Frakes' upcoming live-action adaptation
of Gerry Anderson's 1960s television puppet show.
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Aeon
Flux: The Hollywood Reporter has announced
that Paris visual effects house BUF is 'in exclusive talks'
to provide cityscapes and futuristic environments for
Paramount Pictures' upcoming live-action adaptation of
this MTV animated series, created by Peter Cheung. The
screenplay, by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, is set 1,000
years in the future and concerns a scantily clad acrobatic
government assassin, played by Charlize Theron. Karyn
Kusama will direct and MTV Films is producing with Valhalla
Productions, in association with Lakeshore Entertainment.
Filming is slated to begin in August, in Berlin, for a
2005 release. BUF is reportedly providing previsualization,
several hundred visual effects shots and is supervising
effects, although no supervisor is named.
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Harryhausen:
National Public Radio has posted a link here
to a six-minute Real Player or Windows Media Player audio
file of an interview with Ray Harryhausen discussing his
new book, An Animated Life.
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The
Chronicles of Narnia: Click
here for an interview with director Andrew Adamson
in The New Zealand Herald, in which he discusses
his upcoming film adaptation of C.S. Lewis' The Lion,
The Witch and The Wardrobe. Adamson speaks about his
background in visual effects and CG animation, his early
days growing up and working in New Zealand, and his approach
to adapting a live-action children's fantasy classic:
"It's about making a movie which lives up to my memory
of the book rather than specifically the book itself.
And it needs to live up to everyone else's memories, and
that is what my challenge is -- to make it accessible
and real. You read it and it's a 1940s children's book.
I want it to feel real, and for kids today to actually
relate to the children." Narniafans.com reports that
Adamson's adaptation will start shooting in Auckland,
New Zealand, June 28. Two-thirds of the production will
reportedly be based in Auckland, then in mid-October shooting
will continue in the South Island, previously home to
many of The Lord of the Rings' spectacular mountain
and rural locations.
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Repairman
Jack: The Hollywood Reporter states Douglas
Aarniokoski will direct this project, written by Trevor
Sands and Chris Morgan, about an Indiana Jones-style
soldier of fortune who attempts to save the world from
a Mummy-style evil villain. Bill Borden and Barry
Rosebush are producing with Armyan Bernstein and Suzann
Ellis for Beacon Pictures. Aarniokoski previously directed
second unit for Robert Rodriguez's Once Upon a Time
in Mexico, and was first assistant director on Spy
Kids and From Dusk Till Dawn.
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Tin Tin: Ain't It Cool News reports that Fanny
Rodwell, widow of Georges Rémi -- the Belgian comic
book artist who created the popular Adventures of Tin
Tin comic book series, using the pseudonym Hergé
Moulinsart -- has given her blessing to an early-draft
screenplay based on her husband's works, which Steven
Spielberg has expressed interest in developing as a live-action
feature since the 1980s. It is unclear from the report
which of Hergé's 24 Tin Tin books the screenplay
will be based upon, but rumors favor the 1943 pirate episode
The Secret of the Unicorn, and its 1944 undersea
sequel Red Rackham's Treasure. Click
here to learn more about Hergé and his young
globe-trotting adventurer.
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Gay
Secret Agent: Variety reports Brendan Fraser
will star in this spin on the James Bond sexy spy stereotype,
playing a flamboyantly gay secret agent. Revolution Studios
will produce the film, from a script to be written by
Brad Hall and Andrew Gottlieb.
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