“A Quiet Place: Day One” VFX Supervisor Malcolm Humphreys on Conjuring More Detailed “Death Angels”
A Quiet Place: Day One (now in theaters) personalizes its sci-fi mythology by centering the action around a cancer-stricken poet who’s hell-bent on getting a slice of her favorite pizza, alien invasion be damned. Written and directed by Michael Samoski, maker of indie shocker Pig, the prequel casts Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o (Us, 12 Years a Slave) as Samira, who tries to escape the monsters’
Chasing Precision and Perfection with Aerial DPs on “The Blue Angels” – Part 2
In part one of our interview, former Blue Angels pilot LCDR Lance “Bubb” Benson, aerial DP Michael FitzMaurice, and aerial coordinator Kevin LaRosa II shared how the painstaking planning process really paid off and the use of Benson’s “chase” jet to capture unique vantage points. Now, we delve into the camera configurations and what it took to film some of the most popular maneuvers from the air.
The sizeable discrepancy between the airspeeds of the helicopter and the F-18s was crucial in intensifying the visceral rush on-screen.
Chasing Precision and Perfection with Aerial DPs on “The Blue Angels” – Part 1
Every year since the Blue Angels were established in 1946, crowds of all ages have oohed and aahed at airshows from Brunswick, Maine to Huntington Beach, California, as the United States Navy’s precision flight demonstration team performs intoxicatingly vertiginous aerial maneuvers in the skies. With six F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter jets flying a mere 12-18 inches apart at 400-600mph, the only way to capture every hypersonic swoop and stomach-churning roll on camera up close—and safely—for the Amazon MGM feature documentary was to have a former Blue Angel in the aerial cinematography team.
“Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F” Director Mark Molloy on Capturing That Eddie Murphy Magic
Mark Molloy is just as much a fan of Beverly Hill Cop as you are. Growing up, the Australian native had an Axel Foley poster pinned to his bedroom wall and turned that into helming the fourth installment of the franchise, which hits Netflix on July 3, nearly 40 years after the original 1984 film.
This time, Foley (Eddie Murphy) finds himself in Beverly Hills protecting the life of his daughter Jane (Taylour Paige) as they uncover a conspiracy connected to the drug cartel.
Luke Wilson on Joining Kevin Costner for his Epic Western “Horizon: An American Saga”
Luke Wilson is no stranger to the Western genre, having been a part of 3:10 to Yuma and Outlaws and Angels. Now, Wilson is starring in his most sprawling and ambitious western to date, Kevin Costner’s four-part Horizon series. Wilson plays Matthew Van Weyden, the captain of a wagon train heading west in the ensemble epic, tasked with protecting the passengers on a journey fraught with potential danger.
“The Fall Guy” Fight Coordinator Jonathan Eusebio on That Insane Spinning Garbage Truck Chase
Another veteran from the John Wick brand of innovative and high-octane action, stunt coordinator Jonathan “JoJo” Eusebio was thrilled to work on stuntman-turned-director David Leitch’s action comedy, The Fall Guy. Due to the wall-to-wall stunts, he was brought in to assist the main fight coordinator, Sunny Sun. A member of Leitch and Chad Stahelski’s 87Eleven Action Design company, his impressive C.V. includes Deadpool 2,
“Fancy Dance” Writer/Director Erica Tremblay on the Power of Indigenous Storytelling
Fans of Lily Gladstone will be happy to know they can see her on the big screen again in Apple’s new release, Fancy Dance. The film centers on Jax (Gladstone) and Roki (newcomer Isabel Deroy-Olson), an Indigenous aunt and niece who live on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation and are dealing with the disappearance of Tawi, Jax’s sister and Roki’s mom. Jax and Roki are hoping they’ll meet up with Tawi at the annual powwow if she’s not found beforehand.
“A Quiet Place: Day One” Director Michael Sarnoski on Creating Emotional Stakes & Killer Silences
A Quiet Place: Day One turns up the action, tension, and scares. For filmmaker Michael Sarnoski, though, creating real emotional connections with his (mostly) new cast in the A Quiet Place world was key. Sarnoski wanted to maintain the intimacy from John Krasinski’s first two films, which depict a world run by blind, sound-hunting monsters who, in the first two films, had already established their dominance on Earth. On Day One,
How “A Quiet Place: Day One” Production Designer Simon Bowles Harnessed VR to Unleash Aliens on NYC
When John Krasinki released A Quiet Place in 2018, the sonically immersive horror film made audiences hold their breath. Three years later, he followed the success of that film with an expansive sequel that saw the surviving members of the Abbott family run from their rural home in Part II. Now, we witness how the dystopian events started in A Quiet Place: Day One,
“Horizon” Costume Designer Lisa Lovaas on Dressing Kevin Costner’s Epic Western
“I like big,” says costume designer Lisa Lovaas, and that’s exactly what she got by signing up for Kevin Costner’s new mega-Western. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1, in theaters now, runs three hours, and its sequel, two hours and 44 minutes long, hits in August. Production on Chapter 3 is now in progress. Filmed in Utah, Chapter 1 follows white settlers battling Native Americans in and around the frontier town of Horizon,
“Ahsoka” Composer Kevin Kiner on Scoring Jedis, Sith Lords, and Space Whales
There are few people alive with more Star Wars experience than composer Kevin Kiner. While Kiner would be the first to point out that the legendary John Williams has him beat, when it comes to the number of minutes—and hours—of music composed for a galaxy far, far away, Kiner is a proper Jedi. For more than a decade, Kiner has been working with George Lucas and Dave Filoni to score every season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has added to his endless Star Wars credits scroll Star Wars: Rebels,
“The Bikeriders” Costume Designer Erin Benach’s Vintage Vibes for Rough Riders
They never achieved the notoriety of the Hell’s Angels, but during the 1960s, when the California biker gang became infamous outlaws, the Vandals were wreaking their own brand of hog-riding havoc in Chicago. The Bikeriders (in theaters June 21) dramatizes the rise and fall of the Midwest club led by Tom Hardy’s “Johnny” and his violent right-hand man Benny (Austin Butler), as observed through the often-astonished eyes of Benny’s wife Kathy (Jodie Comer).
Callum Turner on Accents, B-17s, and Crew Glue in “Masters of the Air”
Based on Donald L. Miller’s 2007 book of the same name, Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ has been praised as theatrical television that’s both true to history and beautiful to watch. Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, the show marries vast set builds with painstakingly correct CGI to depict the tragedies and heroics of the 100th Bomb Group, which flew over 300 combat missions and received two Distinguished Unit Citations but also suffered heavy losses of 177 aircraft during World War II.
“Silo” Creator Graham Yost Unseals the Secrets of Season 1
Graham Yost had his work cut out for him when he set out to tackle author Hugh Howey’s apocalyptic sci-fi trilogy series “Silo,” all of which are set in the titular structure (none of Howey’s books are actually titled “Silo”) and deal with the society that lives within it’s 144 heavily monitored floors. The denizens of the Silo live in a claustrophobic brutalist tower outfitted with retrofuturistic touches that include clunky computers, a large screen in the cafeteria showing what appears to be a denuded,
The “Shōgun” Sound Team on Recreating 17th-Century Japan One Katana Clash at a Time
Praised for its authenticity, beauty, and sensitive storytelling, FX’s Shōgun has just been renewed for two more seasons. Created by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, the show follows the plot of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, set in Japan in 1600. English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and his ship’s crew run aground in a Japanese fishing village, and after a brief imprisonment, Blackthorne is taken on by Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada, also one of the series’ producers) to share his knowledge on European warfare and the Portuguese merchants and priests insinuating themselves into Japanese society.
“Inside Out 2” Writer Meg LeFauve on the Power of Adolescent Anxiety
Inside Out earned its co-writer Meg LeFauve a Best Screenplay Oscar nomination en route to becoming 2015’s seventh-highest-grossing movie. Last weekend, Inside Out 2 hit the box office jackpot again. Directed by Kelsey Mann, the Pixar sequel opened with $295 million worldwide by animating the emotional roller coaster experienced by 13-year-old Riley (voiced by Kensington Tallman) when she enters puberty amid an avalanche of new feelings. Joy (Amy Poehler) tries to maintain a semblance of normality with her sidekicks: Sadness (Phyllis Smith),
How “SNL” Costume Designer Tom Broecker Recreated Barbenheimer for Ryan Gosling’s Sensational Monologue
It’s the week of April 13th and on the call sheet to host the 17th episode of SNL’s 49th season is Ryan Gosling, an actor who’s been capturing the hearts of hopeless romantics since The Notebook. The Canadian’s filmography is a treasure trove of unforgettable performances, from Blue Valentine, Drive, The Big Short, La La Land,
“Silo” Director/Executive Producer Morten Tyldum on Helming Rebecca Ferguson’s Sci-Fi Mystery
Apple TV+’s Silo, created by Graham Yost, is an ingeniously constructed sci-fi series that nevertheless opens with a shot worthy of any classic western—a Sheriff’s badge—and goes on to meld elements of that genre, along with police procedural and conspiracy thriller, in 10 satisfying episodes. The series’ claustrophobic setting, the titular Silo, serves as a character almost every bit important as Rebecca Ferguson’s resourceful, remorseful Juliet, an engineer plucked from the obscurity of the Silo’s lowest levels to take over for the last lawman,
How the Latest VFX Techniques Immersed the “Masters of the Air” Actors in Battle
Masters of the Air, starring Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, is the latest celebrated WWII epic from Band of Brothers and The Pacific executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman. The intense drama inspired by the 100th Bomb Group is the most detailed on-screen depiction of B-17 planes ever. The visual effects teams from DNEG studios, led by VVFX Supervisor Xavier Bernasconi and VFX Producer Abigal Everard were provided with thousands of hours of research materials about the aircrafts and battles they flew from the Production Designer Chris Seagers and his show researcher Jessica Bradbury.
“Baby Reindeer” Cinematographer Krzysztof Trojnar on Lensing Loneliness
Amidst an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, audiences united in crowning Baby Reindeer the breakout hit TV series of the year. Series creator and star Richard Gadd mined his real-life trauma to create Donny Dunn, who yearns for adoration to catastrophic results. The aspiring comedian discovers that meaning well doesn’t always end well. In a time when there’s immense societal pressure for everyone to have rigid, binary opinions on every issue, and mistakes are often condemned while ignoring intention,
