The Optical

Complete show notes (with links) available at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/021 Cinefex Editor Jody Duncan comes on to discuss the evolution of digital VFX technology from the original Jurassic Park to the new Jurassic World, including her time on the set of The Lost World: Jurassic Park. Listen for your chance to win a free 1-year print subscription to Cinefex magazine. Subscribe to the Podcast * Subscribe in iTunes * Follow on Soundcloud * Enhanced AAC podcast feed * MP3 podcast feed Sponsors * Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions. Features * Jurassic Park (1993) * The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997) * Jurassic World (2015) * Follow along with our List on Letterboxd, featuring films we’ve covered, and upcoming films to watch. Guests * Jody Duncan, editor of Cinefex magazine Music * All tracks by Digital Droo Research Materials * Cinefex 55 — August 1993, also available in the Cinefex iPad app * The Making of Jurassic Park by Don Shay & Jody Duncan * Cinefex 142 — July 2015 More Bits * See http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/021 for complete show notes. As ever * The Optical theme by Digital Droo * The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower * Dialogue editing by Josef Ravenson

Complete show notes (with links) are available at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/008/ We chat with creator and publisher of Cinefex, Don Shay, about the life and work of stop motion pioneer Willis O’Brien, including The Lost World, King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, and more. We also interview animation director Rob Shaw about his films and experience as a stop-motion animator. Listen for your chance to win a free 1-year print subscription to Cinefex magazine. Subscribe to the Podcast Subscribe in iTunes Enhanced AAC podcast feed MP3 podcast feed Sponsor Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions. Features Willis O’Brien The Lost World (1925) King Kong (1933) Mighty Joe Young (1949) Follow along with our List on Letterboxd, featuring films we’ve covered, and upcoming films to watch. Guests Don Shay, Creator and publisher of Cinefex magazine, and Willis O’Brien biographer Rob Shaw, Stop-motion animation director Music (Almost) all tracks by Digital Droo (Except) a teensy snippet of the James Bond Theme by Monty Norman and John Barry A small clip of the 1938 re-release trailer for King Kong features the music of Max Steiner. Research Materials Cinefex 7 — October 1981, available in the Cinefex iPad app Cinefex 138 — July 2014, with “O’Brien vs Dawley” update by Stephen Czerkas Revisiting Cinefex (7): Willis O’Brien by Graham Edwards The Making of King Kong, by Orville Goldner and George E. Turner King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson, by Ray Morton More Bits Willis O’Brien The Dinosaur and the Missing Link (1915), on YouTube Edison Conquest Pictures R.F.D. 10,000 BC (1917), on YouTube The Edison film monopoly — The Motion Picture Patents Company The Ghost of Slumber Mountain (1918), on YouTube Herbert M. Dawley’s “Articulated Effigy” patent for stop-motion animation Ralph Hammeras’ glass painting patent for in-camera composites The Lost World (1925), on YouTube, or the Lumivision DVD which also features several of O’Brien’s Edison shorts. Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack Kong pitch painting, “Giant Terror Gorilla” by Willis O’Brien and (via Giant Monsters Among Us) King Kong title sequence at Art of the Title 1938 re-release trailer for King Kong DeLaurentis’ full-size Kong is discussed in this delightful AV Club review of King Kong (1976) Hays Motion Picture Production Code Peter Jackson and WETA’s Lost Spider Pit Sequence Linwood Dunn and the optical printer The Most Dangerous Game (1932) How King Kong was Filmed (or Not), on the Cinefex Blog, about the 1933 King Kong magazine article with effects misinformation Son of Kong (1933) The Last Days of Pompeii (1935) WAR EAGLES: The Unmaking of an Epic - An Alternate History for Classic Film Monsters by David Conover & Philip J. Riley The Valley of Gwangi (1969) George Lofgren, taxidermist Willis O’Brien accepts his Oscar — “Thank you very, very much.” Delightful. The Black Scorpion (1957) Pete Peterson, stop-motion animator The Giant Behemoth (1959) The Lost World (1960) It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) Jim Danforth, stop-motion animator Nitrate film stock Celebrating Cinefex — The Video Rob Shaw Dragonframe motion control Downshooter for animation Happy Tree Friends. “Cubtron Z” They Might Be Giants, “I’m Impressed” Article on George Pal’s Puppetoons, with a picture showing Willis O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen working on the shorts Puppetoons replacement animation Portlandia Rats Coraline Flushed Away (2006) How to use a Surface Gauge for Stop Motion Animation](http://www.animateclay.com/index.php/articles/8-video-tutorials/18-how-to-use-a-surface-gage-for-stop-motion-animation) Dragonframe Frame Grabber software Rob’s Two Bottles Blog The Five Deadly Venoms (1978) As ever The Optical theme by Digital Droo The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower

Complete show notes (with links) are available at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/007/ We interview sound designer Mark Mangini about his career, including his early work on Raiders of the Lost Ark, and chat with film/TV editor Brian Newell about Dragonslayer, and the invention of Go-Motion. This is continuing coverage of Cinefex 6 — see episode 006 for even more Raiders and Dragonslayer goodness! Listen for your chance to win a free 1-year print subscription to Cinefex magazine. Subscribe to the Podcast * Subscribe in iTunes * Enhanced AAC podcast feed * MP3 podcast feed Sponsor * Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions. Fundraiser * Help fund The Optical’s second season, and buy a T-shirt today for our fundraising campaign! Hurry — the last day to contribute is Sunday, July 20, 2014. Features * Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) * Dragonslayer (1981) * Follow along with our List on Letterboxd, featuring films we’ve covered, and upcoming films to watch. Guests * Mark Mangini, sound designer and re-recording mixer * Brian Newell, TV/film editor Music * All tracks by Digital Droo Research Materials * Cinefex 6 — October 1981, available in the Cinefex iPad app * Revisiting Cinefex (6): Early CGI, Dragonslayer and Raiders by Graham Edwards * Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures on Blu-ray * The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films by J.W. Rinzler and Laurent Bouzereau * Dragonslayer on DVD More Bits Mark Mangini: * Sound Design * Walter Murch and his sound design expertise were discussed in detail in Episode 003 of The Optical * Mark Mangini’s music * Hanna Barbara - The New Fred & Barney Show (1979) * Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979) * V’Ger musical effect — Blaster Beam demonstration * Replacing English with Vulcan Speech in Star Trek: The Motion Picture * Gremlins (1984) * Jack the Giant Slayer (2013) * The Fifth Element (1997) * Silent Films — Mangini’s open letter to a reviewer who neglected the role of sound in the CGI-heavy sequences in Godzilla. * Ben Burtt * Richard L. Anderson * Stephen Hunter Flick * Frank Welker * The Wilhelm Scream * The Spiderwick Chronicles (2008) * Kafka (1991) * Steven Soderbergh talking about re-working Kafka — about halfway though the interview. Sounds like there will be a disc released after he’s done tinkering with it. * Stigmata (1999) * Warrior (2011) * Space Jam (1996) * Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) * Treg Brown * Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986) * War of the Worlds (1953) * Forbidden Planet (1956) * Jane Got a Gun coming in 2015 * Black Mass coming in 2015 * Dolby Atmos * Mark Mangini’s Blog * LA Sound Group Presents Mark Mangini — group chat Dragonslayer and Go-Motion * Go-Motion on Wikipedia * Peter MacNicol * Revenge of the Jedi teaser trailer * The Vermithrax Pejorative Story: Behind the Scenes at the Making of Dragonslayer * Dragonslayer Full-size Head Restoration * The Rhamphorhynchus pterosaur that the design of the Vermithrax Pejorative was based upon. * We talked about the tauntaun stop-motion animation in Episode 002 of The Optical * G is for Greenscreen on the Cinefex blog contains a couple of great example images of ILM’s backlit bluescreen — one with Ghostbuster’s Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man in front of it, and the other with Jabba’s skiff from Return of the Jedi. * Inverse square law for light * Tremors (1990) * We covered Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion techniques and armatures in Episode 005 of The Optical * Overcranking film * You’ll believe a man can fly. — Superman (1978) tagline * Dragonslayer Behind-the-Scenes Pictures * Original Go-Motion tests for Jurassic Park created before the decision was made to make the dinosaurs digitally. As ever * The Optical theme by Digital Droo * The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower

Complete show notes (with links) are available at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/002 In our second episode, we chat with passionate fan Rob Rhyne about The Empire Strikes Back, interview modelmaker, creature creator, and digital artist Howie Weed about his career and work on The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition, and we quickly chat with Duncan Boszko to get a perspective on Greg Jein’s physical miniature models in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1941, and The Hunt for Red October from someone who was born after the advent of CGI. Also listen for your chance to win a free 1-year print subscription to Cinefex magazine. Subscribe to the Podcast * Subscribe in iTunes * Enhanced AAC podcast feed * MP3 podcast feed Sponsor * Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions. Features * The Empire Strikes Back * Greg Jein’s model work in Close Encounters of the Third Kind and 1941 * How are miniature models made? Guests * Howie Weed — Model maker, creature creator, digital artist, long-time ILM-er, and the guy inside the Wampa suit in The Empire Strikes Back: Special Edition. * Rob Rhyne, Empire Strikes Back superfan, Developer, Designer, and CEO of MartianCraft. * Duncan Boszko, writer, aspiring filmmaker, and with a play in the 2014 Young Playwright’s Festival at the Young Playwrights Program at ACT. Music All tracks by Aaron Cherof: * 0:35:05 — Crowd Clout * 1:43:42 — A Foe Pause * 2:02:00 — Mamnae Research Materials * Cinefex 2 — August 1980 * Cinefex 3 — December 1980 — article “Tauntauns, Walkers and Probots” by Paul Mandell * The Making of The Empire Strikes Back (Enhanced Edition) by J.W. Rinzler * Once Upon a Galaxy: A Journal of the Making of The Empire Strikes Back by Alan Arnold * Building Empire: A Filmumentary by Jamie Benning — a fan documentary, where he edits behind-the-scenes, alternate footage, and trivia track information into the film itself. * The Making of 1941 by Glenn Erickson & Mary Ellen Trainor * Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg’s Classic Film by Ray Morton More bits * The Empire Strikes Back: Despecialized Edition — a fan edit that keeps as much of the HD releases as possible, but reverts the effects and cut to the original look, even going so far as to re-build the effects from available sources when necessary. * Lucasfilm confirms that the original editions on the released DVDs are taken from the 1993 Laserdisc masters. * Dick Smith’s Do It Yourself Monster Make-Up by Dick Smith, introduction by Rick Baker * Stage Makeup: Fifth Edition (1975) by Richard Corson * The original wampa suit footage can be seen starting at about five minutes into Building Empire As ever * The Optical theme by Digital Droo * The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower

Complete show notes (with links) at http://opticalpodcast.com/episode/001 In our premiere episode, we talk about Star Trek: The Motion Picture and Alien, chat with Daren Dochterman, VFX Supervisor on Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Director’s Edition, I admit my 2001 shame, and we ask: just what is an “optical,” anyway? Sponsor * Cinefex magazine — The journal of cinematic illusions. Features * Star Trek: The Motion Picture * Star Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director’s Edition) * What is an “optical”? * Alien Guests * Daren R. Dochterman, VFX Supervisor on Star Trek: The Motion Picture — Director’s Edition. Sites: betafive.com, blog.darendoc.com, and Star Trek Phase II * Ron “AAlgar” Watt and Matt Rowbotham, of the Post Atomic Horror podcast * Tom Schmidt, Art Director and VFX Artist, heading Percolate Digital Music All tracks by Digital Droo: * 0:34:50 — Wake Up Sweating - Active Lancer Original Soundtrack * 1:09:25 — La La’s Theme - Beginnings * 1:26:50 — Looking for a Sign (Active Lancer Theme) - Active Lancer Original Soundtrack * 2:02:45 — Minor Things - Beginnings Research Materials * Cinefex 1 — March 1980 * Cinefex 2 — August 1980 * The Making of Star Trek The Motion Picture by Susan Sackett * Chekov’s Enterprise by Walter Koenig * The Book of Alien by Paul Scanlon and Michael Gross * Wikipedia: Optical effect and Optical printer * Revisiting Cinefex (1): Star Trek and Alien, and Revisiting Cinefex (2): Empire, Greg Jein and Star Trek by Graham Edwards * Making the Alien, Inside Alien, Alien Studio Production Report, and Alien Model Build — The Narcissus by Gavin Rothery More bits * The Handheld Mathematics of Geometer Ron Resch, who designed the iris-like V’ger Maw. * Ron Cobb’s Alien Icons * “Hey Really Giger” on SuperEgo and the installment where the “Hey Really” joke actually happens at the 3:16 mark * Trinity & Beyond: The Atomic Bomb Movie * You Are My Lucky Star — Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds in Singin’ in the Rain As ever * The Optical theme by Digital Droo * The Optical “aperture” logo by Mike Gower