Tron Legacy fact: Visual Effects

Tron Legacy fact #6

Digital Domain created the younger looking Jeff Bridges avatar.  Digital Domain is a digital production studio that is behind the visual effects on such movies as Titanic, iRobot, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and 2012.  Trust me, they were involved with a wide variety of movies that you have heard of – go to their site and click Feature Film -> The Work.  Also, click Behind the Scenes to see a number of really cool “The Making of…” shorts.

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* Tron * Director: Joseph Kosinski * Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Bruce Boxleitner * Writers: Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis (screenplay) *  Time: 127 minutes * Rated PG * Action/Sci Fi/Thriller * Trailers *

M. Night’s Site part II

As promised, here are some additional hints for opening doors in the haunted house found in M. Night Shyamalan’s official web site.  Use your arrow keys to move around or click the little white dots on the red line at the bottom of the page to jump to particular areas in the house. You need to have Flash loaded to view the site correctly.

From the first floor, click the correct white dot on the red line at the bottom of the screen to get to the second floor. Here’s how I opened the doors to the rooms on the second floor. When you open the doors, click on items in the rooms to see notes from M. Night about his movies, the actors, etc. For each room, click the raven to exit.

• Lounge: On the bookcase to the left, tilt the book over on the fourth shelf down.
• Study: Click the key on the floor and drag it to the key hole in the door.
• Attic: Click the attic door in the ceiling. This was still being built when I visited the site.

M. Night’s Site

Speaking of M. Night Shyamalan, click here to view his official web site.  Not surprisingly, it has a haunted house theme. Use your arrow keys to move around or click the little white dots on the red line at the bottom of the page to jump to particular areas in the house. You can click on certain items for additional information (Hint: Look for the little puffs of smoke). You need to have Flash loaded to view the site correctly.

On the first floor, click white dots on the red line to view doors for certain M. Night movie titles. When you open the doors, you can click on items in the rooms to see notes about the movies from M. Night. Here’s how I opened the doors. For each room, click the raven to ext.

• Sixth Sense room: Click the dial on the thermostat on the wall and drag the dial all the way to the left.
• Signs: Click the glass of water on the table and drag it to the left to tip the glass and spill the water.
• Unbreakable: Click the shard of glass on the table and place it in the correct spot in the broken mirror .
• Lady in the Water: Click the five designs on the wallpaper to open the door. There are three designs to the left of the door and two to the right.
• The Village: Click the handle of the paint brush in the bucket of the red paint. Drag the brush over to the door and paint a red mark on the door to open it.
• The Happening: Click the floor vase on the left and drag it over to the puddle so water dripping down can water the plant.

I will post some hints for opening the doors on the second floor in a later posting.

The magic of the spinning corridor and 9 other Inception resources

Want to know how they filmed that spinning corridor scene in Inception?  Here’s what I found out.  Also, here are several other great Inception resources I have come across – sites, articles, notes, videos – that I thought you might like.  Enjoy!

1. The official Inception web site is pretty cool and has a lot of great info.  You can skip past the trailer to enter the main site. Look closely on the left side of the screen and click the Menu.
2. This link on the official Warner Brothers site provides production notes about Inception including how writer/director Christopher Nolan pulled his team together, where and how filming took place, and details about all the major characters and the actors who played them.
3. The 5 Levels of Inception by Matt Sinopoli and Josh Tyler provides a great explanation of each of the levels, including who was dreaming, who was there, and what the goal was of each level.
4. Chris Corbould is the mastermind behind the spinning corridor and other cool moves in Inception. Wired magazine’s Behind the Special Effects of Inception article by Kevin Maher describes how Corbould did it.
5. In Dissecting Inception: Six Interpretations and Five Plot Holes, Peter Hall provides his opinion of what really happened and describes some holes he feels exist in the story.
6. Here is the kick ass Inception soundtrack by Hans Zimmer.  Listen to it while you’re working to make your job at least sound epic.
7. In The Neuroscience of Inception, Jonah Lehrer explains how the very act of watching Inception affects the brain similar to the way a dream does: “…a process in which your senses are hyperactive and yet your self-awareness is strangely diminished.”
8. The company Double Negative was involved in creating the effects for Inception.  Here is Double Negative’s full project list and here is a showreel of their best work.
9. This is a fun video on YouTube that shows Toy Story 3: Inception.
10. Here is some B-roll behind the scenes footage from the movie:

Explanation of the Levels of Inception

Yes, it’s another posting about Inception.  What can I say?  I loved the movie.  But let’s face it: it’s pretty complicated.  Again, this is a **SPOILER** for those of you who haven’t seen Inception, so go see it first. Do not click the link.

If you have seen it, here’s a great explanation of The 5 Levels of Inception by Matt Sinopoli and Josh Tyler. Check it out.

If you liked this post, here’s a couple other related posts you might also like these:

• How the Inception Corridor Scenes were Filmed
• The magic of the spinning corridor and 9 other Inception resources

Cool Site: I Am Legend

So I Am Legend is on TV tonight and, yes, I am watching it.  Again. Well, it’s a good movie, but I’m actually not going to review it right now.  I just remembered this movie had a cool web site and I decided to post a link to it so you can check it out.

Besides the usual videos and the photo gallery, there are features for the iPhone; a daylight meter (so you can plan for when it’s safe to move around without being killed by zombies); and a survival game, which I never got very good at but enjoyed playing.

Anyway, I just think the site is well done.  Check it out if you want to. Peace.