Cool News
A Digital Henry Jones Jr in the Future'
Harry here... Hmmmm, I suppose a digital Harrison Ford in a Flashback sequence in shadows, quick cuts, action stuff might happen, but would that mean the rest of the movie is set in an old folks home in the late 1960's early Seventies, when the orderly gets old Henry Jones Jr stoned, and the old fart starts spinning stories about when he was young he did this, that and would ya believe... type of things? Actually, I think that'd rule! Must email Darabont!
Hey, Hey Harry and Moriarty, I was in Melbourne at a
producer's conference the other week with Rick
McCallum and after his speech I got to ask him some
questions about Star Wars and stuff. He was really
cool. We were talking about film making in the digital
age when I asked him about the headscans that the
original Star Wars trilogy cast sat for in the early
nineties, I wanted to know if Lucasfilm was going
ahead with an all digital sequel trilogy (the guy next
to me was looking at me like I was a freak). Rick shot
that rumour down but said that one of them may get
some use in an upcoming flashback sequence. He said
they're just adding the CGI fedora and bullwhip to the
model now. I was floored "CGI Indy?" Then he laughed
and excused himself to go talk with some other people.
I can't say I'm not excited but I'm also a little
afraid, a computer generated Indiana Jones flashback
would be cool but would it work?
Anyway to avoid mention of my name just call me:
Shatner.
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+ Expand All
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I don't understand why it would be so cool... Make Up or stunt actors can do such a job, cant' they?Moreover, if this technology have existed when Indy & The Last Crusade was shot, how the beginning with young Indy would have been like?
To me , CGI must be used when there's no other efficient way and here, it's obviously not the case -
Indy IV is a lousy idea, and this just confirms it. If they want to show Indy as a younger man, why not just re-edit outtakes and unused footage from the previous three movies? No way am I seeing this one...
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Actually after watching the documentaries on the Episode II DVD I was surprized at how many shots of Obi Wan were CGI. I think they could pull it off jusft fine.
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This has to be a joke...well, it can't be any worse than 6 Days, 7 Nights.
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Rick could definitely lose a few pounds...did you see him in the DVD stuff for AOTC? He gets bigger every movie!
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Either this guy is lying or McCallum was fucking with him.
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A) Who knows if this guy is telling the truth B) Who knows if Rick McCallum is telling the truth C) Who knows in what exact way a digital Indy would be used. Bearing these three points in mind, it's best if no-one busts a blood vessel at this point. It's just quite an interesting rumour.
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And that is strictly based on his persona presented in interviews and on the DVD extras, I tend to think he's just goofing on this guy...
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...absolutely. There were a TON of shots of Obi-Wan in AOTC, especially in the fight sequence with Jango, that no one could tell were CGI stand-ins. I think this will be great... Harrison's already said he's up for stunt work, but why not also throw in some CGI stunt work on top of it? Unless you're a nitpicky little fan boy, that is...
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BAAAAAD IDEA. I hope to holy hell this tidbit of info is really not true, but sheesh I mean, that would tkae away a lot of feeling I have for Indy. Can they focus on getting a decent script first? I dont want to be dissapointed. Please let them not blow this one.
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I had the great fortune of meeting ILM Animation Supervisor on Ep2, Rob Coleman at a lecture yesterday (he's the greatest, most down-to-earth bloke ever) and the question of digital humans came up. Someone in the audience asked him if, due to films like Final Fantasy, we would be seeing digital humans soon. He stated that at the minute, even with an unlimited budget and unlimited time frame, it would probably only be possible to create something that could fool the human eye for about five seconds. Although their were digital shots of Obi Wan, it was only from behind (like his cloak) were as his face was always real. So I reckon if Rick is telling the truth it would be a very brief or almost still image shot of Harrison's "young" face.
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Nov 24, 2002 12:12:01 PM CST
Ye$! Digital $equel$ make $ense for Mr. Moneybag$ Luca$
by bari umenema
A new trilogy of $tar War$ Episode$ 7 8 9 $hould ab$olutely be produced it'$ a great idea audience$ inluding Harry Knowle$ have been $creaming for the full 9 part trilogy for 20 year$ now $0 why not? Give u$ what we want, you $mart producer$ are geniu$e$.
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Spielberg is too talented to use CGI as a crutch or a toy, I would like to believe he still favours the human equation when the shot can be done in a more traditional way.
AOTC was one step away from being Final Fantasy with a few human likenesses comped in. Personally I think a lot of the warmth is lost that way, it is overkill. CGI is great for otherwise impossible things or cool set pieces. Indy should be a human being though, I would think. I know I am not the first to voice this or have this opinion.
As far as the series, Indy ended on a high note. Leave it alone I say. Why take chances with something that was so special? I know it will happen no matter what, so I guess all we can do is cross our fingers and hope we don't get an Indy movie that more resembles the Mummy films. -
If theres one thing ive learnt from reading this site, is that most stories that get reported immediately get blown out of all proportion. "May" get used in a "flashback" sequence. Note those words, it will probably turn out to be a brief flashback to Indy in his prime, requiring him to move more spritely than Ford could and do some insane stunt. Spielberg is directing this film, and Minority report showed how Spielberg is the master of using technology RIGHT, not just using it cos its there. As for Lucas/McCallum/Prequel Star Wars: To paraphrase from Jurassic Park: They spent so long figuring out if they could use CGI, they forgot to think if they should.
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Speilbergo most definitely knows how to use CGI. He gets my vote. Minority/A.I. were brilliant in that regaurd, why cant he pass some knowledge off to Lucas? Shit! Seriously! Indy trilogy sits firmly in my childhood and lord have mercy should they make any decisions that remotely detract from Indy's world. Let us pray.
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Nov 24, 2002 2:16:52 PM CST
I think the sequel should be called Indiana Jones Goes To Florid
by chaffro
"Henry, I'm your long lost brother, brother."
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Nov 24, 2002 2:25:16 PM CST
Can we please lay to rest this myth that Mccallum is merely Luca
by togmeister
You lot seem to think that a producer's job is to interfere creatively rather than keep the PRODUCTION running along smoothly. Kurtz, time and time again on Star Wars, proved himself to be rather incompetent at this. He failed to mediate in the petty dispute between Lucas and his D.P. Gil Taylor when Taylor refused to use soft-focus (Taylor wasn't re-hired for Empire), he didn't realise how solidly unionised the British crews were, so Lucas was amazed then to discover they wouldn't work a second past 5:30, and he even pissed off the lead actors by insisting they fly coach to the location. An inadequately supervised ILM spent all day lazing around and produced only two workable shots before Lucas returned to California and started kicking their asses to get the movie done on time. Out of loyalty, Kurtz was re-hired by Lucas for Empire. Same story - crew didn't know what they were doing, Kershner was over-indulged in the number of takes he was allowed to get, and Lucas had go grovelling to several banks to finish the movie. Look, whether or not you like or don't like TPM or AOTC is not the point here, i'm talking about their skills at keeping the PRODUCTION ticking along. Kurtz was a poor producer and since then has scarcely been involved in any major movie success. Maccallum is rightly regarded throughout the industry as a producer of the finest caliber. On TPM he had sandstorms destroy the set, an unprecedented amount of FX shots to see to, the movie came in on time and on budget. On AOTC, he had to deal with a lower budget, untried digital cameras, a script that was 5 months late, and a director who chopped and changed the story throughout, even adding a major action sequence a year into post-production. Guess what? On time, on budget. If Joel Silver or Gale Ann Hurd had been the producer of TPM or AOTC, rest assured the budgets for both movies would have spiralled into the $200 million range and the production would have ran over. If you hate TPM or AOTC, fine, that's your opinion and your entitled to it. But leave Rick alone - he is bloody good at his job.
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Nov 24, 2002 2:31:25 PM CST
first rule: NEVER BELIEVE IN WHAT MCCALLUM TELLS YOU!! 2nd rule:
by drjones
this guy just wanted to fool you shatner(SHATNER???)! how many times has he been caught by stating bullshit? i guess it
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Nov 24, 2002 2:54:38 PM CST
>>Actually, I think that'd rule! Must email Darabont!<< haAArry!
by drjones
well...it
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Nov 24, 2002 4:08:48 PM CST
Goddamnit, you idiots! its not a full sequence of CGI Jones! it
by tall_boy
Digital stunt doubles. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. (Good ones in ATOC were Dooku's lightsaber fight & Obi Wan being wrapped up by Jango. Bad ones were Anakin basically ridding anything.) This would just be for tricky shots.
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Didnt we already have " Young Indy"?
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a producer should hire a director, not vice versa. and lucas never hired kurtz...they had been working together since american graffiti.
it's a producer's job to be in the driector's ear to tell him when an idea sucks. the fact that mccallum never spoke up re: geedo in the SE or any number of the crappy decisions in the prequels sings verses about his input.
things going smoothly on set is a credit to the many production managers, not the producer. and the post production supervisor is responsible for over-seeing visual effects, not the producer.
kurtz is the man...dark crystal ruled! mccallum is a talentless tool!!!
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should scout my ASS. There is some awesome hills back there... no no wait, fuck it, all he needs to do is scout the backlot of ILM, and find some blue screens, and viola! instant backgrounds! Isnt that what they've already done? ;) who wann romp wit bombaclot!
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one of the uses for the digital Indy may be for the new Video game Lucasarts, is supposed to have out in Feb. If you go to the website and look at the pics from the game,the Indy in the game looks dead on like Harrison Ford.
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Utterly pointless and pathetically stupid. Fuck Rick McCallum. And fuck George Lucas. Hopefully Spielberg still has the brains to see how wrong this idea is.
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Nov 24, 2002 6:30:04 PM CST
I asked Ben Burtt this question 2 years ago at a seminar held at
by slav
This news is nothing new. I really can't be bothered going back into the archives and finding my post about it.
I asked Ben Burtt how they would handle Harrison Ford's age when faced with stunts and he answered with a digital Indy. I gasped. This was during the filming of Ep 2 and after watching the extras of the DVD and the revelations of digital stuntmen, it is obvious now to me that the technology was developed for such a use. Lucasfilm projects always seem to be about R&D :) Hell, why whinge? You can't tell the difference but in the most complex of shots. I was blown away on the LOTR EE DVD that the run across the Kazad Dum (or whatever) Bridge was done with CG characters. They looked REAL! What's the big deal? -
and count on tons of massive digital set extensions to replace the old style matte paintings.
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An actress friend of mine was at this conference to hawk herself. It's the Screen Producer's Association of Australia (SPAA), and while I haven't asked her about this yet she did tell me that Rick McCallum has got the vocabulary of a merchant sailor. DigiIndy sounds like it could be okay if, as Harry says, it was used sparingly. While I may have lost faith in Luca$ I still have faith in Mr. Spielberg. As someone above said Speilberg knows how and when to use CGI for the right story reasons and not just to show off.
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Inspiration For Indiana Jones Character From TheForce.Net
Sun, Nov 24, 02 01:17:14 PM EST
The NY Post reports on George Lucas' inspiration for Indiana Jones:
... George Lucas based his whip-wielding hero on a 19th century Paduan archaeologist named Giovanni Battista Belzoni. Unlike the Indy of the big screen, however, Belzoni was more swamp ox than cunning fox. Although he made a number of important discoveries, Belzoni was no scholar.
In fact, grown Egyptologists probably still weep whenever they think about the secrets the giant Italian lost when he tore down one ancient wall just to see what lay on the other side. God knows what would have happened if he, and not Harrison Ford, had found the lost ark. -
I frankly don't care if a production was efficient. I'm not the executive producer, or the financer. I am the viewer, and I want the final film to be great, and if it is a nightmare getting to that point then who cares. Many great films have had very troubled productions, and frankly, I think that seems to make them better. McCallum would be an excellent line producer (which is basically what he is), but a real Producer has a hand in the creative aspects of the picture. Kurtz had a BIG hand in keeping Lucas' ideas focused. Have you read the original first draft of Star Wars? It sucks. Seriously. It is a convuluted piece of crap. If you would like to read it then email me. Lucas wasn't kidding when he said he had enough ideas for 3 films in the first draft, and had to edit it down. NO one would produce that first draft. But working with friends input, and Gary Kurtz, he focused on the stolen plans and the Death Star. After 3 more drafts, we got the incredibly well paced and very tight screenplay that became the movie. The first draft reads like Episode 1. It just isn't focused. Too many ideas. In fact, it is very much like Episode 1 plotwise. George doesn't have anybody telling him to go back to work on his screenplays for the Prequels. He just finances them himself, and they have turned out very disappointing. As Lucas got more power, the movies started to go downhill. Kurtz wasn't on ROTJ, and that film has some serious flaws. If Lucas had hired an A-List screenwriter to flesh out his stories (which he is excellent at coming up with), a first rate creative Producer that would tell him flat-out when something wasn't a good idea, and in my opinion a top-flight director(James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, feel free everyone to add to this list) we ALL would be talking about how the Prequels kick ass. To bad they don't.
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I can hear his inner monologue now. "Yeah, we're putting the hat and whip on those digital scans of Harrison from the early '90's rignt now, uh huh, that's the ticket. **coughgeekcough**" Work that imagination, friend. It'll doubtless be better than whatever they do anyway.
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Has anyone seen any post-1989 Harrison Ford movies? Somebody sucked all the personality out of him! A CGI Indy would probably have a lot more charm and charisma than Ford. For cryin out loud, somebody forgot to tell Harrison that the shooting on "Regarding Henry" wrapped 11 years ago...he can STOP playing that role now!!! A fourth Indy would suck. Harrison now sucks, and I don't think I really need to say anything about Lucas...
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What Lies Beneath was a great film but Ford was terrible in it. He read his lines like he'd just gotten out of the dentist's chair after a particularly harrowing root canal.
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There was some great CGI in AOTC, but some utter crap as well. Anakin riding the giant tick was one and several of the shots of Obi-Wan v Jango Fett weren't real crash hot, namely a couple of those flying kicks he did and btw while I'm in the middle of my rant, Lucas needs to start concentrating on a decent script and storyline. Movies are designed to tell a story as ole Georgie openly admits. How about telling a decent one then? (like the O/T?) Cheers.
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Hey, McCallum may get things running smoothly (well, with the amount of ass-kissing he does, the whole place is no doubt well-lubricated), but artistically, he's a menace! Even if you just check out the DVD extras, you'll see that all McCallum does is say "yeah, yes, that's just great, that's phenomenal, I'm really happy, that's no problem, that was great..." ad infinitum. It's actually physically nauseating watching those documentaries. If I was diabetic, I'd probably get into shock from all the syrupy stuff he's saying. Sheesh! Brown-nosing everyone may keep cast and crew happy, but it doesn't add up to a great movie. Even when everyone else, having seen Ep. I for the first time, was carefully telling Lucas that "maybe there was a bit of tweaking to be done", McCallum just stands there saying "it'll be okay, we don't really have to change anything". Dude, your job is to make sure the movie ends up being good, not just to massage the director's ego until your hands (and the whole audience's brains) go numb.
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Kurtz to say "Hey George, y'know this Jar Jar character's kinda stupid" and Mccallum to say "Yeah, I know the entire set just collapsed from monsoon winds, but we've got to get this picture finished!" Then maybe you'd have a movie! sk
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Nov 25, 2002 1:48:44 PM CST
has anyone been in the NYC screening of cmiyc last night?????
by drjones
i please everyone outthere who attended it (and there have to be some geeks who were there) to write something about it!!!
or maybe someone goes visiting the spielberg at lincoln center event tonight...(and then write a small report??:D)???? that would rule!-) -
Nov 25, 2002 1:52:15 PM CST
Ah, who cares if the movie is good as long as it's on time and o
by minderbinder
So I guess the studios were pissed when Titanic was late and over budget...bad producer! You think they really wish they'd hired McCallum and ended up with an on-time, on-budget flop? PS. DON"T MAKE INDY 4!
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Nov 25, 2002 1:53:47 PM CST
And stop yapping about the TTT score being online, it's old news
by minderbinder
...and on a TTT talkback. Quit spamming the boards, jackass.
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The things that you talk about McCallum doing so well really fall more into the category of Line Producer. A producer works with the director to help him realize his vision under the constraints of the budget. Kurtz fought with lucas on story concepts, Kershner's directing choices, and Lucas'editorial choices as well. The proof in Kurtz' input is that the Star Wars films took a nosedive after he left. Kurtz hated the idea of Ewoks. He was against hiring Marquand as a director and had encouraged using David Lynch (imagine the possibilities on that!) I dont think anyone can argue that the quality of the series has been the same since the original Star Wars and Empire and the one major element that has been removed since then has been Kurtz. Perhaps Kurtz did make some of the blunders that you talk about, but so what, handling traveling arrangements is only a small amount of the bigger picture of what a producer does.
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Since they won't have to pay actors
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It is my belief that computer generated humans (synthespians, as some call them) will NEVER be able to fool the human eye for any sustained amount of time. It will be interesting to see how CGI progresses through the next ten years of it's existance.
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It's obvious.
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"What Lies Beneath was a great film but Ford was terrible in it."
My sentiments exactly. Ford almost ruined the film. And he was barechested for several scenes! What could the produccers have been thinking of? I could see him doing another PRESUMED INNOCENT type of film, but not anything requiring action or sustained activity. He often acts as if he is going to keel over from old age at any second. -
A stunt double. Ford's face hasn't changed that much that when he's small on screen you'll notice and if there is a difference they can always do a new scan. A year ago I would cringe at the idea of a CGI stunt double for Indy but AOTC did prove it can be done, all except for Anakin riding the Shaak (the big-ass cow-tick-things on Naboo)the digital double worked pretty seamlessly. In fact listening to the commentary track I was shocked at how many times Obi-Wan and Dooku where digital in the movie. As for some sort of full-digital Star Wars film with the original cast. I could see that. Harrison would be more open to a week of well-paid voice work then several months of shoots and reshoots. Plus Lucas seems to care very little about live-action in his films now... But I doubt if it would ever happen since fully animated films only sell if they're full comedies. (The excellent Final Fantasy didn't do well and neither has very Anime film ever to be released here in the US theatrically.) Personally I'd like to see a CGI TV series based on the Young Jedi Knights young adult book series. Hamill will be a regular and Ford and Fisher would only be needed for occasional cameos. I tell ya one thing I wish Lucas would replace Hayden and Natalie (especially Hayden) with digital versions of Anakin and Padme for Episode III (and AOTC for an SE release) I wouldn't care if they didn't look 100% real just so they expressed genuine emotion and have more then three facial expressions each. Of course they'd have to hire voice actors too so they don't always sound like they're reading the phonebook aloud. But alas I am dreaming...
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Nov 27, 2002 1:35:22 AM CST
An "all digital Star Wars sequel trilogy" would be a wet dream!!
by ted striker
"Final Fantasy" was visually stunning, though CGI is still a few years from perfecting Human Movement. Once it does, LOOK OUT! A new Sequel Trilogy starring Ford, Hamill, and Fischer CGI look-alikes with a closer tone to The Original Trilogy would be nothing short of AMAZing. I would STOP GOING TO THE MOVIES (no, not really:) for 10 years if Lucasfilm PROMISED to do this someday.
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i wonder if that "flashback" i going to happen as han solo?
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Orcus rocks on his throne with laughter
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