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Eight minutes of TRON LEGACY shown at Comic-Con! Plus panel Q&A! Quint has the rundown!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Patton Oswalt hosted today’s big TRON panel. I love Patton’s panels. Having comedians hosting these things really up the entertainment factor here.
For example: “They’re showing 5 minutes (of Tron) every year for 20 years… The film will end up costing you $10,000!”
We saw 8 minutes of footage, which I’ll go into describing soon.
Before the panel was brought out, they showed a reel that was essentially the influence of Tron. Everything from The Simpsons to car commercials, movie clips, Family Guy and Robot Chicken.
Sean Bailey, Joe Kosinski, Steve Lisberger (“Smartest Hobbit in the shire” – Patton), Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde (“So many happy nerdboys out there right now”), Michael Sheen (“who flew in on a magic teacup”), Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Bridges (“the man who really ties the film together”).
They showed 8 mintues of footage which was pretty much a full sequence of Flynn’s Son being picked up on the grid by a giant recognizer.
The first thing I noticed was the Tronified Disney logo with bright, white light behind the castle, which had data light surging through the bricks of the castle.
First footage was of a recognizer landing, a bright spotlight on a person below. It’s Flynn’s kid dressed in his street clothes. The ground breaks up beneath him and lifts him up to the bridge. A red light-suited program looks him up and down and says “This program has no disc. Another stray,” then locks him in place with white light restraints. The voices of the programs were electronically enhanced. There were a half-dozen other programs locked (in a standing position) next to him.
The recognizer takes off and we get a few really sweet shots through the see-through floor. A tank is seen patrolling the street under Sam Flynn’s feet. “He actually did it.” He turns to the program on his right. “Does the name Kevin Flynn mean anything to you?” “Not if I want to live,” he responds.
There’s a hooded figure standing to Sam’s left, half his face has deressed like a horrible burn scar. Lightning atmosphere fills the sky as the recognizer lands at a building.
A red guard scans each prisoner by looking them up and down. With each one he says either “rectify” or “games.” He tells a twitchy program he’s destined for “games” and the dude freaks out and jumps off the platform to his death, into a spinning fan blade stories below, dissolving into sparks when he hits.
Sam is chosen for Games and is put on a light elevator down to a dark room. Female programs dressed completely in white seductively approach Sam, two white, two African-American. They each raise a glowing finger, which cut his clothes. “Whoa, whoa, whoa… it’s got a zipper.”
His Tron outfit materializes on him as the programs retrieve pieces of armor and start armoring him up. After leg, chest and arm pieces are snapped into place (which integrates with his black suit immediately to make a complete suit) they begin lighting up… it’s almost like they light up in sectors, like a power grid turning on, and the light lines on the suit are in place.
A voice instructs him on what his disc is as one of the pretty programs receives it. “Attention program. You will receive an identity disc. All your personal information will be saved on to it…” he’s told that if he loses his disc or it’s destroyed he will be immediately de-rezed. When the pretty program snaps his disc into a groove in his back Sam’s eyes briefly light up. He’s part of the grid now, I guess.
“Disc activated. Proceed to games,” says the voice. The pretty programs back away and back into what can only be described as form-fitting wall-slots. Panicking, Sam asks one “What am I supposed to do?” She gives a dead-pan: “Survive.”
There’s a bright light in front of him and he walks into it, adjusting to his suit a little. The light leads to a lift. The lift raises in silence until suddenly he’s hit with a wave of cheers and suddenly he’s in an arena surrounded by thousands of screaming programs On a lift, taken to an arena surrounded by thousands of screaming programs.
From here we were treated to a montage which started with Daft Punk’s cameo, spinning at what will be The End of Line club. Michael Sheen is in the foreground telling them to “Change the scheme, alter the mood… electrify the boys and girls!”
Lots of cuts… a guy getting cut in half with a throw of a disc, falling de-resing in a way that looked like a bunch of tiles falling apart. You see this in the trailer just released.
There was also a shot of Flying bug guys… regular looking programs with red bug wings followed by a shot of Kevin Flynn standing over the world of Tron looking a little sad (see below and click for mega-big version):
Then there’s that other trailer shot of Clu’s helment sliding off, revealing 35 y/o Flynn. “I’m not your father, Sam. But I’m very, very happy to see you.”
Fuck. I think that stuff looked amazing. A world of difference between this and the X3 de-younging of Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart.
The reel ended with a Red program (pretty sure it was Clu) jumping out of a nifty plane. He extends a rod, but instead of throwing out a lightcycle like you’d expect a jet starts materializing around him. This shot also closes the new trailer.
Really interesting stuff.
Then they did what is essentially a free foley exercise for them, inviting the Hall H audience to be the spectators at the games. Skywalker Sound technicians were at various points around the 8,000 seater with recording equipment and we got a follow the bouncing ball type screen behind the panel.
We shouted “Disc Wars” over and over again. Disc! Wars! Disc! Wars! Disc Wars! Discwars! Discwars!” faster and faster.
They also had us shout: Rinz! Ler! (Rinzler being the badass program wielding the two identity discs) and De! Rez! over and over again.
Then a picture of the Tron guy appeared on the scream and everybody laughed, then cheered. Joe Kosinski then lead us in a “raise my hand and you cheer real loud, lower my hand you go silent” yellfest, which went very well. I’m sure they got what they needed.
Patton Oswalt came in and said “Anyone outside this hall right now is terrified!”
Now here are some bullet-points from the Q&A.
- Cameron fusion camera system was used for the 3-D. No conversion, which got cheers.
- The camera was a Sony F35 and Kosinski shot with nothing but master prime lenses, so the image would stay as sharp as possible for the 3-D. This camera and it’s software is the next upgrade from the system Cameron used on Avatar.
- Fully illuminated suits, which interacts with environments and other people better… the light bounces naturally with no need to go in and tweak it in post.
- “The generation that grew up with Tron have accepted it as the founding myth of the internet.” - Steve Lisberger.
- Jeff Bridges loves the mythology of Tron and believes we need modern myths as a society, part of the big attraction of the Tron universe for him.
- Bridges said that exploring the dark side of technology is a big theme in the new movie. Then went on a tangent about how water bottles are evil and are polluting the Earth.
- Lisberger had video games set up around the set of the original. Battle Zone was a big one that ended up in a big competition between Jeff and Steve Lisberger. “They’d ask me to get off the game and I’d go, “I’m preparing, damn it!” – Bridges
- Lloyd Bridges was very gung ho about bringing his kids into show business because he enjoyed it so much.
- Re-releasing Tron in 3-D? They’re talking about it, but no matter what we’ll be seeing the original “in exciting new forms.” Blu-Ray, anyone?
- "It was kind of psychadelic.”- Bridges on playing against a 35 y/o version of himself.
- How did young Flynn/Clu act around the set: “He was a real “d.” He was coming on to Olivia the whole time. What’re you going to do? I understood.” – Bridges.
- Hedlund Had to stand as straight as he could to not tear the ¾ inch thick rubber suit, which had to be glued on no less.
- 8711 is the stunt team on the flick. Everybody had nothing but great things to say about them. Olivia Wilde trained, but then had to do it in the suit (and 4 inch heels).
- Parkour, motorcycle and intense physical training for Garrett.
- Michael Sheen: “Jinkies, there are a lot of you here.” “I’m used to living in a slightly false reality because I’m living in LA now.”
- Looking at the CC schedule on the way over and seeing the Tron logo on the top of it made Sheen giddy and in a high pitched voice squealed “OhmygodImintron!” He grew up a major fan of the first film.
- Bruce Boxleitner: “I threw my walker in the corner and I was Tron again!”
- “There was no internet, our phones we carried around in big suitcases… it was a completely different world.” – Bridges. But what attracted him to doing the sequel was the same as the first one: the ability to play with cutting edge technology.
- “This new movie makes the original look like a black and white TV show.” – Bridges.
- On the difference in technology from the first film to its sequel… Steve Lisberger: “No matter how good the technology is, the creative people, the artists, find a way to spend 105% of it.” Just like the original, they’re pushing the limits of what’s available to them.
- Why Daft Punk? “Just look at them, they seem to fit,” said producer Sean Bailey. Laughs. They’re big Tron fans, obviously and have been working on the music for nearly 3 years now. “Completely new and different than what you’ve heard. Mix of electronic and orchestral.”
Pretty neat stuff. Back with more soon!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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Readers Talkback
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tron baby
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I love Tron...that is all.
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wants you to touch her.
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Oh well, once again I cannot wait for this shit to drop.....gonna be superfamtastic,ya dig
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She's my new fave now. Love the Alice Glass hairstyle, too. Wanna touch, wanna know!
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It hangs over everything now.
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Seeing their cameo will bring a tear to my eye.
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I noticed it way back last year.
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But I'll probably check this one out.
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Because the movie must suck if the computer program in the computer world doesn't look completely human amirite?
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I'll be there..and hopefully Tron Blu-Ray will be under my Christmas Tree.
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To create sequels to the Big Lebowski until the end of time. And Tron sequels, of course.
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Was more into Star Wars and Indy at the time. Tried giving Tron another go, and still couldn't get into it. Despite that, I'm looking forward to this new one.
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Okay we all knew Edgar Wright and Scott Pilgrim would kill shit, but the Expendables panel had great chemistry and was super fun. The footage was awesome.
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who had a minor role in the first movie, telling a very sweet tale about the first movies premiere. And how Steve Lisberger couldn't go in, and stayed in his car outside the venue for the duration of the movie. Knowing that little anecdote gives me a good appreciation of what a movie like this could mean to him.
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I agree Glass, Glass, Glass!!!!! Coke did it why cant water? I'd say aluminium as well, but I hear lots of bad things about it. Bridges was cool to bitch about that! We need a glass alternative that can be recycled for water bottles.
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www.assmints.com
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had finished fucking up it's home drinking water supply. Suddenly the municipal water from your tap wasn't good enough.<br /><br />Check out the documentary Gasland, if you ever wanted to see an American home owner set his own water (from the tap) on fire. It's both freaky, and sad.
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IMAX format. Definately taking mushrooms for this. Can't wait to see all the classic,antique arcade machines come to life. Still no word on if the machines themselves come to life or the characters from the marquee art. I'm definately torn between mushrooms and exstacy. Hopefully it'll be good enough for repeat viewings
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was hearing the track from the trailer. sounds epic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV5jCnkkS9c and oh? the visuals? the younf Fylnn looks, ahem, well whadoisay? young? any day better than the cg de-aging in X3! and Kosinksi looks like he might become a micheal bay who can think and has good aesthetic sense :)
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Mega-big? Seriously? What year is this?
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Looks odd, doesn't he?
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Is it any good? Nobody's talking about it.
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I wish I did love it as much as some of you guys do but I just don't get the appeal. <p> Not to be a total negative Nancy; I do think the Tron sequel trailers have looked pretty awesome so far.
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The music on the new trailer had better not be Daft Punk; it's so generic and lifeless. Slightly dodgy cgi heads are one thing but making Daft Punk sound like a third rate Hans Zimmer knock off is unforgivable!
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July 23, 2010, 6:34 a.m. CST
I've think I figured out all of whats off w/ CGI animation
by TheJudger
I noticed something else. The lower jaws deformation is off as well. There inner mouths flesh rests against the inner teeth and gums. The lower part of the jaw bone keeps it's form/shape when the jaw moves. The lower jaw bones shape is actually enhanced more as the jaw is lowered. Maybe a CT scan of Jeff Bridges lower jaw is in order. <P> You guys can use the same shape deformation trick that Weta used in Kong to force the eyelids to deform over the cornea of the eye. Instead you apply this deformation routine to the teeth gums and jaw, and the various muscles that should be represented in this area of the mouth and jaw. You still use the captured IR 3d data taken from Jeffs acting, but you give it a little push with this custom program. <P> His jowls and adams apple area should have more movement as well. The jowls area should drop a little when the mouth opens as well as being tugged up and down by the adams apple area when it moves to makes words. You might have to put Jeff back in the 3d IR helmet or chair or whatever system you used to capture this data and focus that camera on his ears and Adams apple area this time when he recites those lines. This is what I see that seems to be throwing the performance off. No true muscle and bone deformation play in and around the edges of the lower jaw, including the edges of the lower jaws bone shape enhancing deformations that would exact itself on the lower chins skin as the jaw opens wider. Little to no action in the adams apple area, low earlobes motion responses to the moving jaw, and the lip movement is not in full motion to the dialog, it seems slowed down. Not as bad as Dr Manhattan though- damn that was bad.... <P> Do the lips stick together sometimes? Like our real lips do? Does the IR camera capture the sticky lip phenom when that happens? Or would those represented control point be located way too deep inside the IR 3d captured mouth animation?
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Cause I'm not hating. I want and wish nothing but sucess for this movie.
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Interesting. I was actually kind of surprised how poor the mouth movement was, after seeing what Cameron did in Avatar. I think this Jeff Bridges head looks great. The textures, tones and all. But the mouth reminds me of that fake-ass "Forrest Gump" style CGI mouth. If they could just get some of Cameron's mouth-people in there, I think they'd have it.
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news !!!! someone confirm this pleeseeeeee!!
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Theres just a little bit of polsih left to bring it home. If you drew a straight horizontal line over the cheeks from the edges of the lips corners (think jokers smile) you'll notice that this area remains puffy and it doesnt cave in and out or move like it seems like it should. I think one of the issues is that Jeff's 3d IR capture is basically coming from a much older face that is not the same shape obviously. So the talents involved have to dial things in and out to make it work for that CGI younger face. I'm sure this team used lots of his older films with him in them study ref. I've seen the cameron Avatar helmets, they didnt cover the entire face, the ears were blocked by the helmet, They ignored the hairline. These areas still respond to the motions of the mouth. The temples flex and move alot when you talk. This IR camera 3d real time capture is still early technology. Everyones still figuring it out. Jeff role is new ground as well, and older face is being used to animate a younger face. There's going to be sync issues.
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that mouth is really bad. Nothing, they can't sort out before the release date though. And what's this news about Norton still being in the Avengers? I hope so, I'd hate to see them re-cast The Hulk yet again.
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i even recently rented Tron to see if my opinion might be different since i hadnt seen it since the late 80s or early 90s. but it turns out i still find it very boring and crap but the sequel actually looks pretty damn cool. might be the first time i buy a sequel without getting the original...assuming it doesnt also suck. lol
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There is no predicate in this sentence: <p><p>Sean Bailey, Joe Kosinski, Steve Lisberger (“Smartest Hobbit in the shire” – Patton), Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde (“So many happy nerdboys out there right now”), Michael Sheen (“who flew in on a magic teacup”), Bruce Boxleitner, Jeff Bridges (“the man who really ties the film together”). <p><p>Also, is "deressed" an actual word? <p><p>I'm not trying to be the Grammar Nazi, but it would be nice to see this stuff go through some sort of spell check. <p><p>-Cheers
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I don't have any problems with the "creepy dead-eyed Jeff Bridges version of CLU", as from what I can tell, it looks like CLU is the villain of the story...like Khan in Trek II, maybe he blames Flynn for abandoning him, just as his flesh-and-blood son does. That's the vibe I'm getting from the trailers. CLU is the bad guy, shares the same issues as Flynn's son, both are on a quest to find and reunite with Flynn.
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people where bitching about the first film's effects too when it came out. As long as the story is solid I don't fucking care!
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July 23, 2010, 8:57 a.m. CST
People were bitching about the first films effects??
by Righteous Brother
I don't think so.
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....as opposed to De-Younging? I mean I've been de-younging on my own all these years....
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check it out here ;) http://www.movieobjects.com/reportages-replicas/128-conduire-la-moto-de-tron-legacy-cest-possible
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So fucking excited. Loved it as a kid, one of the first really mind-blowing film experiences I had. I think TRON sits that way for a lot of folk. I love its vision. The art direction holds up extremely well. I love that it's an artifact of a very different time, before the last twenty-seven years of unprecedented technological growth. I can't wait for this. December is forever away.
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Did anyone ask why Wendy Carlos wasn't doing the music this time around? The Daft Punk stuff that I have heard for the movie seems OK, though I would have liked to hear how Wendy Carlos would have taken it beyond her brilliant work in the original film. Btw, the CGI Flynn head is not nearly as bad as some commenters here are making it out to to be.
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But there had better be some Wendy Carlos music cues here and there. The CGI Flynn head is one of those effects I can live with, but I think 10 years from now will look a lot like the bad Yoda puppet they used in Phantom Menace.
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<p>As a child of the 80s that saw TRON in the theater, and a young adult of the 90s that loved all things eletronica:</p> <p>I love Daft Punk, but all the bits I've heard from TRON: Legacy are pretty underwhelming. Meanwhile the Carlos score from TRON is full of memorable themes and colors that I remember to this day. Vintage quality.</p> <p>I love Daft Punk and would love for them to surprise me, but I think having them score this film is like putting a brilliant square peg in a round hole.</p>
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"Love" may be too strong of a word, but you get the idea.
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July 23, 2010, 1:12 p.m. CST
Believable CGI humans aren't going to happen in our lifetimes
by Rupee88
Just deal with the obvious. Sure they did a great job in Avatar, but those were humanoid aliens, not humans.
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I totally dig that movie, but it was mostly fully animated. When the CG creatures interacted with live action, it was far from totally believable or seamless. There were a couple of short sequences that worked, but more that didn't. And that film took like 5 years to make.
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It has happened in benjamin button. The prblem with Clu is an oversight that they can fix. Your talking shit. It's already happened, and I have no doubts they will fix Clu. I'm sure he doesnt talk that much in the film. they have lots of time to bring it home. Digital humans have happened and they have fooled. Your out of your element man.
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the computer world.
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I'm beyond ready for this. I also noticed how many times Bruce Boxleitner referred to himself as Tron, and not Alan Bradley. I also notice that Rinzler has the same "T" formation of dots on his chest that Tron did. There's a lot of badass stuff in here, so far. I just wish they'd have hired the Weta Digital guys to do some facial animation capture for Clu.
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that's some funny shit -
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July 23, 2010, 8:46 p.m. CST
what about the ziggy stardust guy we saw in the early trailer?
by GhostofLesterBangs
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SCOTTPILGRIM SUCKS MY BALLS!
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Everybody is all ga-ga about the 34 year old Flynn, but the de-aging they did on Garrett Hedlund to make him look 10 is even more amazing!!! :)
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I might be late to the party but I see the Quicktime version is up. Here's the raw URL if anyone wants it... <BR><BR> http://tinyurl.com/22q9yph <BR><BR> ( best way to view is open up quicktime manually, then do File->Open URL and paste in the URL ) <BR><BR> Not a rickroll I promise.
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http://tinyurl.com/2w6g27h
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Our website is: http://www.shoes2.us/ We also sell a variety of brand-name items: The following is our best-selling items. I hope you like it
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I won't get beaten by no damn shoe salesman.
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Fricken awesome. Orcus looks forward to the new Tron
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