Well, Father Geek received this bit of news today, some of it good, some not so good. Of course keep in mind that seeing sets, costumes, makeup in person is never as nice as in a finished motion picture with all the special lighting and atmospherics added, not to mention CGI. The look of the film isn't what bothers Father Geek here. Burton will see to it that it looks and feels great. What worrys me are those comments about the script, hopefully Tim will work those problems out before all is said and done.
I love your site - and here's some interesting news for you and your readers about the new PLANET OF THE APES - or - as it's listed here on the Sony Studio lot --- THE VISITOR.
Stage 29 has an absolutely COLOSSAL set - it's known as the APE BASE CAMP (there are even signs outside the stage in the studio street that say that, in front of some of the make-up trailors. The set itself is literally the largest set I've ever seen. This is Sony's (formerly MGM's) biggest soundstage; it's the same stage where they built the giant miniature amusement park for Speilberg's 1941, which I used to walk around in when they were shooting here. Anyway, the Base Camp rises right up to the rafters - it's easily over 4 stories tall. It's actually a city 'built into the rock', like one of the famous American Indian dwellings built into sheer rock faces. Gray in color. Magnificent. Huge blocks of foamcore were used - they were carved by hand, assembled & glued onto the wooden scaffoldings, forming 'glacier-size' stone faces, complete with steps to walk up. It's literally built in 3 dimentions - so the camera can do a 360 degree turn if director Tim Burton wants to. Brush, plants & tree branches has been strewn throughout the setting to make it look absolutely real.
Now the the APES themselves. I've seen about 6 or 7 of the ape people. To tell the truth, the make-ups, while superbly (and realistically) done, are disappointing. The ape make-ups are nothing more than a standard gorilla or chimpanzee head sticking out of futuristic clothing. It's as if Rick Baker pulled a bunch of his great GREYSTOKE, THE LEGEND OF TARZAN ape masks/prostectics from the back of his shop, did some minor recycling, and threw them onto actors wearing clothes. There was No stylization, no creativity in the design of the make-ups. But don't blame Baker; Burton is directing the film, and the decision is his. It's going to be regular-looking apes and gorillas with moving mouths to voice the words.
Beyond that, this film's story will feature a revolt of the humans against the apes. The humans of the planet are actors in loincloth or pelt clothing, covered with lots of dirt & mud smears. Nothing to write home about.
Beyond that, one of my friends has talked with a (very important) production member on this film - sorry, I can't give out his name - this would embarrass him (not to mention, get him in a great deal of trouble), and he's 'way too near the top of this picture - but the man said that the script is really "not much, a real disappointment. It should have been better." He hoped Burton would get some kind of polish by the guys who worked at the 'tale end of the scriptwriting stage on SLEEPY HOLLOW' (perhaps he was referring to Tom Stoppard?). He did say that the writing of scriptwriting team of Konner and Rosenthal was "Mediocre. Totally uninspired. Forgettable dialogue."
Well, I hope you can use this. If you'd like me to find out more, let me know.
Sincerely,
The Spy in Culver City
Father Geek back with some added info...
H.G. Wells here. I've been workin' overtime at the good ol' WB lot, and though we're done for X-Mas, I was contracted to work over at Sony for the next couple of weeks. This is fine by me, cuz I'm a huge Apes fan. Read the talk about the set... it is definitely impressive as defined in the article. A few more tidbits that you may or may not know (I'm holdin' onto the real good stuff for awhile... I don't wanna piss off Burton too much.):
Tim Roth is indeed playing Cornelius. He looks freakin' great in makeup, although your spy was correct- the actual makeup itself is pretty standard. But really, what can you do with monkey masks?
Nova (who still does not speak, apparently) has a family. Yep. Papa Nova, and Nova brother/sister (?).
More monkey-biz to follow...
H.G. Wells (aka Beppo the super-monkey)
Father Geek again with still more APES info...
I'm working on the film...WAY at the bottom. I'll be one of the Background apes. While I have not seen the set he described(yet), I did see some of the stages downtown at L.A. Center Studios. This is where I went to "Ape School". I'll talk about that in a second.
When I first approached the stages, several workers were unloading and categorizing large dry twisted trees. Standard Burton fare, but I love the look of it. I imagine him auditioning the dead trees, seeking the perfect dark and twisty curves. It looks inside like they are "foresting" the stages. Pretty cool, very Burton.
Then I went to ape school with 25 other extras. I'm an orangutan. There's gorillas, and chimps, too. We got a detailed class in wearing the costumes, including a demonstration with one of the "gorilla warrior" costumes.I thought the costume was pretty cool. a rich red armor. The helmet stretches back Alien style. It's a cool look.
The spy mentioned that the apes look just like apes, nothing special. It's true, but as it was explained to me, the idea is that they are very much more apes than the old school apes that are nearly human. These guys will be AGILE! they will leap from tree to tree and in battle, will be much more brutal and quick than the humans. Good luck Humans!
We were trained in ape movement by a talented guy whose name escapes me(sorry). I do know that he worked on ape movement for Mighty Joe Young, Greystoke,...I heard many ape movie names rattled off. An acrobat from Cirque Du Soliel was his sidekick. We worked our asses off and I went home pretty wrecked. We shared the stage with the stunt crew. They were working out the leaping and attacking movements. A lot of very powerful ratchets, one which lifted a net that "scooped" to humans out of a crowd. Cool shit. enjoy,
Nutslap
