Acting Through a Mask

As a kid watching this bit of performance by David Prowse in "Return of the Jedi", I was absolutely convinced that Vader's mask was--somehow--changing and emoting. I could see the conflict going on inside of Vader.

Breaking it down today, we realize it's not solely Prowse's performance (his posture, his timing, the angle of his head tilts, the slow head turn to his Emperor then back to his son in pain) that sells the emotion; there are several contextual aspects of the scene that add to it.

🎞️ music: Williams' original trilogy score is at a literal crescendo, achieving its emotional zenith
🎞️ costume: we have never seen Vader's costume this dirty (weakened & vulnerable)
🎞️ camera move: there are very few dolly-in moves in the original trilogy, especially in closeup

In summary movies are cool because it's never just one thing that makes a scene work.

It's every craft working together to achieve a common goal.

Original tweet.

Pretend Disney+ Artwork

Disney has been tweeting artwork for each of the movies and TV shows that will be available to stream on its new network, Disney+. One particular tweet caught a lot of folks' attention:

Miracle on 34th Street (1947) pic.twitter.com/2zh56J5fWA

— Disney+ (@disneyplus) October 14, 2019

Yep, that's the 1947 20th Century Fox classic "Miracle on 34th Street", rebranded as a Disney film, since Disney now owns and controls all films under the 20th Century Fox banner. Unsettling as it is, I wondered what it would look like if other Fox hits were rebranded as Disney films.

 Here's a link to the original "Die Hard" tweet, where you can follow the thread to my artwork for "Predator 2", "Fight Club" and "Alien".

 

Bonus: never-before-seen "Predator 2" version:

I Was on the Light the Fuse Podcast

It was my absolute pleasure to be a guest on the always-fun "Mission: Impossible" podcast, Light The Fuse. Charles Hood and Drew Taylor asked terrific questions and really know their stuff. I'm really proud of this appearance.

Light the Fuse, #67 - Todd Vaziri Part 1
An interview a year in the making (seriously), we talk to Industrial Light & Magic visual effects supervisor Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri on Twitter), who worked on two installments in the franchise! We talk about how he got into the series, working on “Mission: Impossible 3” (including the bridge sequence), the shot J.J. Abrams did himself, and where you can spot R2D2 in the movie! We also get into the Dubai sequence from “Ghost Protocol,” so hang on tight!
https://www.lightthefusepodcast.com/podcast-episodes/2019/9/27/episode-sixty-seven-todd-vaziri-interview-digital-effects-artist-for-mi-3-and-ghost-protocol-part-1

Light the Fuse, #68 - Todd Vaziri Part 2
In the second half of our episode with the legendary Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri on Twitter), we do a deep dive into the visual effects of “Ghost Protocol,” including some secrets from the car park sequence, where the A113 Easter eggs are hidden, and what he contributed to the gecko gloves. Also, we get him to dish about what it was like working with Steven Spielberg, Rian Johnson and Michael Bay.
https://www.lightthefusepodcast.com/podcast-episodes/2019/10/4/episode-sixty-eight-todd-vaziri-interview-digital-effects-artist-for-mi-3-and-ghost-protocol-part-2


In the episodes, we talk a lot about one shot in "Mission: Impossible III", a shot I went into great detail here at FXRant: Visual Effects Camera Work: "A Fish Called Wanda" and "Mission: Impossible III"

Here are some supporting tweets to the episodes:

Here’s footage from a 2-camera rig they used to execute that iconic shot from M:I-3! In our interview with @tvaziri, he describes to us how he enhanced this footage with VFX and turned it into the famous shot you know and love! pic.twitter.com/dnADR39cue

— Light the Fuse Podcast (@LightTheFusePod) October 3, 2019

Here are @ILMVFX models from the helicopter chase in M:I-3! @tvaziri sent us these pics from ILM headquarters! Be sure to check out part 1 of our chat with Todd here (or wherever you listen to podcasts): https://t.co/eGsXo7FTKA pic.twitter.com/4YAJfbZcH4

— Light the Fuse Podcast (@LightTheFusePod) October 2, 2019

As @tvaziri discussed in his interview, here’s a piece of the guard rail he got to keep from the epic Chesapeake Bay Bridge sequence in M:I-3! Be sure to check out both parts of our chat with Todd! https://t.co/eGsXo7oiT2 pic.twitter.com/i1SzJcILuD

— Light the Fuse Podcast (@LightTheFusePod) October 8, 2019

Here's a breakdown of one of my shots as seen on the "Mission: Impossible III" DVD making-of doc, which shows all the pieces of photography (helicopter photography from the real Chesapeake Bay bridge and the "bridge" built on the Calabasas hillside) I used to create the shot. pic.twitter.com/nOzg6HipNr

— Todd Vaziri (@tvaziri) October 18, 2019