Movie Trivias

Another hit from now Governor Schwarzenegger, which has him play the role of a government special agent who is after Jihad extremists out to do no good in America. In the climactic rescue of his wife, the woman hanging under the helicopter doing the stunt was no stunt double was no other than Jamie Lee Curtis herself. She insisted on doing the stunt herself for all the action sequences to add to her experiences as a veteran actress. After agreeing to the stunt she promptly touts director Cameron by asking, “As I’m doing all this, where would you be Jim?” James Cameron quickly replies, “Right at the door hanging out as I film you with a handheld camera!” quickly sending her to do her stunts. It should also be noted that the tandem panties and bra Jamie Lee wore were hers and not props.

This is due to the efforts of George Lucas who owns ILM one of the leading digital film makers around and Skywalker Sound who have been responsible for many an animated classics. The use of technology might not get actors and actresses out of their jobs but rather make their jobs safer and more pleasant with more dangerous sequences not even requiring live actors, but digitally created ones. Gone are the days of multi million dollar sets and in with digitally created ones where seemingly impossible creations can be brought to life on computers Some argue that would signify the end of the classic action film but I beg to differ. Technology is there to augment and not replace us on the movie set and it should always remain that way for this is the way it has been since film was developed and created.

The film industry is evolving into an industry that is totally dependent on technology, literally. The advent of digital editing and mastering technology couple with high powered computer graphics processors have allowed the film industry to achieve never before possible action sequences that are not created on sets but on the computers of graphics artists and the likes. True to this, remember the re-runs of the epic Star Wars Saga that keep on running over and over cable? These are digitally enhanced versions of the film that have been re-mastered (digitally of course and with certain aspects such as backdrops and sets totally re-done to give them a more realistic appearance) with characters that had twenty or so puppeteers working inside them in a static position moving around like never before.

Do you remember the shots of Sylvester Stallone as “Rocky” running up the stairs that seemed to never end? Do you remember the steadiness of the shots even though the actor was moving up and down running while climbing the stairs? Or the action sequences of the movie “Mr. and Mrs. Smith”? All of these along with many other seemingly impossible shots would be impossible without the steady cam. The steady cam is a rig that can be mounted onto a car, the camera man�s body or a boom rig that gives steady shots thought the use of springs, shocks and servos that allow the camera to remain focused without the excessive movement from either the camera or the placement of the camera. This has been under development for quite some time and has been perfected through years of refinement and improvements made to the system. The oldest versions or prototypes had springs and weights to balance the camera making it effortlessly move across all plains. So the next time you see an action sequence that seems utterly still and focused, remember the steady-cam and its contribution to film and the industry as a whole.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON: Movie Trailer – Click here for funny video clips
The movie is a very enticing one due to the utter complexity of the needed special effects, with Benjamin growing younger as opposed to older as with the rest of the cast. Some trivia’s that may have not been known, the film was initially considered for Tom Cruise as the lead instead of Brad. The producers of the film also kept in close communication with Levi’s for authentic clothes that were period authentic for the character played by Brad. The film was also the second to film in the flood-ravaged lands of New Orleans which was also for one very obvious reason, tax discounts from the state. The movie had been planned and prepared for as early as 1994. The aging process took four hours for Pitt for the early scenes and four hours for Cate Blanchett for her aging scenes as the film was ending.
The story also had a very colorful past for it was initially bought by Ray Stark in the late 70’s, and then by Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall for Amblin. The later two eventually detached from Spielberg taking the rights with them as they formed their own production firms, with the film’s rights finally being brought by Erick Roth who vowed to commit to the film upon his father’s death in 2002.

image source: www.dramalyrics.blogspot.com
Anime fanatics gone “banzai!” as a new piece of Shojo anime masterpiece just reached Philippine T.V.’s shores and is currently a hit among otakus. It is a crazy mix of romance, comedy, friendship and pure hardcore silliness that will surely tickle the anime-lover kid in you.

The story revolves around Sunako Nakahara, a not-so-typical female protagonist that is actually a fan of the dark and creepy things instead of the usual sweet and fair stuff you see in most stories. That’s twist enough but there’s more: she actually has to live in a big mansion with four super handsome guys until she becomes a “real” lady.

Yes it sounds as if it’ll be super romantic and all, but believe me, it’s more of light, innocent fun than whatever you’re probably thinking of. Actually, it’s stress-relieving to watch, take me for my word.

It’s now airing at TV5 every Mondays to Thursdays at 6:30 pm and every Saturdays and Sundays at 5:00-6:00 pm. Try and watch it!

Western movies come out during staggered installments all throughout the year but movies in Asia come out several times a year and is where most of the technologies you have in the West are based. Hard to believe, the next time you watch a movie take a look at the credits and you will surely see Chinese or Chinese Americans in the stunt department and coordination areas. The best stunt coordinators are Chinese and they have the guts to prove it. Most of these coordinators were former stunt men themselves giving them the best understanding of the trade. They mostly come from the red trousers or a famous Asian stunt group that is very well known for their daring and very well coordinated action sequences. Even the extensive use of body harnesses and wires in complicated stunts is derived from and an improved form of Asian stunt technology. Today, cinema in the Asian theaters compete side by side in the markets outside the said geographic area and they are quite good to tell you frankly.

The film is hailed as one of the pioneering space exploration movies of all time and many who direct and film these sci-fi thrillers were said to have been inspired by the technology and imagination that made the film possible. Some amazing facts, the voice of the mission controller was the voice of an actual US Air Force Mission Controller Frank Miller, whose voice was so authentic that he landed the role. He also had an insatiable habit of tapping his feet during recording that the director decided to fold a towel, fold it up and place it under his feet just to finish recording. The moon scene is based form the work of Arthur C. Clarke, “The Sentinel”. The film also pioneered a film techniques called the “Slit scan Photography” which gave the illusion of movement through dimensions as they steeped into the star gate. And lastly, the total amount of film that was produced before editing was 200 times the total of the finished edition. The sand was also imported for the moon scenes.

The movie is a spy thriller about a mission impossible theme we all know from the TV series which does seemingly impossible tasks for the government with the use of high-tech often impossible gadgets. In the movie, Ethan played by Tom Cruise was seen dangling from the cable as he infiltrates CIA headquarters kept on hitting his head on the floor that he decided to place coins in his show to improve the balance. Many would also fail to realize that the main character never fires a single shot in the film. Due to ratings, there was only a total body count of 8 in the whole film. It is also the first film to be shown in all 3,000 theaters in the US. The exploding water tank was actually shot in two locations, the exploding tank in Paramount studios and as he runs into the streets of Prague was shot on location. The film also had Prague lighted to bring about the character of old Europe which was to the delight of Prague photographers who capitalized on the effects and came in droves to capture their beloved city as never before.

The futuristic movie set in the time after the great war when the earth was almost totally submerged and the only areas of dry land were the tops of the Himalayas. One of the most expensive films of all time (before Titanic that is), with many script revisions that had rumors circulating saying the director left two weeks into filming leaving Kevin Costner to finish the film. The seas in waterworld had the whole earth flooded but actual icecap melting would give a rise of only a few feet. The picture on the bridge of the fictional Exxon Valdez is the picture of the captain of the ill-fated Exxon himself who is referred to by Dennis hopper’s character as “Old Saint Joe”. In the atoll assault where there was a four machinegun configuration was actually a defensive weapon’s design from WWII which had been reduced to two-guns till Vietnam. Kevin Costner was seen to have worked for 157 days on the film, working 6 days a week. Enola, the name of the lone child Costner rescues is alone spelled backwards. The lead lady role played by Tina Majorino was nick-named the Jellyfish Candy due to having been stung several times by the floating sea creatures. There are also a lot of inconsistencies in the film, like the Mariner eating the tomato leaves (they’re poisonous) without any ill effects to him.