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38 PAGE SFX ARTICLE IN CINEFEX
Visit: <Cinefex.com>

Cinefex number 95, October 2003 is the host of a whopping 38 page article on the special effects of the Matrix Reloaded.

You've seen the making of on the Reloaded DVD? Forget it. This article discusses almost every digital effect in detail and there'll be many moments when you'll be thinking; "That wasn't real?" Almost like the Matrix itself then.

The article starts with the birth of 'virtual camera technology' in 1999 and the first talks with John Gaeta on the 'essence of a superhuman' in order to create a vision for Reloaded. The first pages also discuss the creation of a complete new entity called ESC entertainment and the other companies that get assigned to do certain effects. A word is introduced which is probably the most important word of the article: previsualization or 'previz'. Visualizing the effect or event on a computer, before you start shooting on the location.

The 'virtual camera technology' evolved in what John Gaeta calls 'virtual cinematography'. This technique, or actually a combination of techniques which was primary developed to create the fight between Neo and multiple Agents Smith, isn't just connected to the placement of the cameras but continues into the finest details of face capturing, light reflecting on virtually every material (including hair and clothing) and texture use for digital backdrops.

It's a massive operation and one that is thoroughly explained over multiple pages. Great thing about it is that you actually see all the development fit together during the article, just like the artists must have felt during the process. It all started with a 'Oh my God, how are we going to do that', which lead to a structured chaos of digital imagery and live action footage, spread in chunks of terabytes over thousands of computers, and resulted in a 7 minute over the top combat experience that will go down in history as the 'Burly Brawl'

Unsurprisingly, the 'Burly Brawl' and the freeway chase take up the most of the article. But other visual effects are not forgotten. Actually, I can't think of an effect that isn't covered by the article. From the creation of the 'black goo' (when Agent Smith is copying himself) to the building of miniatures in an Alameda hangar (they actually spent 3 month building and 4 months shooting miniatures), the fall of Trinity, the creation of the hovercrafts, the green code, sewers, highway explosions, the video monitors in the Architect's room, the cloud of debris in Neo's slipstream, the list goes on and on and on.

It can get a little confusing with all the used techniques spelled out and the amount of data they throw at you. But there are lots of highly detailed images from effects to ease your mind. Despite the technical detail, it never gets unreadable even if you don't have any knowledge on the creation of effects. That's as long as you've used Photoshop a few times and a digital camera to film your children, of course.

You wanted to know what the Matrix is? It's a digital effects playground. It's an enormous effort from thousands of people to create 138 minutes of mind-blowing entertainment, times 3.
And they're damn good movies (at least the first two are, don't know about the third one yet). But since you're on this site to read this review you already knew that.

Buy Cinefex number 95 if you like the Matrix. You won't regret it.

- Code 808


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LISTEN TO REVOLUTIONS SOUNDTRACK
Source: <intothematrixmusic>

You can now listen to some songs of the official Matrix Revolutions Soundtrack on <intothematrixmusic.com>. Please be ware that songtitles may be considered spoilers by some of you. The soundtrack contains over an hour of original music by composer Don Davis, who also did most of the score for the two earlier installments of The Matrix. In addition to his score, there will be tracks from Juno Reactor and Pale 3.

Visit <intothematrixmusic.com>


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MATRIX COMICS COVER
Source: <TheMatrix.com>

Debuting today: the never before seen cover of the forthcoming, THE MATRIX COMICS, shipping late October. This is penciled by Geof Darrow (conceptual designer for THE MATRIX trilogy) and inked and colored by Steve Skroce (storyboard artist for THE MATRIX trilogy).

The Matrix Comics can be preordered, <here> (@ 20% off cover price). Online orders get it before stores. An additional 10% off? Look to the Oracle.




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JOHN GAETA ON REVOLUTIONS SFX
Source: <Boing Boing>
Thanks to: <MatrixFans.net>

Matrix trilogy FX directors speak at Artfutura

I'm in Barcelona at the tech/art/culture confab Artfutura, listening to the two effects masterminds behind the Matrix trilogy: John Gaeta (right-hand side of the photo below) and Greg Juby of effects house ESC (Greg's at left in this photo).

ESC is the company created by the Wachowski brothers and John Gaeta to produce the complex work of visual effects in the Matrix series. Gaeta may well be the single most influential person in the last decade of visual effects, and right now he's talking to the audience of Spanish digital artists and tech developers here about the creative process behind the films, and what to expect in the forthcoming Matrix: Revolutions:

"What will be different in Revolutions?
It's the final, ultimate manifestation of Larry and Andy Wachowski's anime dream: to make am movie as close to an anime as possible. Take the best and coolest aspects of anime -- large scale robotics, entanglements between man anad machine -- and tranform it into a feature, live action film. You'll also see lots more bullets."

"Subconsciousness needs to be redefined with every generation. Matrix is a stylized sci-fi story, but the root of the idea that you can have imagery placed into your mind is a very possible scenario, and I think that's a universe that our generation was finally ready to start dealing with. I grew up on Kubrick, Ridley Scott, Hitchcock, Orson Welles, and many other filmmakers that triggered ideas inside my mind -- that's how evolution works. One generation speaking to another. Larry and Andy [Wachowski] are preoccupied with those ideas, too, but they're also pop culture junkies and they share an obsession we also have with darker sci-fi threads in films you see in films like Bladerunner. It's no accident that some of the scenes in the Matrix trilogy are reminiscent of Bladerunner, because we've been dying all our lives to do that kind of work. "

"I want to make an electrochemical movie. In the year 2099 I'll be 130 years old, but I think around 2063 I'm going to have my brain taken out and have it inserted into a clone who's about 21 years old. Maybe some bionic augmentation upgrades, too. In about 40 years, I'm thinking some sort of military-industrial-supercomplex-international-intelligensia supergroup will figure out how to export imagery to people's brains. If you can see it in your head while you're dreaming -- well, that image is created somehow. Someday, someone will figure out how to place that image into your brain. It'll be some combination of electricity and drugs, and they'll call it Rosebud.

A billion people will attend the first electrochemical movie premiere. Everyone in the audience will experience love again for the first time, and we'll become gazillionaires. I don't know how we'll make our electrochemical movie into a DVD, though. And distribution is definitely going to be a problem."

"The most difficult thing about creating effects for the trilogy? Designing choreography that could never be actualized by human beings."


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JUNKIE XL REVOLUTION
Source: <CountingDown>

Dutch producer/musician/deejay Junkie XL, also known as Tom Holkenborg, contributed music to The Matrix Reloaded and will be doing the same for Revolutions, according to Agence France Presse.

He started five years ago with music for the movie Blade and more recently worked on the hit movie The Matrix Reloaded. He has been hired to work on the third part the highly successful trilogy due out next year (uhm... November 5) as well.

"The directors and producers in Hollywood are increasingly acknowledging the power of electronic music ... with samples and electronics you can create music to work exactly in tune with the images," Holkenborg explained.
He revels in the freedom he is given on the movie projects. "The directors themselves don't know what needs to be done for a score and that gives you a unique sense of freedom even on big movies."


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RELOADED DVD REVIEW
Source: <MovieHole>

“We can never see past a choice we don’t understand”.

And Morpheus old buddy, there’s no way we can see past a plot point we don’t understand either. In fact, the first of two sequels to the smash film “The Matrix” is littered with so much gobbledygook, and an abundance of confusing plot subterfuge – that I dare anyone to decode it within one viewing.

“The Matrix Reloaded” – not unlike its predecessor – might be hard to swallow but it’s so delicious you just can’t help but want more. Not unlike one of those gobstoppers you can find in any candy store - Hard to chew, nice to endure, if you will.

In 1999, the Wachowski brothers re-invented action cinema with a film that pushed the boundaries, Not only through storytelling, but through modern-day special effects. When they first approached Producer Joel Silver about their idea for the inconceivable yarn, the director brothers said they envisioned a live-action kung-fu romp akin to anime films like “Akira” and “Ghost in the Shell”. And boy did their vision make for stellar entertainment. “The Matrix” was the story of a zero computer hacker who comes to the comprehension that the world he lives in – the world we live in – is fake and that outside is the real deal. By film’s end, he would ultimately become somewhat of a superhero among his new clique.

Click <here> the read the rest.


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TARANTINO SPLATTER FEST
Source: <Guardian>

Quentin Tarantino is back with a vengeance. As the blood-spattered covers of the film magazines reflected, his two-part film, Kill Bill - the first installment opens at the end of next week - has been touted as the most violent film of all time.

Empire (November) asked Tarantino, who returns after an absence of six years, the inevitable question, and quickly wished it hadn't. "Fuck, man, I don't feel the need to justify the violence. It's what Edison invented the camera for. It's such a cinematic thing. Literature can't quite do it. Theatre can't quite do it. Painting can't quite do it. Cinema can do it. Sure, Kill Bill is violent. Sure, it's fucking intense. But it's a Tarantino movie. You don't go to a Metallica concert and ask the fuckers to turn the music down," said the director.

In another interview with Empire, Tarantino proclaims he'll stick to old school:

Quentin Tarantino has made a typically outspoken, expletive-ridden attack on the increasing use of CGI in modern movies, describing the practice as "computer game bullshit". Railing at the likes of the two Matrix sequels, which have taken the use of computer-generated special effects to new levels of complexity, the director told Empire magazine he was determined to stick to "old school" movie-making techniques for his own films. "You know, my guys are all real. There's no computer fucking around. I'm sick to death of all that shit. This is old school with fucking cameras. If I'd wanted all that computer game bullshit, I'd have gone home and stuck my dick in my Nintendo."

Why not do both? There's a market for every genre. At least that's the opinion of Matrixfansite.com.


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DON DAVIS DOMINATES SOUNDTRACK
Source: <Billboard>
Thanks to: <Countingdown>

Short info from Bilboard.com on the Revolutions soundtrack:

Music by composer Don Davis will dominate "The Matrix Revolutions" soundtrack, which will also feature music from ambient acts Pale 3 and Juno Reactor. Davis and Juno Reactor were part of "The Matrix Reloaded" soundtrack (Maverick), which was released in May. Davis' compositions on the upcoming album will be a mix of classical opera and post-modern concerto, while the rest of the soundtrack will combine elements of rock and electronica.


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© 2003 Code 808