Three legendary filmmakers – James Cameron, Ridley Scott and George Lucas – innovators of special effects. One has always been a thinker and engineer, the other possessing an enviable industriousness, and the third has a rare gift as an entrepreneur. Each director is a master of the craft and each brought their own special contribution to the development of science fiction in their own unique way.
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Things changed with the release of Star Wars, a film which became a landmark of science fiction. The management of 20th Century Fox, who had missed all the rights to this franchise, quickly wanted to rehabilitate their standing by creating a first-class product in the form of Alien. Walter Hill, not being able to cope with the expectations of the studio, decided to leave. Many candidates wanted the vacant position of director, but the post was filled by Ridley Scott. It was originally allocated a budget of $4.8 million, but when Scott presented the sketches of his vision of a futuristic setting, the budget was doubled. O'Bannon took an active part in making the film. He convinced the director to return to the original plot with the alien spaceship and he advised him to invite painters Chris Foss and Jean Giraud to the project, both of whom he had previously worked with on Dune. But the main assistance that O'Bannon gave to Scott was in introducing him to the book Necronomicon by Hans Rudolf Giger. The director was amazed by the works of the Swiss painter. Soon Giger proceeded to create the image of a Xenomorph, and became carried away by the process. He also created the design of the alien ship with the eggs and the face-huggers.
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The most important new hero, Master Yoda, was not human. It was an animated doll. Initially, the form of Yoda was far from what we know now. Lucas showed some of his sketches to Stewart Freeborn, maker of creatures. Taking on board Lucas’ concept, Freeborn did a fantastic job to create the Yoda we know and love. Many of the unique features, special to Yoda, were imagined by Freeborn. The most important element of Master Yoda is his intelligent eyes, which were borrowed from Albert Einstein. George Lucas knew that Master Yoda was the key character, on which depended the fate of the film. Therefore, shooting the doll came with a mountain of responsibility. A few people controlled the green man at the same time. One person brought his voice to life, while another was moving its ears and hands, and a third controlled the eyes and facial expressions on his face.
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"When we were filming Titanic, we did not think about success. We thought that we squandered a lot of money, because we are over budget. That is when we started filming, we thought that a bit to make money - to spend as planned only a $100 million. We spent two hundred and decided that doomed: we would not earn a penny! Rather, it was already a question of how much we would lose - $50 million or more? And then it turned out that the film hit the jackpot. Everyone was shocked. Ask yourself - what was it that work? This film has just touched the desired string. Because it is about a fact that is close and clear to every person on earth ...”
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Things changed with the release of Star Wars, a film which became a landmark of science fiction. The management of 20th Century Fox, who had missed all the rights to this franchise, quickly wanted to rehabilitate their standing by creating a first-class product in the form of Alien. Walter Hill, not being able to cope with the expectations of the studio, decided to leave. Many candidates wanted the vacant position of director, but the post was filled by Ridley Scott. It was originally allocated a budget of $4.8 million, but when Scott presented the sketches of his vision of a futuristic setting, the budget was doubled. O'Bannon took an active part in making the film. He convinced the director to return to the original plot with the alien spaceship and he advised him to invite painters Chris Foss and Jean Giraud to the project, both of whom he had previously worked with on Dune. But the main assistance that O'Bannon gave to Scott was in introducing him to the book Necronomicon by Hans Rudolf Giger. The director was amazed by the works of the Swiss painter. Soon Giger proceeded to create the image of a Xenomorph, and became carried away by the process. He also created the design of the alien ship with the eggs and the face-huggers.
- - -
The most important new hero, Master Yoda, was not human. It was an animated doll. Initially, the form of Yoda was far from what we know now. Lucas showed some of his sketches to Stewart Freeborn, maker of creatures. Taking on board Lucas’ concept, Freeborn did a fantastic job to create the Yoda we know and love. Many of the unique features, special to Yoda, were imagined by Freeborn. The most important element of Master Yoda is his intelligent eyes, which were borrowed from Albert Einstein. George Lucas knew that Master Yoda was the key character, on which depended the fate of the film. Therefore, shooting the doll came with a mountain of responsibility. A few people controlled the green man at the same time. One person brought his voice to life, while another was moving its ears and hands, and a third controlled the eyes and facial expressions on his face.
- - -
"When we were filming Titanic, we did not think about success. We thought that we squandered a lot of money, because we are over budget. That is when we started filming, we thought that a bit to make money - to spend as planned only a $100 million. We spent two hundred and decided that doomed: we would not earn a penny! Rather, it was already a question of how much we would lose - $50 million or more? And then it turned out that the film hit the jackpot. Everyone was shocked. Ask yourself - what was it that work? This film has just touched the desired string. Because it is about a fact that is close and clear to every person on earth ...”
