Power: Flying

How do you feel about Nathan? There seems to be some underlying ambiguity about his character?

It’s close to playing a Richard III-type character but in a modern dimension. All I need is a physical kind of abnormality to befall me, like hump or a limp then I would have a really Shakespearian experience!

I don’t think he is necessarily concerned whether he is good or bad. I do think that there is a dark side that has to be dealt with, but the people who think they are good will probably turn out the other way on this show. It wouldn’t do me any good to speculate as to how I’m going to end up. I think there is both good and bad in this character which is interesting to play. I am as much a fan who is along for the ride as the public are with this character and where he ultimately is going to go.

Would you agree that your character is defined more by his relationships than his superhero power?

Yes, I find these relationship dynamics are more interesting to play than the perceived super power, they have written that very well. The relationships that I share with my mum, with Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), with my wife and with Niki (Ali Larter), all those elements are angling together toward defining who Nathan Petrelli is to himself and his potential constituency.

Ultimately, when you’re in the game of politics and you’re a man like Nathan Petrelli, there is only one seat that you want and that’s behind a desk in the Oval Office.

As we take this journey, we may find ourselves in the White House and that should make these relationships even more interesting.

Were you excited by the prospect of flying in the show?

Yes, although I was a little hesitant in the beginning. I was excited to read about the character’s power but when they describe the stunts in the scripts, you worry that it’s going to look cheesy. However, after seeing what the special effects team has been able to pull off every episode, it’s really exciting because they take it to the next level. I know that they’re going to do something that I can’t even imagine. It’s really fun to be a part of that. They write it with the enthusiasm of a child which is the best thing that you can have in this business.

Has anything happened to you to make you think this show is going to be a real phenomenon?

Yes, it’s the water cooler conversations, which are certainly a measure of success. There’s a real sense of involvement in the American culture with this series. At this point we’re happy to be able to contribute in a positive way. It is a positive show about people being confronted with an extraordinary situation and how they deal with it.

People don’t tend to recognise me yet. I’ve had conversations with people about the show and then I’ll see them realise that I am in it. It’s really fun to hear people talk about what might be coming up, what’s happened and who is going where, it’s fun to be a part of that.

What has surprised you the most during production?

The biggest surprise is that it’s all gone off without a hitch. Everything has gone according to plan. The plan was to deliver a quality television programme with excellent special effects and well drawn characters. Those three goals have been met but you can never predict what the audience is going to like. All you can do is deliver your best and I think everybody here has realised the potential of this story and they have done their best to achieve this result.

Finally, were you a comic book fan when growing up?

My favorite was the Silver Surfer when I was growing up. He didn’t really have many super powers other than surfing around on his board, certainly not as many as other superheroes. But I really like the philosophy behind him, he travels fast and he travels alone. That always appealed to me as a kid.

Find all articles on Scifi UK Review for Heroes.

Power: Can Bend Time And Space

Can you tell us a little bit about your character and what his powers are?

My character is Hiro Nakamura. He’s an office drone in Japan and he’s a big comic book enthusiast. He learns that he can bend time and space, so teleportation and chronokinesis, and he’s just absolutely exhilarated with the fact that he can do this. It’s been his dream all along and he’s so happy that he’s been chosen.

The character is a big sci-fi and comic book fan. Is this a trait which you relate to?

I believe so. I am definitely a big enthusiast of science fiction and special effects. I grew up with Japanese Manga (Japanese comics), so I know a lot about the Manga world.

I really, really love the character and I believe the writers are doing an amazing job writing Hiro and bringing who I am into the character and extending me in terms of being a big comic book enthusiast. “Heroes” is a big extension of who I am.

There is an online graphic novel which goes hand-in-hand with the series. How important is this to the show? How does it feel to see yourself in cartoon form?

I think it’s just absolutely wonderful. When we went to the comic convention, we had a screening of the pilot episode and we knew we had something absolutely special and magical when we saw the fans’ reaction. We knew we hit it right on the head and that we had served the comic book community really well. And you know, in particular with Hiro being the comic book enthusiast as he is, he’s somewhat the representative for that voice of comic book fans. To have him as part of a comic book too is just absolutely thrilling, both in support of the character and for myself.

You worked on special effects before becoming an actor. Do you find yourself looking over people’s shoulders as the effects are produced for the show?

Absolutely, anytime I could! Our special effects team have done an amazing job with the pilot and all the episodes coming up. It’s really wonderful.

It’s always fascinating because special effects are part of what makes the magic behind the movies. I’m like a kid watching all these cool things happen, even the green screen excites me.

What has been the most exhilarating aspect of the production?

The script is always both surprising and exhilarating. Every week we get something new. Every question they ask, they answer it but they also ask another question. It’s a constant rollercoaster going up and down.

You read the script and think, “Oh my God, wow. Wait a minute, that’s how it ends? No wait, come on, where’s the next script?” You get the next script and it’s like, “Oh my, that is just absolutely brilliant. I would have never thought of that!”

It’s a constant rollercoaster. That’s always been surprising how brilliant the minds of our writers are, they constantly top themselves week after week.

Finally, if you had a super power, what would it be?

As a kid growing up, the superpower I wanted was the Midas touch, the ability to turn anything into gold. My allowance was about a quarter every week and that was only enough to go to the arcade and play one game. So I would have to be really good at playing arcades or have a bunch of rich friends. But if I had the Midas touch, then I could have just picked up a stone and turned it to gold.

Find all articles on Scifi UK Review for Heroes (interviews, background etc).

Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones

At the heart of Day Watch (Dnevnoi Dozor) are the supernatural creatures of both the Day Watch and the Night Watch who wage a nocturnal war when the city of Moscow is asleep. Director Timur Bekmambetov knew that a key to making his film viscerally and emotionally exciting would be finding actors who could stand clearly on opposite sides of the Good and Evil divide. This took a very special casting process.

Bekmambetov began by separating leading Russian actors into two different groups. “I felt that there are actors who look like actors and there are actors who just look like people. We cast the actors who look like actors as the Dark Ones because they are very cool, very original, interesting and proud. But those actors who look like regular people, they were cast as the Light Ones, the members of the Night Watch. So for example, there is the character of Svetlana, the woman who wherever she goes misfortune happens. To play her we cast Maria Poroshina who to me looks like a normal Russian girl from the street. On the other hand, to play the character Alisa from the Day Watch, we chose an actress, Zhanna Friske, who in real life is a famous Russian pop star.”

Taking advantage of Russia’s highly trained ranks of actors, Bekmembatov also put the emphasis on finding those who could handle not only the film’s intense action but also would probe their characters emotional and psychological worlds. He believes this sets Day Watch apart from other modern horror fantasies. “In American fantasy movies the characters aren’t usually so deep,” he comments. “But here we have access to Russian actors who have a very strong schooling in Stanislavsky. So, because of that, we could bring to the fantasy genre very deep characters and very complicated relationships and a lot of complexity of story through the performances.”

Bekmambetov cast Konstantin Khabensky, one of Russia’s most popular actors, in the lead role of Anton Gorodetsky, one of the premier Protectors of Light as a member of the Night Watch. Bekmambatov found Khabensky a perfect match for the wide-ranging role of Anton. “Konstantin is a very good dramatic actor but at the same time he has the skills of a character actor,” says Bekmambetov. “He’s like a clown, he can play funny, he can play extravagant, and it’s a good combination, because to bring the Russian audience into this world of creatures I needed an actor who would be entirely believable.”

As Boris Geser, businessman by day, leader of the Night Watch by night, Bekmambetov cast Vladimir Menshov, the star of the Oscar®-winning film Moscow Does Not Believe In Tears and a multi-talented actor, writer and director. The head of the Protectors of Light for centuries, Geser is both a father figure and a figurehead of all that is good. He is instrumental in saving his comrade Anton from a near-fatal encounter with the Warriors of Darkness.

“Boris is one of the few Russian directors to have won an Oscar, and he is a very Russian person,” notes Bekmambetov. “His image to Russian audiences is like that of political party chief or bureaucrat – so I thought he would be an interesting and a funny person to represent the leader of the Light forces.”

In contrast, as Zavulon, leader of the Day Watch, Bekmambetov called upon Victor Verzhbitskiy, a friend from art school, who appeared in both The Peshavar Waltz and Gladiatrix. A master of all that is evil and dark, Zavulon rules over the Day Watch. Though the Warriors of Darkness have maintained balance with the Protectors of Light, the vampires and shape shifters that make up the Day Watch are desperate to command the soul of the Great One – which will shift the balance of power in their favor.

Filling out the cast are a combination of Russian theatre and film actors, including Galina Tyunina as the Sorceress Olga, Aleksey Chadov as Kostya the young vampire and Valeriy Zolotukhin as Kostya’s father.

All Posts For NightWatch (Interviews, images, trailers).
Part 1: NightWatch To DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor) Introduction
Part 2: Inside The Film’s Origin: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Part 3: Casting Of The Dark And Light Ones: DayWatch (Dnevnoi Dozor)
Exclusive Clip: The Chalk

Jon Voight was attached to the project at one point but dropped out.

Nicolas Cage had to have his Ghost Rider tattoo covered with make-up in order to play Johnny Blaze (Ghost Rider).

A large group of on-lookers converged on a bridge in Melbourne to watch scenes being filmed in a nearby location. Over the four days of filming at this location, the crowds grew so large that traffic was often disrupted and public transport operators reported an unusual jump in passenger traffic to the area.

Some scenes were filmed near Flinders St Station, the busiest railway station in Melbourne. Parts of the station were closed for filming, as well as minor alterations to train services being made.

Nicolas Cage’s hairpiece required three hours to apply every day.

To create the Ghost Rider’s voice, sound designer Don Davis recorded all of Nicolas Cage’s lines as the Ghost Rider, and then filtered them through three different kinds of animal growls (played backwards, covering three separate frequencies) and then played them through a mechanical volumizer, before finally giving them a fiery crackle. Director Mark Steven Johnson compared it to “a deep, demonic, mechanical lion’s roar” and says that “one thing is for sure, his voice will shake the theatre!”

Johnny Depp’ was interested in playing the title role.

Nicolas Cage’s computer generated skull was made from a three dimensional x-ray taken of his actual skull.

Both Johnny Depp and Nicolas Cage have houses in Bath, Somerset.

One of the bridges being used in Melbourne was months away from completion, so the studio paid to have tar, lines, lights etc added to the highway for filming purposes. The work was then ripped up and redone to meet Australian Safety Standards.

The flame tank chopper Johnny Blaze rides is a modern replica of the “Captain America” chopper that Peter Fonda rides in Easy Rider.

The shotgun used in the movie is a Model 1887 Winchester lever-action shotgun.

Nicolas Cage wrote sections of the script.

There is a scene in the movie where the Ghost Rider (played by Nicolas Cage), while riding through the desert, rides past a lizard on a rock. The lizard bursts into flame. This is strongly reminiscent of a similar scene from another Nicolas Cage movie, Raising Arizona. In that movie Nicolas Cage’s character has a dream where his evil side is riding through the desert on a motorcycle, and shoots a lizard off a rock by the side of the road. The camera angles are practically identical. When both Ghost Riders (Johnny Blaze and Carter Slade) ride together to San Venganza there is a scene where Blaze is riding in the foreground with Slade just behind him and slightly in front so both can be clearly seen. This scene pays homage to a painting and its late artist David Mann. The painting was entitled appropriately Ghost Rider but had nothing to do with the Marvel character.

Flamin’, Burnin’ Hot Ghost Rider Merchandise!

The Johnny Blaze video game seen in the movie is actually a game called Crusty Demons developed by UK games company “Climax”. Climax also developed the Ghost Rider video game.

The Caretaker/Carter Slade Ghost Rider character is a tribute to the original Marvel Comics Ghost Rider (now called The Phantom Rider to avoid confusion). However, the character in the comics is simply a regular human who wears a white costume and rides a white painted horse which both covered with phosphorous for a glowing effect.

Director Mark Steven Johnson actually put forward his own money so that an action sequence where Ghost Rider battles a helicopter could be made.

When Johnny and Mack are on the tour bus and Mack is watching TV, the motorcycle rider shown is Travis Pastrana.

Ghost Rider was originally planned for a summer 2006 release. However, director Mark Steven Johnson asked for more time to complete more action shots. One of these shots is the scene in which Ghost Rider battles a helicopter.

The motorcycle crash shown in the movie where the rider falls and hits his head against the front wheel of the bike is actually real. The stunt driver lost balance during the stunt and the director decided to use that action part in the movie. The rider was not hurt

During the shoot, Nicolas Cage was the guest of Ferrari at the Australian Grand Prix race.

Ghost Rider was sent to theaters under the name Costly Pact.

Power: Has A Protective Alter Ego

What were your first thoughts on your character when you first came across the part?

When I read the pilot I didn’t actually know what direction it was going other than the fact that you’ve got a really complicated woman who’s just trying to get by. She’s trying to be a great mother to her son and her world’s really crumbling around her. So, it wasn’t about what kind of power she was getting, it was just about her dealing with her life and wondering if she’s going crazy and what’s happening to her.

Where we’re leading to is that there’s going to be duality within my personality. So there’s one side that has to conform to society’s roles and laws and the shadow side that can actually live out the dark fantasies that, you know, are repressed within all of us.

But we’re going to get a little romance, we’ll get a little bit of cheekiness in it and the amazing thing about this writing is that it really pushes me.

You have a son in the show, how did you find it playing a mother?

Noah’s incredible. He makes my job easy. Watching his relationship with his mother has been a huge inspiration for me. She’s so open and so giving, we discussed the scenes before and hang out whenever we have a chance. They have an incredible connection. Noah and I use as much as we can from that to inspire us within our roles.

I think that as a woman, there’s a side in all of us that really has this desire and this need to protect a child. Watching my nephews there’s definitely that side within me that would do anything to protect them. So I guess I understand that.

I’ve just been around kids my whole life. So it really hasn’t been a struggle for me at all. It’s been a natural transition and I just think it’s a really interesting unique relationship.

Your character has an inherent sexuality, do you think it is important to stay in shape? How uncomfortable are the more risqué scenes?

I think that I’m really actually lucky to play a very sexy, racy character. She’s provocative and really fun, and part of the job is just keeping in shape for it. I’m a runner, and for me, it’s not just the physicality of it, it’s an emotional release for me. It keeps me sane in a way. It’s getting out there and just running as fast as I can.

Those scenes are always very embarrassing. I think any actor will tell you that. On the other side of it, sometimes you have just got to throw your hands up in the air and go with it and have fun. You make light of it and you make jokes on set.

It’s a fun character and what’s great about her is that she does have these sexy scenes. But on the other side you see her dealing with her son. What’s amazing about this writing is that it found an incredible balance to show how multifaceted a character she is.

What has the response been from the actors to the huge success the show has already had?

I think it’s incredible. I think that, as actors, we just come in with great writing and everyone does the best they can do. So when an audience responds, that’s just the icing on top of it. We’re also lucky to have some amazing directors.

We’re all just thrilled that people are loving the show as much as we love working on it.

Finally, if you had a super power, what would it be?

I would fly. I’d love to soar, I think that would the greatest way to experience freedom, and I think that would be incredible.

Find all articles on Scifi UK Review for Heroes.

Power: Can Read People’s Minds

Can you tell us about your character Matt?

He’s an LAPD cop, he’s got dyslexia, he can’t advance and become what he really thinks he should be, which is a detective or something more important, be where the action is. He can’t do this because he has dyslexia and can’t pass the tests and now suddenly, he’s hearing voices. He gets the one ability that a cop needs to solve crimes as quickly as possible and be the best he can be. But this then changes the rest of his life.

Your character can read minds, how does he feel about keeping his mental powers a secret?

It’s going to be a constant struggle for my character. He’s having issues with his wife. They’ve not been at each other’s throat, but there’s a conversation they always have where she says, “Hey, why can’t you be satisfied with our lives?” And he wants more.

What I love is that it’s not as simple as telling people, “Hey, this is what’s happened.” People aren’t going to believe you, they’re going to think you’re nuts, how do you handle it. When my character first realizes that he can’t control it, it’s an amazing thing.

The scripts are so great. When I read them, I get an idea of what a cool idea it would be to read people’s minds. I’m like, “Oh, this would be great.” It’s on such a simple level, I read and it’s just like, “Wow, that’s the greatest way to use it.” I’ve already shot a little bit where I’m using it to satisfy my wife.

What does the future hold for the characters? Do they become a team of superheroes?

Don’t assume that every one of these characters is good, that’s something so interesting. As actors, Masi (who plays “Hiro”) and I have had this conversation, “Are we going to be good? How are we going to use these? Are we going to realise, wow, these powers, they empower me in such a way that I can use it for evil purposes?”

We have no idea whether we’re going to be good or bad. It’s just so interesting to see what somebody would do if given these abilities.

What was the most exhilarating aspect of the production?

For me, the most exhilarating thing has been the challenge of how to play, visually, a guy who can read minds. What does it look like when you do that? It’s been great fun.

When I read the pilot, it read not only as a pilot but as a show and a series with a past and a future. It constantly surprises and entertains me. It deals with character first, then once you latch on to these characters, you want to take this ride with them wherever they’re going.

I’m one of the fortunate actors to play a character who, just by definition of what he does, is a hero. Cops, firemen, they’re all heroes to me.

Finally, if you had a superpower, what would it be?

I always dreamt of invisibility, that was a really cool thing for me. But right now on the show, I get to read people’s mind which is incredibly cool. I’m learning throughout shooting, and by becoming this character, that, at times, it can be sad and really enlightening at the same time. You don’t always want to hear the thought.

If you could read anyone’s thoughts right now, whose would they be?

I would love to know the future of the show. Right now, I’d love to be in Tim Kring’s head.

Find all articles on Scifi UK Review for Heroes.

Following on from the information on the CSI 6 DVD release, Marg Helgenberger gives us the lowdown on the show, amongst other things.

Do you feel proud when people tell you they are big fans of the show?
I always love it when people say (assumes self-important mock voice) “it’s the only one we watch, none of them can compare to you guys, blah blah blah”.

We see a different side of you in Season 6 than we saw in Season 4. What do you think about that?
Oh yeah, well I think that’s how they, not run out of things to do, not that they’ve run out of crimes to solve because god knows there’s plenty of them around, or run out of ways to solve it, there seems to always come up with more techniques and instruments that are being made available. Of course, this show being state of the art in terms of what we receive and what’s out there in terms of forensic labs because it’s so costly that many of them don’t have the resources to have these, which is too bad, it’s really sad because crimes could get solved faster if they had the money. As far as the character development goes there’s a deep pool there, every character, mine probably more than anybody’s, we go home with my character more. I think there’s a well of opportunity there for the characters.

Do you get excited about character driven stories?
I do get a little spring in my step when it’s some character stuff because it involves usually a lot of history with that particular character, especially with a family member or a romantic interest, but she’s a family member because my father’s been on a few times and that stuff’s, it’s such a complicated relationship and in as little as six lines there’s a lot that goes on between the two of us: threats, weird stuff that happens and I always look forward to that and to working with Scott Wilson who plays my dad.

How do you feel about being demoted this season?

(laughs) I never got officially demoted! I never knew what they officially called it! I am the, we’re co – I don’t know, just something to justify the fact that I am now back with the team or something, the original team are back together, it really doesn’t mean anything.

Did you find it fun to split from the cast and do your own thing?
I don’t know, it wasn’t really that fun, I didn’t like having to play scenes where I was always kvetching about paperwork or that crap y’know, it’s just tedious. I’d much rather be in the field and y’know, it gives you the opportunity to work with other actors, we were kind of isolated y’know.

Do you find it strange that you’re part of a show that’s such a big part of people’s lives?
Somewhat, yes. Y’know it’s funny because in LA you don’t really feel the impact of the show because there’s so many celebrities here and you can pretty much just go about your business, but when you go out into the country or into the world, it’s a completely different ball game and they feel that – I don’t know, it’s inspired so many people and it becomes the Thursday night thing to do, when they see you up close and personal they want a piece of you essentially, they want a picture or an autograph, or they’ll ask you, “What do you think” about whatever high-profile case happens to be on Court TV that week and I don’t think about it! I think about fingerprints a lot actually, I think about what kind of fingerprints there are around and what I’m leaving behind.

The writer’s of CSI actually based your character on two real CSI agents didn’t they?
Yes, especially as I’d ridden a couple of times with the character I’m based on and I always have to qualify by saying she is not a former exotic dancer! I think she said she’d been some kind of a secretary, in law enforcement, went ahead and got her – not a degree, I don’t know what they call it, it’s like a two year program to become a CSI, but anyway she’s terrific and she’s now sort of become a star in her own right because she’s been featured in a lot of these shows like Dateline and she’s considered to be one of the best in Vegas because she’s so thorough and kind of fun and kind of sassy and all that. And Dan Holstein (sp). Obviously we take an enormous amount of liberties in terms of process, because DNA and toxology (sic) reports they take weeks sometime, who has the time to watch that? It’d be a very boring show!

Do you enjoy doing commentaries for the DVD releases?
Kind of yeah, because we’ve done so many of them now, what, 130? In fact I stumbled over my words one time on David Letterman, because sometimes he brings up topics that you don’t think he’s going to bring up, wasn’t in the pre-interview or whatever, and he mentioned and episode that was going to be airing that night or something, we’d shot it like a month before and I started to go with it, but then I completely lost my train of thought and I couldn’t find it, we shoot these and we forget them! But yeah, it was kind of fun to go back and now of course we’re on television pretty much 24/7 you can pick an episode of CSI, and I’ll happen upon it once in a while and it takes you back to that season and that hairstyle (laughs) and to think about what was going on then.

What shows did you like growing up?
I was fan of Mission:Impossible, and I always think of this show as being a modern day version of Mission: Impossible, just because of all the gizmos and the scientific stuff and the team and crime solving obviously. That show was always cutting-edge, it had a cool theme song, it was very intriguing and this show kind of has the same feel.

As an actress, how do you handle all the scientific dialogue?
There are certain terms that we’ve said so many times now that we know the correct pronunciation and we sort of know what it means but there’s always something new that pops up and you just sort of pray that you get through it and that you never have to say it again (laughs). I have to say the most complicated part of the job in terms of learning lines is not so much the actual terminology, it’s the way you have to kind of sell the plot or sell the story and this whole thing that we’re doing now, Georgia Fox’s dialogue is just baffling and it’s basically just one big long monologue with me interjecting. It’s called ‘Up In Smoke’. Not like the Cheech and Chong version.

What do think about CSI’s real life impact?
I felt it was innovative and it was – it was described (cos you never know how something’s gonna turn out when it’s described) as described in the script as all the, quote unquote, CSI shots, in fact I think one of the descriptions was ‘à la Three Kings’, with the bullet going through them, which was very innovative for that film. We’ve certainly taken that idea and ran with it. I also thought that it was just a great mystery and I think that a great mystery is always going to be in vogue, people have always enjoyed them throughout the ages, in every culture. I just thought all the science and the facts and the gizmos was going to be really fun for an audience, Sherlock Holmes for the 21st century.

I knew it was going to be a big hit, I felt that, especially when I saw it cut together, but I would have never guessed that we would have had two spin-offs in four years and would have really created a whole new genre of television. It seems like every network now wants to – PBS has a monopoly of forensic shows. If you watched the Superbowl there was an advertisement for this new one that’s coming out on EBC that looks like “Oh well.” People say to me that imitation’s the best form of flattery and at this point it’s like “No it’s not, now you’re just ripping us off!” Come up with your own ideas here! I say that having just said we took something from Three Kings, but that was just one part!

Do you feel it has changed the way a lot of juries are chosen now?
We’ve really educated the public. I do think that law enforcement probably resents us to a certain degree because the public is demanding “Well, they solve it on CSI, why can’t you find such and such?” I think criminalists are in great debt to us because they’ve all of a sudden brought these people who have always been in the background into the forefront. I think that detectives sometimes feel a little resentful! Science is fun and that is also something I probably wouldn’t have guessed or imagined is that it would have inspired all these kids to want to become criminal investigators. Kids in science classes and in schools, it’s become the hottest thing to teach certain techniques and make it fun.

Most people find CSI is less like a TV show and feels more like a movie in the way it is shot and put together. How do you feel about that?
Well yeah and certainly Jerry’s impact on this show, biggest impact, is that he really knows the look of a show. He made sure early on, a lot of people were replaced sadly, but he had a vision in mind of what it should look like, so a lot of department heads were replaced to make it more visually appealing.

“Warning! Maintain the quarantine. Deadly force will be used to protect this area.”

This article contains background information on 28 Weeks Later, including Cast, Crew and production notes, and interviews with Robert Carlyle, Danny Boyle (Executive Producer), Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Director) and a whole host of other people involved in the project.

Play 28 Weeks Later: Infected online game!

Synopsis

28 Weeks Later, the follow up to the hugely successful 28 Days Later, picks up six months after the rage virus has annihilated the Mainland Britain. The US army declares that the war against infection has been won, and that the reconstruction of the country can begin. As the first wave of refugees return, a family is reunited - but one of them unwittingly carries a terrible secret. The virus is not yet dead, and this time, it is more dangerous than ever.

How It All Started

28 Weeks Later is directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (Intacto) and produced by Enrique López-Lavigne, Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. 28 Weeks Later is an original screenplay by Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique López-Lavigne, and Jesus Olmo; with Danny Boyle and Alex Garland serving as executive producers. The cast is led by Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, Trainspotting); Rose Byrne (Sunshine, Troy); Jeremy Renner (The Assassination of Jesse James, Dahmer); Harold Perrineau (The Matrix Reloaded/Revolutions, Lost); Catherine McCormack (Braveheart, Spy Game); Imogen Poots (V For Vendetta) and Idris Elba (The Wire). Also joining the cast is a talented young newcomer, twelve year old Mackintosh Muggleton making his feature film debut.

Four years after the enormous international success of 28 Days Later, the director/producer/writer team of Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald and Alex Garland felt the time was right to make a sequel. “We were quite taken aback by the phenomenal success of the first film, particularly in America,” recalls producer Andrew Macdonald. “We saw an opportunity to make a second film that already had a built in audience. We thought it would be a great idea to try and satisfy that audience again. The hard bit was to try and find a story which would live up to the power and depth that Danny and Alex brought to the first film.”

The first decision the filmmakers had to make was when should the sequel be set. Should the film involve the original cast? Should it go further into the future? Should it be a prequel? 28 Days Later told the story of when the virus was first unleashed following a raid on a primate research facility by animal rights activists. Transmittable in a single drop of blood, the virus locks those infected into a permanent state of murderous rage. Within 28 days the country was overwhelmed and a handful of survivors desperately struggled to salvage a future.

“Alex came up with a lot of ideas and eventually we agreed upon a concept about what would happen to the UK after the disease had been eradicated and the quarantine was lifted,” explains Macdonald. “What would happen if there were only 500 people populating the UK? Who would be there to organize the survivors and refugees coming back from overseas, and what would happen to the Brits who survived? All those questions seemed interesting to us and it was out of them that the story evolved”.

Screenwriter Rowan Joffe, who had previously written Gas Attack and Last Resort, was hired to craft a first draft of the script. The search then began for a talented young director who would have the flare to follow in Boyle’s footsteps as well as be able to bring a fresh new perspective and their own unique vision to the film. “We were looking for a filmmaker of some individuality who could bring something different to the film,” says Boyle. “London was such a big part of the first film we thought that getting somebody from outside the UK to come in and direct would be an interesting approach as they would give the Capital a fresh look.”

Boyle had recently seen the provocative thriller Intacto, the feature film debut from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo which had been a huge international and critical success. “I thought Intacto was amazing,” recalls Boyle. “A terrific thriller with tremendous flare and energy, as well as being a highly individual piece of filmmaking. I recommended [Producer] Andrew Macdonald and [Executive Producer] Alex Garland go and see it with Juan Carlos in mind for taking the helm on 28 Weeks Later.”

After seeing Intacto Macdonald and Garland were also convinced that Fresnadillo was the director they were looking for, and the filmmakers approached him to direct 28 Weeks Later.

They were thrilled when Fresnadillo and his Spanish producing partner Enrique López-Lavigne agreed to come on board. Producer Allon Reich explains, “Juan Carlos and López-Lavigne, they’re a fantastic double act. Juan Carlos is very thoughtful, very much about the detail… While Enrique is a ball of energy, a film geek, and he’s seen every film of this type. And I think there’s definitely a yin and yang in their energy, and the way they approach life that leads to a very kind of a creative whole.”

Fresnadillo recalls being approached by DNA, “I’m a big fan of 28 Days Later. It was such a big honor to receive the invitation to direct the second film, but at the same time it was something really scary. I didn’t understand what I could do, you know, to improve on the first one or to follow that landscape. But DNA chased me for one or two months… And from the first time we met I was very comfortable with them, because they were open to my ideas.”

Fresnadillo and López-Lavigne began working on the script with the help of Spanish screenwriter Jesus Olmo, developing the story around a family and what happened to them in the aftermath of the original film.

López-Lavigne explains, “The family was a good idea for us, and we wanted to develop this into something. But there is always a problem with this kind of structure in which you are looking at the new world through four different eyes, instead of one. That’s why we had to find a really strong concept for the actual storyline. And what we came up with is a storyline, that we really believe; it’s about the idea that no one is unaffected from his past.”

Fresnadillo tells about the process of writing the script, “We worked on the screenplay for almost one year, and at the end we reached a screenplay that I really love. But I was concerned about if the producers were going to like it because it was very special and different from the first one. Obviously following the same landscape and the same situation about this apocalyptic vision of the world, but to my surprise they liked it a lot.”

Boyle elaborates on working with Fresnadillo, “He’s got one foot in two cultures, so he was an interesting guy to get, you know, rather than just get another Brit who probably would [have made] it much as I’d made the first one. So you need a kind of different eye on it, really. And there’s a great tradition at the moment in our cinema of Latin American and Spanish directors, and it’s, I think, great to be able to be part of it.”

UNLEASHED

I don’t really watch trash like Celebrity Big Brother (UK - Channel 4) on purpose, honest. It’s just it was on when they had the opening ceremonies, and I found myself erm.. watching.

So, who should appear but Dirk Gently Dirk Benedict, Starbuck from the A-Team original Battlestar Galactica. Each contestant who enter the house each get to take a bag in with them, probably containing items like toiletries, underwear and other such essentials.

It appeared to me that Dirk’s bag was loaded to the brim with about 2,500 large cigars and nothing much else.

I won’t will watch it much a lot for its entertainment educational value.

If you see someone stealthily entering the house under cover of darkness, dressed in black, wearing a ‘Battlestar Galactica Rocks!’ t-shirt, with pen and paper in hand, then rest assured it won’t be me after an interview…

[Additional news: There’s a rumour about a Cylon…

… who’s infiltrated UK Celebrity Big Brother as a housemate! - who is it? YOU decide.

Simply by voting on the left, or texting… or emailing… or writing to the usual address… or psychiticity… or time travel… or alternate reality…]

THQ (UK) announces Anthony Head as lead voice over for Destroy All Humans! 2

Woking, Surrey – 6th September 2006 – THQ (UK) Ltd, a subsidiary of THQ Inc., today announces Anthony Head as lead voice over in the upcoming Destroy All Humans! ® 2 expected to be released in Fall 2006 for Xbox® video and game entertainment system from Microsoft and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.

Anthony Head voices Ponsonby, a well coiffed human and head of MI5, who is introduced to help the lead aliens, Crypto and POX, fight against the KGB. However, as the game progresses, Ponsonby is not necessarily who he appears to be. With the unexpected twists and turns, it appears that no human can be trusted. To succeed, players should remember to live by the motto, “Make War Not Love.”

“When we were presented with the character Ponsonby, we needed a voice that created an extra dimension and enhanced his upper-class Englishness but hinted at a touch of deceit. Anthony Head has a wealth of acting experience and was the obvious choice. He brought Ponsonby alive in a very unique way,” commented Richard Williams, director of marketing, THQ (UK).

Destroy All Humans! 2 marks the return of the hugely popular alien-centric game whose predecessor secured a top-three all formats chart position in the summer of 2005. Set in 1960s, and boasting five new locations, our favourite destruction-loving alien returns to wreak even more havoc on planet earth in Destroy All Humans! 2.

Anthony Head is an established English actor with a long line of film, television and stage credits to his name. Anthony was once famed for the popular ‘Nescafe Gold Blend’ advertisements which ran in the 1980s. Since then, he has gone on to play lead roles in TV dramas in the UK and US. Recent characters include Rupert Giles in the successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer series and in the UK he has played Chester Grant in Monarch of the Glen and the straight-laced Prime Minister in Little Britain.

For further information please contact:

Laura Wilkinson / Hannah Shepherd
Trilogy Communications
24 Ives Street
London
SW3 2ND
Email: firstname@trilogycomms.co.uk
Tel: 020 7581 9255
Fax: 020 7584 6960

Helen Jones
THQ
Dukes Court
Woking
GU21 5BH
Email: Helen.jones@thq.com
Tel: 01483 754136

About THQ Inc.
THQ Inc. is a leading worldwide developer and publisher of interactive entertainment software. The company develops its products for all popular game systems, personal computers and wireless devices. Headquartered in Los Angeles County, California, THQ sells product through its global network of offices located throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. More information about THQ and its products may be found at www.thq.com and www.thqwireless.com. THQ, THQ Wireless, Destroy All Humans! and their respective logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of THQ Inc.

All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

The statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the business of THQ Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively referred to as “THQ”), including, but not limited to, expectations and projections related to the Destroy All Humans! 2 video game and are based upon management’s current beliefs and certain assumptions made by management. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, business, competitive, economic, legal, political and technological factors affecting our industry, operations, markets, products or pricing. Readers should carefully review the risk factors and the information that could materially affect THQ’s financial results, described in other documents that THQ files from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal period ended March 31, 2006, and particularly the discussion of risk factors set forth therein. Unless otherwise required by law, THQ disclaims any obligation to update its view on any such risks or uncertainties or to revise or publicly release the results of any revision to these forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.

The Geeks of Yesteryear

Who were the geeks of the 1950s? For Lawrence Ghorra and Mark Winstanley, writers of Cabbages which ran from 14th-18th February 2006 at Manchester’s Contact Theatre they were the librarians.

This is horror in the asylum as Dr Spinoza, the self-proclaimed genius psychiatrist in charge of Ravenscroft Mental Asylum, decides librarians are the key to world domination. They hold the world’s knowledge and he intends to hold them.

In the park outside that institution two librarians Geoffrey Ramsbottom, a cliché naive trainee, and his fully qualified co-worker, Audrey, are courting. Audrey suddenly disappears in the midst of declaring her admiration for Geoff’s “natural flair for the Dewey System”. One act later two detectives are accusing Geoffrey of murder. His denials are worthless because he can’t remember what did happen. So what’s to do but ship him to Ravenscroft. Will he find Audrey? Can a librarian’s innate knowledge of Dewey Classification Numbers help resist the evil machinations of the megalomaniac Dr Spinoza? At first it seems so but Dr Spinoza has reserved at least one further horrible assault on the mind of the librarian, picture books!

The fifties, the time of ‘The Manchurian Candidate’ and the decade of lithium, brain washing, sleep deprivation, hypnotism, locking prisoners in mental asylums, meals in pills, tranquillisers plus electric shock treatment and Dr Spinoza wields them all.

Joe Atack had the best lines as that self-deluding, Napoleon admiring, doctor and played the part brilliantly; his very tall, almost gaunt, frame along with a deliberate stilted diction, in a dry quiet, soft but menacing voice made his ambitions seem very credible.

In the fifties Donald Pleasance had the epitome of evil voices and it made him champion of memorable horror and other movie villains in the mad scientist/doctor mould. I foresee a similar career for Joe Atack if he is happy to be so typecast.

The actors were generally good but some shouted at times. Zoe Nicholas, as Nurse Hart, cleverly expressed her unrequited passion for Dr Spinoza. Hazel Earle, doubling up as Nurse Clench and Audrey, was nicely geekish, dominant, blank and sexy as the plot unfolded. Kenan Ali did well as Geoffrey, the librarian who knows his Dewey numbers but little else.

Director, Alan Pattison’s production was spare and mostly effective but the lighting needed to be snappier, the waits between scenes dragged. The asylum inmates all slept standing up, and they did it very well, but it looked as if this was arranged to save on scene changes; beds, bedding or some stage equivalent. Uncomfortable chairs for sleeping could have worked much better and there was opportunity for any resulting scene changes. Cabbages is probably not a great title for a 50s set drama but it’s too late to change.

Inky Fingers production company www.inkyfingers.org have UK Arts Council support and use it well so, if they play it again, why not go along?

INKY FINGERS IS A NEW THEATRE COMPANY BASED IN MANCHESTER.

Their focus is to write and produce new plays that make exciting and challenging theatre. Their main aims are to give a platform for new writers in Manchester and the North West (of England), by producing new theatrical events within a diverse range of theatre spaces throughout the UK in order to bring contemporary writing to areas that have not exerienced it before.

Related Link: London theatre tickets are available now for all west end productions.

I just thought I’d mention that we’ve interviewed a few ‘celebrities’ in the Science Fiction and Fantasy area.

See all interviews here.

The most recent being (in no particular order):
Philip K. Dick (imagined)
Christopher Priest
Greg Bear
Gareth Lyn Powell
Closet Sci-Fi Geek (Stephanie Brail)
Trudi Canavan
Gerald Libonati
The Prey Producers
Mark Davis at Retro-Juice

Here’s the lowdown straight from the Fraser himself:

Okay, I’m fairly knackered as I was up til 2 in the morning editing last night’s footage but by god does it look funky! Yesterday we started filming around 4pm and we filmed all of the interior shots between Amy and Jason and we also filmed the last scene of episode 2 while we there. It’s supposed to be a funny scene and Chris and Shian played it perfectly.

Everybody worked really hard during the flat scenes and that was great. It’s really good working with Craig Snedden on lighting again as the guy just knows what he is doing, and James is a master of makeup. You’ll see the pics soon! (See below).

Joe took a LOT of photos so we’ll get them uploaded as soon as we can. (See below).

Kim and Neil kept me organised and kept everybody running as well as filming behind the scenes footage.

Mark and Doug did their usual great job on sound and Jacki made sure that the set looked exactly how we needed it.

Chris and Shian worked fantastically together, they really play well off of each other.

Iain and I have a good working relationship when it comes to working on shots, he’s a delight to work with.

Preparing The Shot : Fraser, Mark And Iain Set Up The Shot
Where Jason Starts To Get His Powers.

We wrapped at around 9pm after filming in a particular dark underpass in Milgavnie. It’s a really quick scene at the start of the episode to introduce the world to what it is Jason does…kinda. Don’t want to give it all away in the first episode :p

So today we’re filming the second half of the episode and I have in fact just wrote in an extra scene so I’m hoping we’ll have time to fit it in.

More Jason heroics today and a bit more drama too. Oooh, I do like my sci-fi drama.

[Time passes slowly…]

Jason And Amy : Shian Denovan (Amy) and Chris Sommerville (Jason) In An Underpass
In Bearsden On The First Night Of Filming Episode One.

Well that’s every scene shot for episode one so now comes the even more fun part of sitting down and taking all of the footage from today from the camera and trying to make some sort of sense of it all…crazy.

Once it’s edited together, myself, Kim and Neil will watch it and make comments and then go back and change things until we’re all happy, and then we’ll send the video to Mark who will do the sound work on it, sound effects, cleaning up sound etc, and then it will go to Steve Dunster who will score the episode and THEN it goes to David, who will then add in our visual effects and make it look mean and expensive.

Controlled Chaos : (l-r) James Clark (makeup), Mark Riley (sound), Fraser Coull (director), Iain Thomson (camera/1st ad)
And On The Ground Is Chris Sommerville (Jason) And Alan Maclean (Ames)
In A Mysterious Field In Bearsden, Glasgow On The Second Day Of Filming.

THEN we’ll hold a premier for cast, crew and news reporters and take the film to every single place where we can to promote the hull (a thank you Kim) out of it and then upload it to the web and pray that lots of people will watch it, like it, and want to see more!

So yes, it’s been a tiring day. We started at 12pm and treked off to a field to film Jason’s origin scenes, and then we beat up a goth. We wrapped at around 7pm which was good.

Jason And Ames : Chris And Alan Maclean (Ames) In The Field In Bearsden
On The Second Day Of Filming.

Oh, and I now hate airplanes. Stupid airplanes.

Thanks to all involved this weekend - it’s very much appreciated.

Night is Day is created by Fraser Coull who runs the Scottish Independent Production company, Silly Wee Films.

See more on-location images from the episode one shoot.
Read more on Night Is Day.

After last week, talking about Bill Pullman to play Philip K Dick, now from the Philip K Dick estate comes this interesting blurb:

Paul Giamatti Set to Play Philip K. Dick in Biopic.
Actor to produce along with Dick daughters.

Academy Award Nominee Paul Giamatti (Shorty In Paycheck) has an eye towards starring as renowned sci-fi author Philip K. Dick, in a biopic being produced by his newly formed Touchy Feely Films, in collaboration with Anonymous Content’s Steve Golin and Lenny Bekerman.

Through its Electric Shepherd Productions (“oh boy” - Rich), the Philip K. Dick Estate (Isa Dick Hackett) is also producing the authorized non-traditional bio.

The film will interweave the author’s life, his fiction, and incorporate elements of Dick’s last unfinished novel, The Owl in Daylight. Michael Siegel, who represents the PKD Estate and ESP, helped make the deal.

Tony Grisoni is attached to write the screenplay - his most recent work, Brothers of the Head, is currently in theatres. Anonymous Content is awaiting the release of Babel and is currently in production on Case 39, starring Renee Zellweger. Philip K. Dick’s A Scanner Darkly is currently in theaters.

Jason Koornick will also serve as an Executive Producer on the project.

Night is Day is created by Fraser Coull who runs the Scottish Independent Production company, Silly Wee Films.

Night is Day: The Web Series is created by Fraser Coull, 22, and it is produced by Kim Ferrie, 25, who runs Hairy Canary Productions and Neil Meffan, 22, who runs Chameleon Marketing. Also on board as 1st AD is Iain Thomson, 25, who runs View Finder Films. Both Fraser and Iain studied Television Operations and Productions at seperate colleges and are both independent video producers in the freelance industry in West Central Scotland.

While Fraser writes the scripts for the episodes and directs the series, Neil and Kim are responsible for budgeting, location hunting, assisting with casting, organising the schedules and raising the budgets for each episode, they also help with the storylines for the episodes.

It’s amazing that four people who work independently in the freelance industry can come together and work on a project for practically nothing as it this time we can only afford to pay travelling expenses.

We hope that someone out there will like what we’re doing and will help us fund future episodes and a feature film that is being scripted at the moment.

The sci-fi/drama series follows the life of Jason Mackenzie, a young Glaswegian who is bestowed with the power of ancient lightening demi-gods, allowing him the power of foresight whenever he touches another human being. However when he does, a charge of electrical energy transfers from his body into the person he touches. This can be fatal to both Jason and anyone he comes into contact with.

Realising that his curse can be a gift to prevent the death of innocent people, Jason hides in the darkness of his city, ready to risk his life to protect others.

This web series will consist of 6 fifteen minute episodes that will be available to download from the internet for a small fee, and hopefully you will be able to download it to your mobile phone too.

The first episode will be free to download.

Shooting on a low budget in Glasgow and Greenock with local talented actors and a small film crew, we are filming the first episode on the 12th and 13th of August.

For all the latest information on cast, crew, episodes, photos, music samples and video clips, keep an eye on this site.

Clips:

I’m looking forward to seeing the first episode (which is being shot this weekend). I reckon there will be nice effects and I’m guessing it will be a somewhat character driven story.

I thought this was highly amusing. Must be something in that there bottle of water…

“Normal service will be resumed as soon as possible.”

You can read the full review here.

Stirton Productions - Their Background.

Stirton Productions, founded in 2003, is a privately owned digital film company based in Aberdeen, Scotland. The company produces original screenplays and features, as well as documentaries, corporate videos and “on-demand” digital effects.

Stirton Productions CEO, Mark Stirton, has over 12 years experience in drama and television production; producing his first short horror film, Spooked, at the age of 25. Mark studied broadcast media at Aberdeen College and worked as a cameraman / vision mixer for a local television station before setting up his own company.

With The Planet, he hopes to show that a low budget film with good story and characters, can still be entertaining to an audience used to Hollywood ‘blockbusters’.

The Planet: Synopsis.

A group of mercenaries are forced to evacuate their dying spacecraft and find themselves stranded on a desolate, barren world. They discover that no signals can get through the atmosphere of the planet, the only option they have is to find a way to launch one of their escape craft into space and try and send an SOS.

Unfortunately, others have plans for the survivors and the group have to fight not only for their own survival, but for the safety of the entire universe. There is however one more problem on The Planet, the souls of the dead have their own agenda.

The Mercenaries’ Spaceship Is Attacked By Unidentified Fighters And Destroyed, Forcing Them To Evacuate.

Genre: SF / Horror

Year of Production: 2006

Budget: £8.000 GBP

Location: Aberdeenshire, Scotland (exteriors and interiors)

Original media: MiniDV digital

Camera: Canon XL-1

Presentation media: DVD region 2 PAL

Subtitles: English

Running time: 75 minutes

Sound: Dolby stereo

The Team Defend Themselves Against The Enemy.

Mike Mitchell (Lead Role as Captain Morgan)
Overall WFF Mr Universe and World Champion 2003, 2004, 2005/6 successfully defended World Title November 2003. Successfully defended the WFF Mr Universe and world Title 2005, and a competitive body builder for 15 years. Mike has appeared in several film productions, “The Planet,” is his first lead role.

As Captain Morgan, Mike quickly gained respect from the rest of the cast and crew with his intelligence, charm and huge gun.

Patrick Wight (MacNeal)
An entertainer and radio presenter in the North of Scotland for over 15 years, Patrick has appeared in several short films and documentaries. Although he is primarily known for stand-up comedy he is also a keen local historian and writer.

Patrick Plays MacNeal, the captain’s right hand man, a tough uncompromising character.

Scott Ironside (Vince)
A professional and very experienced actor, Scott has appeared on stage all over the UK as well as several short films. A trained swordsman and martial artist, he has run several stage fighting workshops and worked as a fight arranger in television and film.

Scott’s portrayal of Chief Engineer Vince is perfect, an unassuming, straight talking, mechanical genius.

Shawn Paul Hastings (Layton)
Shawn’s work includes the feature film Rosslyn (2004), regular appearances on BBC’s Monarch of the Glen and a growing number of high profile commercials.

Perhaps one of the more difficult characters to play, Shawn brought real empathy to Layton, a man who goes through some radical changes in the story.

Steve Tomas (Marsh)
A busy actor, Steve has appeared in many productions, recent work includes parts in the feature films The Last Rainbow (2005) and Worldliner (2006).

Steve gives the role of Marsh an ‘edgy’ quality, a soldier who sometimes works by his own rules.

Tim Branston (Mitch)
Now a respected Architect working in Aberdeen, Tim’s earlier life saw him as the lead in a 70’s ‘Glam Rock’ band and actor in many noted television productions, including Alan Bleasdale’s The Monocled Mutineer (1986).

Tim plays the part of Mitch, the disgruntled and weary medic for the mercenary group.

Michael G. Clark (Taylor)
As an actor, Michael has appeared in many of the Stirton Production films, including Removals (2004), which he also produced.

For the role of Security Chief Taylor, Michael played a character with more than a few surprises up his sleeve.

A Strange Signal Is Detected.

Daniel: Mark Stirton
Daak: Mark Wyness
Roberts (the Kid): Ashley Branston
Williams: Graham W. Robertson
The Prisoner: Colin Morrison
Computer Voice: Nicky Fraser

Crew.

Mark Stirton (Director / Writer / Cameraman / Editor / Digital and Character Effects)
Mark Stirton, Stirton Productions ceo, has over 12 years experience in drama and television production; producing his fi rst short film, Spooked, at the age of 25. Spooked, was nominated for an award at the 1996 Glasgow film festival. Mark studied broadcast media at Aberdeen College and worked as a cameraman / vision mixer for a local television station before setting up his own company in 2003. An experienced writer, Mark produces most of the material for Stirton Productions, as well as original screenplays for outside development.

Michael G. Clark (Producer / Art Director / Props / Animation)
A professional graphic designer and photographer, Michael has been involved in many of Mark Stirton’s projects over the years, both as an actor and crew. Michael created the designs, props and 3D textures for The Planet. As well as his commitments as a producer for Stirton Productions, Michael is responsible for all of Stirton Productions advertising output - from website to film posters.

Kerwin Robertson (Co- Producer / 3D Model Maker / Particle Effects)
Kerwin Robertson is a CAD Manager for an Architecture practice in Aberdeen, he has over 18 years experience in 3D modelling and 2D drafting on CAD systems. The 3D cad models for the movie were created by Kerwin, who also collaborated in their design process. Many of the computer hardware systems used to produce the film were also made by him.

Nicky Fraser (Composer / Sound Designer)
All the original music in ‘The Planet,’ was composed by Nicky Fraser, an Aberdeen based musician and DJ. Nicky was involved throughout the entire production process and many of her atmospherics and ambient sounds were used to enhance the mood of the movie. A good, powerful soundtrack is crucial for any action film, Nicky’s heavy tympanic beats and oppressive rhythms help get the audience to the edge of their seats - then the visuals push them over.

Contact Details.

Website: http://www.stirtonproductions.com/

Director : Mark Stirton
E-mail: mark@stirtonproductions.com
Mobile: +44 (0) 7784031818

Producer : Michael Clark
E-mail: mike@stirtonproductions.com
Telephone: +44 (0) 1224 748614
Mobile: +44 (0) 7720092934
Fax: +44 (0) 1224 746676

© Stirton Productions 2006

Read the full review here.

Thanks so much for coming along to the screening – glad you liked the mini-movie and got our anarchic Q&A fun afterwards. Especially enjoyed the Commodore 64 comment: I do indeed own my original fully functioning C=64 and those front titles were my little tribute to it… as well as setting the whole computer game tone that runs through. The reaction to the short has been amazing, and I’ve been crazy busy setting up feature film projects off the back of the buzz that the short has created. I wanted to find some time to go through your questions properly, which I’ve enjoyed doing.

Who were the people (from left to right) who were in the QA/Interview?

(from left to right) Adnana Isratescu (actress), Niko Nicatera (actor), Stephen Harvey (publicist), Mark Davis (writer/dirctor), Luke Toulson (curzon soho host).

Toulson and Harvey are a brilliant comedy duo we are working with, who were shortlisted for the Perrier award in the Edinburgh Festival last year, and it occurred to us that we could have some fun in the Q&A after the screening. So Luke played ‘art’, and Steve played ‘commerce’ – the idea was to have a battle between the two, and do a slightly subversive post-screening chat in the spirit of the film. We didn’t want to take things too seriously. We figured that if people were good enough to come out for a 15 minute short film, we should lay on a bit of a show for them. The point was that just because something ‘looks’ like art, doesn’t mean it is, and just because something ‘looks’ like commercial entertainment, doesn’t mean it isn’t art. Hopefully the audience got an idea of what the film was about through this bit of stand-up, and were given a full hour of entertainment.

What inspired the movie?

I’ve been obsessed for a while, by the way branding and slick, glossy advertising is used to hook us into consumerism. I’m as attracted as the next guy to a picture of some pretty model, for example, and commercials use it to make me want their stuff. Clearly the fault is with me for being so easily manipulated, but sadly I’m not alone. Ad agencies do it because it works. They’re not worried about whether it’s all a little superficial. They don’t really care that they are not selling anything that is particularly real. And we don’t seem to be doing much about the fact that our culture is so bombarded with this basic selling tool, that there’s less and less room for anything else.

So I wanted to make a film about an intelligent outsider, who doesn’t fit into the social scheme of things, but can’t help falling for the pretty girl. Despite the fact that he’s smart and shouldn’t just go along with things he ends up obsessing her based purely on her looks and the modelling work she has done. But rather than it all seem too sinister, I wanted to have it play like a romantic comedy as he stalks her… I found this much more subversive, in the vein of Heathers perhaps… so it feels like a comfortable little film but actually everything is a little wrong.

Then throw into this the huge Sci-Fi twist that abducts the film, and suddenly you’ve got a whole feature length movie of plot crammed into 14 minuites. Which kind of makes fun of the speed of popcorn movies and the direction that entertainment is being pushed by commerce. So although it seems like fun, there’s a fair bit of stuff going on in there.

I’m a huge fan of great big sci-fi’s like Aliens, Bladerunner and The Matrix. These films are bockbusters with brains. And PLASIC really is trying to comment on the way we need to keep those kind of films being made, rather than just let the glossy, superficial desires of the marketing men seduce us into an empty promise of a movie.

How long did it take to make?

Two weeks, which is quite long for a short film. But the schedule was relaxed enough for us to really try and get what we could out of the budget.

Where was it filmed (location / studio)?

We did the studio stuff first, which was quite time consuming as all the sets worked on a modular basis as we didn’t have the cash to build one big set… so every time they move into another room, the set was broken down into flats and rearranged. Then the College stuff was shot at the weekend in Croydon college which happens to be that vaguely Art Deco style that High Schools in the states are. And finally after a small break, we shot in the forest in Dorking for five very cold nights.

How much?

£30k was the actual cost of the short. But that was only possible due to the sheer number of favours and freebies we got. I’m used to working with budgets on promos and commercials, so it was a bit of a shock to be asking for peoples generosity, and kind of humbling to get it. If it had been shot as a commercial project, paying for all the kit at book price and everyone being paid properly, it would have cost at least £250,000 – so that just goes to show how lucky we were to get everyone so interested in the project.

What equipment was used?

It was all on 35mm Panavision Cameras, so none of the High Definition that everyone is obsessed by at the moment. I’m used to working with my DoP Francesco Pezzino on film and doing a telecine grade with him at The Farm in soho, where the look of the film has so much depth and latitude that HD can’t really compete yet. We did master the final edit and effects on HD and go back out to film at the end, but the look is film, so its great.

The most important bit of kit we used though, was the motion control rig. It’s this huge ED209 beast on rails that you programme in a crane move and it will repeat the same swoop exactly; allowing you to do several passes on the same moving shot… pretty handy if you want to place the actor on screen forty times like we did in this. Though the set up time takes ages and the single 14second shot took a day.

What else has Nico starred in?

Nico has been notching up a whole host of great character performances from musketeer in ‘La Femme Museteer’, a pirate in ‘Blackbeard’, an even an Austrian detective in ‘Icon’ with Patrick Swaze. He’s clearly on a roll with this stuff and christened his band ‘B-Movie Legends’ in honour of the work he’s been doing lately.

What else has Adnana starred in?

Adnana is a massively established model-actress in commercials. She’s been in everything from Bacardi ads to Groove Armardas ‘At the River’ video. Se is also the leading underwater actress in the country, so if there’s a section in a commercial with a good looking girl in the water, chances are its her. She very dynamic and full of energy, and with PLASTIC she is making a move into drama; so we can’t wait to see her next role.

What else have you directed?

Well interestingly enough the last short film I did was a section from V for Vendetta called ‘Valerie’… I took that section and made a separate scenario out of it calling it Meat… this was way before the Warchowskis got involved with it, so it was nice to see them do a pretty decent job of honouring the essence of Alan Moore and David Lloyds masterpiece. I actually saw it at the Brussels International Festival of Fantastic Film on the closing night and I though Hugo Weavings ‘V’ was sublime… Was kind of cool as Plastic had played on the same screen earlier that day in the festival.

Apart from that I’ve done a lot of music promo work and commercials, working for artists as diverse as The Kills, James Blunt (NOT the ‘beautiful’ video!), Funeral 4 A Friend and The Corrs. Specialising in quirky narrative videos, which is a nice niche to get into.

What else has Retro Juice done?

Well we have four other Directors working for us in promos including Maria Mochnacz who has done all the PJ Harvey videos. As well as a couple of documentary and commercial directors, working on stuff for clients as assorted as BP, 4Music, Pizza Hut, The Aga Khan Development Network, and Adrenalin.com. However it’s our ‘future