Ashnikko - Worms from Raman Djafari on Vimeo.

Ashnikko in a monstertruck and a squad of develish beasts ride towards the sunset to battle the angelic overlord robots.

Credits: director - raman djafari // @ramandjafari executive producer - josef byrne head of production- Alex halley production company: blinkink @blink_ink

producer - jake river parker // @jakeriverparkerfilms animation producer - molly turner // @molly___turner production manager - rowan mackintosh king // @rowanmackintosh production assistant - maddy williams // @melodramaddy

commissioner- sam seager // @seagez

creative director - vasso vu @vassovu manager - george shepherd // @shepherdgeorge day to day manager - hannah browne // @hannahbr0wne

storyboards - raman djafari storyboards - mysie pereira // @mysiepereira animatic editor - Isabel gomez concept artist - Camille perrin

cg character design - raman djafari cg background design - raman djafari cg lighting, camera & layout - raman djafari cg character animation & rigging - dominic lutz // @domolutz cg character animation & rigging - harry bhalerao // @harrybhal cg character animation & rigging - barney abrahams // @_yenrab cg character animation & rigging - nate die // @spish.tv cg artist - sandrine gimenez // @sandrine_gimenez cg artist - klaas harm deboer cg artist - michael marczewski additional lighting - balasz simon // @notbalasz

vfx lead - john malcolm moore // @johnmalcolmmoore compositor - andrew khosravani // @andrew_khosravani compositor - vladislav enshin compositor - caroline terrago

1st ad - julia pavliuk // @ula__la dop - hunter daly // @hunterdalydp 1st ac - rupert hornstein // @ruperthornstein1966 2nd ac - nicola braid ac (prep day) - Joe mcdonald cam operator - tanmoye khan // @tanmoyekhan_dop dit - rosie taylor // @rosie_taylor_

gaffer - laurent arnaud // @sparkswars spark - johnjoe besagni // @jayjaybuzz spark - kieran brown // @k_brown_gaffer desk op - hudson daly // @hudson_daly led tech - pavel stici

vfx supervisor - john malcolm moore // @johnmalcolmmoore

production runner - leda contopanagos // @leda.echo production runner - krishita desai // @krishitadesai production runner - tom gonzalez // @mr_tamborine_man_ production runner - tom willows // @tomwillows_mash

art director - laura little // @laulit art assistant - jaclyn pappalardo // @jaclynpappalardo art assistant - chris dent art assistant (prep day) - jack boston oswald // @jackbostonoswald art assistant (prep day) - joshua douglas-warne art assistant (prep day) - Alexander king art assistant (prep day) - thabet kimili

stylist - holly wood // @hollyblowslightly stylist assistant - izzy frost // @iz_designz_

hair designer claire moore @clmorhair hair stylist mee kyung kim porter // @mee.hair.makeup mua - georgia olive // @georgiaolive mua assistant - carly roberts // @carlyroberts_ nails - imarni // @imarninails

bts content - eve mahoney // @evebelieve

edit - rich woolway edit assist - chris hutchings edit producer - Maggie mcdermott grade - coffee & tvt colourist - George neave colour producer - Kathryn tallis sound design - absolute post sound designer - rich Martin additional sound design - Daniel panayi additional sound design - paminos kyriazis sound design producer - Peter winslett

a special thanks to will hooper

JEHNNY BETH - “We Will Sin Together”, off her debut solo album 'To Love Is To Live’ out now via 20L07, LLC.

Directed by: Tom Hingston and Markus Lehtonen

CG Director of Photography, 3D/CG Motion Design and Editor: Markus Lehtonen

Choreography: Natricia Bernard

Dancers: Stevie Mahoney, Mina Neighbour

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

OFFF 2019 Open Film ARXIV by Mill+ from OFFF Festival on Vimeo.

Mill+ Director Ilya Abulkhanov opened Offf Barcelona 2019 with the debut of his sci-fi short film ‘ARXIV’. ARXIV (pronounced ‘archive’) is an immersive sci-fi family drama is set in two time frames: the deep future, that is left with no future, and the near future, that will bring about the eventual dystopian collapse of society. Protagonist Lew Aron survives both time frames and is set to discover a potential outlet to confront his innermost desire, or what’s left of it.

Directed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Screenplay by R. John Lewis

Based on Characters Developed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Director of Photography Sean Bagley

Edited by Andy McGraw

Produced by Gabriel Blanco and Elizabeth Newman

Executive Producers Zu Al-Kadiri Phil Crowe Stephen Venning Ian Bearce Enca Kaul Rani Melendez

Cast: Lew Michael Curylo Kelly Britt Harris Doctor K. Gregory Niebel May Vienna Weaver Colleague Elijah Howard Doorman Jon Harris Secretary Lucy Boryer Anchor Azize Erim

Girl Reading Book Linda Aleman Patient Erick Medal Diner Patron Ruth Banks Mataya Diner Patron Willard Riley Diner Patron Michael A. Rubio

Co-Worker Hiwot Yimer Co-Worker Canaan Dewey Co-Worker Victoria Johnson Welder Giovanni Della Pace

Casting by Danielle Eskinazi

Production Designer Evi Ellias

Costume Designer Agga B. Raya

Original Music By Jesse Solomon Clark

Sound Design & Mix by Beacon Street Studios

First Assistant Director Miles Johnstone

Edited by Andy McGraw / Cartel Assistant Scott Beatty Producer Greer Bratschie Executive Producer Lauren Bleiweiss

Associate Producer James Morse

Skyler Wahl Production Coordinator Matt Fulton 2nd Assistant Director Rochely Zapata Production Assistant

Production Sound Mixer Ellie Bootorich

Offline Sound Mix Cyrus Shahmir

Art Department Leila Ryndak Property Master Giovanni Della Pace Leadman Shelby Strong Set Dresser Prerna Chawla Buyer Angel Herrera Shopper

Make-up by Victoria Payne

Camera 1st Assistant Camera Nick Cutway 2nd Assistant Camera / Loader Rob Reaves Key Grip & Gaffer Lev Abrahamian G&E Driver Sam Le Bas G/E Swing Aram Martirosyan and Conor Long

Visual Effects by The Mill

Creative Director Ilya Abulkhanov VFX Supervisor / Project Lead Lee Nelson Art Director Sidney Tan Lead Motion Designer Woosung Kang Technical Director / 2D Lead Justin Sucara 2nd Technical Director Greg Park

Motion Design Artists Taehoon Park Kyle Moore Jan Sladecko Sasha Vinogradova Maxim Goudin Greg Park Anastasia Skrebneva

Post Producer Moira Mahoney Post Production Coordinator Matthew Fulton

VFX Supervisor / Creative Lead James Allen CG Supervisor Manjunath Shivaprasad 2D Supervisor Rakesh Venugopalan Asset Supervisor Anish Mohan Line Producer R Anuraj Production Coordinators Noan John Vinod Nathan Niamehr Mimi Milligan

Fx:
Biswajit Tarafdar

3D Artists:
Kartik Arora
Asis Kumar Mahakhud
Sivasubramanian
Sudakshina Sridharan
Vittal Kuntla
Abdul Rehman
Amit Patil
Asit Midya
Kalidas Patil
 2D Artists Roman Yavorsky Franz Kol Lenz Kol KaiChun Tsai Evan Langley Stephen Paragone Rob Winfield Tim Robbins Gavin Marler Jeff Langlois Alex Candlish Patrick Dirks Lisa Kim Ahmed El-Azma Roger Cerqua Badrinath Chinimilli
P.K. Sajith
Prasanna Bhatt
Ramanjaneyulu Thota
Shivam Shukla
Vinod Gopinathan

Matte Painting Bill Lu Bijo Joy
Jobin Jacob
Netra Mankar
Priyanka Telang

Modeling Joel Kittle

Tracking Michael Lori Elizabeth Hammer Danny Garcia

Rotoscoping & Tracking TRACE

Colorist Adam Scott Color Assistant Logan Highlen

Color Senior Producer Liza Kerlin Color Coordinator Jessica Amburgey

Mural Paintings by Sidney Tan Yi-Jen Liu Hyoyeon Lee

Design Support Eunhae Yoo

Casting Department Danielle Eskinazi / Casting CCDA Casting Assistant Katie O’Connor

Costume Design Assistant Madeline Northway

Title Design by Ilya Abulkhanov
Woosung Kang Taehoon Park Lee Nelson 
Special Thanks Robin Shenfield Dee Allen Chris Harlowe Dan Roberts Chris Knight Glyn Tebbutt

Film Processing by FotoKem Cameras Provided by Keslow Cameras and Robot Heart Co. Shot on Arriflex Cameras and Kodak Film Film Scanning by Technicolor Grip and Electric Equipment Provided by G&J Grip

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX CAST ANNOUNCED

RETURNING AND NEW CAST MEMBERS WILL JOIN TOGETHER FOR THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE SKYWALKER SAGA.

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

StarWars.com. All Star Wars, all the time.

If you’ve ever watched an episode of FOX’s show “Gotham,” then you’re familiar with the eponymous city. It’s dark and brooding, ever on the cusp of a storm; it’s at once foreign and familiar, sometimes tricking you into thinking you’ve been on of its blocks before; and it’s the award-winning achievement of VFX Supervisor Tom Mahoney and his talented team, one that earned another Emmy nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role last month.

Tom, who has three Emmy nominations to his name and one win in this same category last year, explains that the visual effects team plays an important part of the storytelling that happens in “Gotham”: “We serve the story. The writers write, and we try to figure out a way to make it happen. It’s all about making other people’s visions a reality.”

I recently spoke with Tom about his latest nomination and his work on “Gotham.” During our conversation, he talked about how the city of Gotham was realized, his favorite parts of the nominated episode, when he thinks visual effects are appropriate and more.

To start, can you walk us through a brief history of your career – from your start in the world of VFX, to being a partner at CoSA VFX, to being VFX Supervisor for “Gotham” and highlights in between?

I got my introduction to visual effects back in 1990 or 1991 when I interned on “Star Trek: The Next Generation” with the post-production department. From there, I was an assistant editor for a little while and found my way back into visual effects working with one of my CoSA partners, Jon Tanimoto. We often found ourselves working for units that were put together specifically for film, and at a certain point we looked at each other and said, “Well, they keep throwing these units together and they sort of ran like small companies – we may as well see if we can give it a go as a company.” So Jon and I got together. Initially we were working on features, and shortly after that, [CoSA partners] David Beedon and Chris Lance joined us. The features market for visual effects in LA kind of dried up with a lot of films taking rebates and having the luxury of longer turnarounds, but TV still needed fast turnarounds. Most shows were still posted in LA, so it was more convenient for TV to use LA-based visual effects facilities. So we made a shift to be more TV-centric. A year or two after we got things going, we were lucky enough to be considered for “Gotham.” Just by luck of the draw, I ended up being the one of the four partners to come to New York to supervise the pilot, and I’ve stuck with it ever since.

How would you explain to a layman like myself the role VFX plays in the show?

Everything is about telling a story. That’s what TV shows and movies are about, and we are there to tell the story of “Gotham.” Now, since the show is based in Gotham City, we are fortunate to play a large part in that since we help provide the city. Early on, the creators of the show – Danny Cannon, Bruno Heller and John Stephens – said that Gotham should always feel like there’s a storm coming. So that was always the directive we lived under for creating the wide shots of Gotham, to make it feel dark and moody. The architecture is very much based on a gothic, Art Deco style to make it feel like a unique place that feels familiar but isn’t quite reality.

How long did it take to get Gotham City right? Has it changed throughout the seasons? I think we’ve gotten a little bit better at doing it as the seasons have progressed. Early on, we did a lot of tests to make sure that the show creatives were happy with the direction we were going in for the general look – a city that was mainly built in the ’20s, ’30s and ’40s, but with a gothic flair. It took us a little while to mix some architectural elements; we did a few test shots and when we had it right, they gave us the thumbs-up.

[Spoiler alert] This year, you and your team are nominated for the Season 4 episode “That’s Entertainment.” From a sinister ice bomb, to a blimp, to gas-induced hallucinations and more, I think my uneducated eye can spot some of your fingerprints on that particular story. Are there certain scenes in that episode that were particularly challenging or memorable for you? I enjoy the shots of the blimp because I feel like it’s really there, even though I know it’s a CG blimp. The most fun shot of the episode is the final pullout when we’re tight on Penguin when he’s in the blimp gondola, and then we keep pulling out until we see the bridge and Gotham City in the foreground and then in the distant background. It’s just a very small, self-contained camera move, and then we make it feel big and grand by adding everything into it. I also like the scene of Jerome when he’s hanging and falling to his death – that’s all shot on green screen, and we create a 3-D version of the alleyway that he falls into so we could show that he’s much higher than he really was. The fear gas is always fun to do. A lot of the artists get to have a little bit of fun when we’re creating the hallucination look because that’s when you get to let somebody loose and say, “All right, make something that looks cool.”

Can you describe the collaboration between your team and others on the show? The writers write an episode and a director happens to get that episode to direct. There’s a great deal of back and forth in pre-production about what we can do with visual effects, what we can afford to do with visual effects, what can be done practically via special effects or if there are stunts that can be done so we don’t have to do visual effects. I’m always a big fan of doing things practically whenever we can.

Can you explain a little more about when you think visual effects are appropriate? I’d say my two criteria for things that should be visual effects are when we want to add scope and spectacle, and when it’s something that can’t be done safely. Obviously safety is paramount, and all the show creators and directors and everyone feel the same way. So if something’s unsafe but we still need to do it, then visual effects can step in. People’s lives are more important than any television show.

Do you have much time to track what your counterparts are doing on other shows? If so, do you notice any trends for VFX in television lately? TV visual effects have come so far in the past 15 years. I would challenge people to say the visual effects on some shows today aren’t as good as most features out there. A lot of the visual effects on “Gotham” are as good as features’ visual effects. I think the disparity that used to exist between feature-film visual effects and television visual effects has become a blurred line. And people aren’t afraid of visual effects like they used to be. You used to go on a show and hear the director say, “I hate green screen. I hate visual effects.” You don’t hear that as much. More people embrace it now as a solution to a problem instead of rejecting it as a problem unto itself.

Is the greater acceptance of VFX a result of the higher quality in general? Or do you think there are other factors at play? The resolution between film and video is almost the same with shows now mainly delivered in 4K, which is the same resolution we deliver feature films in. So there’s much more attention to detail in television visual effects than there used to be because you couldn’t see the details before. The technology has certainly evolved, so we’re able to do it faster. And the artistry has just gotten better. As software and tools have become more available and artists have gotten more familiar with them, they can do more interesting things that no one thought they could do before. Then there’s also the fact that as time has passed, things have gotten cheaper to do. So effects that we thought were only for features in 1990 are now commonplace in TV; they’re nothing you would even bat an eye at.

If you could tell a “Gotham” viewer what to look for or appreciate from a VFX viewpoint, what would you tell them? Without a doubt, my favorite thing in “Gotham” is when we do the aerial shots of Gotham. We do a lot of special, cool stuff, but I think whenever we feature the city of Gotham, those are the shots that I love the most. The mark I’ve always set is if someone who lives in New York watches “Gotham” and isn’t sure if it’s New York or not, then I think we’ve done a good job.

Star Wars: Episode IX Cast Announced

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Copy and Pasted from the Star Wars website about Episode Nine

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX CAST ANNOUNCED

RETURNING AND NEW CAST MEMBERS WILL JOIN TOGETHER FOR THE FINAL INSTALLMENT OF THE SKYWALKER SAGA.

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Star Wars: Episode IX Cast Announced

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Star Wars Episode IX

https://twitter.com/starwars/status/1022939332708126720?s=19

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Warsactors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

OFFF 2019 Open Film ARXIV by Mill+ from OFFF Festival on Vimeo.

Mill+ Director Ilya Abulkhanov opened Offf Barcelona 2019 with the debut of his sci-fi short film ‘ARXIV’. ARXIV (pronounced ‘archive’) is an immersive sci-fi family drama is set in two time frames: the deep future, that is left with no future, and the near future, that will bring about the eventual dystopian collapse of society. Protagonist Lew Aron survives both time frames and is set to discover a potential outlet to confront his innermost desire, or what’s left of it.

Directed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Screenplay by R. John Lewis

Based on Characters Developed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Director of Photography Sean Bagley

Edited by Andy McGraw

Produced by Gabriel Blanco and Elizabeth Newman

Executive Producers Zu Al-Kadiri Phil Crowe Stephen Venning Ian Bearce Enca Kaul Rani Melendez

Cast: Lew Michael Curylo Kelly Britt Harris Doctor K. Gregory Niebel May Vienna Weaver Colleague Elijah Howard Doorman Jon Harris Secretary Lucy Boryer Anchor Azize Erim

Girl Reading Book Linda Aleman Patient Erick Medal Diner Patron Ruth Banks Mataya Diner Patron Willard Riley Diner Patron Michael A. Rubio

Co-Worker Hiwot Yimer Co-Worker Canaan Dewey Co-Worker Victoria Johnson Welder Giovanni Della Pace

Casting by Danielle Eskinazi

Production Designer Evi Ellias

Costume Designer Agga B. Raya

Original Music By Jesse Solomon Clark

Sound Design & Mix by Beacon Street Studios

First Assistant Director Miles Johnstone

Edited by Andy McGraw / Cartel Assistant Scott Beatty Producer Greer Bratschie Executive Producer Lauren Bleiweiss

Associate Producer James Morse

Skyler Wahl Production Coordinator Matt Fulton 2nd Assistant Director Rochely Zapata Production Assistant

Production Sound Mixer Ellie Bootorich

Offline Sound Mix Cyrus Shahmir

Art Department Leila Ryndak Property Master Giovanni Della Pace Leadman Shelby Strong Set Dresser Prerna Chawla Buyer Angel Herrera Shopper

Make-up by Victoria Payne

Camera 1st Assistant Camera Nick Cutway 2nd Assistant Camera / Loader Rob Reaves Key Grip & Gaffer Lev Abrahamian G&E Driver Sam Le Bas G/E Swing Aram Martirosyan and Conor Long

Visual Effects by The Mill

Creative Director Ilya Abulkhanov VFX Supervisor / Project Lead Lee Nelson Art Director Sidney Tan Lead Motion Designer Woosung Kang Technical Director / 2D Lead Justin Sucara 2nd Technical Director Greg Park

Motion Design Artists Taehoon Park Kyle Moore Jan Sladecko Sasha Vinogradova Maxim Goudin Greg Park Anastasia Skrebneva

Post Producer Moira Mahoney Post Production Coordinator Matthew Fulton

VFX Supervisor / Creative Lead James Allen CG Supervisor Manjunath Shivaprasad 2D Supervisor Rakesh Venugopalan Asset Supervisor Anish Mohan Line Producer R Anuraj Production Coordinators Noan John Vinod Nathan Niamehr Mimi Milligan

Fx:
Biswajit Tarafdar

3D Artists:
Kartik Arora
Asis Kumar Mahakhud
Sivasubramanian
Sudakshina Sridharan
Vittal Kuntla
Abdul Rehman
Amit Patil
Asit Midya
Kalidas Patil
 2D Artists Roman Yavorsky Franz Kol Lenz Kol KaiChun Tsai Evan Langley Stephen Paragone Rob Winfield Tim Robbins Gavin Marler Jeff Langlois Alex Candlish Patrick Dirks Lisa Kim Ahmed El-Azma Roger Cerqua Badrinath Chinimilli
P.K. Sajith
Prasanna Bhatt
Ramanjaneyulu Thota
Shivam Shukla
Vinod Gopinathan

Matte Painting Bill Lu Bijo Joy
Jobin Jacob
Netra Mankar
Priyanka Telang

Modeling Joel Kittle

Tracking Michael Lori Elizabeth Hammer Danny Garcia

Rotoscoping & Tracking TRACE

Colorist Adam Scott Color Assistant Logan Highlen

Color Senior Producer Liza Kerlin Color Coordinator Jessica Amburgey

Mural Paintings by Sidney Tan Yi-Jen Liu Hyoyeon Lee

Design Support Eunhae Yoo

Casting Department Danielle Eskinazi / Casting CCDA Casting Assistant Katie O’Connor

Costume Design Assistant Madeline Northway

Title Design by Ilya Abulkhanov
Woosung Kang Taehoon Park Lee Nelson 
Special Thanks Robin Shenfield Dee Allen Chris Harlowe Dan Roberts Chris Knight Glyn Tebbutt

Film Processing by FotoKem Cameras Provided by Keslow Cameras and Robot Heart Co. Shot on Arriflex Cameras and Kodak Film Film Scanning by Technicolor Grip and Electric Equipment Provided by G&J Grip

John Mahoney’s Zentropa by Michelle Lam

John Mahoney, originally from New York City, is a faculty member of the CalArts Character Animation program who recently has had great success in publishing a beautifully produced, illustrative comic-novel​ ​Zentropa. Mahoney was initially inspired by the work of Moebius and other artists in ​Heavy Metal magazine, and this led him to create his own sci-fi graphic novel.

In the interview below, Mahoney describes the challenges he faced on this creative journey, offering insights that young aspiring artists will find motivational.  ​Zentropa showcases a range of beautiful, intricate line drawings, fantastical characters, and unique ways of laying out each page. It also reflects a complex creative journey that Mahoney took. ML: So to start off, can we hear about some of your background information, or the journey you took to where you are today as an artist? JM: Ok, sure! Originally I went to school for illustration at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. I thought I wanted to be an illustrator. And then, around senior year I decided I wanted to get a bit more into filmmaking. So that’s when I ended up pursuing Disney and I got involved with working (for Disney) as a visual development artist. But even during that time I was always wishing I could do my own comic, or my own project -- something like that. That was something that was always in the back of my mind. ML: As someone who collects a lot of artistic inspiration, who or what was your initial motivation to create ​Zentropa? JM: Yeah, I was at, I think the first CTN show about five years ago, and I had a chance to meet Moebius. I didn’t realize this at the time, but he was my original inspiration because he created​ ​Heavy Metal Magazine. When I was growing up in high school, that was the only art I had to influence me. Getting a chance to meet him and see him draw was incredible-- and then a few months later he passed away, so I thought that to do a tribute to Moebius would be the most I could thank him. So that was in the back of my mind. And then, two years ago I got really sick. The doctors said, “You probably aren’t going to live.” And that was it. At that point, I just focused on survival. All I wanted to do is live. After some amazing surgery, I was notified that I will live after all. This helped me put a lot of things in perspective. So I thought to myself, “What’s the point of struggling to do a "good graphic novel", or do anything good? Why don’t I just create art and enjoy yourself?” So I decided at that point, I’m just going to do a bad graphic novel. I’m going to do something with no words, because I don’t like words. Words get in my way. So I just did it as a personal project for myself. I was recovering from surgery at that time, so I could really walk or anything, I was just kinda at my desk. So it was a great opportunity to focus on something, and it really helped me while I was healing. So many pages just started coming out. I would do a page a day, or two pages a day. Then, I showed some sample pages to a book dealer, Stuart Ng Books. He looked at the pages and he said, “This looks great! This could really sell.” I was like, “Really?” He put me in touch with a publisher to self publish my books. So I decided I would pay for the book and launch a kickstarter to hopefully pay me back for the initial investment, which was about $7,000 at the time. So at that point, I made the book and was so nervous about doing the kickstarter -- I didn’t launch the kickstarter for several months. It was just so nerve wracking, but when we finally did launch, we were able to raise the $7000 by the end of the first day. Within 30 days, we raised a total of $23,000. ML: According to your kick​ starter, ​Zentropa is in the style of old ​Heavy Metal comic strips. So what major aspects of ​Heavy Metal would you say you incorporated into ​Zentropa? JM: Well, the main thing is that it’s very individualistic/weird. Back in the old days, every single artist had their own style. You didn’t have to tell linear stories. You could just go in bizarre directions, or at least in the 70’s and 80’s, ​Heavy Metal allowed for that. So, I allowed myself to go into this world and kept talking about ​Heavy​ Metal as often as I could on social network. Little did I know that the CEO of ​Heavy Metal was following the project (​Zentropa). ML: That’s so cool! JM: Yeah, I had not idea! At the end of the Kickstarter campaign, the CEO called me to set up a meeting. He said, “So what do you want to do with ​Heavy Metal?” I was trying to hold back my tears. This was the whole reason I did art -- because it was based on ​Heavy Metal’s magazine. They listed a bunch of possibilities then offered to publish ten pages of ​Zentropa in ​Heavy Metal every month until they do the whole book. They made me promise to color every page, so I’ve been doing that, and I’m on issue five now. That’s fifty pages so far for ​Heavy Metal. ML: That’s amazing! So the illustrations in ​Zentropa are extremely detailed and intricate. Would you mind explaining the time and process behind those drawings? JM: It’s kind of a strange process. I would experiment with rendering my Zbrush sculptures and put it these images up on facebook. Then someone mentioned how bad my renderings were. So for the fun of it, I started rendering stuff in pink and green, and make it look as terrible as possible -- Just to say, “Yeah, it’s bad and I can make it worse.” Then, I stumbled across this shader I invented that makes my 3D models look like outlined drawings. It looked interesting in the computer, so I wanted to see if I could print a comic book page in this style. So I printed a few pages out at Staples. I thought it was going to look completely digitalized. I started tearing up in the car because it looked like a real line drawing. I couldn’t believe it. I was like, “Oh my God,” and that was it. It’s based on my original line drawing style, but it’s mostly CG models that have been collaged together. ML: I didn’t even know that! When I was looking through your book, I was like, “How do you draw all of this?!” And now I learned that all of this was sculpted in 3D. That’s amazing. So I was also wondering if there’s a reason behind why some of the pages are in color, while the rest was in black and white? JM: Well, believe it or not, I did color most of the book. But the last, last minute, I contacted the publisher and took those colors out. It just has such a strong black and white quality to it. So, I only sparingly left a few of the colored pages in there. The whole end of the book is colored. I did that because I had no idea of what else to do. I just ran out of ideas, so I started doing these colored characters. I had around eight or nine characters on one photoshop file. I turned on all the layers by mistake once and it looked really cool! So that’s how all those intricate things came out at the end of the book, they were just all my layers on photoshop. ML: So ​Zentropa clearly has a story or narrative behind all the images. But, there isn’t really any dialogue provided. Do you want your audience to kind of develop their own interpretations, or is there a set story that we should figure out based on the images? JM: Well, I do have a basic idea or feeling of where this is going, almost. It’s kind of like a dream, but I wanted to allow the audience to come up with their own story. I have a friend right now who’s writing a screenplay, and he told me his interpretation. I was like, “That’s AWESOME! I never thought of that!” Also, when I was a kid, I would look at Marvel Comics. I wouldn’t read them, I would just look at them. I would stare at the images and imagine. So I want that audience to feel how I felt like when I was twelve or ten. The only way to ensure they would do that is to remove all the dialogue. So I did a pass with word bubbles, and I just felt like it was closing the door to people’s interpretations by me saying what it is. I started feeling a little depressed, so I pulled all those word bubbles out. ML: I see, that’s interesting. So besides other art inspirations, do you have any life experiences that inspired you to create this comic? JM: Not necessarily life experiences, because I think the whole thing is a life experience. Well, hold up, let me start again, because that’s a good question. Going through the operation and surviving all of that... once I looked through the book many months later, I realized that the characters are floating through this unknown space. If you look at all the sci-fi stuff, it feels very biological. I think that may have been the war that was going on inside of my body -- trying to fight it, winning sometimes, losing sometimes. So I do think there is a biological struggle that you can see in the images, which I didn’t see until many months after the book was done. I think it was a self conscious influence, and also consciously, I was watching the movie ​Gravity over and over again while I was making the book. ML: That’s really inspiring! Yeah, so this is the last question: What are some things you learned during the creation of ​Zentropa that you feel may help other aspiring artists and storytellers? JM: Yeah, the biggest thing is: Life is short. There is no time for self criticism. You don’t really need to self criticize. Just do it. If you enjoy it, that’s all that counts, even if no one else does. My goal was to have 7,000 books in my storage facility. I had no idea that people would respond to it so strongly. So, that will be my advice. Just trust yourself, and if you really enjoy what you’re doing, keep doing it. Even if you don’t think you’ll make a penny from it, or you think nobody else would like it. The gratification you will get from it is incredible. So many doors have opened up, which was not my intention at all from doing this project. So that would be my insider advice to people who might wanna do that. If anyone is interested in getting the book, here is the website: www.theinspirationstation.com

Jehnny Beth - We Will Sin Together via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8WMhLzBU94 // 'We Will Sin Together' comes from Jehnny Beth's debut solo album 'To Love Is To Live.' The album is out now, listen and order here: https://JehnnyBeth.lnk.to/TLITL Written by: Jehnny Beth & Johnny Hostile Created by: Hingston Studio Directed by: Tom Hingston and Markus Lehtonen CG Director of Photography: Markus Lehtonen 3D/CG Motion Design: Markus Lehtonen Edited by: Markus Lehtonen Colourist: Duncan at Process Mocap: Target3D Ashley Keeler – Target3D Director Sam Lawrence – Technical Artist Petros De Doncker – Mocap Technician 3D Scanning: Sample&Hold Sam Jackson Chris Cornish Choreography: Natricia Bernard Dancers: Stevie Mahoney Mina Neighbour Connect with Jehnny Beth: https://www.jehnnybeth.com/ https://www.instagram.com/jehnnybeth/ https://twitter.com/jehnbeth https://www.facebook.com/jehnnybethofficial/ #jehnnybeth #WeWillSinTogether #toloveistolive http://vevo.ly/TLXUYB

OFFF 2019 Open Film ARXIV by Mill+ from OFFF Festival on Vimeo.

Mill+ Director Ilya Abulkhanov opened Offf Barcelona 2019 with the debut of his sci-fi short film ‘ARXIV’. ARXIV (pronounced ‘archive’) is an immersive sci-fi family drama is set in two time frames: the deep future, that is left with no future, and the near future, that will bring about the eventual dystopian collapse of society. Protagonist Lew Aron survives both time frames and is set to discover a potential outlet to confront his innermost desire, or what’s left of it.

Directed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Screenplay by R. John Lewis

Based on Characters Developed by Ilya Abulkhanov

Director of Photography Sean Bagley

Edited by Andy McGraw

Produced by Gabriel Blanco and Elizabeth Newman

Executive Producers Zu Al-Kadiri Phil Crowe Stephen Venning Ian Bearce Enca Kaul Rani Melendez

Cast: Lew Michael Curylo Kelly Britt Harris Doctor K. Gregory Niebel May Vienna Weaver Colleague Elijah Howard Doorman Jon Harris Secretary Lucy Boryer Anchor Azize Erim

Girl Reading Book Linda Aleman Patient Erick Medal Diner Patron Ruth Banks Mataya Diner Patron Willard Riley Diner Patron Michael A. Rubio

Co-Worker Hiwot Yimer Co-Worker Canaan Dewey Co-Worker Victoria Johnson Welder Giovanni Della Pace

Casting by Danielle Eskinazi

Production Designer Evi Ellias

Costume Designer Agga B. Raya

Original Music By Jesse Solomon Clark

Sound Design & Mix by Beacon Street Studios

First Assistant Director Miles Johnstone

Edited by Andy McGraw / Cartel Assistant Scott Beatty Producer Greer Bratschie Executive Producer Lauren Bleiweiss

Associate Producer James Morse

Skyler Wahl Production Coordinator Matt Fulton 2nd Assistant Director Rochely Zapata Production Assistant

Production Sound Mixer Ellie Bootorich

Offline Sound Mix Cyrus Shahmir

Art Department Leila Ryndak Property Master Giovanni Della Pace Leadman Shelby Strong Set Dresser Prerna Chawla Buyer Angel Herrera Shopper

Make-up by Victoria Payne

Camera 1st Assistant Camera Nick Cutway 2nd Assistant Camera / Loader Rob Reaves Key Grip & Gaffer Lev Abrahamian G&E Driver Sam Le Bas G/E Swing Aram Martirosyan and Conor Long

Visual Effects by The Mill

Creative Director Ilya Abulkhanov VFX Supervisor / Project Lead Lee Nelson Art Director Sidney Tan Lead Motion Designer Woosung Kang Technical Director / 2D Lead Justin Sucara 2nd Technical Director Greg Park

Motion Design Artists Taehoon Park Kyle Moore Jan Sladecko Sasha Vinogradova Maxim Goudin Greg Park Anastasia Skrebneva

Post Producer Moira Mahoney Post Production Coordinator Matthew Fulton

VFX Supervisor / Creative Lead James Allen CG Supervisor Manjunath Shivaprasad 2D Supervisor Rakesh Venugopalan Asset Supervisor Anish Mohan Line Producer R Anuraj Production Coordinators Noan John Vinod Nathan Niamehr Mimi Milligan

Fx:
Biswajit Tarafdar

3D Artists:
Kartik Arora
Asis Kumar Mahakhud
Sivasubramanian
Sudakshina Sridharan
Vittal Kuntla
Abdul Rehman
Amit Patil
Asit Midya
Kalidas Patil
 2D Artists Roman Yavorsky Franz Kol Lenz Kol KaiChun Tsai Evan Langley Stephen Paragone Rob Winfield Tim Robbins Gavin Marler Jeff Langlois Alex Candlish Patrick Dirks Lisa Kim Ahmed El-Azma Roger Cerqua Badrinath Chinimilli
P.K. Sajith
Prasanna Bhatt
Ramanjaneyulu Thota
Shivam Shukla
Vinod Gopinathan

Matte Painting Bill Lu Bijo Joy
Jobin Jacob
Netra Mankar
Priyanka Telang

Modeling Joel Kittle

Tracking Michael Lori Elizabeth Hammer Danny Garcia

Rotoscoping & Tracking TRACE

Colorist Adam Scott Color Assistant Logan Highlen

Color Senior Producer Liza Kerlin Color Coordinator Jessica Amburgey

Mural Paintings by Sidney Tan Yi-Jen Liu Hyoyeon Lee

Design Support Eunhae Yoo

Casting Department Danielle Eskinazi / Casting CCDA Casting Assistant Katie O’Connor

Costume Design Assistant Madeline Northway

Title Design by Ilya Abulkhanov
Woosung Kang Taehoon Park Lee Nelson 
Special Thanks Robin Shenfield Dee Allen Chris Harlowe Dan Roberts Chris Knight Glyn Tebbutt

Film Processing by FotoKem Cameras Provided by Keslow Cameras and Robot Heart Co. Shot on Arriflex Cameras and Kodak Film Film Scanning by Technicolor Grip and Electric Equipment Provided by G&J Grip

Reality is overrated. Where would Game of Thrones be without its dragons? Or Stranger Things without the Upside Down? Or Lost in Space without, well, space (and that robot)? Shows like these are unimaginable without computer-generated effects. But not all shows are so heavily dependent on them, and those shows that aren't as dependent on them have their own Emmy category: “Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role.”

Gotham was last year’s winner in this category and is nominated in it once again this year. As visual effects supervisor Thomas Joseph Mahoney told SYFY WIRE, effects work on Gotham can range from matte paintings and city extensions to enhancing explosions and creating Scarecrow’s nasty fear toxin. This year’s nominated episode, “That’s Entertainment,” also involved killing off Jerome and stranding Oswald in a blimp.

So let’s talk about making the blimp. Poor Oswald!

The blimp was a big thing in this episode because we had Oswald and one of Jerome’s cronies flying the blimp, and that all had to be CG. We always talked to the show creators — Danny Cannon, Bruno Heller, and John Stephens — about what they want. There was an actual practical gondola (the part which holds the passengers and crew) that they shot for the interiors of Penguin and the pilot, and so we riffed off those initial designs to make a blimp that’s not quite retro, not quite steampunk, but kind of borrows from both of those.

From there, we just build it in CG, and when we shoot the shots, we tell the actors, “Hey, look up there! There’s a blimp!” And to their credit, they react like there really is a blimp. Ben [McKenzie] and Donal [Logue] are really good at pretending something is there, when there’s not.

Do you ever get to suggest visual effects ideas which aren’t already scripted?

I think the final pullout on Penguin would qualify. I don’t think we were initially planning to come out nearly as wide. We were going to just come out wide enough to show that he was in a blimp in the sky. And during the editorial process, we have what’s called a visual effects spotting session, and we put our heads together and we said, “Oh, come on! We should just keep pulling out until we see buildings in the foreground, the river, and the bridge.”

Everyone got on board with that and thought it was a great idea. I’m certainly not taking credit for that, because I don’t remember who first suggested it, but when we were spitballing ideas, we said we were going to keep pulling out until we see all of Gotham. It’s more comedic to leave Penguin screaming in the gondola, and it also gave us a chance to see Gotham in all its glory.

Do you walk around New York looking for things that could be Gothamized?

Always. [Laughs] Early on, Danny Cannon and Bruno Heller said to us that Gotham should always feel like there’s a storm coming, so we always start with that feeling. Gotham is not a blue sky, happy place like Metropolis might be. We even tried to ramp that up a little bit over this season. So that’s our first step – trying to get the atmosphere. At night, we tend to have a moon with clouds around it.

Whenever I’m in New York City, I look around and say, “That’s a good Gotham building. That’s not a good Gotham building.” Even when we’re shooting, I’ll look in the background and say, “That building? We can add to it and make it cool, make it Gotham.” The Chrysler Building is a good Gotham building, but that’s too recognizable. The Empire State Building is a relatively good Gotham building. But glass-and-steel structures like the new World Trade Center, that’s definitely not Gotham.

Anything with a modern feel is not Gotham. Water towers are very Gotham. Brownstones are very Gotham. But square blocked-off cement buildings are not Gotham. A lot of lower Manhattan, before you get into the Financial District, is very Gotham.

We refer to the style internally as gothic Art Deco. It’s the 1920s, 1930s architectural feel, but really gothic with spires and gargoyles. We often do use existing buildings and make them weathered, or add to them. We also create complete, whole CG buildings from scratch. My hope is that anyone who lives in New York looks at Gotham and goes, “I kind of recognize it, but it doesn’t quite feel like New York, either.” If people who live in New York don’t recognize it as New York, then we’ve done a good job as far as I’m concerned.

Paisley Park, in this episode, is just under the Manhattan Bridge. We didn’t do much to it for the down angles. But when you see up, we changed the sky a great deal and we added buildings in the background. If you look with a real keen eye, you’ll see it’s the same place we shoot a lot of the exteriors for the Gotham police department.

One of the seminal moments in this episode is when Jeremiah breathes the gas and becomes the Joker…

We always tend to be aware of those big moments, and we always try to put our best foot forward when they come up. And the Scarecrow gas is always fun to do. Once Scarecrow puts his emitters up in somebody’s face, we track it with fluid simulation software. It’s all computer-generated, including when it collides with somebody’s face and swirls around. We have people dedicated to doing just that. It’s tricky, because you’re simulating how steam and smoke act in the real world. If we don’t do it quite right, it doesn’t feel right. There’s a lot of nuance to it.

When Jerome dies, how did you shoot it? Was he hanging over a real alleyway on wires, and you did wire removal? Or did you shoot it on a green screen?

When Jerome falls to his death, it’s a big showdown between him and Gordon, and Gordon has to shoot him to prevent him from dropping the gas. Then he has his last moments where he’s more or less getting in his last licks in at Gordon, where he basically lets him know that he’s got a plan in place which will happen whether he lives or dies. Gordon’s a human being, so he’s trying to save him, too – he’s not just going to let him die.

But the way we do those, we shot Cameron Monaghan over a green screen. He’s only up maybe two feet. Then we took photography of the area around the space this takes place in this episode, and we build a 3-D replica of that, so we can put him into a 3D version of the alleyway where he falls into. The invisible effects like that are the most fun, when people don’t realize we did anything. Then you feel like a magician, like you fooled somebody!