From motion capture to computerized camera moves to the construction of a real live “fake” crime scene - science and technology play a huge part in all of our favorite TV shows and movies. Want in on how it all works? The Science Channel has just the show for you. It’s called Science of the Movies and it premieres this Tuesday, May 26th.

The series is hosted by Nar Williams, the Geek-in-Chief at AchieveNerdvana.com. He’s going to take you behind the scenes and give you a close up look at all how individual scenes were actually made. You’ll get to see the latest visual effects equipment and listen in on interviews with artists, stuntmen and directors on everything from Star Wars to Dexter.

In the first episode, Williams interviews Academy Award-winning special effects pioneer John Dykstra who invented the Dykstraflex – a motion control rig used to blow up the Death Star in “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.” Williams then gets up close, and maybe a little too personal, with the most used modern motion control system in the business today: Milo. Milo captures precise shots so that two or more scenes can be composited together to create one fluid moment, and is most famous for creating the “spidysense” scene in the first “Spider-Man” film.

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Terminator Salvation, the newest installment of the blockbuster franchise, hit theaters this weekend and it already has 13 million dollars in the war chest. According to Variety, Salvation is expected to top 60 million putting it a few notches above the last movie in the series.

Certainly darker than the earlier flicks, Terminator Salvation takes us into another world.

“I didn’t want to shoot actors against green screens; I wanted them reacting to physical Terminators,” says director, McG. “I wanted the desolate American West–an expanse that suggests a world of hardship, so you could taste it and feel it. Because the bombs have gone off and damaged the ozone, the sky’s a bit of a different color. Earth has a different quality, and you immediately realize something is wrong.”

Wrong, doesn’t begin to cover it.

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The future may look bleak for John Connor and his pals, but last night they were having the time of their lives as they walked the red carpet for the Terminator Salvation premiere.

It all happened at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles where even the metal monsters laid down their arms for the night.

McG looked bright and cheery in purple while Bryce Dallas Howard went with this mod, artsy dress. Next over is Christian Bale posing for pics.

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Now that Star Trek is off and running, it’s time to aim that arrow at Terminator Salvation!  The movie opens on May 21st, until then here are five things you can do to fuel your fire for this new chapter in the Terminator saga.

1. Check out a ton of new images from the movie over at Film Gecko.

2. Enter to win a cool Terminator prize pack from MovieTickets.com.

3. Watch the 4 minute extended trailer. Then watch it again.

4. Download the Terminator Salvation game app for your iPhone.

5. Visit the official Terminator Salvation website for more great photos, games, downloads and other goodies.

Have you got a favorite Terminator Salvation website or article? Leave the link in the comments section. The survival of the whole human race may depend on.

Photo Credits: TM and (c) 2008 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

With all the Star Trek hype in the air, it’s easy to forget that a second huge scifi franchise movie will be coming out in a few weeks. It’s Terminator Salvation and it bows on May 21. In the meantime, Apple.com has just put up a four minute trailer to remind you that there’s much more to come.

CHRISTIAN BALE stars as John Connor in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action/sci-fi feature “Terminator Salvation,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo by Richard Foreman

Shock Til You Drop is reporting that Thomas Dekker is in final talks to join the Nightmare on Elm Street reboot. Dekker is best known for his role as John Connor on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and he would be one of a growing number of TV stars taking on classic horror remakes (can you say Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles?). Personally, I love Thomas but I’d have to pass as Elm Street is just too scary for me!

The only thing scarier than Freddy Krueger is a future without pizza!

Pizza Hut has teamed up with Terminator Salvation for a cool contest that could land you at the premiere. Other prizes include a life-sized Terminator T-600 model, Terminator Xbox® consoles and games Terminator collectibles.

Click here to enter and watch video clips from the movie.

PRN / PR Photos

Warner Brothers has released a big, new trailer for Terminator Salvation which hits theaters May 21.

Since the entire franchise is built around a time travel loop, it’s hard to say if this is a prequel, sequel or parallel pic! What I can tell you is that it’s huge. The scope of this film is unlike any that have gone before, mostly due to the fact that it’s set in post-apocalyptic 2018. John Connor (Christian Bale) is all grown up now and he’s leading the human resistance against Skynet.

I’m going out on a limb here now and saying, I’m not sure I’m going to like this one. From a production standpoint it’s obviously superior, but I’m concerned that the attention to the special effects (the Terminators, the war, the whole new world) will take away from the humanity that was such a big part of the original movies. To me, the whole reason Terminator works is because no matter how sophisticated you make a machine, it’s still a machine. That gap between the metal and the skin (as they say on Sarah Connor) really delivered both emotionally and comically in the originals and I’m worried that we won’t get that from this movie.

Take a look at the new trailer and tell me what you think.

In between the NY Comic Con and the San Diego ComicCon comes WonderCon in San Francisco. Plenty of scifi and fantasy stars were on hand to talk about their projects new and old including folks from both the TV version of Terminator, The Sarah Connor Chronicles and the new film Terminator Salvation.

Here’s Summer Glau and Shirley Manson along with Terminator Salvation director McG who is on the phone with Christian Bale. (And did you see Shirley on Chelsea Lately last week? She gives away what could be a slight spoiler depending how you interpret her remarks – I’m sure you can find it on the web if you look around.)

Next up is Bryce Dallas Howard, Common and Anton Yelchin (Kyle Reese) of Terminator Salvation

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Hey, being the savior of humanity is not an easy task. But Halcyon Games wants to know if you’re up for it and they’ll test you in the new game based on Terminator:Salvation.

Right now it’s slated to hit stores May 22 to coincide with the movie’s release. If this sounds like something you might be into, it’s Gamepro’s March 2009 cover story.

The game is actually a prequel to the movie but the popular gaming mag promises tidbits about the movie and the game. I’ve got my fingers crossed for this one. You know most licensed movie games are not so good. Seriously, make this game good or Christian Bale will get angry. And you really, really would not like Christian when he’s angry.

Image: Bauer Griffin

Sony has released a cool — or should I say hot — flash poster for the new Terminator movie, Terminator: Salvation.

Click here to check it out.