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.

Next, Williams moves on to Hydraulx, the company that created visual effects on movies such as “Terminator 3,” “X-Men 3” and “Aliens vs. Predator 2: Requiem,” for a crash course in how the latest visual effects and CGI are created. Finally, Williams stops at Doggicam Systems where Academy Award®-winner Gary Thieltges demonstrates an amazing inventory of camera mounts that have been used in movies such as “The Dark Knight.” There Williams slips on a body-mounted camera to experience firsthand a simulated chase.

Future episode topics include: a sneak peek into creating the miniatures used in “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian;” demonstrating the camera crane technology that is used in “The Fast and the Furious” franchise; and even a lesson in crime scene reality simulation from Showtime’s popular TV series, “Dexter.”

Learn more by visiting the official series website where you’ll also find a list of the Top 10 FX Scenes ever created.

Science of the Movies premieres on Tuesday, May 26 on The Science Channel which is part of the Discovery Channel family of networks.

Photo courtesy of The Science Channel

Post from: SF Universe

It Came from Beneath the Sea and  Earth vs. the Flying Saucers will both debut on January 15 with all new audio commentaries, tons of bonus features and an interview with the special effects master himself.

Both movies have been previously released on DVD but not colorized and not with so many extras.  If you’re not a fan of the colorization process, fear not, as the original black & white versions are included as well.

Take a look at the amazing special features:

It Came From Beneath The Sea

The first collaboration between special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen and producer Charles H. Schneer stars Kenneth Tobey (The Thing From Another World), Faith Domergue (This Island Earth), Donald Curtis (Earth vs. The Flying Saucers) and Ian Keith (The Ten Commandments)as a giant octopus attacks San Francisco.

Complete DVD Special Features :

• Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen, Arnold Kunert, Randy Cook and John Bruno
• Featurette: Ray Harryhausen on It Came From Beneath The Sea
• Video Photo Galleries
• Featurette: Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen
• A Video Discussion of It Came From Beneath the Sea’s 1955 marketing and advertising campaign by producer Arnold Kunert
• Featurette: David Schecter on Film Music’s Unsung Hero
• Featurette: A Present Day Look at Stop-Motion
• Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book It Came from Beneath the Sea…Again!

Earth vs. The Flying Saucers

With ground breaking visual effects techniques, this was the second of several collaborations between producer Charles H. Schneer and special effects wizard Ray Harryhausen. The film about the invasion of earth and destruction of Washington D.C. was masterfully directed by Fred F. Sears (Crash Landing) and stars Joan Taylor (20 Million Miles to Earth), Hugh Marlowe (The Day the Earth Stood Still), Donald Curtis (The Ten Commandments) and Morris Ankrum (Invaders from Mars).

Complete DVD Special Features:

• Audio Commentary by Ray Harryhausen, Arnold Kunert, Jeff Okun, Ken Ralston
• Featurette: Ray Harryhausen on Earth vs. The Flying Saucers
• Featurette: A Present Day Look at Stop-Motion
• Featurette: The Colorization Process
• Featurette: Original Screenplay Credits
• Video Photo Galleries
• Featurette: Tim Burton Sits Down with Ray Harryhausen
• Advertising Artwork video montage of film’s ad materials by Producer Arnold Kunert
• Featurette: Interview with Joan Taylor
• Featurette: David Schecter on Film Music’s Unsung Hero
• Featurette: The Hollywood Blacklist and Bernard Gordon
• Sneak Peek of Digital Comic Book Flying Saucers vs. the Earth

If you’re a fan of Harryhausen or classic scifi films in general, both of these are worth the buy even if you already own them on DVD.  The Tim Burton talks to Harryhausen interview alone is worth the price and even if you’re not a fan of colorization, give these films a try, you may be pleasantly surprised.
It Came from Beneath the Sea and  Earth vs. the Flying Saucers are available for order now so you can have them as soon as they’re released on January 15.

Post from: SF Universe