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

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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.

Terminator Salvation takes place in 2018, 14 years after the nuclear attack that ended the previous Terminator trilogy. Producer Moritz Borman, who also served as an executive producer on Terminator 3, remarks, “From the start, we made a conscious decision that just as the previous films had been set in the timeframe we know today, Terminator Salvation would begin to reveal the future that had only been glimpsed in the earlier movies. So we’re jumping to the time when Kyle Reese is still a teenager and they have not yet discovered what we know comes next, mainly the time travel that set the story in motion. In this film, we are finally in the midst of the war that was forewarned, and we can watch Connor’s rise to become the head of the resistance.”

“In Terminator Salvation,” says star Christian Bale, “Skynet is dominant but still in a state of evolution. Humans are definitely on the out. Their backs are against the wall and their circumstances are desperate. This is the last, final effort for the survival of mankind.”

“Everything is difficult for humans now,” McG attests. “It’s difficult to get food, difficult to get energy. Everything is depleted. And you’re always being hunted.”

Nevertheless, Borman states, “There has to be hope for humanity. There has to be something in the way that they live that shows they believe there will be a future after the machines, that the world might rise again out of the ashes. And their hope is, of course, pinned to John Connor.”

Marcus Wright (SAM WORTHINGTON) stands in front of what remains of the Hollywood sign post-Judgment Day in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action/sci-fi feature “Terminator Salvation,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release, also starring Christian Bale.

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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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.

Sam Worthington showed up with Natalie Mark on his arm and there’s Anton Yelchin in his second big flick of the season. He also stars as Chekov in the new Star Trek movie.

Terminator Salvation opens on May 21

Photos: PRPhotos.com

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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.

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This guy has developed the Connor family knack for dealing with multiple Terminators and somehow not getting killed.

Meanwhile, Cameron and Sarah try to impress the members of the startup company in order to carry out their mission.

No pressure, it’s just the future of mankind depending on them and all.

©2008 FOX Broadcasting Co. CR: Frank Ockenfels/FOX

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Entering the contest is simple, just leave a comment on this post. The contest will close November 3 at 9 p.m. central. The entries are limited to one per person and you must a leave a valid e-mail address so we can reach you. This contest is only valid for residents of the US and Canada.

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If those numbers hold up they would put the critically-acclaimed premiere behind NBC’s Deal or No Deal and probably behind the ESPN cable broadcast of Monday Night Football. (Those numbers weren’t immediately available.) But it’s expected that much of Monday’s programming finished behind MNF.That game was the Green Bay Packers’ first without legendary quarterback Brett Favre. Thus, it had promotion coming either directly or indirectly from just about every sports news/talk show airing over the past three months.

Fast forwarding, midseason games with one or both teams out of the playoff race will surely not hold the same ratings thrall. However, Chronicles was Fox’s highest rated show Monday night, surpassing its much publicized hit Prison Break. Zap2It notes that Fox won the demographic advertisers care about the most, the coveted 18-49 group. Yay for conspicuous consumption!

©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Yarish/FOX

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The Hollywood Reporter

Their music’s OK but I didn’t know she acted. But since the second season hasn’t aired yet, I guess I still don’t know that she can act. Apparently she will play Catherine Weaver, chief executive at a tech company. I’m going to go out on a limb and say her company makes a product that will lead to the formation of Skynet and the end of the human world. Stupid girl.

©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Desmond/FOX

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One of the most promising new shows of the strike-shortened 2008 TV season will return as The Hollywood Reporter confirms Fox has ordered 13 more episodes of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The offshoot from the well-known Terminator film franchise debuted in January and was the highest-rated new scripted show among adults 18-49, drawing an average of 10 million viewers. Fox is also believed to be high on the show because of the promotional opportunities it presents the fourth Terminator film. That movie will star Christian Bale as John Connor and is set in the future controlled by the machines.

The season finale, which ended in a cliffhanger that saw Summer Glau’s Cameron character (a nod to visionary director James Cameron) blasted with a car bomb, brought in good numbers. I’m excited about this as I thought this show was really well done. I can’t wait to see what they can come up with now that they’re going to be around for a while.

©2007 Fox Broadcasting Co. CR: Jill Greenberg/FOX

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My faith in humankind has been restored. TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello has discovered that Sarah Connor Chronicles has quietly been hiring staffers. The show is pulling in directors for the first three episodes, despite no official confirmation from Fox that there will be a second season.

The season finale did numbers that impressed network brass and the show could serve as a centerpiece for promoting a fourth Terminator film coming in 2009.

If the show is back, that is absolutely the right call. They did a lot of great work under some abnormal circumstances. For those of you that haven’t seen it, pick up the DVD when it comes out and decide for yourself. I’m jazzed to see what this cast can do with a full sophomore season. I’m pulling out all my black clothing and speaking in post-apocalyptic tones of voice in celebration.

©2008 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Michael Desmond/FOX

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