Who better to spill the beans on the new Turtles movie than the SFX supervisor?
This one took place a few weeks before the US release of the film.
It also took place with other journalists.
It was a roundtable interview with three other journalists from various different parts of the world.
What made you push yourself the most on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and why?
I think thats the most difficult thing that we had to overcome.
The reason is because these four turtles are carrying the movie.
If we dont have the Turtles we dont have a movie, right?
We found that out when we were designing them and putting them together.
That is something that we all kind of discovered when we were in dailies.
Looking at the picture and saying Well thats not… that doesnt look like Mikey.
Well, how come?
Its because you also find out where to put the camera and how to light it.
Theres something that happened to me on other movies.
Hes a very well-known actor.
He said ahh, there it is!
Same thing happens with these characters.
We found that looking down on them is not a very good angle.
Its usually a three quarter angle that is good.
Side light and back light is good, but front light is not that good.
I think thats a great question*.
That is part of the reason why we decided to go with a system that is editable.
If you cant do that, you cant have a movie that is funny.
We kind of just finished.
Thats also a difference between this and other systems.
Theres not the one camera over here thats standard definition.
What kind of input did Michael Bay give you?
Well, Michael did give us a lot of input.
When it comes to aesthetics, hes a master at framing, blocking, sequencing.
He has a specific aesthetic for those kinds of things.
So, dodging the camera, moving the camera three-sixty around the characters.
Especially because you have four characters.
Thats a very, very difficult thing to do, when youre blocking four actors.
Its really difficult for a director to pay attention to what the four are doing.
So the idea is just to change the camera around.
Michael is a master at that.
That is also why the system had to be editable.
Thats also the reason why it was so important for us to edit performances.
Did you take any visual reference from the old TV show?
We did take a look at all the comic books.
In fact, I met Eastman.
He was on the set a couple of times and I was talking to him a lot.
We did take a look at all the history of it.
you could do all kinds of things just for that specific frame, because youre telling that specific story.
And then you move on to the next storyboard.
In movies thats not so.
Its not just taking the graphic novel and making it a frame.
Otherwise it looks like a puppet show.
Thats the main reason.
There was a recasting about four months ago, where Johnny Knoxville came in.
From an animation point of view, was that difficult to facilitate?
Because our system is so flexible, we were able to key frame that in.
I just ask because with the performance capture, its such a personalised system.
So, you were just able to remodel the mouth?
But I mean, it wasnt a big deal because we knew we had to be flexible.
I have a question about the texture of the skin, because it has to be quite Turtleish.
Can you tell us about that?
Well, we did take a look at a bunch of different references from real life.
We tried to make the four different Turtles look really different from each other.
So there are some markings on every one of the Turtles, but theyre different from each other.
We went reptilian and we went a little bit wet, or sweaty especially towards the end battle.
There are some areas that are redder because their blood is red.
Thats what happens to us too, right?
So around the nose and places where theres a little bit of flesh, there the light gets warm.
So, even though they are green, theres a little bit of warmth in there.
What is the risk of making a movie of this nature?
Thats part of doing innovation, right?
I mean, you have a pretty good idea of what you do and you take a risk.
But thats the good thing about working at ILM; theres really great artists.
And then, things work.
So, yeah, there is a lot of risk.
But I think when you have that as your priority, you could do it.
How long have you been working on this film?
Its gonna be three years.
Its really a very interesting property, just because its so outrageous.
In my business youre always looking for whats original?
I mean, come on.
The idea is to take a look at that thing and make it new.
So, its been a long time.
When youre thinking about committing to a three year project, is that a difficult decision to make?
Well, its usually about two years for me.
And then be on location.
And then, come back for post-production.
In this case, its part of the risk, too.
How do we do this?
So I say Okay, well, we need to capture the data.
Well, what does that mean?
That means that you oughta direct the actors and you oughta be married to those performances.
Cause if you dont, were not going to make it.
That was kind of like the original premise, right?
Well, guess what?
It went away, because then we did exactly that.
And thats basically what we do.
Thank you, Pablo Helman.
