It looks like the upcoming Wachowski-helmed Speed Racer film will take place in a CGI world. We get the news from comingsoon via Empire Online:
Empire Online talked to star Emile Hirsch, who broke the news:
“Nope, it’s all green screen,” Hirsch told us. “There were no sets, just us and the green background. I haven’t seen anything of it finished yet, there was a lot of trust [in the Wachowskis] involved. It’s going to be crazy. Was the monkey real? Yes.”
After seeing 300, I am certainly less pensive about all green screen films. It is getting harder for me to notice the difference, at least enough for me not to be distracted from the story. The Wachowskis are no stranger to the green screen, and this should be fairly straightforward for them.
The hardest part to sell when it comes to CGI backgrounds is actor interaction. I do not blame the actors for this, how hard would it be to play off of a set that doesn’t exist. You have to rely on description, and when the set is otherworldly – a point of reference would be hard to find.
With the entire Speed Racer world being animated sometimes i wonder why they just don’t make the project a cartoon. It just seems like a lot of work to have everything fake but the actors. Speed Racer was also a TV show so I don’t think that the fans would mind much if it was an animated film.
Post Beowulf I am wondering if we will see more CGI characters. WIll they ever be able to get so realistic that we do not need humans at all? Perhaps they will one day have robot actors and real backgrounds, or robot actors and fake backgrounds. One way or another the robots are coming; the Wachowskis know this and are appeasing them with servitude. Green screen is a slippery slope that ends in robocracy.
I hope this will be a kid-friendly movie.
I hear that the doctor from LOST is in this movie… I hope we get to see him shirtless on he big screen.
I hope movies don’t take this shit overboard, although it seems to be the trend nowadays.
I heard they’re using Green Screen to gear up for their
“top secret” SCI FI movie.
http://www.x-human.net/dreamscapesaxis.shtml
and dammit doug u got me cursin wit your brilliant ass posts……DOWN WITH THE ROBOCRACY….lol
i agree wit phil…….a little…..for real the green screen shit looks cool…..but it takes away something from the movie……now i would love to see some speed racer shit with real fuckin cars……that would give me a speed boner more than seeing fake cars……
thats what made deathproof so good…..the car scenes were done with real vehicles which added intensity to the scene……seeing Zoë on the hood of a cgi of green screen car would take away from the movie……thats why my dream speed racer would be all love action with cgi put end for truly insane scenes wit speed’s car jumpin over shit…..but id rather see fuckin real car chases and real car crashes….but thats just me
I hope this trend doesn’t spread too far. I agree that it doesn’t affect the story but i just don’t respond as well to the world it takes place in if it’s all fake. I’m not ashamed to say that i actually prefer Phantom Menace to Attack of the Clones because, at least Episode 1 uses some actual sets and outdoor locations.
I can make an exception for Speed Racer though. From what i understand, this film is literally going to look like the cartoon and you can’t do that without CG. I’m very intrigued about it.
I must say that I am genuinely excited that this will be all green screen. Brilliant move that should make for a great stylistic approach to Speed. But what about Chim Chim??
Doug, you may want to tighten that tin foil hat :)
Speed Racer is going to be fucked up, in a good way.
It be interesting to see what detail they will go into with the green screen with audience and other cars that are going to be racing.