X-MEN-FIRST CLASS Blu-ray | ©2011 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
At a press event this week on the 20th Century lot, the studio previewed the special features on their new X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Blu-ray release which hits stores today.
Set in the 1960s, FIRST CLASS focuses on the friendship between Professor Xavier (James McAvoy) and Erik Lehnsherr aka Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and the formation of the X-Men.
After the event, ASSIGNMENT X was granted an exclusive interview with that movie’s visual effects designer John Dykstra to chat about re-inventing the X-MEN movie franchise and which character didn’t quite make the cut this time out. Plus, he gave his thoughts on George Lucas’ constant tinkering with his STAR WARS films.
ASSIGNMENT X: I felt what made FIRST CLASS stand-out was that the visual effects really felt more organic than in previous movies.
JOHN DYKSTRA: It had a different style and we got to use that style to inform the methods that we used and the look that we created for the characters. We didn’t limit the access to technology. We didn’t degrade things on purpose. In fact, to a certain extent the improvements that have occurred in technology allowed us to give it a more organic feel. One of the things that CGI stuff doesn’t do particularly well is organic. There is random invents involved and computers don’t like random events.
AX: When CGI first happened, everyone was worried it would destroy the special make-up effects industry and stunts, but now people are using it as a tool to mix and match old school and new school techniques.
DYKSTRA: It’s a weird balance between art and business. Ultimately films and filmmakers are in the business of making movies to make money. When you create an effect, what you’re trying to do is to get across a point that’s being made in the story and what you should do is do it in as spare a way as possible. Too much enthusiasm can end up making the visual stand out from the rest of the movie or bringing the viewer to the realization that they’re in a theater somehow. What’s critical is an integration of whatever it is you’re trying to create in the story in a way that doesn’t call attention to itself. The best visual effects are the ones you don’t see.
AX: Were there any hurdles on X-MEN of things or characters you could or couldn’t do?
DYKSTRA: It’s always open to interpretation. The written page is not an image. When you pursue doing the characters, what you do is you figure out what that character should look like first, create artwork and discuss what the character is supposed to be and then figure out how you’re going to do it. You just eliminate the characters in terms of options that you don’t have a means to create. In contemporary times, you can come up with a solution for almost anything. If you can conceive of it, you can create it. You can make it a pixel at a time. Just because you can do it, doesn’t mean it’s good.
AX: Was there a character that you almost did for the film?
DYKSTRA: There was another character we were thinking about doing. I think it was Sunspot. We decided that the effort it would take to create him didn’t support the role that he had in telling of the story.
AX: They’re re-releasing STAR WARS films in 3D and having worked on the original film, I’m curious your take on George Lucas continually modifying and augmenting the films. Do you feel they should be living, breathing forms.
DYKSTRA: It’s a movie. Look at what happens on the Internet. Kids take music videos and make their own mash-ups and some of it is really brilliant. If only we were all fortunate enough to be able to go back and take the work we had created and upgrade it. Hats off to a guy who can do that.
AX: Are you looking forward to seeing the 3D interpretations of those films?
DYKSTRA: I’m not that in love with 3D. That’s just me. That’ s because I’m an old fart.
Click on Link: Lucas Till interview on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
Click on Link: Lauren Shuler-Donner on the status of THE WOLVERINE sequel movie starring Hugh Jackman
Click on Link: Lauren Shuler-Donner on X-MEN: FIRST CLASS sequel and Blu-ray
Click on Link: Lauren Shuler-Donner on the status of the DEADPOOL spin-off movie starring Ryan Reynolds
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Click on link: for AX’s Interview with X-MEN: FIRST CLASS composer Henry Jackman
Click on link: for AX’s X-MEN: FIRST CLASS movie review
Click on link: for AX’s Professor X of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Magneto of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Mystique of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Beast of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Havok of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Banshee of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Angel Salvadore of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Sebastian Shaw of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Emma Frost of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Azazel of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Darwin of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Moira MacTaggert of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Click on link: for AX’s Riptide of X-MEN FIRST CLASS – Things You Need to Know
Article Source: Assignment X
Article: Exclusive Interview with X-MEN: FIRST CLASS visual effects designer John Dykstra
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