'Heat Ray' seen in the CGI test

[jeffwaynefan]

Erm, don't know what to make of it.

The 'Heat Ray' as Well's describes is to an effect invisible, the album cover is not, so that's that really. But the CGI test reveals a 'newer' sort of Ray - it's fluid in movement, like water.

Watch the CGI footage again and as the machine moves, the Heat Ray when being fired moves with the machine like water from a high pressure hose. . I can't say I can get use to this as to me it does not appear right.

H_C

[flynnsixtysix]

yeah but just imagine when it start ripping into the hull of the thunderchild - all that unstoppable fat lovely molten orangey death

Beats the crap out of the ( frankly let's be honest) shower of sparks affair from Georgey Pal's movie.

And as 'authentic' as an invisible 'heat wave' maybe - beam weapons are cool and they are the gift of death that keep on giving!!!

rewind - see it again - thunderchild burns - rewind - see it again - thunderchild burns - rewind - see it awain...

WOO HOO!!

[flynnsixtysix]

Horsell - please advise Jeff to make a T-shirt and get it on his site asap...

It should have the album cover art and the words

2006 - EYES and EARS AT THE READY!!

I'll see to it personally that I am seen everywhere in it!!

[Coolyazz]

Hi I'm new here! Regarding the look of the heat ray, to me it looks exactly like Michael Trim's depiction. More a super heated plasma type of look. I suppose the machine could switch from quick precision stabs - like a laser, to full flowing sweeps of the landscape!

[timeship2]

I find that white fluid motion of the heatray looks decidely dodgy to me, especially with the shape of the front of the machine! ;D

A friend of mine had a look at it. He liked the animation but said "it looks a little 'primitive' by todays standards, don't you think?" I guess he is referring to the Pixar and Dreamworks animation studios. I said I imagine it should look better in the actual movie itself.

What do others here think?

[twistedrabbit]

The animation quality is good...no doubt about that. This is test footage as well...so there's a lot of room to grow.
The Polar Express wasn't a film much to be looked at, and Shark Tale was sort of under par...still, both entertaining movies, but Jeff's musical will kick the socks off of both of them!

I think the general buggy look of Jeff's tripod design makes it look a little strange...it's almost as if someone would expect those eyes to move and blink...
And I have to agree with flynn...seeing the fluid heatray pummel into the side of an ironclad and melting, burning, cutting it apart would be extremely sweet.

[jeffwaynefan]

Timeship said:

I find that white fluid motion of the heatray looks decidely dodgy to me, especially with the shape of the front of the machine! ;D

A friend of mine had a look at it. He liked the animation but said "it looks a little 'primitive' by todays standards, don't you think?" I guess he is referring to the Pixar and Dreamworks animation studios. I said I imagine it should look better in the actual movie itself.

What do others here think?

Lets not forget this is only a 'test' footage and with 2 years still to come before we see the final look of the film, now doubt changes will be made. Primitive would not be the word I would use, baring in mind that the budget for this film is set at $48 million.

H_C

[timeship2]

Lets not forget this is only a 'test' footage and with 2 years still to come before we see the final look of the film, now doubt changes will be made. Primitive would not be the word I would use, baring in mind that the budget for this film is set at $48 million.

Yes that's what I told him that it was just a test piece. Still he did like the concept and said as long as the music they use is the original and not the new mixed versions.

I have always wondered what the machines would look like in motion. This more than makes up for the fact that I never saw the original promo animation :-D

[flynnsixtysix]

well I think they've got a real understanding of the physics going on.
I love the way the stream 'kinks' as the main body of the machine moves and the ripple moves down the stream or the main body is turning and firing one way whilst the legs are still generally moving in another.

There is a fine attention to detail here even as it stands - flare glow on the front when the heat ray spurts it's menace is a nice but effective touch. The metal is a little bit tarnished and the feet are really slamming down with each step which given the slightly precarious nature of the beast when one leg is lifted is good and accurate physics.

Also bear in mind this is on a black background. If you've ever checked out the firsts on Shrek 2 DVD where shrek is walking in 'space' you'll see your focus of attention is amplified to shrek and it seems so much more 'irreal'.
Whe the background elements, the principle focus of the scene, the music and effects are brought in it will be mesmerising.

I hope they keep the original star wars philsophy of a 'lived in world' in their minds and make sure that these things get dirty, acquire dents, worn and lived in look about things etc.
Most CGI can benefit from a bit of scrubbing, scruffing and grubbying...

[ArmoredTrackLayer]

I like this, reminds me of Napalm coming outta a flame thrower, which is what I always thought of the heat ray looking like

[jeffwaynefan]

If they are going to keep the Heat Ray looking like 'fluid', one good feature I reckon could work is when the Ray is turned off. As the beam is cut, the end (tail) could sag/drop with bits showering down.

H_C

[the Donal]

I think I'm with you there H_C. Perhaps it could be a little narrower at the funnel and spread, also I think there should be more spray when the machine turns.

If the beam is going to be parallel, perhaps it should fire and disappear faster- more like a laser, using both bursts of fire or a constant beam. I think that, though it works well with the machine's movement, the way the beam kinks doesn't look quite right- too much of a painterly look rather than a realistic one. Hence my belief that it is just there to comlete the test of the machine firing- I think that it will be tweaked for the final production.

[x200]

not to be already nitpicking what people have said (im stilll downloading the clip..

but anyone who had the jeff wayne PC game, have already seen this so discribed liquid heatray.. not the actual gameplay itself.. but rather in the pre game movies.. introduction and the ending sequence. .

I was suprised to see the heatray resemble that of a hose.. but it made a little more sence than a quick firing laser effect.. given that it had to be concentrated onto the steam locomotive (FMs standing over the railway track in the introduction) for a short while before the engines boiler overheated and exploded.. along with the first 2 carrages. which.. took less time to explode into flames.. I quite think it was a realistic version of a heat ray.. rather than a directed energy weapon such as a laser.. it had an alien look to it.. but also at the same time.. wasnt too different from modern day flame throwers and or plasma/thermite weaponry.. the FM also recoiled when firing the weapon, as it water pressure type effects were experienced

oh yeah, and one must point out.. that the ending sequence and a little part of that introduction.. already showed the JW fighting machines in full fluid walking motion.. both at high speed. .marching from the cylinder.. and the slow stalking of a fighting machine approaching big ben

wish I had the game to take a screenshot of.. but im sure people on this board can do that

[Rob]

I've been thinking that maybe the heat ray could be super pressurized plasma in the form of a gas. Imagine if the gas is powered out of the heat ray at immense pressure it would look like a hazy solid stream of heat. The effects of super heated plasma at a massive speed would be incredable, and it may explain the green gas coming out of the martians, it's gas that has cooled and no longer needed.

Just a crazy thought

[flynnsixtysix]

yeah, I can see what your saying Rob.

That would give it the clean burn of a gas rather than the sticky jam like liquid 'solid' of a napalm system. Then the 'heat disruption' is the destructive element in itself rather like the tip of a bunsen burner super heating in seconds than say a 'fuel based' covering..

[themotile]

The book is open to interpretation for everyone, I always thought that when the narrator describes the heatray as invisible he means that when hes running away he cant see the death that stalks them all accross the common as it behind him and hes not turning around to have a peek! The artilery man later says its was like lightning, in his eyes a beam of fusion plasma would be like lightning, gas heated to the point of almost becoming energy and squirted out a magnetc tube, they could even suck in air from the atmosphere and use that as fuel for the weapon.
As soon as a tripod fell on the water the heatray exploded, did it suck in water instead of gas? which leads me back to Jeff Wayne, will he use the thunder child from the album cover?

[the Donal]

Are you thinking of the line "Bows and arrows against the lighning?" -I always took this to be metaphorical. Also, the narrator has plenty of opportunities to see the heat ray at work, yet it is never otherwise described as anything other than invisible.

Personally, I always thought of the heat ray in the book as more of a laser style weapon- this is generally invisible as there is no real off-axis light radiation unless it passes through gases etc. A laser can also emit a continuous beam. It would also explain the wobbling mirror being used as an aiming device, but as has been pointed out elsewhere, this could just be a periscope for the martians to look around and guard the cylinder.So advanced, yet so primitive!!

Anyway, Jeff Wayne's version is very stylised and not entirely faithful to the book, so as long as it looks good- and it certainly does already, I'll be happy and my pants will be pappy! ;D (must remember here- take a spare pair to the cinema.....)

[almonkey]

having just watched the clip again it seems to me to look like war footage of flak or tracer fire that is described as "snaking" due to the fact that as the weapon moves each round is travelling along a diferent path. which if i follow this through means that the heat ray is more like a flame thrower than a laser ( think of WW2 film of guns fireing at bombers caught in searchlights, the tracer "snakes" but the searchlights don't) of course i am prepared to accept that its some unknown martian technology!