Q&A - 'Envious-Eyes' - Jeff Wayne R&D Footage

[jeffwaynefan]

The very talented Craig Crane and colleagues of 'Envious-Eyes Ltd' based here in the U.K, the guys behind the stunning Research & Development (R&D) footage seen on WOTWOnline have kindly agreed to speak 'EXCLUSIVELY' with WOTWOnline & the 'official' Jeff Wayne site www.thewaroftheworlds.com members and answer what questions you may have for them regarding the footage seen and FX for the up and coming movie of 'Jeff Wayne's The War Of The Worlds'.

Please post your questions below:

[jeffwaynefan]

I'll start the ball rolling . . .

Apart from 'The War Of The Worlds', what other projects have you worked on that we maybe familiar with, giving us an idea of what to expect.

[Slick2097]

Which of the machines of the ones we have seen was the most complex to design? How many polygons are there roughly in each model we have seen so far?

How long does each test run (10 second long avg) take to render?

I'll post more if I think of them.
Ste.

[CraigC]

Hey guys....

Just dropping in to catch up with the forum.
When I get a moment to spare (uber busy at the mo) I shall look at all the questions and answer each one individually as best I can....

Keep those questions comming in.....

C

[HTT]

[glow=purple,2,300]There are some noticible differences between the new machines and the 'classic' Trimm designs (eg Feet and Eyes). Were these a conscious design to bring them up to date, or just something you adapted that Jeff liked?

How long did you spend designing the walking patterns - what problems did you have to overcome?

have you completed a final design for the martians themselves, and how are they progressing in terms of movement/look/feel?

How much of the film do you expect to be CGI - 100%, or a mix of live action/miniatures/CGI? Can we expect a CGI London or CGI people?

Has the movie been storyboarded yet, and have any sequences been pre-viz'd or completed?

Are you happy with a release date of early 2008 - do you feel rushed, or that it's too long?

How did you get involved with this project?

Are you fans of WOTW, or is it just another project? If fans, what was your inspiration: The Book, or Jeffs album?

How do you feel about the fans reactions to the R&D clips so far? Have you made any changes to the designs based on fan opinion?

What part of the story do you see presenting the most problems? (Eg Thunderchild and water, Mass mob panicking, etc)?

What part of the story are you most looking forward to animating?

Oh, a personal note, just to say thanks to the guys @ Envious Eyes for sharing their work and taking the time to engage the fans - it's much appreciated. Oh, and Welcome to the forum Craig! Hope you enjoy it!![/glow]

[CraigC]

"Oh, and Welcome to the forum Craig! Hope you enjoy it!!"

Hee hee hee, I have been lurking around for ages

Lots of nice questions there, I think I'll have to plan a mamouth sit down this weekend and go through them all.

[EvilNerfherder]

Hi Craig, thanks for answering our questions! The R&D footage has got us all pretty excited!

-Will you be using motion actors to get the character movements right or do you have other methods.
-Are you allowed to talk about the human character designs? Will the narrator resemble Richard Burton, for instance.
-Have you seen the Blue Monkey footage from a few years ago? What did you think of it?
-Will the Handling Machines be as slow and lumbering as they seem in the R&D sequence. Or will they be able to step up a gear and become as nimble as suggested in the book?
-We know that only the 3 main machines will be in the film but would you personally like to see any of the other machines from the PC game's 'Martian Family' in the film? Many people like the Tempests, me included.

More Q's as I think of them.
Thanks!

[FALLINGSTAR]

Hi Craig and also to everyone at Envious Eyes. I'll still say welcome to the forum even though you've been lurking around for ages - and many thanks for answering our questions. Mine are as follows -

Will the machines look very detailed in any close up shots. [ complicated pistons, hydraulics etc].

Will you be trying to outdo Spielbergs tripods in this film. [ hope so!].

I would love to see some tripods that are the same as Wells original descriptions in this film [ flexible tentacles, hood etc] - aswell as your modified Trim/Wayne designs. Do you think there's any chance of this.

Are you going for a Victorian machine type look with some of the elements of your designs.

Thanks again!

[jeffwaynefan]

Craig

What has been the most rewarding CGI R&D footage you have created for TWOTW todate

[ben]

In the PC game, the martians got quite a beating on their initial assault. Will we see martian machines go down in the fighting?

[Slick2097]

How are you tackling the development of the locations, are they based on OS maps of the period? photographs?

How many people work at Envious Eyes? are they all dedicated to this film or are you doing other projects as well?

Ste.

[schmokes]

Hi Craig, I would like to suggest that the Martian FM and HM would look more sinister if the design of the hood/eyes were tweaked just a tad to correlate precisely to the original designs. As with the aliens of popular culture commonly known as the "Grays", (the ones with big black almond shaped eyes), the frightening power of thier presence is conveyed almost exclusively through the eyes. I believe that if the general populous already has the image of the Grays embedded in the back of their mind as what a frightening alien looks like, then would it not in turn make sense that the design of the eyes on the Martian machines is of paramount importance?

The other changes to the machines such as the feet and handling arms give an added dimension of effeciency of design and menace to their presence. But I believe it is important, in regard to cinematic adaptations of beloved stories with which the masses of fans are accustomed to seeing in a given incarnation, to adhere to the details of that incarnation as much as possible in order to maintain a certain level of allure. That is why I say stick more closely to the original design of the eyes.

And also regarding the Ulla's from the album, I would like to note that the most alien-esque sounding Ulla is the one in Forever Autumn, right after Richard Burton says "One appeared above Big Ben...". I say this because that Ulla has a certain sonic quality of being "high-tech" if you will, indicitive of being alien and advanced. If the Ulla's from the album are going to be used in the movie, I would strongly recommend using this style Ulla as opposed to the others which posess a much more human vocal quality to them, thereby they are not as effective as the one I mentioned in conveying a martian "voice".

Finally, I have been discussing with some of my fellow fans regarding the movie, and we all think it would be extraordinarily cool if the original paintings for the album could be approximated as closely as possible with CG, and placed into the movie at thier respective points as a single frame. Bottom line, maintaining as much congruity with the album as possible is the way to go.

[Marcus]

Id also sudgest going back to Michael Trims original design for the eyes, as seen on one Fighting Machine in the Dead London scene. It makes the machines look much more menacing, and takes away a certain cartoonish look to them I can not shake. I'd also sudgest making the eyes themselfs darker, and less luminous green. And now, for my questions -

Is their a director lined up for the project, and if not, how would some go about getting an interview to be part of that aspect of the project?

Will the machines have the green gas, as mentioned within the books hissing out of the joints? I think this would be a neat touch, or, even use the cylinder like attachments on the side of the body as turbines, and have the gas vented from these.

Will the Cylinders lid unscrew as seen in some early, and unrelated footage, or will it be more akin to the book, in the sense that it neither floats, nor has a green glow to it? By the way, if the footage is related to this project, which I believe it not to be, I appologize for the era.

Will the Martians be the same design as those we've already seen? Such as the ones from the Video Game and the artwork for other projects? Such as the one of the Martian in its cylinder that can be seen in the Collectors Edition booklet?

[Spirit of Man]

Hi Craig,

All of the CGI I've seen so far is absolutely superb!!! My only major question is (mainly cus I cant think of owt else to ask) will the scenes certain scenes in the film stay faithful to the original artwork? An example of that would be, on the panic in the streets part of the film, the camera could be panning around the scene as the tripods are marching in and at some point the scene would move to match the panic in the streets artwork as the building is being taken down......maybe just for a second or two......then continue.

[jeffwaynefan]

Thread now closed . . .

Thank you to everyone who sent in there questions for Craig and the gang at 'Envious-Eyes Ltd. I will now be sending the questions on to them to answer.

I will keep you updated.

H_C