![“[Rooney Mara] was sent over to me to start teaching her to ride,” says Kell. “She had never been on a bike before, so we had to start easy. I’ve trained many actors to ride over the years, and I must say that Rooney was one of the best. She was fearless, but smart. In three days, we had her doing everything that she needed to do on camera at 35 mph.” (via Of motorcycles and movies)](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lx036fVOrr1qztqsao1_1280.jpg)
“[Rooney Mara] was sent over to me to start teaching her to ride,” says Kell. “She had never been on a bike before, so we had to start easy. I’ve trained many actors to ride over the years, and I must say that Rooney was one of the best. She was fearless, but smart. In three days, we had her doing everything that she needed to do on camera at 35 mph.” (via Of motorcycles and movies)
(via Of motorcycles and movies)
About a year ago, I finished reading the final instalment of Stieg Larsson’s “Millennium trilogy”. I found these Swedish crime novels absolutely gripping—and not just because the heroine Lisbeth Salander rides a motorcycle. In two weeks, the US movie adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo will be released—so here’s a timely look at how the motorcycles used in the film were prepared. The job was given to Justin Kell of Glory Motor Works in LA, and it’s an insight into a rarely-seen aspect of the film-making process.
“I got the call to meet with [director] David Fincher and discuss motorcycles for a new film he was doing,” says Kell. “I bought all three Larsson books and read them in three days: the character of Lisbeth Salander is killer. As I read the books, I kept thinking that Lisbeth’s bike would be the kind of bike most 20-somethings with limited financial recourses would ride. She wouldn’t have an expensive modern bike: she would have an inexpensive older bike that would be customized to fit her personality.”
Originally, the producers considered using modern bikes. “I had to convince Fincher that we could build vintage bikes to be as reliable as modern bikes. David leaves no detail untouched: he knows that a broken motorcycle can delay production and cost the film company thousands of dollars.” Kell also had to keep the art director happy, make the bike fit the conceptual drawings, and build bikes that would start and perform whenever called upon.
He had 30 days to find, buy and rebuild three late-60s Honda CB350s. “I went after low mileage, original machines in stock condition. We looked at updating charging systems and upgrading performance.” The script called for a lot of high speed riding, plus off-road action on ice and snow. Bikes in movies are usually started and shut down hundreds of times during a day of filming: this means that starter motors have to be rebuilt, and three-wire high-output charging systems installed.
Kell also increased the battery box size, so he could fit a higher amperage sealed battery. “The lighting is always super important in a Fincher film, so the bikes were fitted with HID lamps. All the metal parts were stripped and cleaned, and sent out for paint, powdercoating, polishing or cadmium plating. “We ended up powdercoating the wheels and using bigger gauge SS spokes. We replaced everything: new clutches, new brakes, new wiring harnesses and every fastener on the bike. The motors were torn down to the cranks, we trued the flywheels, did valve jobs and replaced pistons and rings.” The carbs were rebuilt and the fuel tanks were stripped and re-lined. Flat track style seats were installed, covered in vintage glove leather.
“We had to build one bike first to get the final approval from David,” says Kell. “We finished that one in about two weeks.” Fincher gave the okay to build two more bikes, and cast Rooney Mara to play Lisbeth Salander. “She was sent over to me to start teaching her to ride,” says Kell. “She had never been on a bike before, so we had to start easy. I’ve trained many actors to ride over the years, and I must say that Rooney was one of the best. She was fearless, but smart. In three days, we had her doing everything that she needed to do on camera at 35 mph.
The final two weeks were “mayhem. Getting three full rebuilds together at the same time requires a lot of diplomacy and hundred dollar bills. We had 30 days straight of 16-hour days, but we finished the bikes on schedule. The day after we turned the last screw, the bikes were in crates on the way to Stockholm for the shoot.”
The bikes are now back in LA though, and Kell is tearing them down yet again—this time to prepare for the second film.
13:34
EXT. Hogwarts Castle Concept Illustration by Andrew Williamson
Ten years ago, all the Harry Potter drawings were done in pencil. I would take my roughs and plans and sections and give them to a professional architectural illustrator, who would create concept art using pencil and colour wash on watercolour paper. Nowadays that same illustrator builds digital models.
For the first six Harry Potter movies big exterior shots of Hogwarts Castle sitting in its landscape were actually shots of a miniature made by craftsmen; a huge miniature that occupied a big sound stage. For the seventh and eighth films, it was decided that we would be better off embracing the latest technology. So the set was scanned, and the scan was used to construct a new digital model. When the model was rendered with different textures, it was extraordinary. The detail was astounding, and made it possible to move much, closer to the digital model than to the physical one. To my great surprise, I must say, as I’d have thought it would be the other way round.
Alterations are much quicker. It’s fantastic to be able to change things with just the click of a button – and things do change all the time. Sets have a lot of repetitive detail, and now it is so easy to repeat something 50 times. It’s incredibly fast.
The architectural illustrator’s digital work is so real it looks like still shots from the film rather than concept art. The photo-real quality is there, but it’s done so elegantly. The artist hasn’t just fallen in love with the technology and sold out. He has managed to retain artistic integrity.
But the digital revolution comes at a cost, in terms of human skills. The carpenters, plasterers (mould makers), set painters, sculptors and others are asked to build fewer and smaller physical sets. The virtual film sets are still designed by artists, but they are are built by technicians rather than craftsmen with coordinated hand and eye. It’s a trade-off. On the whole, the gains outnumber the losses. The public certainly haven’t lost out. - Stuart Craig, production designer.
Disney’s Cinderella concept art
One of the big hits of 2009 was District 9, and despite having a rather modest budget, the filmmakers managed to achieve a great deal of visual style and some high quality effects. Coolvibe has collected a bunch of concept art from the movie, done by the artists David Meng, Greg Broadmore, and Leri Greer, all working at Weta Workshop.
