We’re days away from the 65th annual BAFTA awards and to kick off our coverage of the event we’ve teamed up with the very talented Dave Williams, whose work we’ve posted before on the site, who has created this rather wonderful poster for us.

We’ll be live at the awards on Sunday night to bring you all of the awards as they are announced. It’s always a fun night so do join us from 6.30. In the meantime feast your eyes on this lovely poster Dave has put together, inspired by the Wrestling posters of old.

You can follow the man on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DaveWillPosters and on Twitter  @davewi11 and it’s always worth keeping an eye out on what’s next as well as heading over to his website to bag yourself a print or two

Here’s the image, get busy clicking…

Abraham Lincoln, lawyer, statesman, president. He lived a long and varied life but until now little has been said of how throughout his illustrious life he moonlighted as a vampire hunter, taking out the supernatural trash while keeping a steady hand on the tiller of his numerous responsibilities.

Seth Grahame-Smith’s follow up to his best-selling Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, was similarly well received and now it’s getting the Bekmambetov treatment with a big budget adaptation starring from the Russian who brought us Nightwatch, Daywatch and the bullet bending lunacy of Wanted.

Starring Benjamin Walker as Lincoln, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as his wife and Rufus Sewell as the lead vamp the line up might not be nearly as bulletproof as the concept but what a concept it is. The idea of a respected and fabled statesman going round getting covered in gore and stabbing vampires through the chest with impunity does sound like a load of fun.

I guess now we should just hope for a few more classic alternate biographies. I myself am looking forward to Franklin D. Roosevelt Werewolf Decapitator, Woodrow Wilson Super Soldier and Richard Nixon Puppy Murderer. Here’s the plot this time around:

President Lincoln’s mother is killed by a supernatural creature, which fuels his passion to crush vampires and their slave-owning helpers.

And crush them he will, hopefully with his tongue firmly in his cheek.

Here’s a new poster of Lincoln looking suitably stately, with an axe. Click to enlarge.

Source: IMP Awards

Yes, the Lord of the Rings Trilogy was ten years ago but when a company brings out a poster as cool as this, it has to go up! Have you ever wondered what Aragorn might look like if he were a Lego man, no, neither have I for that matter but for anyone that has, here’s the answer! The world famous and quite frankly awesome Danish toy company has the contract to make the official Lord of the Rings sets and also sets for the upcoming movies The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which hits in December 2012, and The Hobbit: There and Back Again which we’ll get December 2013.

The new Lego set(s) are scheduled for release in the summer and thanks to Collider and Lego, we get to see a promo pack image for the set and this new poster which shows Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen in the Peter Jackson movie) equipped with his standard sword. In the packshot, we also get to see Frodo (played by Elijah Wood in the movie) with his Lego ring.

You can see all our coverage of The Hobbit here including images and the amazing trailer.

Below the posters is the press release from Lego. I now want this sets please!!

BURBANK, Calif., Dec. 16, 2011 — Warner Bros. Consumer Products and The LEGO Group announced today a partnership that awards the world’s leading construction toy brand exclusive rights to develop build-and-play construction sets based on THE LORD OF THE RINGS™ trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT™.  The multi-year licensing agreement grants access to the library of characters, settings, and stories for THE LORD OF THE RINGS property, as well as films The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  LEGO® THE LORD OF THE RINGS construction sets are slated for a rolling global launch beginning in June 2012 in the United States, with LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY scheduled for later in the year.

“Only LEGO, with their expertise in the construction category, is capable of doing justice to the incredibly imaginative environments depicted in the world of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and the two films based on THE HOBBIT,” said Karen McTier, executive vice president, domestic licensing and worldwide marketing, Warner Bros. Consumer Products. “These films give life to amazing worlds and characters and we are thrilled to bring fans these products that deliver an imaginative play experience befitting of these beloved properties.”

The LEGO THE LORD OF THE RINGS collection will translate into LEGO form the epic locations, scenes and characters of Middle-earth as depicted in all three films, including The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

In late 2012, LEGO THE HOBBIT: AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY will give fans of all ages a chance to build and play out the fantastical story and new characters of the legendary Middle-earth adventures depicted in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey from Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson, slated to premiere December 14, 2012.

“Our collaboration with Warner Bros. Consumer Products has delivered numerous worldwide successes in the construction toy aisle with lines like LEGO HARRY POTTER and LEGO BATMAN, introducing us to loyal audiences who love great stories, strong characters and the toys that they inspire,” said Jill Wilfert, vice president, licensing and entertainment for The LEGO Group. “It’s particularly exciting to now be able to create sets based on the fantasy worlds and characters from THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy and the two films based on THE HOBBIT, not only because we know they will foster collectability and creative play, but also because these are two properties that our fans have been asking us to create for years.”

Information about the sets and collectible minifigures from both collections will be unveiled at a later date at TheLordoftheRings.LEGO.com.

About The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again
From Academy Award^®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson comes The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first of two films adapting the enduringly popular masterpiece The Hobbit.  The second film will be The Hobbit: There and Back Again.  Both films are set in Middle-earth 60 years before The Lord of the Rings, which Jackson and his filmmaking team brought to the big screen in the blockbuster trilogy that culminated with the Oscar^®-winning The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be released beginning December 14, 2012.  The second film, The Hobbit: There and Back Again, is slated for release the following year, beginning December 13, 2013.

Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf the Grey, the character he played in “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Martin Freeman in the central role of Bilbo Baggins.  Also reprising their roles from “The Lord of the Rings” movies are: Cate Blanchett as Galadriel; Ian Holm as the elder Bilbo; Christopher Lee as Saruman; Hugo Weaving as Elrond; Elijah Wood as Frodo; Orlando Bloom as Legolas; and Andy Serkis as Gollum.  The ensemble cast also includes (in alphabetical order) Richard Armitage, John Bell, Jed Brophy, Adam Brown, John Callen, Luke Evans, Stephen Fry, Ryan Gage, Mark Hadlow, Peter Hambleton, Barry Humphries,Stephen Hunter, William Kircher, Evangeline Lilly, Sylvester McCoy, Bret McKenzie, Graham McTavish, Mike Mizrahi, James Nesbitt, Dean O’Gorman, Lee Pace, Mikael Persbrandt, Conan Stevens, Ken Stott, Jeffrey Thomas, and Aidan Turner.

The screenplays for both The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are by Fran Walsh,Philippa Boyens, Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson.  Jackson is also producing the films, together with Fran Walsh andCarolynne Cunningham.  The executive producers are Alan Horn, Ken Kamins, Toby Emmerich and Zane Weiner, with Boyens serving as co-producer.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again are being co-produced by New Line Cinema and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. with New Line managing production.

Warner Bros Pictures will be handling theatrical distribution for most of the world and MGM will handle all international television licensing and theatrical distribution for certain international territories for the films.

All courtesy of Collider

It’s 2012 and Dave Williams has opened the year with an awesome new poster focusing around the fabulous movie, Forrest Gump. The 1994 Robert Zemeckis film has to be in my top 10 all-time favourite movies and I simply love this new poster that Dave has made. It basically shows Forrest (played by Tom Hanks in the movie) in many of the situations that he finds himself in during the film using the letter ‘F’ from being a fisherman, a famous celebrity and a fruit company shareholder!

This poster is available to purchase on Dave’s website but you can click it below to enlarge. LOVE it! You can see all of our posts featuring Dave’s work here.

Last night we went image crazy as USA Today released a nice new batch of images from multiple movies including Ridley Scott’s Prometheus as well as first look images from Skyfall, The Bourne Legacy and loads more. Here’s one for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey which shows us another view of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. If you missed the trailer for the movie, you can watch it here.

Synopsis: The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins , who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey , Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins​ not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Christopher Lee, Mikael Persbrandt, James Nesbitt, Brian Blessed, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Fry, Elijah Wood, Benedict Cumberbatch and Evangeline Lilly.

Source: USA Today

Ever since the heady days of ‘the lean’ rom-com posters have been suitably low on inspiration.  Not a day went by where you didn’t see Matthew McConaughey leaning toward some hire-a-face actress who in turn was leaning toward him. Oh how they leaned! The only thing stopping them from collapsing into a self satisfied heap of attractiveness was the mutually supportive lean based construction the two had created , it’s foundations composed entirely of commercially motivated whimsy and the structural integrity of McConaughey’s abs.

Well now that such lean-centric advertising has fallen into the realms of cliché and parody the first poster for Wanderlust is out and it looks set to revolutionise the way actors and actresses pose for promotional material that wishes to signal “fun and frothy romantic comedy!”:

George (Rudd) and Linda (Aniston) are an overextended, stressed out Manhattan couple. After George is downsized out of his job, they find themselves with only one option: to move in with George’s awful brother in Atlanta. On the way there, George and Linda stumble upon Elysium, an idyllic community populated by colourful characters who embrace a different way of looking at things. Money? It can’t buy happiness. Careers? Who needs them? Clothes? Only if you want them. Is Elysium the fresh start George and Linda need? Or will the change of perspective cause more problems than it solves?

I’m guessing it’s going to solve all of their problems. Just a hunch.

Yep from the poster it seems there’s going to be a lot of ‘throwing caution to the wind!’ and ‘living life down the path less travelled!’ and a load of other shouty potentially comedic stuff. Oh, and a redemptive ending that tells you that working the 9 to 5 grind might not be the best way to go about your life. The whole jumping into the unknown thing the new poster’s got going on has loads of potential. Just stick your actress and McConaughey of choice into the actress and McConaughey sized gaps and you can promote any film with it. As a matter of fact I might copyright it right now. This poster’s got legs.

In reference to the film itself all we have to go on is the trailer. The trailer where the comedy looks to be found largely in the culture shock induced when one joins a hippie commune, that and Paul Rudd. And I love Paul Rudd.

Well everything seems in order then. Let’s hope it lives up to its potential. And that Aniston is funny for once.

Source: IMP Awards.

Indeed our cup runneth over with Hobbit goodness this week.

Following the first look at the film with the highly anticipated trailer and poster appearing online Peter Jackson has given us another of his pre-DVD extras in the form of Production Video #5.

As usual there’s much to enjoy here from Jackson and the team in New Zealand though it does have the unfortunate side effect of reminding us that it’s an entire year until the film is out…

The film’s Facebook page debuted the video which comes to us below from The Film Stage. Enjoy!

(And there’s a fair chance that this will be the last post on HeyUuys before Christmas let me wish you an enormously happy Christmas.)

Here’s the video,

To celebrate the release of the thriller to see over Christmas, Sony Pictures UK and HeyUGuys are offering one lucky reader the chance to win a limited edition metal one sheet from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is released in cinemas 26th December.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy. Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon. The screenplay is by Steven Zaillian.

Click here to ‘Like’ the official Facebook page

To be in with a chance of winning this awesome prize, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the 2009 movie, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Terms and conditions

• The competition will close Monday 2nd January 2012
• The winners will be drawn at random from all the correct entries, and only they will be contacted personally. Prize must be taken as stated and cannot be deferred. There will be no cash alternatives
• Sony Pictures UK and HeyUGuys do not accept any responsibility for late or lost entries due to the Internet or email problems. Proof of sending is not proof of receipt. Entrants must supply full details as required on the competition page, and comply with all rules to be eligible for the prizes
• No responsibility is accepted for ineligible entries or entries made fraudulently
• Unless otherwise stated, the Competition is not open to employees of: (a) the Company; and (b) any third party appointed by the Company to organise and/or manage the Competition; and (c) the Competition sponsor(s)
• This competition is a game promoted by HeyUGuys. HeyUGuys’s decision is final in every situation and no correspondence will be entered into. HeyUGuys reserves the right to cancel the competition at any stage, if deemed necessary in its opinion, and if circumstances arise outside of its control
• Entrants will be deemed to have accepted these rules and to agree to be bound by them when entering this competition
•  Prizes unclaimed after 28 days will be deemed to have been forfeited and HeyUGuys reserves the right to either offer the prize to the entrant whose name is next drawn at random or to re-offer the prize in any future competition

Whilst the trailer looked to beat our cynicism into submission through the oddly suspicious tagline of “fall under the spell” I just couldn’t get on board with Tarsem Singh’s Mirror Mirror.

No matter how hard I try I can’t get excited about Panto anymore. It’s perfect for a bit of nostalgia and lovely when you’re a child at Christmas but now I’ve got all serious and boring I’m having none of it. But last time I checked I wasn’t a pre-pubescent girl so I guess that the film’s due a reappraisal.

Yes, 2012 sees not one but two whole adaptations of Snow White. But whilst Snow White and the Huntsman looks to involve a lot of stern Kristen Stewart facial expressions, Mirror Mirror looks like it’s going to smother us with big camp cuddles and luverly wuverly kisses. That, and attempt to gently nudge you into fits of light amusement.

A wicked enchantress (Roberts) schemes and scrambles for control of a spirited orphan’s (Collins) throne and the attention of a charming prince (Hammer). When Snow White’s beauty wins the heart of the prince that she desperately pursues, the Queen banishes her to the forest, where a ravening man-eating beast hungrily awaits. Rescued by a band of diminutive highway robbers, Snow White grows into an indomitable young woman determined to take back her realm from the treacherous Queen.

Now it’s got a new poster and the trend looks to be continuing:

Lily Collins as Snow White is looking at her most wholesome and Julia Roberts is still laying on the PG rated evil with a trowel, but all that is fine by me. Instead of another post-Twilight fairytale (think Red Riding Hood) it’ll be fun to have a bunch of talented people throwing caution and dignity to the wind (think Armie Hammer under the influence of puppy love in the trailer).

So it may not be fashionable but it doesn’t want to be. Broad comedy gets a bad rap sometimes but I’m sure a lot of children will be looking forward to the ‘Snow White Legend’ to come alive in a much more joyous sense than it’s Huntsman featuring counterpart. Hell, come March 16^th I might even regress 10 years or so and trot on down to the cinema for some wholesome inoffensive family fun.

Just to clarify, I won’t. But it all sounds very cosy doesn’t it.

Source: Collider

Martin Guigui’s new horror thriller Beneath the Darkness has a new poster that hints (and by ‘hints’ I mean ‘sounds the fog horn’) at the horror to come.

The trailer for the film released back in June wasn’t too promising and believing that Dennis Quaid is a sadistic serial killer with his clean-cut All American persona may seem a bit of a stretch, but never fear – the poster is here to show you what a deranged monster he can be:

With Quaid seemingly on the prowl for babies to eat (that or laxatives) and his two younger co-stars looking both fresh faced and suspicious of the clogged up lunatic respectively, all looks to be in order for a meaty and underwhelming clichéd horror offering. But hey, what is horror if not predictable. Speaking of which:

In the film, Ely Vaughn (Dennis Quaid) is a pillar of the community in tiny Smithville, Texas. The town’s mortician, Ely has been revered since his days as the high school’s star quarterback. But since the tragic death of his wife two years earlier, Ely has withdrawn from his neighbours, while local teens spread stories of supernatural goings on at Ely’s mansion—which is also the funeral home. When high school friends Travis (Tony Oller), Abby (Aimee Teegarden), Brian (Stephen Lunsford) and Danny (Devon Werkheiser) decide to check out the rumours. In doing so they stumble on a grotesque, long-hidden secret. The sadistic mortician next door will now stop at nothing to literally bury his past.

Featuring an adversary so angry he can literally bury the immaterial construct of time, it all sounds a little silly. But silly can be fun if done in the right way. Details of the film are a bit thin on the ground but judging from the stills and this poster Dennis Quaid looks to be delivering his menace with a generous side of ham. Which in what looks to be such a formulaic offering is the best you can hope for really.

STYD

So we’ve had the first amazing trailer and now we get the first poster for Peter Jackson’s new movie, The Hobbit. I decided to put the teaser trailer artwork in a separate post as Apple did such a terrible job getting the trailer out, it’s been an age since that went up so I thought it deserved it’s own one. In the poster, we get to see Bilbo (Martin Freeman) wandering out of his house at Bag End.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey stars Martin Freeman, Cate Blanchett, Elijah Wood​, Hugo Weaving,  Ian McKellen, Christopher Lee​, Andy Serkis​, Ian Holm,Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt​, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans and Benedict Cumberbatch.

Like Jon said in the previous post, it’s going to be a long year until December 14th when it’s released.

The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins , who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, which was long ago conquered by the dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakensheild. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Giant Spiders, Shapeshifters and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever … Gollum.

Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins​ not only discovers depths of guile and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum’s “precious” ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities … A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to know.

Source: Apple

All this evening, 100 different sites from all over the world have released one small piece of the jigsaw puzzle that was used to create the brand new poster for The Hunger Games. Users had to send each website and the image to the Facebook page and it would reveal the poster in full. Now, Lionsgate who are releasing the movie have put the full version on the Facebook page showing us Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) as she enters The Hunger Games.

The Hunger Games is released in the UK 23rd March 2012. Enjoy!

The Hunger Games stars Jennifer Lawrence​​, Josh Hutcherson​​, Liam Hemsworth​​, Woody Harrelson​​, Elizabeth Banks​​, Stanley Tucci​​, Donald Sutherland​​, Wes Bentley​​, Toby Jones, Amandla Stenberg, Alexander Ludwig​​, Isabelle Fuhrman​​, Jacqueline Emerson, Paula Malcomson, Dayo Okeniyi, Jack Quaid, Leven Rambin​​, Willow Shields, Lenny Kravitz​​ and is directed by Gary Ross.

Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the evil Capitol of the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. A twisted punishment for a past uprising and an ongoing government intimidation tactic, The Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. THE HUNGER GAMES is directed by Gary Ross, and produced by Nina Jacobson​’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. Suzanne Collins​ ’ best-selling novel, the first in a trilogy published by Scholastic that has over 16 million copies in print in the United States alone, has developed a massive global following.

I always had the idea in my head that Aardman was the British version of the Disney owned Pixar Animation Studios; the main idea being that the place is a hive of activity and now, after having the privilege of visiting both studios, I can confirm that I was 100% right!

A couple of weeks ago, I headed off to Bristol in the West of England to visit a place oozing with creativity and a dedication to work in a way that has never been done before. As I’d been to Pixar previously, I was expecting the UK equivalent for Aardman; a purpose built building with all the trimmings but instead, I arrived and saw a rather drab looking 30 000 square foot warehouse! It was later explained to us that this building isn’t ‘Aardman’ but was acquired when they began making Chicken Run  back in 1997 and the moral of the story – don’t judge a book by its cover because inside is a place of magic!

Aardman is probably most famous for their work with clay stop motion animation, namely Wallace and Gromit and more recently Chicken Run,  but they now have departments responsible for all types of animation including CG, all of which are used in their latest film. The studio was started by Peter Lord (who became a legend when he invented Morph!!) and Nick Park who created the aforementioned comedy duo Wallace and Gromit. This latest venture by the world famous stop-motion specialists is called The Pirates: In an Adventure with Scientists (or The Pirates: Band of Misfits! if you’re in the US) and after visiting the studio, I am even more excited to see this movie that I was after watching the fabulous trailers.

The biggest production to date was Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit back in 2005 which has a total of 28 sets, but this new project dwarfs that with a total of 41 sets, many of which you’ll be able to see in the video embedded below or in the images attached to this post (all of which you can click to enlarge). On Were Rabbit, they had 200 people working on the movie and in Pirates! they’ve increased to just over 320 many of whom have been working on the project for it’s five year duration in which the script is developed to completion.

After being given an intro to Aardman and meeting the legendary Peter Lord (our interview with him will go up in a separate post nearer the film’s release), we were escorted around various section of the studio including model making, set design, poster design and then onto the huge sets themselves. I had no idea that the sets would be so big with each model being around 12 inches tall and worth a fortune! The first challenge with the models is getting the look right and after building multiple different versions, they ended up with what we now have today. As Production Desginer Anne King was talking us through the models, on the table were most of the cast of characters from the movie who all looked absolutely spectacular,  standing tall with a large pile of concept art and a huge box of 48 different types of faces for all the different syllables ready to go for when they’re needed.

Director Peter Lord started to work mainly with one artist, Johnny Duddle, who did most the character designs. The model makers then work with those designs and begin by making the character sculpt using clay. From that, they’ll make the Production Sculpt which can be taken apart to make all the different individual pieces breaking it all down into parts. Initially, the models may be made into a silicon mould (again, what you’ll see in my narration video below).Anne King tells us that parts such as hands are made with a silicon allowing durability but springy where as bodies may be created with foam latex which is a lot softer. Once the character has been designed, they’ll move onto create an ‘armature’ which consists of many ball and socket joints which are quite rigid allowing the puppets to be moved in way that will be precise but will be unable to move themselves by being loose. They can customise each puppet’s rigidity to be different depending on how they know that character will move.

They also have to do lots of work on the colours of the puppets as the colours on screen will look different to how they may look by the naked eye. There’ a lot of colour-test work to make sure it looks right. They’ll take a piece of foam, spray it and see how it looks. We learn that there was a lot of work done on the gems and the gold studding on the Pirate King. The Pirate King actually has  gold leaf to get the gold to look right on screen! He really is a King!

Moving onto their expressions in that box that I mentioned earlier, they break it down into different syllables. On Pirates, they used a new way of making the mouths. On this movie, they used a rapid prototyping 3D printing system, cleaned up and painted to create the mouth shapes where as in previous movies, there were be dozens of entire heads. This allows them to clip a different mouth to each puppet saving time and reducing cost. The characters have a magnet which hold the mouth onto the top part of the head.

These clever people will look at the script to see which characters need which words to say. So they’ll actually look to that before making the mouths and which words will need to be said to match the dialogue they’ll require! It’s astonishing how clever it is. Background characters will only have expressions for example where as main cast will have a full set of mouths. For the Pirate Captain’s beard alone, Aardman had to devise a unique way that his beard could attach to his face! There’s actually an allen key which you can inset into his face to adjust how high or low his beard sits on his face! Again, amazing!!

The build of a puppet from start to finish can take up to three months and then second one will take six to eight weeks which was still quite a long time. For the Pirate Captain , there are around 25 models for him alone for all the different shooting that they’re doing on the 40 different sets and each one has to be identical. We were told that a ‘simple puppet’ can cost around £6000 and something ‘more complex’ can cost £10-14k! EACH!

At any one time, 40 units could be shooting in the make-shift studios meaning that for the most used characters in the movie like The Pirate Captain played by Hugh Grant, there could be as many as 25 different models. Matt Perry (Supervising Art Director) gave us a little tour of his sets and showed us some insights into making a movie like this and it was absolutely fascinating! My eyes were immediately drawn to all the bespoke posters (many made by Gavin Lines) that were hanging on the walls and the Toby Jug of Peter Lord that will probably never be seen! Again, the attention to details was simply mind blowing. Matt’s role was overseeing the design and build from concept to finished articles and from what we’ve seen (and you’ll see in my video below), he’s done an amazing job with his team of people.

Matt describes Pirates! as a bit of a departure to what they’ve done before in sense of scale and also with the use of CG. Stylistically, it’s very different with a much more ‘hard edge’ than the likes of Wallace and Gromit had. Matt works in a team of four art directors working on the drawings and then passing them to the builders who then go away and build what they ask for.

You’ll also see in the video below, the way in which they have to design sets to get all the lights etc in and the animator and have to devise ways they can enter. An example is the theatre scene where the animator has to go up through the floor to be able to move the characters. Keep your eyes peeled in the video below and in the photos on this post for all the amazing set dressing that you’ll see. It really is blink and you’ll miss it type of film-making. There are cannon balls in walls, funny posters, odd names and so much more that you need to look out for.

One of my favourite sets has to be the Pirate ship which is absolutely massive! The whole thing doesn’t actually fit in the studio so they’ve had to build two thirds of it and then any wide show will be completed using CG. The ship actually sits on a gimble to give it the movement required to be on the sea. The rigging is all completely real and has aluminium wire running through each of the ropes to give it that sturdy feeling to it so they can be positioned as gravity would move in the real world. Literally every single aspect of this movie has been thought out to perfection. Even the lights are on trackers so that when the boat moves, the sense of the sun moving too is evident!

Blood Island

To put this amazing feat of film-making into perspective, one of the animators was working on Blood Island at the time we visited and he showed us 2.5 minutes worth of footage that he’d been working on. He then told us that those 2.5 minutes had taken seven months to achieve! The attention to detail and patience required to work on this amazing kind of film-making is simply amazing. There are so many hidden easter eggs. A tip from me, keep your eyes peeled for the Aliens in a jar in Darwin’s cabin to see a familar face from the Alien movies!

We’ve been provided some brilliant B-Roll footage which I wasn’t 100% sure what to do with so I decided to narrate the entire thing. It’s 17 minutes long but will give you an insight in the making of Pirates! that I could never explain in words without putting some imagery around it.

I’ve placed all the concept images below which you can click to enlarge. I hope you enjoyed my set visit report. Aardman really is an amazing place and thank you so much to Sony and Aardman for inviting us along for one of the best experiences ever!

Warner Bros. have released a new UK poster for their party movie, Project X. The movie shows the kind of carnage that can happen when your parents go away and leave you with a house to trash! We’re however wondering if this persona is drunk as the cups around him would suggest or is he dead?!

Project X is produced by the man behind The Hangover movies, Director Todd Phillips although with this one, he takes a Producing credit. Nima Nourizadeh directs this one with a cast that includes Thomas Mann, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Oliver Cooper, Dax Flame, Nichole Bloom, Alex Rose Wiesel and Alexis Knapp.

Directed by Nima Nourizadeh and produced by Todd Phillips (The Hangover) and Joel Silver (The Matrix), Project X is an out-of-control comedy that follows a group of buds who set out to throw the most epic 17th birthday party ever. The film documents a high school party that gets completely out of control, shot from the perspective of the digital cameras that the kids have with them.

Project X is released 2012.

Click the poster to enlarge or click here to see the trailer.

We’ve already had a new trailer for Pixar’s Brave today and now the mighty Aardman have unveiled another look at their forthcoming film The Pirates! Band of Misfits (or The Pirates! In an adventure with Scientists if you’re hailing from the good old U of, um, K…) and it’s just wonderful.

Dave was lucky enough to visit Aardman yesterday and it was, in his words, better than stepping into Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory and everything we’ve seen so far for this film points to a grand adventure with a fantastic cast including Hugh Grant​, David Tennant​, Imelda Staunton​, Martin Freeman​, Jeremy Piven​.

Here’s a rollicking synopsis,

In The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.  With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson​, Russell Tovey​, and Ashley Jensen​), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek​) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award.  It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria​ (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin​ (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

Here’s your trailer, fresh from the bowels of Yahooville,

Rod Lurie’s remake of Straw Dogs is out in UK cinemas today and to rivet you to your seat with astonishment we’ve got a competition to win a Sony Bloggie Camcorder and an exclusive behind the scenes look at the film.

L.A. screenwriter David Sumner (Marsden) relocates with his wife (Bosworth) to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.

We’re giving you the chance to win a Straw Dogs poster (see below) and a Sony ‘Bloggie’ camcorder (find out more about the Sony camcorder here) by answering the question  which follows the exclusive featurette below.

What 2006 superhero film did Straw Dogs actors James Marsden and Kate Bosworth star in together?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 14th November at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

To mark the release of Sket in cinemas NOW, Revolver have given us a poster from the movie signed by the director and the cast. If you missed it, you can see the trailer for the movie here and interviews with the cast here. Sket stars Ashley Walters, Lily Loveless, Riann Steele, Aimee Kelly, Emma Hartley-Miller, Adelayo Adedayo and is directed by Nirpal Bhogal. Find out more on their official website.

Kayla (Aimee Kelly), a young sixteen-year old, faces the harsh London streets of gangland culture alone. Her mother already dead, her only protector and loving elder sister, Tanya (Katie Foster-Barnes), is one day brutally murdered by violent, misogynist gang leader Trey (Ashley Walters). Swearing vengeance, Kayla joins a girl gang led by the violent, damaged Danielle (Emma Hartley-Miller) who has her own reasons for helping Kayla seek retribution.

To be in with a chance of winning the poster, simply answer the following question using the form below:

Who directed the movie, Sket?

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

The small print:

• Open to UK residents only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close 7th November at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received
• No cash alternative is available

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

After two previous cracking trailers for Aarman’s (The creators of Wallace and Gromit) new animation, Pirates! An Adventure with Scientists, they’ve released another third new trailer this morning and it’s just as good as the previous couple.

The cast is rather awesome (includes Hugh Grant, David Tennant, Imelda Staunton, Martin Freeman, Jeremy Piven) while Peter Lord​ directs and as you’ll see from this fantastic trailer, it all rather fun! My favourite character has to be the one wearing the Blue Peter​ badge which readers in the US will have NO idea what I’m talking about.

In The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists, Hugh Grant stars in his first animated role as the luxuriantly bearded Pirate Captain – a boundlessly enthusiastic, if somewhat less-than-successful, terror of the High Seas.  With a rag-tag crew at his side (Martin Freeman, Brendan Gleeson, Russell Tovey, and Ashley Jensen), and seemingly blind to the impossible odds stacked against him, the Captain has one dream: to beat his bitter rivals Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven) and Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek) to the much coveted Pirate Of The Year Award.  It’s a quest that takes our heroes from the shores of exotic Blood Island to the foggy streets of Victorian London.  Along the way they do battle with the pirate-hating Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) and team up with a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant), but never lose sight of what a pirate loves best: adventure!

Robert Redford’s Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator is out on DVD and Blu-ray on the 24th of October and we’ve been given a clip from the film to share with you.

Redford has assembled an excellent cast for the film, which had a decent, if a little short lived, theatrical release earlier in the year and the extras on the home entertainment formats include a commentary from the director as well as some historical accompaniaments to give you a little of the back story to the film.

James McAvoy​ and Robin Wright lead the cast, telling a story of the fallout of the assassinatin of Abraham Lincoln. Justin Long​, Evan Rachel Wood , Tom Wilkinson , Alexis Bledel , Johnny Simmons, Toby Kebbell , Kevin Kline and Danny Huston​ are in support.

Here’s a synopsis to further advise,

In the wake of Abraham Lincoln ’s assassination, seven men and one woman are arrested and charged with conspiring to kill the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of State. The lone woman charged, Mary Surratt (Wright), 42, owns a boarding house where John Wilkes Booth and others met and planned the simultaneous attacks. Against the ominous back-drop of post-Civil War Washington, newly-minted lawyer, Frederick Aiken (McAvoy), a 28-year-old Union war-hero, reluctantly agrees to defend Surratt before a military tribunal. Aiken realizes his client may be innocent and that she is being used as bait and hostage in order to capture the only conspirator to have escaped a massive manhunt: her own son, John (Simmons).

Here’s the clip, check back tomorrow for our review of the film.

Believe it or not, but there are still some people out there who haven’t seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2! I know this for a fact because my wife is desperate to see it and was thwarted in our attempt to go along to our local multiplex three weeks after our first son was born! She is however excited for this weekend, Potter mayhem strikes back as many cinemas across the UK are still showing it.

As a special treat, those of you who go and watch Potter 7.2 this weekend (Friday 30th September – Sunday 2nd October) will be entitled to come home with your very own limited edition animated poster. I’ve been sent one and I have to say it is rather awesome with the hologram flitting between Voldemort and Harry Potter.

I’ve placed a gif (remember those!) of the poster below and below that is a list of participating cinemas. You’ll be entitled to the poster while stocks last so make sure you get in there early.

As far as our Potter coverage goes, you can keep track of it all here and we have some very very exciting news which we’ll hopefully be able to share with you next week so keep your eyes peeled!

You can pre-order your DVD / Blu-ray box set here.

The following is a list of cinemas are participating (scroll down for more):