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How McG made that T-800 at the end of Terminator Salvation
One of the big surprises at the end of McG's Terminator Salvation has been well reported, but if you haven't heard and don't want to be spoiled, don't read any further. But if you want to know how McG created the scene, click through.
At the end of the upcoming prequel/sequel film, a T-800 model Terminator appears, looking just like Arnold Schwarzenegger from James Cameron's original 1984 The Terminator, as naked as the first time we see him.
McG told reporters that he used computer graphics to make the T-800 look just like Schwarzenegger from the first movie. But wherever else he could, McG wanted to use practical effects.
For the T-800 scene, in which John Connor (Christian Bale) confronts the old nemesis, Austrian bodybuilder Roland Kickinger played the Terminator so that Bale would have someone to act opposite. Schwarzenegger's face was superimposed on Kickinger's head in post-production.
"Most particularly, you really get the performance you're looking for when you're not stuck telling an actor, 'Oh, the tennis ball is the robot. Be afraid,'" McG said. "That's terrible. I want a 7-foot piece of Soviet tank machinery where if you punch up against that thing, it's going to hurt your hand. And when the red eyes glow, and the puppeteers from Winston Studios do this and smack you, it brings a better performance out of Sam Worthington and out of Christian Bale and everybody else who's interacting in the film. So it was absolutely critical to build as much as was humanly possible, and then when you have to extend in a CG capacity, sure, go for it. But films that take place purely in a CG environment, I find they just feel animated and I detach as a viewer, so I'm less interested in that respect."
McG used as many practical robots and physical effects as possible during the making of the movie, he added. "It's a very militant philosophy when it comes to that," McG said in a group interview last week in Beverly Hills, Calif. "I'm very passionate about that. I think we can all smell the CG component in these films, and you immediately are taken out of the picture. So we wanted to go to great lengths to go to the one and only Stan Winston—who passed in the making of this picture, and we've dedicated it to his memory—to build all the robots and all the machines of Skynet to the best of our ability. We wanted to do as much as possible in camera, so you get that level of physics and that level of response."
If Schwarzenegger had not agreed to allow the use of his face and likeness for the T-800, McG had a backup plan. "You'll notice the door flies off, and Connor goes down on his back, and he shoots the machine gun up the chest of the T-800," McG said. "If we were unsuccessful in getting the likeness of Schwarzenegger, we were just going to have the machine gun having blown his face off. It would have been the endoskeleton, the skull idea, and it wouldn't have been nearly as satisfactory. In the end, I think the governor's very pleased with what we did and the manner in which it was handled. So I think that's a nice moment in the movie, when that shows up."
Terminator Salvation opens May 21.
By Cathy at 8:21 AM ON 05/15/09
*sighs* ..
It is people like you, Gren ..that makes me not want to read what you have to post about in comments.
If you did not want to know about it.. why read it at all ?
By Fudgins at 11:09 AM ON 05/15/09
What do you want from scifiwire then Sylver & Rafe? People get so upset about this site covering the biggest news in sci-fi (i.e. the big movies that are releasing at the time) If there is so much else going on for them to cover right now other than these films make suggestions about what you want to see instead of complaining about them giving us the only Sci-fi news there is.
By Shaun at 11:11 AM ON 05/15/09
"Do we really need 10 stories this week about Terminator?"
do we? perhaps not. do those who care a great deal about all-things terminator? maybe.
By Snowkestrel at 11:27 AM ON 05/15/09
I am just hoping we don't end up with 10 stories a week about Land of the Lost! {{{SHUDDER}}}
In all seriousness, though, I had very little interest in seeing Terminator: Salvation before SciFiWire's coverage, and now I am seriously considering it. They've mentioned quite a bit that sounds interesting, including the various possible endings.
By Marty B. at 11:31 AM ON 05/15/09
I don't think anyone has any problem with sci-fi becoming a hype machine for Terminator, like it has for Star Trek, Wolverine, Watchmen, etc.
On the other hand, as a fan as I was disappointed that this item gave away a key plot point in the headline. It's one thing to publish interviews with cast and crew on the work that went into making the film. Entertainment journalism has been doing that since well before the internet. Still to say, "hey there's a T-800 at the end of the film" is a clear spoiler. Then when you read the article and see that there's a digital reconstruction of Arnie in the end ... well, thanks SciFi for blowing a key reveal in the film's climax.
Again, there's nothing wrong with playing along with the film's press junket. But there are clearly some things that make sense to be put out after folks have a chance to see the film.
Should've definitely had a spoiler warning here.
By Marty B. at 11:33 AM ON 05/15/09
Nice rewrite, scifi.
By Roger Workman at 12:33 PM ON 05/15/09
Putting the spoiler in the title and then warning about a spoiler in the article is a pretty terrible way to hide spoilers.
That said, the Terminator story ended with Terminator 2 as far as I'm concerned.
By Daroru at 2:51 PM ON 05/15/09
Agree with previous poster - Guess what! Your headline is a spoiler! Thanks!
By jpl1976 at 3:43 PM ON 05/15/09
I think some posts have been removed......cause some of the other posts dont really make a whole lot of sense, lol!
At any rate I agree with McG.....I can tell when cg has been used, especially if the scene is edited badly.....
By jdmimic at 5:13 PM ON 05/15/09
I'm a bit confused. How is saying there is a T-800 in the movie a spoiler? Surely everyone already knew that? It hasn't exactly been a big secret.
By mistrx75 at 8:11 PM ON 05/15/09
"Putting the spoiler in the title and then warning about a spoiler in the article is a pretty terrible way to hide spoilers."
Yeah, not the best move there. Almost funny, in fact.
By Sylver at 5:33 AM ON 05/16/09
jpl1976 you are right this website has a strange habit of taking down anyone who dares post a valid point. Kind of strange really when the original posters aren't using foul language or derogatory terms but just trying to convey the sensationalism and newsbite grabbing headlines this once fine site wasn't privvy too.
By Cathy at 1:31 AM ON 05/17/09
Hmmm.. good.. looks like Grens post was removed.
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Cathy:
Hmmm.. good.. looks like Grens post was removed....More »