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Wow! When I saw the movie, I thought that TARS and CASE were completely CGI and that there was maybe a solid prop that they used for the static scenes. It is nice to see such good CGI and Prop/Puppetry integration in a modern movie. More than that though, it is impressive that it was made so seamless. I have to wonder how different the production costs involving making the physical props were from if they had done the whole thing in CGI, I would hope it would have been cheaper. Bill, the guy that did the puppets really must have had a lot of physical ability to do filming like that outside on different terrains and in cramped spaces with such a heavy rig on. In the video, they showed the cable pulling mechanism that they started with. It was a pair of bike interrupter brakes, I found that funny, but really cool that it worked for the lighter model.
This is probably the coolest puppeteering of the 21st century. I, too, thought these mechanisms were completely CGI and maybe had some form of block on set for the actors to interact with. It is so amazing though that these operators learned to basically go through obstacle courses in order to film this movie. Such development from the special effects department going from a simple pull system to a pneumatic lifting system is such amazing dedication to the construction and effects of the machinery. I also cant believe how heavy they got and how much skill it takes to balance with these giant robotic things! Always having to push and offset the balance while pressing levers and walking with bent knees is so amazing and looks good even before CGI is applied. And the ATV like things they have to simulate the movement on the water planet is also really cool and innovative to combine with CGI effects.
I haven't seen this movie but that puppetry is amazing. It must have been so much fun and so rewarding to work on this project. To actually create this robot. I wonder if they started off by trying to make this a real controllable robot. It is also really interesting how the actor could really develop a character with this piece of metal. How he could give the robot personality. I am also really happy to know that they didn't just resort to making CGI robots and actually had one on set that had all the functionality needed. I wish that this video had focused a little bit more on the functionality of the robots. they mentioned that there were a few robots for different actions but I wanted to see what each ones specialty is. I hope that movies will follow Interstellar’s lead and stop relying so heavily on CGI and more heavily rely on the properties department and special effects.
That was very interesting to watch. I did not think that those were actual robots when I saw the movie; I thought they were all CGI. The amount of thought that went into creating those robots and characters is amazing. It is so cool to see how similar the physical robot was compared to the final product after the special effects. It must have been a huge challenge for the actor because it seems very physically demanding, especially the heavier versions of the robot. He had to maneuver the robot as well as act as a robot, which is not easy in the first place. TARS and CASE were almost human but not quite. There was a very thin line between the two, which was probably difficult to determine. I’m sure it took a lot of practice to work with the machines and be able to be comfortable with all of the different things they did. I think it is very interesting how they did the scenes in the water with an ATV guiding the robot through the water. Interstellar was a very well made movie and one of my favorites.
Upon watching Interstellar, which had to be one of my favorite movies of the season, I was blown away by the characters of TARS and CASE. More often than not, we are introduced to robot characters as machines trying to be human, on at least searching for a way to become as human as possible. What struck me most about CASE and TARS was that they were truly robots and had no desire to become human. After all, they weren't programmed that way. Yes, they do have personality, and when Matthew McConaughey brought TARS back to "life" I almost cried, but they were such characters in and of themselves. As far as physical manifestations of them, I was happy that the designers went for something much less humanoid, yet still mobile. Especially in the scene where the team in on the water planet, TARS' ability to quickly spin / run out of there makes all the difference, plot-wise. But it also introduced the audience to the fact that make building machines in our likeness isn't the smartest way to go after all. That was the best part about them. I never realized how much they were tied to the military but the more I think about it, it does make sense. They take orders extremely well, and dare I say, robotic. The overall design of the machines, was spectacularly done and it really shows in the movie. TARS and CASE were some of the best characters in Interstellar, and definitely the coolest.
What I think made TARS and CASE amazing characters for me watching Interstellar, was that they weren’t you’re common robots that are built in humanity’s image and strive to embrace it, rather they were exactly like Nolan describes them, their own unique machine entities. Sure they had personalities, and quirks but they were of their own and uncorrupted from the classic image of the robot that serves man up until the moment they envy him and do him in. Unlike 2001: a Space Odyssey’s Hal or any other well known robot TARS and CASE were always satisfied and proud being exactly what they were, unique conscious entities. This perspective of course was only so successful because of the way TARS was played in the production. Rather than reducing his role to sole voice overs and CGI the actor playing him had hands on puppeteering and real time voice inflictions that I think made TARS a uniquely compelling type of machine. The character work clearly was enrooted in the role, and it is a great success in the film. It just goes to show that we don’t need to rely on CGI so much for movies, sometime the old fashioned methods yield much better results.
6 comments:
Wow! When I saw the movie, I thought that TARS and CASE were completely CGI and that there was maybe a solid prop that they used for the static scenes. It is nice to see such good CGI and Prop/Puppetry integration in a modern movie. More than that though, it is impressive that it was made so seamless. I have to wonder how different the production costs involving making the physical props were from if they had done the whole thing in CGI, I would hope it would have been cheaper. Bill, the guy that did the puppets really must have had a lot of physical ability to do filming like that outside on different terrains and in cramped spaces with such a heavy rig on. In the video, they showed the cable pulling mechanism that they started with. It was a pair of bike interrupter brakes, I found that funny, but really cool that it worked for the lighter model.
This is probably the coolest puppeteering of the 21st century. I, too, thought these mechanisms were completely CGI and maybe had some form of block on set for the actors to interact with. It is so amazing though that these operators learned to basically go through obstacle courses in order to film this movie. Such development from the special effects department going from a simple pull system to a pneumatic lifting system is such amazing dedication to the construction and effects of the machinery. I also cant believe how heavy they got and how much skill it takes to balance with these giant robotic things! Always having to push and offset the balance while pressing levers and walking with bent knees is so amazing and looks good even before CGI is applied. And the ATV like things they have to simulate the movement on the water planet is also really cool and innovative to combine with CGI effects.
I haven't seen this movie but that puppetry is amazing. It must have been so much fun and so rewarding to work on this project. To actually create this robot. I wonder if they started off by trying to make this a real controllable robot. It is also really interesting how the actor could really develop a character with this piece of metal. How he could give the robot personality. I am also really happy to know that they didn't just resort to making CGI robots and actually had one on set that had all the functionality needed. I wish that this video had focused a little bit more on the functionality of the robots. they mentioned that there were a few robots for different actions but I wanted to see what each ones specialty is. I hope that movies will follow Interstellar’s lead and stop relying so heavily on CGI and more heavily rely on the properties department and special effects.
That was very interesting to watch. I did not think that those were actual robots when I saw the movie; I thought they were all CGI. The amount of thought that went into creating those robots and characters is amazing. It is so cool to see how similar the physical robot was compared to the final product after the special effects. It must have been a huge challenge for the actor because it seems very physically demanding, especially the heavier versions of the robot. He had to maneuver the robot as well as act as a robot, which is not easy in the first place. TARS and CASE were almost human but not quite. There was a very thin line between the two, which was probably difficult to determine. I’m sure it took a lot of practice to work with the machines and be able to be comfortable with all of the different things they did. I think it is very interesting how they did the scenes in the water with an ATV guiding the robot through the water. Interstellar was a very well made movie and one of my favorites.
Upon watching Interstellar, which had to be one of my favorite movies of the season, I was blown away by the characters of TARS and CASE. More often than not, we are introduced to robot characters as machines trying to be human, on at least searching for a way to become as human as possible. What struck me most about CASE and TARS was that they were truly robots and had no desire to become human. After all, they weren't programmed that way. Yes, they do have personality, and when Matthew McConaughey brought TARS back to "life" I almost cried, but they were such characters in and of themselves. As far as physical manifestations of them, I was happy that the designers went for something much less humanoid, yet still mobile. Especially in the scene where the team in on the water planet, TARS' ability to quickly spin / run out of there makes all the difference, plot-wise. But it also introduced the audience to the fact that make building machines in our likeness isn't the smartest way to go after all. That was the best part about them. I never realized how much they were tied to the military but the more I think about it, it does make sense. They take orders extremely well, and dare I say, robotic. The overall design of the machines, was spectacularly done and it really shows in the movie. TARS and CASE were some of the best characters in Interstellar, and definitely the coolest.
What I think made TARS and CASE amazing characters for me watching Interstellar, was that they weren’t you’re common robots that are built in humanity’s image and strive to embrace it, rather they were exactly like Nolan describes them, their own unique machine entities. Sure they had personalities, and quirks but they were of their own and uncorrupted from the classic image of the robot that serves man up until the moment they envy him and do him in. Unlike 2001: a Space Odyssey’s Hal or any other well known robot TARS and CASE were always satisfied and proud being exactly what they were, unique conscious entities. This perspective of course was only so successful because of the way TARS was played in the production. Rather than reducing his role to sole voice overs and CGI the actor playing him had hands on puppeteering and real time voice inflictions that I think made TARS a uniquely compelling type of machine. The character work clearly was enrooted in the role, and it is a great success in the film. It just goes to show that we don’t need to rely on CGI so much for movies, sometime the old fashioned methods yield much better results.
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