Movies

'Green Lantern' Set Visit Video Blog

By Peter Sciretta

In early August 2010, I had the opportunity to travel to New Orleans to visit the set of the big screen adaptation of Green Lantern. After returning from the set, I recorded a video blog with Frosty from Collider — an in depth discussion about what we saw during the visit and our early impressions. Keep in mind, we didn't see any completed computer effects rendered footage.

My big takeaway from the visit is that Warner Bros isn't just making a superhero movie, but that they are making a big space opera. The scope is huge and very ambitious and I'm excited to see if they can pull it off, and if mainstream America are willing to accept the abundance of hard sci-fi elements. I can tell you, I'm excited (despite some of the early unfinished special effects shots).

Watch our set visit video blog embedded after the jump. And throughout the week we'll be posting transcripts of some of our on set interviews.

Video Blog:

Timecodes:

  • 00:00 Introduction
  • 01:30 The art department
  • 02:00 Spoiler Free Thoughts
  • 04:00 Huge Budgets
  • 05:00 Will Mainstream Audiences embrace the film, and more specifically, the Space Opera side of the story?
  • 11:00 Open Discussion Begins
  • 11:50 The Art Department
  • 13:20 The Propmaster, Wearing the Ring
  • 16:00 Day 100 of filming
  • 17:00 Why We Weren't Allowed to Watch Filming
  • 18:15  The Story/Characters
  • 18:25 The Prologue
  • 21:00 Abin Sur and his spaceship
  • 22:00 Hal Jordan – the character, comic book vs. the film
  • 23:00 Hector Hammond
  • 25:00 Oa
  • 27:10 The 24 Green Lanterns featured in the Oa sequence
  • 30:30 The Green Lantern control center
  • 31:30 The balance of character and action
  • 32:15 The Costume
  • 34:00 Traveling to Sea World To Study Dolphins?
  • 34:30 The Screening Room
  • 35:30 Abin Sur in the Spaceship
  • 36:00 Hal in Caroll's Office
  • 37:00 Hector Hammond's new lab
  • 38:15 Render Tests Tomar-Re with Anthony Hopkins voice
  • 39:20 Very Hard to Make look Realistic in Largely CG Sequences
  • 40:15 Post Converted 3D
  • 44:00 Talking to Ryan Reynolds
  • 46:00 Talking with Mark Strong in make-up as Sinestro
  • 48:40 Talking with Director Martin Campbell
  • 50:00 Our Bottom Line Take-aways from the Set Visit

    • Official One Pager:

    'Bringing the enduringly popular superhero to the big screen for the first time, "Green Lantern" stars Ryan Reynolds ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine") in the title role, under the direction of Martin Campbell ("Casino Royale").

    In a universe as vast as it is mysterious, a small but powerful force has existed for centuries. Protectors of peace and justice, they are called the Green Lantern Corps. A brotherhood of warriors sworn to keep intergalactic order, each Green Lantern wears a ring that grants him superpowers. But when a new enemy called Parallax threatens to destroy the balance of power in the Universe, their fate and the fate of Earth lie in the hands of their newest recruit, the first human ever selected: Hal Jordan.

    Hal is a gifted and cocky test pilot, but the Green Lanterns have little respect for humans, who have never harnessed the infinite powers of the ring before. But Hal is clearly the missing piece to the puzzle, and along with his determination and willpower, he has one thing no member of the Corps has ever had: humanity. With the encouragement of fellow pilot and childhood sweetheart Carol Ferris (Blake Lively), if Hal can quickly master his new powers and find the courage to overcome his fears, he may prove to be not only the key to defeating Parallax...he will become the greatest Green Lantern of all.

    Campbell directs "Green Lantern" from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics.

    The film also stars Blake Lively (upcoming "The Town," TV's "Gossip Girl") as the spirited Carol Ferris, a test pilot and the heir apparent to her father's aviation company; Peter Sarsgaard ("An Education," "Flightplan") as scientist Dr. Hector Hammond; Mark Strong ("Sherlock Holmes") as Sinestro, Jordan's powerful mentor in the Green Lantern Corps; Jay O. Sanders ("Revolutionary Road") as Carl Ferris, Carol's aircraft designer dad; Temuera Morrison ("Star Wars" Episodes II and III) as Abin Sur, Jordan's alien predecessor; Taika Waititi (TV's "The Flight of the Conchords") as flight navigator Tom Kalmaku, Hal's good friend and confidante; Academy Award® nominee Angela Bassett ("What's Love Got to Do with It") as enigmatic government scientist Amanda Waller; and Academy Award® winner Tim Robbins ("Mystic River") as Hector's influential father, Senator Robert Hammond.

    The film is being produced by Donald De Line ("The Italian Job") and Greg Berlanti (upcoming "Life As We Know It"). Herbert W. Gains and Andrew Haas serve as executive producers. Geoff Johns and Lucienne Papon are co-producing.

    The film's behind-the-scenes creative team is led by a number of Academy Award® winners, including director of photography Dion Beebe ("Memoirs of a Geisha"), production designer Grant Major ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), and costume designer Ngila Dickson ("The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"), as well as Oscar®-nominated editor and longtime Campbell collaborator, Stuart Baird ("Gorillas in the Mist," "Superman"). The film's visual effects are being overseen by Oscar®-nominee Kent Houston ("The Adventures of Baron Von Munchausen," "Casino Royale").

    The film is currently scheduled for release in 3D and 2D on June 17, 2011. "Green Lantern" will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company. '

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