The Morning Watch: Making Animatronics For Movies & TV, Mitchells Vs The Machines Scene Breakdown & More
(The Morning Watch is a recurring feature that highlights a handful of noteworthy videos from around the web. They could be video essays, fan-made productions, featurettes, short films, hilarious sketches, or just anything that has to do with our favorite movies and TV shows.)
In this edition, the head of animatronics for Spectral Motion gives an inside look at how the realistic animatronics of movies and shows like "The Tomorrow War," "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters," and "Stranger Things" are brought to life. Plus, "The Mitchells vs the Machines" director Mike Rianda breaks down a scene from the Oscar-nominated animated film. And finally, "Jackass" frontman Johnny Knoxville answers the most searched questions about him on the internet like, "What was Johnny Knoxville's bull injury?" in a new interview.
Explaining the animatronics of your favorite movies and TV shows
First, one of the unsung heroes of the film industry are animators and puppeteers, teams who bring the most alien and fantastical creatures and scenes to life. What would "Jurassic Park" be without Phil Tippett's work? What would filmmaking be without Ray Harryhausen?
A new video from Insider takes a look at animatronic studio Spectral Motion and their work doing animatronic puppets for use either on screen, or even as reference material. For example, the video starts with the head of Spectral Motion, Mark Setrakian, talking about the work they did on "The Tomorrow War" making the aliens from the movie. Though Setrakian's animatronics weren't always used in the film except for a few shots, a moving animatronic head the team made was used as a reference for the visual effects team to capture motion in a more realistic way than if they were building it from the ground up.
Animating family problems in 'The Michells vs the Machines'
Next, "The Mitchells vs the Machines" is one of the best animated films of last year. A delightful comedy with a deep sense of emotion and a big heart, Mike Rianda and the team at Sony Pictures Animation crafted a film that captures the nuances of petty family squabbles and the love between them.
In a new video for the Oscars, Rianda breaks down an early scene in the film where the family fights, explaining what makes the stylized art of the film so unique and special. Come for the technical know-how, stay for the jokes about why hoodies are the worst thing to include in a 3D animated film.
Johnny Knoxville answers the best (and worst) questions the internet has for him
Last, but not least, Johnny Knoxville is here to answer some questions. The star of "Jackass Forever" has done a lot of crazy stunts, but this may be one of his most insane ones yet. In a new "Autocomplete Interview" for Wired, Knoxville googles "Can Johnny Knoxville?" but before he can complete the sentence, he just asnwers that he probably can't. "I used to could, but not anymore," he says.
Knoxville talks about the origin of "Jackass," the craziest stunt he's done, whether the "Jackass" team paid for rental cars and other things they break, and how many bones he's broken (he hasn't counted, but knows he's had 16 concussions). This guy has been through a lot, and he answers all these questions and more.