not sure if this was posted already, but it sounded good.
First Look: 'Pirates: Dead Man's Chest' (from the MSN site)
We visit the set of the new 'Pirates of the Caribbean.' Plus, Banderas and Zeta-Jones return to 'Zorro' and Cage is a 'Weather Man'
Oct. 27, 2005
Beware! There be spoilers here!
Studios often go to extreme lengths to keep the story line and imagery of an anticipated movie secret. Such is the case with "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," the first of two sequels featuring the return of Johnny Depp as the immensely popular Captain Jack Sparrow (oh, and two nobody's named Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley). So, imagine my surprise to discover that a Universal Studios Theme Park tour van picks up park goers every day right in front of one of the production's busiest sound stages. MSN was lucky enough to attend a set visit for the film. Here's a peek at what those park goers weren't supposed to see.
The visit was arranged for select members of the press, and before we even enter the stage area, we see actor Stellan Skarsgard walking out of the set. Skarsgard plays legendary pirate Bootstrap Bill, and his costume is covered with barnacles and a few strands of seaweed. His eyes are red and his skin is blue grey. As his fellow actors appear behind him in similar attire, it's clear they're unlike any sailors we've seen before.
Entering the stage, we set foot on part of the pirate ship The Flying Dutchman. Strangely, the ship looks like it has been sitting on the floor of the ocean for decades. That the ship is even seaworthy can only be attributed to its captain, Davey Jones, who is Captain Jack's new nemesis. You see, The Flying Dutchman's seaworthiness is all due to another one of those pesky curses. Thankfully, John Knoll, visual effects supervisor, sheds more light on the situation.
"Once he [Jones] collects the souls of sailors who die at sea -- and the longer you serve on the Dutchman, the more you gradually become of the sea -- so, somebody who's recently joined the crew still looks fairly human and somebody who's been serving on the crew for 200 years doesn't really even have a face any more," Knoll says.
Knoll speaks the truth, because we've seen some of the conceptual drawings for Jones that will keep the team at Industrial Light and Magic very busy. Jones appears to have multiple squid tails coming out of his face and a crab leg that functions as a peg leg. It's one of many reasons why this has twice as many CGI shots as the first "Pirates."
"Last time, we had to figure out the look of the skeletal pirates, how to do those transitions, how to do convincing ship-at-sea shots and a variety of matt paintings to establish the locations," Knoll says. "And here there's just more. There are more locations, more ships, the characters are more complex. It's all harder than the first one."
Knoll isn't complaining. He gets to help create the Cracken, a half-squid, half-octopus monster that attacks the Black Pearl. Who could say "no" to that?
Next: What does the Soothsayer of the Bayou foretell?
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More 'Pirates' Set Visit (from MSN site)
Shooting two "Pirates" sequels (the third movie will be released after "Dead Man's Chest"; the date is unknown) back-to-back is a tremendous undertaking. Although it's a Disney film, sound stages are being used on both the Universal and Disney lots. Plus, there have been weeks of shooting on the sea in St. Thomas. Leaving Universal behind, our party heads over to Disney Stage 2 where a beautiful bayou set has been created.
A few days before, the cast filmed a scene here where a soothsayer, played by Naomie Harris ("28 Days Later"), warned Captain Sparrow of a dire future. The set, which resembles an Indian river in Dominica, features multiple huts and incredibly realistic trees constructed completely of plaster. It contains a three- to four-feet deep "river" that boats can sail through. The set is so fun to walk around that you wish you could bring it home. Credit this stunning creation to one of the few new additions to the "Pirates" creative team, Oscar-winning Production Designer Rick Heinrichs ("Sleepy Hollow"). He admits that although the new films have a broader scope than the original, the practical sets have been less challenging than having to build boats from scratch.
"We're building boats that actually work on the water," Heinrichs says, noting another upgrade on this production. "The Black Pearl's built on top of another boat. It's got twin diesel engines and can have quite a bit of a bow wave this time. [That's] something [director Gore Verbinski] really wanted to do. He felt that in the first movie, all the boats felt a little turgid, and they were basically barges that were being dragged behind another boat. This time we actually built the boats so they do have that feel of reality to them."
Not anticipating any sequels, the studio destroyed a number of sets from the original movie. This has given Heinrichs the opportunity to recreate different sections of the Black Pearl. Walking onto the sound stage version of the Black Pearl's cannon deck was quite a thrill. It seemed incredibly realistic down to the rusting of the cannons themselves. But, then again, are cannonballs supposed to be light enough to toss back and forth?
Our last stop was the Captain's Quarters on the Black Pearl. Although it looks similar to the first one, Heinrichs has gone all out using real (and expensive) mahogany wood. Funny, it seems a bit too nice for Jack Sparrow. It definitely is more Barbosa's style... but too bad he was killed off in the first movie.
So, with a wave goodbye from our friendly Disney publicist, the sneak peek at "Dead Man's Chest" ends with Depp, Knightley or Bloom nowhere in sight. Of course, one of them was around during our visit to the sets of the third "Pirates" movie, but that's a tale for another time.
