SCI FI PI

Principal photography on one of 2009's most anticipated films, Terminator Salvation, has officially wrapped, with work know beginning on the mammoth task of post-production and special effects.

Luckily they've got till May of next year!

Director McG managed to take time out of his exhaustive schedule to blog his thoughts on what they've come up with - although as expected, not too many details have been revealed.

Although, in general terms, some clues point to a 'thumbs up' for the fourth movie in the Terminator franchise, with an emphasis on realism in the Terminator robots (having been built again by the original makers, Stan Winston) and of story and character.

The Sam and Christian that he refers to in his blog is Australia's Sam Worthington and Batman Christian Bale.





Here's the latest from the official blog:

The Future So Far...

We wrapped principal photography. Now we're heavy into post. I've already shown early cuts to Christian and Sam. They seem pleased with where the film is headed. Our focus is on story and character, but it's fun diving into the world of visual effects.

It feels like the responsibility of any Terminator film to reinvent the wheel of effects with every outing. The first movie was a stunning achievement in animatronics and practical effects from Stan Winston. The second film brought us liquid metal, which was a true revolution in the effects world. Robert Patrick's (T-1000) head coming apart and putting itself back together again looks as good today as ever.

Charlie Gibson is aware of his responsibility as the VFX supervisor and second unit director of this film. He works with ILM and Asylum every day and makes revisions to the finest detail. We want the patina of the machines to be dirty and heavy and perfectly realistic - that's why we built so much practically with Stan Winston. But at some point the effects kick in and like any Terminator fan, Charlie wants his mind blown. There's one sequence in particular where we're trying to achieve something that's never been done before. I don't want to talk about it because we haven't been successful yet...

But we're working on it.

It's very interesting working with Conrad Buff every day. First of all he was the editor on Terminator 2 so it's very comforting having his steady hand at the Avid. Long before we ever began we talked about what excited us about making this film. It was the notion of the world after judgment day. We set out to create a world that honored the Terminator mythology but was its own new beginning. Every day I learn from Conrad as he makes the elegant choices of a disciplined filmmaker. It feels great to have his confidence in the movie. I take his opinion very seriously, he provides a daily litmus test for what is worthy of a Terminator film.

Most importantly, Christian and Sam bring power to the rolls of John Connor and Marcus Wright. This is a story of two destinies colliding. Connor is part of a resistance comprised of the ethnicities that make up the globe. This film is so much more that just Los Angeles. It reflects the global crisis of man, all of man versus machine.

McG