Behind the Scenes of ‘Burn Notice’ Prequel ‘The Sam Axe Movie’

Even though the Burn Notice prequel, dubbed “The Sam Axe Movie,” is currently filming in Columbia and won’t premiere until later this spring, fans are able to keep a close eye on the day-to-day production, thanks to producer Aaron Ginsberg.

Ginsberg, who recently came off the canceled Matt Nix FOX series The Good Guys, has been providing an in-depth look at the filming of “The Sam Axe Movie” through his Twitter and Tumblr accounts. While production has faced geese attacks, stray donkeys and permit problems, the internet availability appears to be pretty solid.

As we now know, “The Sam Axe Movie” will give fans a look at the back-story of everyone’s favorite alcohol drinking ex-spy on Burn Notice. Set in 2005 Colombia, Lt. Cmdr. Sam Axe is deployed to check out some problems that a local military platoon is having with Colombian rebels. As usual, bad things happen and we’ll see what events led Sam Axe to become our favorite Miami resident.

With camera in tow, Ginsberg has been providing wonderful photos of various filming locations, military vehicles and pre-production planning. On top of that, Ginsberg has also been keeping track of any interesting or hilarious conversations on the set and has been dictating them for fans to enjoy.

You can read some of our favorite quotes below:

“So, the dailies didn’t make it to LA… Turns out, they have been detained by U.S. Customs.” ~ Producer“Our generator is on fire. Don’t worry, we’re putting it out.” ~ 1st AD — only 2 hours into our first day of shooting.“And, look, we can always light his arm on fire.” ~ Stunt Coordinator“If it makes me nervous, you know we’re in trouble.” ~  Stunt Coordinator[An email with a picture of a donkey attached] “A donkey that Columbian Production found 500 yards from the location. Do we want him?”

–

The PICTURE CAR DEPT shows us a laptop with picture of a CAR

PICTURE CAR DEPT: Do you like this car for Sam Axe?

JEFFREY DONOVAN: Yeah, that’s great!

PICTURE CAR DEPT: We cannot get this car.

::Pause. Picture Car Department gestures to another jpeg on the computer::

PICTURE CAR DEPT: How about this car? Do you like it?

JEFFREY: Perfect!

PICTURE CAR DEPT: This car is not available.

(Sigh.)

–

EXT. COLOMBIAN JUNGLES. CERTAIN KEY VEHICLES ARE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. THE 1ST AD GRABS HIS WALKIE-TALKIE.

1ST AD: I need to know what -exactly- we have here on location!
::Excruciatingly long pause::
2ND AD: I’ll tell you in five minutes.

As you can tell from those select quotes that everything in production appears to be running smoothly – especially if they’re in need of an extra donkey. U.S. Customs holding delivery of the dailies, back to LA, certainly isn’t the best thing to happen – but things could be worse. For instance, their generator could catch on fire in the middle of the jungle.

Even though the quotes were hilarious, and somewhat informative, there’s nothing like photos. Fortunately, we sifted through all of Ginsberg’s photos and, like the quotes, selected our favorites. Unfortunately, Bruce Campbell doesn’t appear in any of them.  If you’d like to see all of Ginsberg’s photos and keep up date with filming, check out his Twitter and Tumblr accounts.

-

Burn Notice prequel “The Sam Axe Movie” is set to air this spring on USA.

Follow me on Twitter @anthonyocasio
Follow Screen Rant on Twitter @screenrant

Source: Twitter, Tumbler

View the original article here

Behind The Scenes Of ‘TRON: Legacy’ – The Actors Talk About Making the Film

Disney has released fifteen minutes of behind the scenes footage from TRON: Legacy as they increase their marketing campaign in preparation for the December 17 release of the film. The footage is fairly raw, unlike a traditional BTS feature, which would be inter-cut with interviews that give the context for the footage. One does get a sense of some of the technology used in making the film, as well as some of the techniques employed.

We also hear from TRON: Legacy stars Jeff Bridges and Garrett Hedlund, along with producer Sean Bailey and director Joseph Kosinski, about what it was like to make the highly-anticipated sequel.

In the footage there are a few shots of Jeff Bridges in “the vault,” which is a room of any size, painted green, and filled with sensors designed to capture the movement and facial performance of the actor. The capture is used to assist in the creation of the CGI version of Bridges as Clu – a.k.a. the young Kevin Flynn – as well as the environment in the scene as well as the camera angles. This was a process which blew Jeff Bridges away. He shook his head in wonder, saying, “Wow man, making movies without cameras — what an idea! When they first said that, I said ‘what are you talking about’!?!”

He said that the one of the the most surreal moments in making the movie was when he was first scanned, so that the computer could create a digital imprint of him in order to create his younger avatar, which audiences will see in the film. The actor said it was “Just like the first Tron (when his character is “digitized” onto the grid) but for real!”

This method of filmmaking took some getting used to for the actor, who likes to “relate to the lens and have a costume and a set.” Although, he feels that the best thing to do in acting (and in life) is to adapt to the the reality of what is happening, and adapt quickly, so for him this work became about becoming “like a child, when you don’t have all the cool gear, and you have to use your imagination.”

As far as where this new technology will lead, Bridges, as well as many others, speculate that the possibilities are endless:

“They’re going to be able to combine actors too — I’m not sure how I feel about this — but they’re going to be able to say ‘hey, let’s get  Boxleitner, and Bridges, and throw in some Brando and see what happens.”

Though the cost and time commitment involved in the capture process (it took two years to create the look of Clu, and then longer to create movement) will likely limit its use in feature-film productions, at least for now.

In the footage, you are also able to also see Jeff Bridges in the capture helmet as he portrays Clu in a scene set in the “End of the Line Bar”, with live-action actor Michael Sheen.

It feels as though the scene in which “the sirens” first give Sam Flynn his grid wardrobe and identity disk is choreographed somewhat like a dance. You can hear a count out for the movement of the  four exotically beautiful “programs” charged with preparing Sam for the “games,” a.k.a. “Disk Wars.” You can also see some of the choreography from the fight scenes, which Garrett Hedlund, describes as “unlike any I have ever seen.”

Take a look at the footage below:

First time director Joseph Kosinski has a fair amount riding on the success of this film, and so does producer turned Disney President of Production, Sean Bailey. This footage may be intended to prep fans for the vastly different, and far more modern version of The Grid that they will be introduced to in TRON: Legacy.

Some fans speculate that Disney has pulled the copies of the original Tron from shelves in an effort to disassociate this film from the now dated look of the original, so that casual movie goers will not assume that they will see more of the same in TRON: Legacy. Of course, it’s possible that Disney is simply hoping to time the release of the remastered original film, with (what they hope will be) the blockbuster success of the sequel. Sean Baily would simply say “We have some big plans for the original Tron,” while emphasizing that TRON: Legacy is a “standalone movie.”

TRON: Legacy – which was green lit due to the enthusiastic audience reaction to the test footage released at Comic Con three years ago – is now depending on that sane audience to show up in force and bring ten friends each.

TRON: Legacy hits theaters on December 17

Follow me on twitter @jrothc and Screen Rant @screenrant

View the original article here