I was surprised how much the video footage looked like video. I guess I shouldn't have been though, because, hey, it IS video. I don't think it looked bad, but definitely different. I really liked the movie, but was disappointed in the ending. I don't want to ruin it for anybody, but there's a certain coincidence in there that is just plain stupid.

Someone asked how they shot the car interiors by the way, and the other day I saw one of those fawning "making of" documentaries on HBO. They actually built this tree-house sized shack over the front of the car and towed it around LA. The American Cinematographer article also mentions that they used some new type of lighting for the interior of the car. They said it resembled foam core and could be cut to fit. There's little pieces of it all over the interior of the car.

Also, I can't help but mention that I was really upset when I found out the plot of this movie because I had just finished writing a script with almost the exact same premise, as Keith Loh can verify. I'm not saying they stole my idea or anything, as they were already in production before I even finished writing, but how weird is that? My bad guy was a serial killer though, and the driver was some poor sap who happened to share a taxi with him, so it wasn't exactly the same, but close enough for me to abandon the project. Sigh.

YEs, Marco, it was quite similar. Though I think there is still room for your story as well.

Just as long as you stay away from L.A. :)

marco,

i know EXACTLY how you feel! it goes to show ya that if you don't do it quickly enough someone ELSE will find a way to do it. not to toot my own horns but i've always wanted to do a sequence where an action character (like a john woo gun-touting chow yun-fat hero) uses guns (or one machine-gun) is in a room and every exit/entrace is blocked by heavy enemy fire and he's the only guy left. so what does he do? he uses his gun to shoot a circle around where he stands and then the entire floor-board falls through to the lower floor (we're assuming he's on the 2nd floor or above). anyway they already did that in underworld. my jaw dropped when i saw that in the TRAILER of underworld. but my idea was a wee bit different though... so i still may do it =).

That was also kind of done already in Escape from New York where Snake Plisken is trapped in a bathroom and sprays a man-sized hole in a wall with his machinegun so he can bust through it.

Interesting.

<<<-- Originally posted by Heath McKnight : Yi,

Phantom Menace's printed format, other than 35 mm, was digital for DLP-equipped theatres. It wasn't shot digitally at all, other than digital effects.

hwm -->>>

There is one scene, near the halfway mark, which was shot digitally, using a prototype of the F900 that they decided to test. But that's it.

ah... we have seen that many times (like in the matrix when morpheus goes through the bathroom wall) but the ground one is particuarly interesting =). i don't recall any big pictures (except the recent underworld) that seems to have that.

<<<-- Originally posted by Keith Loh : That was also kind of done already in Escape from New York where Snake Plisken is trapped in a bathroom and sprays a man-sized hole in a wall with his machinegun so he can bust through it. -->>>

I dont know I really did not enjoy this film very much. For a thriller it was shockingly predictable. Tom Cruise always puts a certain amount of depth inot his characters but he's just a far too likeable actor to play this role. I'll always see him as the Tommy in Top Gun and A Few Good Men. As for the HD sections they really looked pretty bad very flat and paleish, with obviously less resolution on long shots. If you want to see good HD go rent The Company by Altman. Most beautiful use of the video medium I've ever seen.