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A Quick Peek From the Matrix Set In Sydney
We posted recently about the planned shutdown of part of Sydney for filming of the upcoming Matrix sequel. Now reader zobier points to a followup describing the shooting, and since he was on hand to see it first-hand, writes: "I went along to watch the filming, it was very cool (I love helicopters tho' ;) They didn't block off much city space, maybe (100 - 200m), and the chopper flew down the square (Martin Place) between the buildings about 5 - 10m above our heads. Many onlookers were videoing and photographing the scene. At about 5pm when it got dark the camera flashes started going off, this pissed off the director as it was interfering with his film." GoogolPlexPlex adds a link to coverage in the Sydney Morning Herald.
At about 5pm when it got dark the camera flashes started going off, this pissed off the director as it was interfering with his film.
Y'know, if I'm on the street and a helicopter goes flying by with people fighting on it, I'm going to take a picture.
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--cl
LIKE an old western movie, the streets of Sydney's CBD were eerily still yesterday as a chilly breeze swept through just before dusk.
Then, (cue the techno soundtrack), a giant, silver helicopter came from above a high-rise office building and descended into the city streets, landing loudly in the middle of Martin Place like a scene out of a sci-fi movie.
It was indeed that, as cameras on board the chopper were filming part of a 14-minute action sequence for the multi-million dollar sequels to the Hollywood sci-fi film The Matrix.
The sequence included the scenes filmed from the helicopter's "space-cam'' of an empty Castlereagh St.
The chopper was on loan from the ABC, as was its pilot Gary Ticehurst, who manoeuvred the double-engine aircraft vertically up and down Martin Place and hovered below building height down other streets.
According to the film's location manager, Peter Lawless, Castlereagh St was chosen for filming because of its nondescript look.
About 1000 people had gathered to watch the highly publicised scene take place, many hoping to catch a glimpse of The Matrix stars Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving and Jada Pinkett-Smith.
However, none of the stars were on location yesterday, despite many onlookers thinking they had already seen a piece of Hollywood.
"I think we just saw Keanu,'' said Jessica Hine, 18, who, had braved the cold for more than two hours to watch the filming.
The film's producers were given special permission to close parts of the central city for the shoot (which will continue over the next three Sundays) following a series of meetings with the NSW Premier's Department Filming Roundtable. The roundtable was set up last year to help Sydney's film-making industry to grow.
The Matrix sequels, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, will be released worldwide in 2003.
At about 5pm when it got dark the camera flashes started going off, this pissed off the director as it was interfering with his film.
Too bad the Matrix isn't set in Japan, where tons of people carry cameras all the time. Then the people could take all the pictures they wanted to, and it'd be ok.
"Oh no, 3 horny women and only 2 condoms...Thank god I read slashdot"
Oooooooh, it makes me giggle when those silly little automatic cameras go all flashy at night. A tiny little camera with a tiny flash isn't going to illuminate a large helicopter at a range of 20m.
The camera moments that really make me laugh are flash photographs of cityscapes at night taken through windows. Well, everyone needs pictures of bright reflected flashes. My album is full of them.
EtF
At about 5pm when it got dark the camera flashes started going off, this pissed off the director as it was interfering with his film...
yea, those darn flashers
Where can the plot go from here? The end of the Matrix 1 was pretty much the end, wasn't it? Are we going to find out that the Matrix is Neo's father and will Neo get trained by a puppet?
I have been pwned because my
I took some pictures of the set but they turned out like crap, all you can see is a bunch of 111000110011001001101
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I don't think a lot of you are understanding why the flashes pissed of the director.
Yes, a camera flash at that distance won't illuminate a hellicopter. That's good for side views or shots shot angling up at the hellicopter shot from below (probably a 45 degree angle)
However, if the director wanted an overhead shot, or one angling down at the hellicopter, the street would be visible and that's where the flashes would be seen. The director probably wanted to see an average street so the distracting flashes were causing him lost time, film and money.
"Oh no, 3 horny women and only 2 condoms...Thank god I read slashdot"
So that means they blocked off an area of a whole 10x10 to 14x14 meters/yards then?
Roughly the size of a large apartment.
Amazing.
So I wonder what the next movies are going to be about. At the end of the matrix, neo is like unto a god, and the agents can't stop him.
Outside the matrix, neo is a wimpy bald guy who eats gruel and has no ability to fight the enemy.
A movie needs conflict to be interesting. There's lots of obvious conflict available in the real world, where neo and company are underdogs in the fight against the machines, but the parts of the matrix that were really cool were *in the matrix*. So the major conflict being outside the matrix is out.[1]
But neo is all powerful inside, right? Well, that pretty much has to change for there to be anything interesting happening. So my prediction is, right at the beginning of the movie, we're going to find out that the machines have changed something about the matrix that takes away some (but not all) of neo and company's power. That way they still get to do their cool slow motion three-d rotating martial arts, but they can't just win outright.[2]
It's an open question, of course, whether this will be done well enough to allow you to sit back and enjoy the movie, rather than internally kvetch about how contrived things are.
Note that the above is not based on any actual knowledge or information.
- target
[1] Of course, as in the first movie, there will certainly be some conflict outside the matrix. Expect that there will be twin threats, inside and outside, just as in the first. Expect also that those threats will be interrelated, so that solving one is necessary to or will solve the other.
[2] This is perhaps supported by the title. If the matrix gets reloaded, will somee of the rules change?
..your life must be incredibly small and boring if you refuse to see any Hollywood movie because of decss. Hate to tell you, but just about ALL indy films are in some way connected to, produced by, and funded by Hollywood money. You better quit watching TV too, my friend.. Man, there are SO many more important things in this world to worry about...
Moderation totals that amuse me for one of my posts: Flamebait=1, Insightful=2, Funny=2, Overrated=1, Underrated=1
The EFF needs a lot money to produce crap.
Why are there so many idiots with cameras? It's a major issue during the olympics as well...
A camera's flash works for a very short distance, perhaps 100 feet... If you're any further away from the source than that, the camera flash distracts your subject, while NOT lighting up anything (except possibly the dust between you and your subject).
If you don't know how to use it properly, shut it off... People have become accustomed to the flash on cameras, but few ever actually need it. Not to mention how much harm that flash does in the hands of idiots.
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Anyone heard news that there will be a new actress to play the Oracle?
I was in the National Geographic shop in Darling Harbour Sydney, browsing, when a lady with a Yankee accent came in. The guy behind the desk asked her where she was from, if she was a tourist, etc, etc.
She claimed that she was working on a new movie, the guy behind the counter asked which, she replied The Matrix. The guy and the girl behind the counter were impressed, they asked what she had to do with it and she said she plays the role of the Oracle, since the actress who played the Oracle in the first movie has passed away.
Can anyone confirm that the origial Oracle actress has passed on?
Damn, she was uber cool.
War crimes, torture, lies, illegal spying... Would someone give Bush a blowjob, already, so he can be impeached?
I always thought it was a test for software DVD players... ;)
Mr Director, I think it would be quite unrealistic in a film if a helicopter flew 10 meters over your head in a city like Sydney and nobody would take pictures...
A line from the upcoming movie : Neo : "Whoa....check out all those flashes" Morpheus : "Concentrate on the task at hand; they are merely glitches in the Matrix caused by our presense in this place"
Passed away last year, at the age of 64.
She had already filmed her scenes for Matrix II, I believe. Dunno what they're doing for Matrix III.
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
They didn't block off much city space, maybe (100 - 200m), and the chopper flew down the square (Martin Place) between the buildings about 5 - 10m above our heads.
Really? Hard to believe these numbers. Are you saying that closed area was about 100x200 meters or 100-200 square meters? First I can believe, latter is just like 10x20 meters... Wouldn't make sense. And since I've been near helicopters I know that being 5-10 meter under hovering or passing copter isn't fun. Dust... wind... noise... I don't say you're mistaken, but these numbers are just hard to believe. Flying 5 meters from ground in middle of city... Should have seen that.
Does anyone have urls to information about using rc-copters in movies - as models and / or filming? I've seen one in action and was really impressed.
Wow .. this is all very exciting.
... they must have swept all the homeless guys out of the way beforehand.
The building I work in is on the corner of Martin Place and Castlereagh streets.
I walk along there everyday !
Where they found space to land a goddamn helicopter is beyond me
Err... You are aware that most non-professional cameras today decide weather to use the flash by themselves, and that you should therefor blame the technology rather than the user in this case?
Here is why, most meters will average across the whole frame and the thing you are photographing is usually occupying maybe 10 to 20% of the frame.
Switching flash will normally set a fixed speed on 1/30th sec. This is usually enough for the illuminated bit of the photograph. Forget the flash itself, it is the fixed speed that helps. With negative film there is usually enough lattitude to get something off the negative. This is why flash photos of concerts often work.
If they are filming on to negative film, they will need a fair amount of illumination (even with black helicopters). I wouldn't be suprised if the photographers don't actually get something (although a 30th is a bit slow for action and it is sure to blur).
First look at the teaser poster and more plot speculations were reported first at corona.
apparently. They are shutting down a PART of the city. They are not shutting down an entire city. Just a few blocks.
Okay, my above post makes absolutely no sense.. where the hell did the post go saying we should all boycott all big movies because of Hollywood's DECSS thing??
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Lets face it, the whole idea is silly. Theres the whole laws of thermodynamics thing for a start but then theres this problem that they need some sort of artifical reality to make it work, and its really tricky, because they keep escaping and fighting and stuff. OK, so why not use Llamas instead. Or Cod. Problem solved - Next! Maybe its good that I'm nto a hyperintelligent machine ruling the world with an iron fist, er, manipulator.
<fnord>OBEY</fnord>
My friend was out and about with his shiny new camera, and took a piccy of the 'copter as it was being filmed... Not bad quality, but would have liked to get more! Don't wanna slashdot my own server, so check out the pictures to have a peek... Rob.
I'm sorry but other than the fight scenes (which have been cloned to death) Matrix sucked. Maybe it was because I waited till it was on Video and during that time everyone built it up. I just don't understand why it is such a big deal for the hacker set.
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Sydney is a beautiful city if you ever get the chance to visit. An area of about 200m x 150m was blocked off for most of Sunday. The Helicopter landed in a cleared area of Martin Place. Footage was shot without actors, the footage will be used for the next two sequel films, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolution. The footage shot on Sunday will be used for The Matrix Revolution.
Queensland rocks. Home of the Rednecks. Spawn of Pauline Hanson. Chestershire Cat Beattie.
But then again, theyre all better than an arselicker like Howard.
(If you do not understand, don't mod)
Think nothing is impossible? Try slamming a revolving door.
For those that couldn't make it to the set ... here's a photo of the action.
Action Shot
a beowulf cluster of those?
I posted an answer, titled "Gloria Foster, RIP," almost immediately after you posted your question. It got modded down. Twice. WTF?
You cannot apply a technological solution to a sociological problem. (Edwards' Law)
you sir, are one dumb mother fucker. Apparently you have the reading comprehension skills of a 4th grader
If you check out www.imdb.com for the Matrix sequal you'll see that Agent Smith is now Agent Smith 2.0
An upgrade, hmmm? Let's hope it's not as diabolical as Microsoft's recent Media Player 7.1 security fix. Maybe the 2.x series of agents will realize the only way to defeat a vastly superior Neo is for all of them to attack him simultaneously rather than following the time-honored martial arts movie tradition of politely waiting their turn. Now that would make for a cool (and novel) fight scene!
GMD
watch this
here's a good line: "...for the multi-million dollar sequels to the Hollywood sci-fi film The Matrix."
Is anyone besides me unimpressed? A million dollar budject is completely bare bones as far as movie making goes.
At about 5pm when it got dark the camera flashes started going off, this pissed off the director as it was interfering with his film
I always thought Matrix and the sequels were directed by BOTH Kowalsky Bros....
This is not my opinion but my brain's
they are not hurting humas at all but rather the matrix was designed as the ultimate living habitat for humans, where robots handled all the 'living' for us and we simply live in an artifical reality. MAybe we had control over this matrix at one time and decided to live there because it was nice. And then maybe the matrix was and then we lost control and the matrix turned on its creators.
Maybe I'm just making this up. (damn straight)
It was worth being modded down 2 points just to hear a reply like yours.
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It also stops all of those annoying exploits of the spoon protocol by script kiddies.
One thing that always amuses me is the sight of ppl trying to photograph fireworks displays with hand-held common flash cameras.
When I was eleven, I learned to use a tripod-mounted time-exposure with a cable-release. 2 or 3 seconds exposure with fast colour film.
.
(David Bowman, EVA near HUGE Monolithic Win-PC in orbit around Jupiter) "My God - its full of Malware!"
-Most technology appreciating people should realize Hollywood is an evil empire after the whole Decss incident. Hyping a Hollywood money milking series such as 'the matrix' is pretty hypocritical on a site such as slashdot that claims to be a part of the fight for free speech.
-I myself vow not to watch any Hollywood movie, including any Matrix ones, until the movie industry becomes less corrupt and hell bent on crushing peoples rights.
-Don't buy into the hype, instead donate the ticket money to the EFF.