Star Wars Sky Movies Promo

In order to get you ready for Star Wars Episode VII, Sky Movies is screening all six Star Wars movies, which you can watch back-to-back. To promote this, MPC Advertising have produced a stunning 30 second promo, which takes viewers on a whistle-stop tour through a the complete saga. With a combination of footage from the movies, and animated stills, the promo is a series of vignettes which represent each of the Star Wars Episodes, each of which is rich in detail. But for me it is the transitions between these moments which are the most compelling, and make the promo hold up for repeat viewings.

Directed by Steven Hoare, with Lee Parker as Creative Director and VFX from MPC, this promo is well worth a watch

The Force is with us this December with the return of #SkyMoviesStarWars, including all six movies and more. https://t.co/9Ctgs5ylDG

— Sky Movies (@skymovies) November 25, 2015

Mad Max and The Doof Warrior

The internet has been abuzz since it's been released, even outside of VFX circles, about the use of practical effects in Mad Max (one of my favourite films this year by a clear mile). With some nice before and after shots being released it’s great to see breakdowns of the Special as well as Visual effects that went into making it. 

The element I was most pleased to find out had actually been created was hands down the guitar used by The Doof Warrior (Otherwise known as ‘holy shit that guy has a flamethrower’) played by musician-actor iOTA. Director George Miller explained in an interview with The Daily Beast “Pre-modern communications, there was always the music of war — the bugle, horns, bagpipes, drummers. Every war culture had some sound to signal the troops… ours is just weaponized, so it’s a flamethrower as well.”

“...it was gas and it was controlled by the whammy bar…”

— http://noisey.vice.com/blog/we-talked-to-the-dude-who-plays-a-flame-throwing-guitar-in-mad-max-fury-road

The Doof Warrior has become a focal part of some reviews and the film for many fans despite having less than a minute of screen time. Given this it was only a matter of time before a DIY ukulele version came out...Right??

Fan Caleb Kraft has been channeling his inner Doof and put together a video tutorial on how to make your own hellfire flinging hipster guitar on Youtube.

“I didn’t want to try to replicate exactly what he had, and I also wanted to scale things down to be marginally safer.”

— http://makezine.com/projects/mad-max-doof-warrior-inspired-flamethrower-ukulele/

Kraft's video doesn't show the final product being played, although I feel the sound might not be the point.