Comics2Film's coverage of our November visit to the set of 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer' continues...
At the close of yesterday's visit with designer Tim Flattery, it was suggested that the Fantasticar prop build for the film was sturdy enough that they could really shake down the actors inside it. We'll pick things up from there.
QUESTION: What was the actors' reaction to it?
TIM FLATTERY: The only thing I can say is when I first saw them, when they first saw it, and they didn't know what this thing was, all they knew was there's a Fantasticar in the movie. And they walked up to it and everyone was pretty fired up about it. A lot of questions. Even Tim Story, who obviously did know what it was, when it finally arrived up here, he took his shoes off, got on top of the thing and was running up and down, and he was getting in every single cockpit, making [engine] noises, holding the joysticks. It was pretty funny, y'know, jumping from one thing to another, pushing every button there was in there. it took him, he was in there for about a half-hour before he got out.
Q: [unclear] is famous for not being designed to work at all. Did you plan out the locations - 'okay, this is acceleration' - did you plan out the functions of the panels themselves?
TF: You know, there are some things you have to think about ahead of time, you have to be script-conscious. Obviously, things have to get incorporated. How does it break apart, what do you do to break it apart, what's the action? So that gets thought out and designed in. And as far as the IPs, when you see these screens, like we were saying, that feed stuff, I don't put anything static there because it can be added by video later, whatever they wan to put in to accommodate that. So I don't think through that too much. I just give 'em that and let video feed take care of the rest of that for graphics. The main functions of the vehicle, yeah, I think about heavily while I'm designing. How does it work? How does the thrust work? How does it lift? What controls do you need inside to control the lift? What controls do you need inside to control the thrust? I'm also a pilot, so I rely on some of that knowledge to go into what you see inside the cockpit.
Q: Does the fact that Johnny flies under his own power factor into the decision to put Johnny and Sue in the same cockpit?
TF: You gotta ask Tim, because it very well could. It's come up in our conversations. Because Johnny flies, you know. But it's a definite question for Tim, it's a creative thing.
Q: Does this have weapons on it, or is it just a transport?
TF: No. It's just a transport, and a fast one at that. But there's nothing on it, it'll protect 'em, obviously, but there's nothing on it that's aggressive.
Q: Did Dodge steal any of this design for the next car?
TF: I think it's still early, but who knows? Maybe it'll influence one of their concept cars down the road.
Q: What are these vent things?
TF: Those inlets are to cool, basically, you see that each compartment has those inlets, and it's in a whole HV/AC unit for all three compartments.
Q: These are the sweatier people up there, they have larger vents?
TF: Yeah, you know, if you wear those suits, you'd be hot and bothered, too, and you'd want that big thing on you.
Q: What's its hypothetical range?
TF: The range is indefinite because it's an ion generator so it's powering, it's self-powered and it runs cleanly. And it can run at, it's pressurized so it can run at any altitude that any jet can, up to 50,000 feet. And normally an ion generator is known for slow acceleration, but this one has been concentrated for those four chambers so it can go up to Mach 2. Gravity helps that.
Q: How much does this weigh?
TF: This weighs, when it's all together, 4,000 pounds. Just under 4,000 pounds. So each compartment, obviously the front's a little heavier, and it splits off and when you see it next door, you'll see how it splits off and forms wings, and has all the hardware underneath, so some sections are heavier than others. This is the lightest section, the midsection.
Q: Why are wings necessary after it breaks apart?
TF: Just for stabilization, because as a unit, on its own, there's perfect harmony there. When it breaks part, you need extra stability, ya know, now you don't have the length, which is kinda key, for stability. So it'll deploy wings out.
Q: So the Fantastic Four are a family, this is their SUV.
TF: This is there SUV. Absolutely. Or a sports car. All in one.
Q: How difficult was it to get Michael Chiklis in there, in that suit?
TF: Just getting him across the floor is difficult, and actually it's a good question because it's something that concerned me from the ... because the only way to get in this vehicle is to drop in it. If you notice, you have to walk up on the beltline, stick your foot down on the seat and slide in, because it's so low-profile. So when we were building this thing, I'm just sitting there scratching my head going, 'How's a guy in 70 pounds of rubber' ... have you guys seen the suit, or seen the bulk of it? It is huge, you know. There's a lot of mass. So it's not easy for him to move around. So the best scenario was for him to walk up the back, and get over, because it's like its own ramp.
Q: Did he need several people to help him?
TF: Yeah, we helped. It's not easy. It's not easy to get in in a t-shirt and jeans. But it's like getting into a sports car. You drop in.
Q: This will be kept for years, I guess?
TF: Yeah, they'll do kind of a circuit with it, after it's finished, I think it'll end up going through auto shows...
Q: And you're gonna use it for the next one?
TF: Yeah, yeah. It'll be in the next one, I'm sure. It could show up at Comic Con. I know the talk is that it'll go through the auto shows under Dodge's auspice.
Q: Did you build anything else for this film?
TF: Let's see... I did brief concepts on some of the sets and things like that. Reed's lab and all that, they were really early on. And all that was dropped once we got focused on the Fantasticar and the rest of my time was completely spent on this, and building it, seeing it through. It took me all the way to the end of it. But I enjoy doing the other stuff, too, it's just that this was a big undertaking to get it out, get it ready, get it ready for shooting.
(Having exhausted our questioning about the Fantasticar in its initial phase, we then made our way to a small curtained off room next door. There we saw a small table with craft services, some chairs and mirrors for make-up, walls painted green, and last, but certainly not least, the blown apart pieces of the Fantasticar.)
TF: So if you look at where they're mounted, it's the same gimbal set-up that was next door, and all the part lines you saw in the full vehicle are there for a reason. It's because this thing, the wings extend out and if you look underneath this vehicle where the wings fold out, all the hardware is exposed underneath and that's how this folds up and pushes back in and the little nose hinges down into place to meet the back of each section. So looking at the backs, they're carved out. There's hardware exposed but they receive each other.
Q: (Pointing at part of the controls) Is that navigation?
TF: That's actually aviation.
Q: Very manta ray, isn't it?
TF: Yeah, the same thing. All this is drawn -- even the breakaways are all drawn -- from nature. Have you seen any of my artwork? Did they show you any of my artwork on this?
Q: We pretty much ran straight here.
TF: One of my renderings is a view looking underneath it like this. It's a manta ray, you know.
Q: So the transformation process is all mechanical?
TF: It's all mechanical. There's no morphing. It's all nuts, bolts and hinges.
Q: When you see it break apart, though, that's going to be simulated?
TF: Yeah. The articulation will be CG. When you see it broken apart, you'll see these underneath. I don't know if you can see inside Ben's cockpit any better from this one, just to get an idea of the size of all the stuff. He's bigger in this movie than the last one, that's for sure. They've made him a little bulkier, put a little more mass on him.
Tim Flattery wasn't done with us yet. Tune in tomorrow where Tim reveals that this was not the only Fantasticar her created for 'Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer'...
LOGIN
REGISTER
RSS
HOME
