The Filmumentaries Podcast Jamie Benning

In April 2024, I embarked on an unforgettable journey to California, starting with a visit to Skywalker Ranch, Lucasfilm and Rancho Obi Wan. And unfogettable three days.

While at Skywalker Ranch I met with Sound Supervisor, Mac Smith and legendary Model Maker, Lorne Peterson.

This episode is a report from those three days.

Full written report with photos

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Skywalker Ranch Archives Fly-through from the blu ray boxset

Archives Tour with Don Bies from the laserdisc boxset

For this the 100th episode it seems fitting that it’s someone who’s name I’ve known since I was 4, 5 and 6 when my imagination was first sparked, looking through my Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi comics and magazines.

That name is of course Phil Tippett, one of those incredible artists whose work transcends the films he’s worked on. His work is always full of a singularly tactile, grunginess that I love. Whether it’s the chess pieces in Star Wars, the Tauntauns or Walkers on Empire, the Rancor in Jedi, the Dinosaurs in Jurassic Park or the bugs in Starship Troopers, Phil’s work is always imbued with such great design and character. I’ve been an admirer of his work as I said, for decades now. And I was given the opportunity to speak with him in February of this year, 2024. I knew immediately I should save that conversation for my first milestone of 100 episodes.

Thanks to everyone for their support since I've been making this podcast. It means the world to me.

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Michael Hewitt Brown Marathon Donation Page

For episode 99 I interviewed friend, David Whiteley. If you don't know David, you should! He's a news presenter, but also a huge Star Wars Fan. And, has made two fantastic documentaries about the subject. Firstly "The Galaxy that Britain Built" and secondly "Toy Empire". Both are a must-watch for fans like us.

David also produced a book which gathers together the interviews his conducted for "The Galaxy that Britain Built". It's available on Amazon here. Check it out! And then BUY IT!

Talking of books, don't forget that Justin Berger and I have now pre-released our Return of the Jedi - Unauthorized Timeline book as an ebook on Amazon.

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For episode 98, I am joined by my guest from episode 2, Giles Terera, actor, writer, musician and great friend of mine. He suggested to me a few months back that we should do a commentary on The Empire Strikes Back. So last month that's just what we did. I went up to central London to his flat, armed with two mics and we sat at watched and waffled over our favourite film.

I hope you enjoy the episode. If you want to watch along, hit play on the movie just as the intro music (after my spoken introduction) ends. Or just listen to the episode for some chat and fun insights. I reckon we'll do a Return of the Jedi commentary at some point. Particularly because Giles has worked with several of the British actors in that movie.

Enjoy!

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In episode 97 of the Filmumentaries podcast, I interview helicopter stunt pilot Fred North. Fred shares his journey from a childhood fascination with helicopters to becoming a successful stunt pilot in Hollywood. He emphasizes the importance of creating opportunities for oneself and having a shark-like drive to keep moving forward. Fred also discusses the art of flying a helicopter and the importance of connecting with the machine. He shares insights on working with directors and understanding their vision to offer creative solutions.


Takeaways
Creating opportunities and having a drive to succeed are key to achieving success.Connecting with the machine and understanding its nuances is crucial in flying a helicopter.Understanding the director's vision and offering creative solutions can make a helicopter pilot invaluable in the film industry.Embracing mistakes and learning from them is essential for personal and professional growth.
Chapters00:00 Introduction and Patreon Support
03:35 First Encounter with Helicopter
06:27 From Childhood Fascination to Becoming a Stunt Pilot
08:20 Shark-Like Drive and Embracing New Opportunities
10:42 Dealing with Mistakes and Learning from Them
12:30 The Importance of Having an Open Mind and Connecting with People
14:24 Writing the Book to Share His Journey
25:08 The Role of Instinct and Connection in Flying
28:21 Finding a Way into the Film Industry
35:25 Understanding the Director's Vision and Offering Creative Solutions
41:06 QR Codes in the Book and Making it Entertaining
42:18 Closing Remarks and Future Episodes

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I hope you enjoyed my archival interview episodes in December 2023, one with Producer Robert Watts, the other with actor Garrick Hagon.

Well now we are back to some recent interviews, I can tell you I’ve been busy lining these up ready for 2024!

So… for the first, its a pretty big one, well it’s a very big one - Thanks to the lovely folks at ILM, I was given the chance to interview director Gareth Edwards and his FX crew on The Creator.

I’d be trying to get Gareth on via a mutual friend of ours but given Gareth is currently doing press about the nominations the film has received, so it was perfect timing.
So you’ll hear my conversion with Gareth along with VFX supervisors Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Charmain Chan, Andrew Roberts and Jay Cooper as well as SFX supervisor Neil Corbould.
There is an exclusive video version of the podcast on the filmumentaries youtube channel so that you can see all of us talking while I paint the interviews with some of the VFX breakdown clips ILM kindly provided. So if you can, head over to youtube to check that out.

So, we talk about:

Gareth’s unique shooting techniques that enable large scope on a relatively low budget. And also the now famous use of the pro-sumer camera.How the collaboration between the on-set crew and VFX teams is crucial for achieving seamless integration of practical and digital elements.How anchoring VFX work to practical elements in the frame enhances the realism and believability of the visual effects.How real-world locations can provide inspiration and add authenticity to the film's design and visual effects.How the future of filmmaking with VFX lies in finding innovative ways to combine practical and digital techniques and finding the best tools to make the pipeline more efficient.We finish by talking about award recognition and what it means to them.
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