The Filmumentaries Podcast Jamie Benning

My guest for this second episode of May 2024 is production designer Nathan Crowley. If you don’t know his name, you will definitely know and most likely love, his work..

Behind Enemy Lines (2001)Insomnia (2002)Batman Begins (2005)The Prestige (2006)The Dark Knight (2008)John Carter (2012)The Dark Knight Rises (2012)Interstellar (2014)Dunkirk (2017)The Greatest Showman (2017)First Man (2018)Tenet (2020)Wonka (2023)
Nathan is an incredibly talented artist that is able to create amazing worlds on screen. He’s also a great guy and very easy to talk with. We had a great conversation just a week or so ago. It’s avery fluid chat, but we do cover a few of the milestones in his career. Starting with Spielberg’s Hook and finishing up on Wonka and Wicked. With much chat about Chris Nolan’s films in between. Enjoy!

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For this episode, number 102, I am speaking to to gentleman that worked on the visual effects for Masters of the air, the Apple TV series which is a continuation of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. This time tackling World War Two airmen and their various missions.  So I chat with Xavier Bernasoni  who was one of the vfx supervisors on the show for DNEG and also two Steve jelly of Dimension studio who is responsible for a lot of the virtual production stuff, the big volume that you'll know from shows like The Mandalorian. Well it's now of course being used in many different ways in many different productions and not necessarily the ways that you would imagine...

I hope you enjoy the conversation.

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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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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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