Ryan Reynolds, director Martin Campbell and designer Neville Page explain creatures' creation to MTV News.
By Kara Warner
Ryan Reynolds in "Green Lantern"
Photo: Warner Bros.
Nowadays, it seems moviegoers don't see anything that isn't at least partially CGI-enhanced — especially when talking about summer blockbusters and comic book movies. Not that we're complaining. A movie like "Green Lantern," which opened Friday (June 17), wouldn't be possible without a heavy assist from computer-graphics specialists and visual-effects teams.
When MTV News caught up with the film's star, Ryan Reynolds, director Martin Campbell and creature designer Neville Page at the premiere this week, we asked them about the challenges involved in acting and working with so many non-existing environments.
"I had pretty strong visual cues to work with," Reynolds said. He explained that he was mostly working with actual people, actors who wore green-screen suits and were later replaced or enhanced with CGI in postproduction.
Campbell said that although a lot of the time the actors were playing off "tennis balls on C-stands," they all learned to work from nothing. "You're sitting in a blue cave for god knows how long, and after a while, it's fine," he said. "You sort of adjust to it, you get used to it like anything else, it becomes the norm.
Regarding the specifics of the film's visual and CG-related feats, Page admitted that the alien characters, Tomar-Re and Kilowog (voiced by Geoffrey Rush and Michael Clarke Duncan), proved to be particularly difficult.
"As soon as I saw the comic book design of it ... I thought, 'How are we gonna get a chicken guy to work realistically next to Ryan Reynolds and not have people laugh?' " Page said of designing Tomar-Re.
"Kilowog was a similar character," he added. "Obviously, we're mindful — very mindful — of the fanbase and their expectation of what they are hoping to see," he explained, mentioning details like body-part proportions and skin texture. "But at the same time, you have to take artistic license to bring these things to true, CG, cinematic life," he said.
Check out everything we've got on "Green Lantern."
For breaking news and previews of the latest comic book movies — updated around the clock — visit SplashPage.MTV.com.
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Emma Roberts would like to make something very clear: She is not where she is today because of her famous aunt!
"A lot of people think that, and they talk about nepotism which I think is so ridiculous considering it's obviously not true; because I've auditioned for so many things and never gotten the part," Julia Roberts' niece told PopEater.com. "Also it's like, you know, maybe someone can get you one part, but they can't really get you ten parts."
Emma continues to prove that she can be quite successful on her own, thank you very much, as the 20-year-old stars in the new flick The Art of Getting By.
"I'm just doing my own thing," she's said in the past. "I don't really compare it to what my aunt does, but I do admire her and love all her movies."
As for working with her Oscar-winning aunt again (they both had a role in 2010's Valentine's Day), Emma says she would do it in a heartbeat.
"I would love to!" she says. "I think it would be really fun for us."
Source: http://www.ivillage.com/emma-roberts-julia-roberts-not-reason-im-famous/1-a-358678
Source: http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?artist=3213641&vid=549666
'I'm like everybody else,' singer says in the magazine.
By Jocelyn Vena
Britney Spears on the cover of <i>Harper's Bazaar</i>
Photo: Harper's Bazaar
She appeared pregnant and nude on the cover back in 2006, but now Britney Spears just looks happy and healthy in a low-cut white dress on the cover of Harper's Bazaar. In the latest issue of the magazine, now being previewed online, the singer opens up about her life.
"I'm pretty normal, you know? Like I said, the type of day I love is just like everybody else's. I'm like everybody else," she says in the issue. When asked about her music videos, she recalls fondness for a clip from 2001. " 'Overprotected.' I just think it says a lot. It was directed so well, it was really colorful and the dancing was amazing," she says of the splashy clip.
Spears seems content with the way fans have been reacting to her Femme Fatale album, which dropped in March. "I've worked so hard on this album, so it's really refreshing," she said. "I feel like I'm drinking a tall glass of homemade sweet tea on a really hot, beautiful day."
Spears also talked about getting in shape for her highly anticipated summer tour. "I love to dance, so it's very exciting," she said. "The tour rehearsals have been going really well. I think it will be my best show yet."
In addition to the cover shot, another image from the magazine has hit the Web. It features Spears smiling in front of a wall painted with graffiti wearing a flowing, black star-print dress.
Not only has Spears been readying her summer tour, she has also been preparing to shoot her next music video, for the song "I Wanna Go." Spears will be working with Chris Marrs Piliero (Ke$ha, the Black Eyed Peas) on the clip, which is filming later this month in Los Angeles. The track is the third single off her album, following "Hold It Against Me" and "Till the World Ends."
While she's always moving forward to the next project, Spears did take the time to reflect on one very important onstage kiss with Madonna at the VMAs nearly eight years ago. "I actually saw her a couple of weeks ago at a party," Britney recalled. "I guess she's really taught me to stay true to myself. That seems like a simple thing to say, but she taught me through action, not just by saying it. There are so many people around you that have opinions, but you just have to listen to your instincts."
Related Videos Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663914/britney-spears-harpers-bazaar.jhtml
Pitbull, Matthew Morrison, Selena Gomez, Far East Movement and others filled the Staples Center on Saturday night.
By Matt Elias
Britney Spears hosts KIIS FM's Wango Tango 2011 on Saturday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — Britney Spears makes headlines at concerts, even when she's not performing. That's probably why Los Angeles radio station KIIS FM tapped the pop princess to guest-host their annual Wango Tango music festival along with Ryan Seacrest on Saturday night at the Staples Center.
The bill was a balance of pop and hip-hop, with acts like Ke$ha, Jennifer Lopez, Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Selena Gomez, "Glee" 's Matthew Morrison, Lupe Fiasco, T-Pain, Jason Derülo, Far East Movement, New Boyz, Cobra Starship and newcomer Cody Simpson.
Backstage, the media room went into a frenzy when Spears arrived in a red, geometric-print dress and a beaming smile. Owning her "femme fatale" moniker, Spears worked the carpet for a few moments while all of the cameras in the room were pointing at her. It was the second red carpet appearance by Brit this week, after her Beverly Hills benefit on Wednesday night for the St. Bernard Project.
Check out photos from Wango Tango 2011.
Spears' Femme Fatale collaborator Ke$ha, who was returning to the festival for the second time, said that an onstage collab between to the two would have to require one thing.
"That would have to include me finding her and attacking her," Ke$ha told MTV News, with the best intentions. "I'm planning on pouncing her."
While that never happened, at least not onstage, Ke$ha delivered on her promise of a set heavy on her glitter gun. And she assured us she knew the dos and don'ts of handling that kind of firepower.
"Do not spray yourself in the face with it," she said. "Do spray everybody else with it. That's pretty much it."
While Joe Jonas wasn't performing at the show, he took a break from recording his solo debut to catch up with almost everyone backstage.
"I didn't see Britney backstage, just said 'hello' to a couple of my friends," Jonas said. "Backstage is always [full of] people, especially having it at the Staples Center this time, I think compared to all the way out in the desert, it changes everything."
Also happy to have Wango Tango in Los Angeles were locals Far East Movement.
"Man, we grew up literally a few blocks away from here, and you can only imagine basketball games being played here," Kev Nish said. "So to come in here as performers, to be able to do our songs in this arena is a little crazy. We used to pass out CDs a few blocks [away], so we're very thankful. And the lineup is nuts, so we're extremely excited to be a part of this lineup."
Were you at Wango Tango? Share your experience in the comments below!
Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663909/wango-tango-britney-spears-kesha.jhtml
Judge rules that camera will be allowed in the courtroom for manslaughter case.
By Gil Kaufman
Conrad Murray
Photo: AFP/ Getty Images
For what promises to be one of the most bizarre and riveting legal proceedings in years, a Los Angeles judge ruled on Monday that a television camera will be allowed in the courtroom when Michael Jackson's doctor goes on trial for involuntary manslaughter.
Reuters reported that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor, approved the presence of a camera in the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray as long as it does not interfere with the proceedings in the closely watched case.
The judge asked for the "absolute least-intrusive placement" of a TV camera in the courtroom, but blocked cameras from documenting jury selection.
Pastor also announced that he would bump up the opening date of the trail by four days to March 24, at which point jury selection will begin. Murray, who faces up to four years in prison if convicted, has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and the trial is expected to last around six weeks.
Cardiologist Murray was hired to be Jackson's personal physician in the run-up to the King of Pop's planned 50-date comeback series of shows at London's O2 arena in the summer of 2009. The doctor told police that he provided Jackson, 50, with sedatives and the surgical anesthetic propofol in order to combat the singer's chronic insomnia. He said he did so on the morning of June 25, 2009, when Jackson died of what a coroner deemed acute propofol poisoning.
TMZ reported on Tuesday (February 8) that Murray's lawyers plan to argue that Jackson was already in weak health before he died and that it's unfair to blame propofol for his passing. Unnamed sources close to the case told the gossip site that at the time of his death, Jackson's body was already failing him in part because concert promoter AEG Live had "driven [him] over the edge" with a rigorous rehearsal schedule for the shows.
Murray's lawyers reportedly plan to call witnesses to say that Jackson was not showing up for rehearsals and when he did he showed "clear signs" of frail health. They also reportedly plan to argue that it was Jackson who administered the final, fatal dose of propofol to himself while Murray was out of the room.
Related Photos Related ArtistsSource: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1657464/conrad-murray-trial.jhtml
Source: http://feeds.celebritybabies.com/~r/celebrity-babies/~3/doucm3eTBcI/
One viewer even pretends to faint at the sight of shirtless Taylor Lautner.
By Kara Warner
Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart in "Breaking Dawn"
Photo: Summit Entertainment
Christmas came early for the "Twilight" fans of the world, in the form of the trailer for "Breaking Dawn - Part 1" during Sunday's MTV Movie Awards. Two days later, and the most die-hard fans still can't get enough of watching and re-watching the nearly two-minute extravaganza.
Because we anticipated a few over-the-top enthusiastic responses, MTV News asked fans to upload their "Breaking Dawn" trailer reactions to Your.MTV.com, and the top three aired on MTV's "The Seven," on Monday. But since we received so many wonderful reaction videos, we felt that we needed to highlight a few more.
This latest group features similar themes of breathlessness, wide-eyed enthusiasm and, of course, squeals of delight. One video features five young girls perched on a couch in a room surrounded by "Team Edward" paraphernalia, all of them remaining mostly composed, until one little lady pretends to faint after seeing shirtless Taylor Lautner.
SEE PHOTOS OF ALL OF THE "TWILIGHT" STARS AT THE MOVIE AWARDS.
The reactions from Emily and Lizzy in Haysville, Kansas, go from smiley to stunned to squealy. Also notable is the fact that a young guy is hanging out in the background, probably a brother or friend, who tries to sit through the ladies' screams but bails halfway through.
Finally, uploader ayLa94kLd submitted footage of herself and her sister's reactions. The lively duo were the first reactors we've seen to offer a bit of running commentary throughout. At one point, the older sis playfully smacks her younger sister to keep her from fully freaking out.
In addition to those video reactions, we have a few more thoughts, written by our readers in the comments section under the first trailer-reaction story we posted.
"THAT TRAILER WAS AWESOME!!!" exclaimed Tucheer83. "I loved their reactions. Mine was worse. I was literally running around the house. I couldn't believe [director Bill] Condon actually gave us the headboard breaking. I so love that man. No wonder Jennifer Hudson got an Oscar [for Condon's 'Dreamgirls']. This guy is good!!! 'New Moon' used to be my favorite trailer, but Condon beat it hands down — but not by much."
"I loved the trailer," Shari44 wrote. "My biggest squeals came when I got a glimpse of Bella looking into Edward's eyes in her wedding veil. Just beautiful. Second squeal and a little giggle was when he was gripping the headboard during a passionate moment," she added. "When Edward and Bella were snuggling together, then when we could see her belly with the first signs of pregnancy. Awesome trailer. Loved it all. Any Edward moment makes me sigh at the very least."
MTV News has all of the highlights from the 2011 MTV Movie Awards. Relive the best moments, watch red-carpet interviews with your favorite stars and read all about what went on behind the scenes on the big night.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665356/breaking-dawn-trailer-fans.jhtml
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley says 'Dark of the Moon' director Michael Bay usually had her 'hiding underneath something that was about to explode.'
By Jocelyn Vena
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley
Photo: MTV News
It's almost a given that stunt work on a flick like "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" would be intense. The cast of the Michael Bay-directed movie expected as much, and they were more than up for the challenge.
"I loved doing the stunts," Rosie Huntington-Whiteley told MTV News, adding that she thought Bay "really respected a girl that could get her hands dirty."
"Dark of the Moon," which hits theaters on June 29, is Huntington-Whiteley's first appearance in the franchise but she seemed to revel in all of the action. "Everything was a first for me, so it was super exhilarating and exciting. ... And we had a lot of fun filming. Every day was a crazy day on set and I think maybe half the time, I was in a harness or jumping through fire or I was running through gunfire or, like, hiding underneath something that was about to explode."
SEE PHOTOS OF ROSIE HUNTINGTON-WHITELEY AND MORE STARS ON THE MOVIE AWARDS RED-CARPET.
Fellow "Transformers" newcomer Patrick Dempsey was equally into it, dishing about the technology Bay used to show the cast how he wanted certain scenes to turn out. "I had some sequences; a lot of explosions," he said. "He was very good about showing us what the sequence would be like on his iPad. That helped tremendously."
Three films in, Josh Duhamel and Shia LaBeouf were looking forward to getting in on the action, even if it seemed dangerous.
"A lot of the times they don't let us do stuff like that, but Shia and I both teamed up on Michael to let us do this one stunt," Duhamel recalled. "It was pretty nuts. They tied us on to these latches and they yank you 50 feet up in the air and they yank you back up, but it turned out to be really fun and this is the reason why I love these movies, 'cause you get to do stuff you don't get to do otherwise."
Check out everything we've got on "Transformers: Dark of the Moon."
For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1665335/transformers-dark-moon-rosie-huntington-whiteley.jhtml
