Science Of The Movies is the new Science Channel show that goes behind the scenes to look at visual effects in films. The show covers not only how effects and visuals are made but they look at the companies and people behind them. For hardcore films fans (aka movie nerds) the show is pretty awesome and for those looking to go in to film making you can learn a lot.
You will probably recognize host Nar Williams his appearances on G4's Attack of the Show, Current TV’s Rotten Tomatoes Show, his weekly column on Geekscape and Crave's monthly video series, Heads Up! With the second half of Science Of The Movies airing this month we tracked down Nar and talked to him about the show.
CraveOnline: What was your favorite episode of the show so far and why.
Nar Williams: Of the six episodes that have aired so far, I really liked the Jim Henson stuff. Getting to interview Sid the Science Kid and see how they do their digital puppetry was pretty amazing. I also always enjoy the segments where I team up with Indy Mogul to create DIY filmmaking tech and ridiculous "indie film" sketches. Then of course, there's the Nar Williams action figure from Gentle Giant Studios...
CraveOnline: What can we look forward to on the second part of season one?
Nar Williams: These next seven episodes are incredible. A few of the places we take you behind the scenes: Industrial Light & Magic for the effects of "Pirates of the Caribbean", Skywalker Sound for the sound design behind "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", and South Park Studios for the animation in "South Park". You'll see me play holographic video games at Obscura Digital, be turned into a video game character at Image Metrics, and build a life size Bumble Bee robot from "Transformers" at FXperts. It is an amazing 7 hours of television.
CraveOnline: What are your five favorite uses of visual effects in films. 
CraveOnline: Are there any topics for the show that you want to cover but have not yet? Nar Willliams: Yeah, I just mentioned a couple -- I'd like to talk to John Gaeta about his work on "The Matrix" trilogy and WETA about their work on LotR or the upcoming Hobbit film. I would also love to talk about the cutting edge 3D rigs and CG performance technology they used on "Avatar", from my understanding they were quite remarkable in that they allowed James Cameron to see the CG characters on his monitor as they shot the actors in real time... that's pretty cool. CraveOnline: What do you think is the most overused effect in films now? Nar Willliams: The camera trick that I'm most sick of seeing is the "Saving Private Ryan"-type battle cinematography. It seems every time a filmmaker wants to achieve realism or grittiness in an action sequence, they set the camera shutter timing to 90 or 45 degrees (instead of the usual 180) which gives the effect of crisp, staccato movements. It worked great in Spielberg's depiction of Normandy, but every time I see this trick in a movie now I just roll my eyes. Does it really make an action sequence more realistic? No. Just more boring, because I've seen it a hundred times. CraveOnline: How long does it take to produce an episode of the show? Nar Williams: I don't know the exact period of time, but I can tell you that there's a lot of hard work put in to it by the producers and crew at Authentic Entertainment, who produce the show. We exclusively do on-location shoots. The producers also have to go through the task of acquiring rights to the film clips we show, which isn't always easy, and I'm proud to say that "Science of the Movies" definitely has it's own unique style and feeling to it -- it's very fun and fast paced, and I commend the show runner, Paul Haddad, and our talented editors for crafting it that way. CraveOnline: When can we get a copy of “White Ninjas and the Zombie Apocalypse!”? Nar Williams: Ha! Someday I'm going to make all these "joke" films for real, I'm telling you. The segments in which I "make my own indie movies" are some of my favorites, and we've saved perhaps the best for last: in the fourth episode of this new season, you'll witness the glory of my gritty cop drama, "McStrong". Until I get around to actually making all of these films, you can relive the memories when "Science of the Movies" comes out on DVD next spring! CraveOnline: What can we look forward to seeing on “Heads Up!”? Nar Williams: The December episode of "Heads Up" is going to feature our usual lampooning of new releases, which next month includes the new "Sherlock Holmes" movie. We also have a Holiday Gift Guide segment planned, and a few more surprises so we close out 2009 with a bang!
For more on Science of the Movies action check out the official site: Science of the Movies. And for more on Nar check out his site (narwilliams.com) and his Twitter profile (twitter.com/narwilliams)
