If you’ve seen Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, whether or not you’re on board with the ambiguous/not entirely satisfying (or thought out) plot, you no doubt have marveled at how astoundingly beautiful his return to sci-fi looked. Well, Academy Award-winning visual effects house WETA Digital crafted the scene using a combination of cutting-edge tech and practical techniques. This video below shows they pulled off the effects. It’s short but worth a look. Enjoy!!
In the film’s opening sequence, a lone humanoid figure crosses a cliff top, disrobes and drinks from a small container. Within moments, his body begins to break apart with horrifying force. The dissolving Engineer pitches forward into a waterfall, his genetic material seeding what will ultimately become the human race.
Personally I think the film’s intro would have made for a fantastic trailer as opposed to the highly spoiler heavy ones we got leading up the the release. However, if you’re up for spoilers or if you’ve seen Prometheus already, here’s one more VFX breakdown of a scene from the film’s climax.
Now here’s just a little more Prometheus related content for this post. One of the the film’s coolest elements were “the Engineers” and as we’ve already touched on the intro, in true Scott fashion there’s actually more to it that what we saw in the theatrical cut. Here’s a photo showing a “second” Engineer that was cut from the film.
Who is he, how does he fit in? Not sure yet but based on his garb, most likely a senior Engineer, or some sort of clergyman. Will we ever get to see him in the film? Scott has said recently that the theatrical cut is the Director’s Cut but with a tidbit like this making fan’s mouths water (not to mention the existence of all the other “Director’s Cut” editions of this films) it’s a sure bet we’ll find out about this Engineer and more in a future director’s cut.
Whaddya think? Anyone hoping for/think there’s a a more definitive story from Scott on the horizon. Check out our review of Prometheus.
2 Comments
Andrew Crump
Since the effects are– according to consensus– the best thing about Prometheus (and I did like the movie quite a bit despite its flaws), this is pretty much must-see viewing for anyone with any appreciation for the film whatsoever. The layering here is astounding, and the volume of effort put into the effects even more so. Very cool.
RidgeRacer4
Yeah, people are still talking about Prometheus and the visuals are usually the first thing out of their mouths. Even if the story’s problems/ambiguities don’t do it for you (I still have my issues) it’s quite a sight to behold. I preordered it on BD based on the visual alone:P