Well, I got 80 views here and no comments. That means either nobody has anything bad to say, or nobody has anything GOOD to say . . . .
Here's a short Director's Commentary:
It's the first movie I've done that used all-digital sets. The sets were the most work I had to do for the movie--it took me a couple weeks. They were all made from tiled textures intended for making video game levels, with added 3d models that I found all over the Net. (There was only one set that I didn't assemble myself---the hangar at the end that the Hunter flies out of as the freighter is exploding. That is part of a "virtual set" that I bought online--making that was beyond my skill level.)
Those furry fuzzy masks were an enormous pain to color key, since they were infiltrated by the green background, even with a backlight. That's why they all ended up having a blueish halo from the spill suppressor. Not something I think I'll try again.
I'm not really happy with the xeno heads--they look a little lopsided, I think. I'm gonna pepakura myself a new one. I also think the xeno body needs some more stuff around the midsection. I was really happy with the way the opening xeno egg looked, though. It took a couple tries to get something that opened smoothly but wasn't too floppy. And the sound effect there was me sticking my fingers into a head of lettuce.
I found the Smilin Joe character in the fan fiction story interesting, but I did change him a bit from the story for the movie. I view Joe as the type of person who loves humanity but can't stand PEOPLE. The reason he and Korvok are such inseparable friends is because Korvok never says anything.
I think Joe is really summed up in the scene where he risks his life by taking on the xeno with just a knife, then casually tells the Captain that if he steps in that acid, they're not carrying him.
I think I'll definitely revisit Smilin Joe again.
