Inside the Web of Shadows

Inside the Web of Shadows
Magazine Article
Issue	September-October 2005

Inside the Web of Shadows was an article in the September-October Brickmaster edition of the LEGO Magazine. The article featured an interview with Terry Shakespeare, the director of BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows, in order to promote the movie. A follow up featuring more of the interview was posted on BIONICLE.com following the magazine's release.

Contents

Crawling into video stores this fall is the new BIONICLE movie, BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows. LEGO Magazine caught up with director Terry Shakespeare to find out the inside scoop on how moviemakers brought the Big Bads - Roodaka, Sidorak, and the Visorak - to life on the screen.

Q: What's the process of animating the Visorak, Roodaka, and Sidorak figures for the movie?

TERRY: It all starts with the set! LEGO set designers provide us with the actual BIONICLE figures for each character in the movie. Then the movie design team studies the figures so they can figure out how to translate the sets into a character design that can be animated and "perform" in the film.

Q: Once you have the design, what's next?

TERRY: Each part of the character is broken down and drawn from all angles. These drawings are then given to the 3D computer modeling department. They use the drawings to create three-dimensional models on the computer. The next step is called "rigging" the characters, which means the computer team will program the figure to move in certain ways. When this step is complete, we have a 3D computer model that is very much like a string puppet, with custom controls. The animator now can move the figure in any way that the story requires.

Q: Did the production team add any unique touches to the evil characters that fans might want to look for?

TERRY: Yes, we did! For Roodaka, for instance, we thought it would be really cool if she had snake-like hair appendages that would sway as she moved. Each of the "snakes" had to be manipulated frame by frame following the movement of the rest of her body. It meant a lot of extra work for the animator but it's a nice detail. If you turn up the volume of the movie, you'll hear the "snakes" rattle like rattlesnakes. We gave Roodaka a hissing, reptilian sound. Sidorak snorts a blast of steam from his "tusks" when he is visibly upset.

Q: How are the models similar to their screen counterparts?

TERRY: Fans will see that the sets and the screen figures are similar in color and design. It's important to keep the redesign as minimal as possible so that the fans can recognize their favorite heroes.

Q: How are they different?

TERRY: We added a layer of "muscle tissue" throughout the limbs to make them look more realistic. The masks are more detailed and the eyes have lights that glow and turn on and off quickly to simulate eye blinks. These eye lights are also set up to change shape and size to reflect the character's emotions.

Q: Did you have any problems animating the characters? If you did, how did you solve them?

TERRY: The number one problem we faced was: how does a character walk? For instance, in the story, the Toa are poisoned and mutate into monster-like Hordika.

We felt that when the Toa become these monsters, they should not only change physically but also change the way they walk, move, and talk. We discovered that they didn't look right standing upright like the Toa. Instead, we thought they should be hunched over, ape-like. Now, they really look more like beasts. In the story, the characters are very awkward in their new forms. We gave each character their own style of walking. These labored and beast-like walking styles were dictated by the design of each character.

Q: What did you do to make the city look creepy and spider-webby?

TERRY: Lighting was very important. Night is always creepier than daylight, so we chose to do most of the scenes at night. We had to keep in mind that Metru Nui was not what it used to be. The Matoran population is gone, sealed away in the Coliseum, so we don't have lights in the architecture. There's more webbing the closer we move to the city center, where Roodaka and Sidorak are. We also added fog everywhere. The sound designers created new creatures of the night all around the city. As Matau comments early in the story, "There goes the ole' neighborhood!"

Part 2

Part 2 of the LEGO Magazine BrickMaster Edition interview with Terry Shakespeare, director of Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows...

The September issue of LEGO Magazine BrickMaster Edition features an exciting interview with Terry Shakespeare, director of BIONICLE 3: Web of Shadows! In fact, the interview was so interesting we couldn’t fit it all into the magazine – so here are the questions and answers you didn’t see!

Q. What are some of the challenges of changing a LEGO model into a walking, talking, breathing film character?

TERRY: We try our best to change the original set design as little as possible. But in most cases, BIONICLE figures need another layer of design. For instance, they need to have the ability to change expression. So their eyes need to move, eyebrows lifted and squashed, and their mouths must move to talk and show emotions.

Q. What are some of the changes that BIONICLE fans will notice?

TERRY: One big change is that the character in the film have human hands rather than tools. We understand that the characters need to be recognized from the set, but at the same time, they need to have the tools the animator needs to make them more lifelike.

Q. Did you look at real spiders for ideas and inspiration for the movie Visorak?

TERRY: We definitely studied real spiders and other insects for animation reference. I think most people, including myself, are uncomfortable with spiders. And as if they weren’t scary enough, we added saw-like spinning teeth and green goopy slime dripping from their mouths.

SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Q. Did you have any problems animating the characters, and if so, how did you solve them?

TERRY: We wanted to see Vakama go through a gradual metamorphosis throughout the film. For the audience to believe that Vakama could abandon his Toa comrades and join the side of Roodaka, we thought that transformation should take place over time. We even changed the color of his eyes from yellow to green to show the complete transformation, and we added grunting and growling sounds to make him more animalistic.

External Links

• Inside the Web of Shadows LEGO BrickMaster Magazine September-October 2005: page 1, page 2 (archived on www.biomediaproject.com)

• Inside the Web of Shadows, Part 2 (archive)