Captain America: Civil War is Here! #CaptainAmericaCivilWar

Captain America: Civil War is Here!

By Erin

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Super hero fans, the wait is over! Marvel’s CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is now playing in theatres everywhere! This is a movie that the whole family will love – and make sure you sit through the entire end credits so you don’t miss a thing! 😉 Being that Sunday is Mother’s Day, it would make for the perfect mother’s day present for all of the Marvel moms out there. There is also quite a bit of Girl Power in this one, the girls kick some major butt, which is really awesome to see. Have you decided yet if you are Team Cap or Team Iron Man? This is one action packed film you won’t want to miss.

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War..L to R: Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans)..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..? Marvel 2016

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War..L to R: Sharon Carter/Agent 13 (Emily VanCamp), Sam Wilson/Falcon (Anthony Mackie), Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Steve Rogers/Captain America (Chris Evans). Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..? Marvel 2016

Captain America: Civil War starts off in a situation that is suggesting the “new normal” for Captain America and company. The Avengers team that was assembled at the end of Age of Ultron is stationed in Nigeria, where they’re forced to prevent a threat from stealing a biological weapon. When the government sets up a governing body to oversee the Avengers, the team splinters into two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War..Agent 13/Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp)..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..© Marvel 2016

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War..Agent 13/Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp)..Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal..© Marvel 2016

I don’t want to give anything away to spoil the fun, so I will leave you with some fun facts about the film to get you even more excited to go out and see this wonder of a film.

• To bring “Captain America: Civil War” to the big screen, the filmmakers had to figure out which Avengers would side with Team Cap and which ones would ally with Team Iron Man. After careful consideration, the filmmakers decided on a split of characters that would find Sam Wilson, Bucky Barnes, Hawkeye, Ant-Man and Scarlet Witch following Captain America, with Black Widow, War Machine, Vision and Black Panther following Tony Stark.

• With the “Captain America: Civil War” story taking place all over the world, the production would find itself based in familiar territory, anchoring at Pinewood Atlanta Studios with various units shooting in Germany, Austria, Iceland, Puerto Rico, Indonesia, Brazil and the United Kingdom during the film’s production schedule.

• On June 18, 2015, the first scenes of the historic Civil War mash-up began shooting, pitting the Avengers against each other with teams led by Captain America and Tony Stark. Filmmakers nick-named the classic battle the “Splash Panel,” because it was like a double-panel illustration in a comic book. The “Splash Panel” is one of Marvel’s most epic scenes with the most interaction ever seen in a Marvel film. The sequence was shot on IMAX cameras to give fans an unforgettable immersive experience.

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War L to R: Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) Photo Credit: Film Frame © Marvel 2016

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War: Falcon/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), Ant-Man/Scott Lang (Paul Rudd), Hawkeye/Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Scarlet Witch/Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen), and Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) Photo Credit: Film Frame © Marvel 2016

• One of the most advanced automobiles in the world is featured, which T’Challa/Black Panther drives. They turned to Audi, who provided the production with their newest hi-tech concept car for the shoot. The stunning car has all the newest technology that Audi has but it has never been put into production. Keep an eye out for it in the movie—you won’t see it anywhere else.

• A new Super Hero is introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in “Captain America: Civil War”—T’Challa, the Black Panther, played by Chadwick Boseman. The highly anticipated character comes in not agreeing with either side in the Civil War because he has his own agenda. Black Panther will feature in his own standalone film in 2018.

Captain America’s fighting style is based in old-school martial arts like Judo, Karate, Tae Kwan Do and Aikido. However, Black Panther, one of the best martial artists in the Marvel Universe, has more of a flowing martial arts style based on Capoeira, which is a form of Brazilian martial arts that combines acrobatics, dance and music. There is also a Chinese influence in his style with the use of Kung Fu.

Marvel's Captain America: Civil War Black Panther/T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) Photo Credit: Film Frame © Marvel 2016

Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War. Black Panther/T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) Photo Credit: Film Frame © Marvel 2016

• The Black Panther costume was carefully designed to incorporate a panther, cat-like vibe with African aspects in the embellishments. With minimalist shoes that add a stealth element and root the costume to the ground, it also has a ninja feel.

Hawkeye has some new weapons!!! Including a collapsible baton for close-in fighting. His iconic bow has undergone some modifications as well. It is now left-handed, lighter in weight and easier to handle. He also sports a different look, with a fullsleeved jacket instead of a vest, as well as a return to the more traditional purple color.

Brock Rumlow/Crossbones, played by Frank Grillo, has new jackhammer-type gauntlets that amplify the power of his punches.

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Meet the Cast of Captain America: Civil War | #CaptainAmerica

Meet the Cast of Captain America: Civil War

By Erin

*I was invited as a guest of Disney*

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This Friday, May 6th comes the highly anticipated creation of Marvel Studio’s latest film, “Captain America: Civil War.” Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo, the start of Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 3 sees the Earth’s Mightiest Super Heroes divided when the government sets up a governing body to oversee the Avengers, where the team splinters into two camps—one led by Steve Rogers and his desire for the Avengers to remain free to defend humanity without government interference, and the other following Tony Stark’s surprising decision to support government oversight and accountability.

Captain America-Press Conference

At a recent press junket in Los Angeles, the two sides made a grand appearance to talk about the new film. Team Iron Man was first to tell us their side of the story. This included; Director Anthony Russo, Paul Bettany, (“Vision”),  Robert Downey Jr., (“Tony Stark / Iron Man”), Don Cheadle, (“James Rhodes / War Machine”), Emily Van Camp, (“Sharon Carter / Agent 13”) although she is not on Team Iron Man, and Producer Kevin Feige.

Here are some of the fun things we learned from the “Team Iron Man” group:

*Robert Downey Jr. is still reeling from the fact that Paul Bettany was Jarvis and now he’s Vision… “If you just stop, you go ‘so here’s what’s going on with Tony,’ I go ‘waitaminute. Did he make a guy?!’ Look at him!”
 *Technological advances in film-making: Anthony Russo shared with us that, “You sort of reap the benefits and you sort of push forward every film and this movie has a very remarkable sequence I think where Robert Downey Jr. plays a twenty-year old man…which is pretty incredible.” Robert Downey Jr. added in how nostalgic it all is. Very expensive nostalgia.

Captain America Cast

*Spiderman was flawlessly brought into the film. The producers took the opportunity to create organic ways to bring new characters into the movie and to create more balance to the story.  This helped them to tell a more complicated story between captain America and Iron Man. By bringing in characters without any baggage allowed the dynamic of the movie to stay unchanged as they have not been emotionally invested into the Avengers storyline.

*War Machine doesn’t get an upgrade? War machine isn’t given any new tricks or fun toy upgrades like the other characters are. Don Cheadle commented, “Thank God somebody finally laid it bare…I think we’ll see. It’s not over…unless it is, ’cause I haven’t seen the movie. Do…I live? Does War Machine live? ”
Robert Downey Jr.

*Chadwick was the only choice for Black Panther: Kevin Feige  told us how he was the only choice to play the role of Black Panther. ” We wanted somebody who perhaps was invested but didn’t have allegiances to any one side. As these discussions were going on, we thought ‘I think we’re going to bring Black Panther into this movie. I’m not kidding when I say Chadwick (Boseman) was the only choice. His performance in ’42,’ his performance in ‘Get on Up,’ how different those performances are, and my memory is that we called him on the conference room speaker when we were developing the movie. He was in his car either about to get out or had just gotten back in and we said, ‘have you ever heard of Black Panther,’ and he went ‘Yes! Yes! Why are You asking me that??!!’ And we said ‘do you want to play the part,’ and he was very excited.”

*The girls get to kick some butt and are still good with guns! Emily Van Camp shared with us that she is out of the “rookie stage” with portraying Sharon Carter and has matured. “I think I was definitely slightly intimidated in the first one, in ‘Winter Soldier,’ just kind of getting used to it. I think that lent itself well for the character, she was sort of more in like a rookie stage, and it’s great to see her come back in a little bit more of a mature light, she’s confident and she’s still good with guns and she gets to kick a little butt in this one. It’s a great time.”

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Dory’s Story with Co-Director Angus MacLane & Story Supervisor Max Brace #FindingDoryEvent

Dory’s Story

By Erin

*I was invited on a press trip as a guest of Disney & PIXAR to share with you about the Finding Dory movie. All opinions are my own.*

Max Brace (Story Supervisor) and Angus MacLane (Co-Director) present at the Finding Dory Long Lead press day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. Photo by Marc Flores. ©2016 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

Max Brace (Story Supervisor) and Angus MacLane (Co-Director) present at the Finding Dory Long Lead press day at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA. Photo by Marc Flores. ©2016 Disney•Pixar.

Back in March I was a part of a magical trip to Monterey Bay to discover how Dory’s story came to be. Story is king at Pixar Animation Studios. Whether a film revisits old friends or introduces us to some new ones, it all starts with a story that needs to be told. We had the pleasure to learn all about how Dory was developed and taken from script to storyboards to screen with Co-Director Angus MacLane and Story Supervisor Max Brace. Finding Dory, swims in theaters everywhere June 17th, 2016.

Angus MacLane, Director of Toy Toons short film Small Fry, is photographed on October 18, 2011 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Angus MacLane at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar).

Animator and Co-Director Angus MacLane joined Pixar Animation Studios as an animator in June 1997 whose work includes such beloved films such as Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., The Incredibles, WALL*E, and Toy Story 3.

Max Brace is photographed on February 16, 2016 at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Max Brace at Pixar Animation Studios in Emeryville, Calif. (Photo by Deborah Coleman / Pixar)

Max Brace joined Pixar Animation Studios in July of 1996 straight out of college as a story artist on the feature film A Bugs Life. As a story supervisor, Brace leads the story team and helps directors realize their vision for the story. In addition, he casts story artists for specific sequences, reviews artists’ work, both individually and with the director, and guides the artists to understand and execute the director’s vision.

FINDING DORY – Lighting Exploration Concept Art by Visual Consultant Sharon Calahan. ©2016 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

FINDING DORY – Lighting Exploration Concept Art by Visual Consultant Sharon Calahan. ©2016 Disney•Pixar

What is a Storyboard?

Basically it is a group of rough sketches on paper used to indicate an idea. Storyboards are very tiny and not too detailed. It is just enough information for the other animators, artists, actors, and writers to get a feel for the direction they want the story to go in.  This process is gone through many times until it is perfect. After completion, the storyboard goes to the directors where they will walk through the scene together and discuss any corrections or improvements that need to be made. The storyboards are reviewed by the “Brain Trust” and studio every 4 months. These storyboards create the overall blueprint for the final film. For Finding Dory, 103,639 storyboards were generated to get Dory’s Story just right.

FINDING DORY – MLI Overview Painting (Concept Art) by Artist Tim Evatt. ©2016 Disney•Pixar. All Rights Reserved.

FINDING DORY – MLI Overview Painting (Concept Art) by Artist Tim Evatt. ©2016 Disney•Pixar.

It’s all about finding the story and the process of creating the story through sequencing when it comes to animation.  The story process starts with brainstorming. It was decided that they wanted part of the story to take place at the Marine Life Institute. Brace shared with us an experience he had at an aquarium with his son that ended up being inspiration for some of the scenes for Finding Dory. Seeing the touch tank with all of the kids touching, poking and prodding the poor creatures, got him to thinking, “What would it be like if Dory got stuck in the touch tank?”  The humor and horror of being in an aquarium touch pool was just too good to ignore. Hank and Dory end up in some hairy, yet funny situations that the animators created for the touch pool scene based on reality and humor. After organizing their ideas, they are handed off to the writer to write the scene. The team worked hard on the touch pool idea and went on to research and photograph the idea, then moved on to make, improve, and  create the perfect scene for the movie. It was a bit of a challenge to keep the main focus on Dory, but 240 sequences later it was accomplished.

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