Day: August 5, 2022

Next November marks the eighth anniversary of Paul Walker’s death – the actor died in the wreck of his Porsche in 2013 after it collided with a street lamp and then burst into flames. His family and friends as well as fellow actors, yes, the whole film world and the numerous fans of the likeable 40-year-old could hardly believe it. The “Fast & Furious” franchise, with which Walker became famous, was then in a state of shock. They were in the middle of filming “Fast & Furious 7” – but how should it continue without Paul Walker?

Doubles, archive footage & animations

After everything was left standing on the set for a short time, ideas were worked out to somehow continue the story of Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) under these extraordinary circumstances and bring it to a conciliatory conclusion. At the same time, the creators around James Wan (“Aquaman”) did everything they could to not just end Brian’s “Fast” journey in the middle of the film, but only with the (touching) finale of “Fast 7”.

›› “Fast & Furious 9” Director’s Cut on Amazon*

While some scenes, such as the conversation between Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster) in the garage in the Dominican Republic, are archival footage from Fast Five, Walker’s brothers Cody and Caleb doubled for other scenes. In addition, complex computer animations were used, which are not up to the technical level of today’s CGIs, but are still barely recognizable in places (if you don’t consciously pay attention to them).

Weta support

Nothing was left to chance and the specialists at Weta Digital were entrusted with the Paul Walker animations – Peter Jackson’s visual effects forge, which also featured Gollum in “The Lord of the Rings” or Caesar in the last “Planet of the Rings”. monkeys” films. After struggling to create lifelike animation from Paul Walker’s archival footage, Caleb and Cody, who bear a close resemblance to her late brother, ended up serving as stand-ins. While this also made it easier to illuminate the scenes and characters, it also gave the other actors a counterpart in front of the camera – and they didn’t just have to speak “into the void”, because Brian would only be added completely digitally later.

Ultimately, a total of 260 shots were found in the film, in which Paul Walker’s face was animated and the body of one of his brothers or that of actor John Brotherton was “put on”. In 90 other visual effects shots, old shots of Paul Walker’s face were also used. In this video not only can you see some of the scenes where animation was used, but more importantly how the visual effects artists went about it to recreate Paul Walker as faithfully as possible.

Anyone who wants to take a close look at Paul Walker in “Fast & Furious 7” has the opportunity to do so on September 30, 2021 at 8:15 p.m. Then the film will run on ZDF.

This article is based on a 2019 post, updated for today’s TV broadcast.

*The link to the Amazon offer is a so-called affiliate link. If you make a purchase through this link, we will receive a commission.

The surprise horror hit “A Quiet Place” wowed audiences in 2018 with a simple yet fascinating idea: Earth is inhabited by aggressive alien monsters that have extremely good hearing and will locate their prey as soon as it makes the slightest peep. The sequel “A Quiet Place 2”, which was released this year, also gets a lot out of this premise – and with success.

The suspense film, starring Emily Blunt, took in over $297 million at the box office worldwide on a budget of around $60 million – a respectable result in times of the pandemic. However, anyone who has skipped “A Quiet Place 2” in the cinema due to corona concerns (or out of concern for a noisy audience that would disturb the silence and thus the tension of the film) will now not only get the film as a stream, but also also on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray – and then conveniently has the viewing and listening pleasure in your own hands.

» “A Quiet Place 2” on Amazon*

This is “A Quiet Place 2”

Evelyn Abbott (Emily Blunt) is left to her own devices with her children in a post-apocalyptic world full of sound-sensitive beasts. Nevertheless, the Abbotts try to lead a reasonably normal life – in absolute silence, after all, every thoughtless sound can cost lives. When they meet survivor Emmett (Cillian Murphy), Evelyn is forced to ask herself what to do next: Is it time to join forces? And if so, who can you even trust?

The “A Quiet Place” films present film and especially cinema fans with an unusual dilemma. (After all, horror) films are particularly enjoyable in a packed cinema – the collective tension, the shared shock, the laughter of relief that spreads through the room when a situation turns out to be half as wild… It was not without reason that director John Krasinski and His wife/lead actress Emily Blunt clearly opted for a classic theatrical release when the question arose at the beginning of the pandemic whether “A Quiet Place 2” should go directly to streaming.

However the “A Quiet Place” films live from silence. About how much you root for the main characters, who don’t make a sound and are afraid of every rustling and crunching. And that can be torture in the cinema. Then someone in the back row coughs every few minutes, someone rustles the bag of popcorn, someone thought they were eating nachos in that movie of all things, and if everything goes wrong, you also have two people in the room who are constantly whispering to each other.

So it’s understandable that some movie fans (possibly stigmatized by a lousy A Quiet Place visit) commented on part two: “No! I’ll take a look at it at home!“. Mobile switched off, the room completely darkened, snacks banned from the room – and fortunately there are rarely or never chattering strangers in your own four walls.

With a controlled, quiet environment, A Quiet Place 2 is just more exciting, because it is easier to put yourself in the world of film, and that makes the film even more enjoyable. We at FILMSTARTS rarely understand those who don’t like cinema, but in this case you will definitely be listened to…

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*The links to the Amazon offer are so-called affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, we will receive a commission.

“Du Sie Er & Wir” is about the couples Maria (Paula Kalenberg) and Nils (Jonas Nay), as well as Janina (Nilam Farooq) and Ben (Louis Nitsche) from Hamburg, who are friends with each other. All four feel they have hit rock bottom in their respective relationships. But they are not yet ready to give up their love and separate.

With the plan to get clear about what they have in each other, the quartet comes up with an idea during an evening together. They decide to embark on an experiment by simply swapping partners for a month. The only rule: You must not have sex during this time. When they get back together for a weekend in a house in the country, nothing is the same as it used to be.

Home cinema tip: One of the best romantic film series in cinema history is now available in one box for the first time

The film will premiere on October 2, 2021 as part of the Hamburg Film Festival. On October 15, 2021, “You, He, He & We” will start worldwide and exclusively on the Netflix streaming service.

Florian Gottschick directed the film, which already alternates between amusing and serious moments in the trailer. The “Fucking Berlin” and “Nachthelle” director also wrote the screenplay for his work, which was apparently largely designed as a chamber play, together with co-author Florian von Bornstädt. For its implementation he was able to fall back on a well-known cast.

A Star Cast for “You, She, He & Us” on Netflix:

Nilam Farooq played a junior police officer in the ZDF crime series “SOKO Leipzig” for six years and was also seen in guest roles in TV classics such as “Tatort” and “Polizeiruf 110”. So far she has appeared on the big screen in the comedy hit “Sweethearts”, the horror film “Heilstätten” and the tragic comedy “My blind date with life”. On October 28, 2021, Sönke Wortmann’s “Contra” starts, in which the Berliner plays the leading role alongside Christoph Maria Herbst.

Jonas Nay gained global notoriety with his part as a GDR spy in the worldwide hit series about the Cold War, Deutschland 83. Film fans also know him from “Hirngespinster”, “King of Germany” and “Persian Lessons”. Most recently, he stood in front of the camera alongside Elyas M’Barek for “A Thousand Lines”, the next directorial work by Michael Bully Herbig, which is expected in 2022.

Netflix / Steffen Junghans

Already active as a teenager as a professional actress Paula Kalenberg is currently still present in a supporting role in “Nahschuss” in the cinemas. She had her breakthrough with a leading role in Leander Haussmann’s “Kabale und Liebe”. Since then, “The Cloud”, “Krabat”, “Jud Süss – Film ohne Conscience” and “Grandchildren for Beginners” have been among the most important titles in the Dinslakenerin’s filmography.

Until a few years ago, he worked almost exclusively in the theater Louis Nitsche finally celebrated his cinema debut in 2015 with “The 8th Continent”. Since then, in addition to other stage engagements, he has mainly been busy with guest appearances in television series such as “Die Chefin”, “Bettys Diagnose” or “Notruf Hafen Kante”.

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