Prometheus on Prezi
Showing posts with label Prometheus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prometheus. Show all posts
Wednesday, 28 November 2012
Friday, 16 November 2012
Prometheus: The Greek Titan
Prometheus (Greek: Προμηθεύς) is a Titan, culture hero, and trickster figure who in Greek mythology is credited with the creation of man from clay and the theft of fire for human use, an act that enabled progress and civilization. He is known for his intelligence, and as a champion of mankind.
The punishment of Prometheus as a consequence of the theft is a major theme of his mythology, and is a popular subject of both ancient and modern art. Zeus, king of the Olympian gods, sentenced the Titan to eternal torment for his transgression. The immortal Prometheus was bound to a rock, where each day an eagle, the emblem of Zeus, was sent to feed on his liver, only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. In some stories, Prometheus is freed at last by the hero Heracles (Hercules).
In another of his myths, Prometheus establishes the form of animal sacrifice practiced in ancient Greek religion. Evidence of a cult to Prometheus himself is not widespread. He was a focus of religious activity mainly at Athens, where he was linked to Athena and Hephaestus, other Greek deities of creative skills and technology.
In the Western classical tradition, Prometheus became a figure who represented human striving, particularly the quest for scientific knowledge, and the risk of overreaching or unintended consequences. In particular, he was regarded in the Romantic era as embodying the lone genius whose efforts to improve human existence could also result in tragedy: Mary Shelley, for instance, gave The Modern Prometheus as the subtitle to her novel Frankenstein (1818).
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Prometheus: The cast (from Wiki)
Cast
- Noomi Rapace as Elizabeth Shaw:
- Rapace described Shaw, an archaeologist, as a believer in God with a very strong faith, and said that, "In the middle of the movie, things happen and she changes into more of a warrior. And in the end, she’s such a survivor."[5] To aid her method acting, she developed a complete backstory for Shaw,[6] and worked with a dialect coach to achieve an appropriate British accent.[7] She also asked her make-up artist to apply extra blood and sweat during filming to more accurately portray her character.[8] Rapace said, "I was out there filming for about six months and it was super-intense, my body was in so much pain sometimes but it was absolutely amazing."[9] She dismissed comparisons to the Alien franchise's Ellen Ripley.[10] Rapace came to director Ridley Scott's attention for her performance as Lisbeth Salander in the 2009 drama film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. She met Scott in August 2010,[11] and by January 2011 she had secured the role.[12] Actresses Anne Hathaway,Natalie Portman, Gemma Arterton, Carey Mulligan, and Abbie Cornish, were all considered for the role during development.[13][14][15] Lucy Hutchinson, who was eight years old in 2012, portrays Shaw as a child.[16]
- Michael Fassbender as David:
- David is an android that acts as the ship's butler and maintenance man. It is designed to be indistinguishable from humans, and begins to develop "its own ego, insecurities, jealousy and envy".[17][18] Writer Damon Lindelof stated that the character provides a non-human perspective on the film's events, and said, "what does the movie look like from the robot's point of view? If you were to ask him, 'What do you think about all of this? What's going on? What do you think about these humans who are around you?' Wouldn't it be cool if we found a way for that robot to answer those questions?"[19] Fassbender said, "David's views on the human crew are somewhat childlike. He is jealous and arrogant because he realizes that his knowledge is all-encompassing, and therefore he is superior to the humans. David wants to be acknowledged and praised for his brilliance".[20] In developing his character, Fassbender avoided watching the android characters of Alien (1979) and Aliens (1986), and instead observed the replicants in Scott's 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner, with a focus on Sean Young's character Rachael, whose "vacancy" and longing for a soul interested him.[21] Fassbender drew further inspiration from the voice of theHAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey,[21] the "funny walk and economy of movement" of Olympic diver Greg Louganis,[22][23] and the performances of David Bowie in The Man Who Fell to Earth, Dirk Bogarde in The Servant, and Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia.[24] David's blond hair was modeled on that of T. E. Lawrence.[25] Scott favored Fassbender for the role; by January 2011 he was confirmed to have joined the cast,[26] despite earlier reports his agents had sought too high a fee.[17]
- Charlize Theron as Meredith Vickers:
- Vickers is a Weyland Corporation employee who is sent to monitor the expedition.[20][27] Theron described the character as "a suit who slowly sheds [her] skin through the film",[28] and also as "somewhat of a villain ... [who] definitely has an agenda".[29] She stated "Vickers is pragmatic, and desperately wants to control the situation."[20] Scott wanted the character to lurk in the background of scenes watching other characters instead of being the focus. Theron said that this helped layer her character because "you're just so suspicious of her, instantly."[30] The similarities between the appearances and mannerisms of Vickers and David were intended to raise the possibility that David was based on Vickers's DNA, or that Vickers is an android herself.[31] After Theron was cast in the role, she developed three new scenes with Scott and Lindelof to expand her character.[3] Physical action scenes, some of which involved her running through sand in 30-pound (14 kg) boots were a problem for Theron.[30] It was intended that Theron would portray Shaw, but a prior commitment to Mad Max: Fury Road prevented her involvement. When that film was delayed, she was able to rejoin Prometheus.[32] Michelle Yeoh and Angelina Jolie[12] were considered for the role.[17]
- Idris Elba as Janek:
- Janek is the captain of the Prometheus.[33] Elba described the character as "a longshoreman and a sailor", with a military background.[20][34] He said, "[being the captain is] his life and the crew is his responsibility,"[20] and "he's a realistic, pragmatic character. He has to get involved ... in a film with huge ideas, you need a character like this, who can go 'Wait...why are we doing this?'".[34]
- Guy Pearce as Peter Weyland:
- Weyland is the billionaire founder and CEO of Weyland Corp.[35][36] Lindelof described him as having a massive ego and suffering from a god complex.[35] Pearce said that his appearance in the movie is brief, and stated, "I'm only [in the film] for a minute".[37] Applying the necessary prosthetics and make-up to transform Pearce into the elderly Weyland took five hours, and an hour to remove it. Pearce observed old people to gain insight into the movement for his character, as he found replicating the impeded physical movement the most difficult part of the role.[38] Max von Sydow was Scott's original choice to play Weyland, but the casting of Pearce made it possible for him to portray Weyland as both an elderly character, and a younger man who appeared in an earlier script draft.[39]
- Logan Marshall-Green as Charlie Holloway:
- Holloway is an archaeologist and Shaw's love interest.[40][41] Marshall-Green was cast after he was seen performing on stage "off-off-off Broadway".[41] He described Holloway as the "X Games type scientist", and said that he liked the character's "leap-before-looking" philosophy. He also said that Holloway "doesn't want to meet his maker. He wants to stand next to his maker. He's willing to go to the edge to get that."[41] Describing the character's motivation, he said: "he goes to the extreme in everything he does, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse of the [Prometheus crew]. I think what drives him is the thrill of the search."[20] Marshall-Green contrasted Holloway with Shaw, and said, "she’s the believer. I’m the scientist. I’m the skeptic. I’m the atheist".[42]
- Sean Harris as Fifield:
- Fifield is a geologist who has become mentally unstable after many missions.[43][44] Harris described the character as "someone who can sense when things are up. He's your audience guy, going, 'Don't go in that tunnel. We should not be doing this!'"[44] Fifield's bright red mohawk hairstyle was designed by Harris and Scott, based on Scott's sketch of a man with a "severe haircut".[44]
- Rafe Spall as Millburn:
- Millburn is a biologist. Spall auditioned for another role, but Scott wanted him to play Millburn.[45][46] On his casting, Spall said "Alien is one of the best films ever made, and it’s a real buzz to be in a space suit on an Alien set with Ridley Scott coming and speaking to you. It’s incredible. That’s why I wanted to be an actor, to be in a space suit on an Alien set".[47]
Other cast members include Kate Dickie as the ship's medic, Ford;[46] Emun Elliott and Benedict Wong as, respectively, ship pilots Chance and Ravel;[48][49] and Patrick Wilson as Shaw's father.[50] Ian Whyte and Daniel James portray Engineers.[51
Prometheus: Ridley Scott's Approach and Style (from Wiki)
Approach and style
Scott was not initially considered an actors' director, but has become more receptive to ideas from his cast as his career has progressed.[citation needed] Examples include Susan Sarandon's suggestions that the character of Louise pack shoes in plastic bags in one scene of Thelma & Louise, and another where her character exchanges jewelry for a hat and other items— and Tim Robbins's collaboration with Scott and Susan Sarandon to rework the final scene with a more upbeat ending. Russell Crowe commented, "I like being on Ridley's set because actors can perform [...] and the focus is on the performers."[36] Paul M. Sammon, in his book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, commented in an interview with Brmovie.com that Scott's relationship with his actors has improved considerably over the years.[37] More recently during the filming of Scott's 2012 film, Prometheus, Charlize Theron praised the director's willingness to listen to suggestions from the cast for improvements in the way their characters are portrayed on script. Theron worked alongside the writers and Scott to give more depth to her character during filming.[38]
On the other hand, he can be a demanding and difficult director to work for. He was nicknamed "Guvnor" in the Blade Runner production. Several crew members wore protest t-shirts with slogans such as "Yes Guvnor, my ass" and "Will Rogers never met Ridley Scott" in reference to Will Rogers's most famous quotation, "I never met a man I didn't like".[39][citation needed] This was mainly in response to the way that Scott directed his first American crew, which some considered too harsh.
His striking visual style, incorporating a detailed approach to production design and innovative, atmospheric lighting, has been influential on a subsequent generation of filmmakers — many of whom have imitated his style. Scott commonly uses slow pacing until the action sequences. Examples include Alien and Blade Runner; the LA Times critic Sheila Benson, for example, would call the latter "Blade Crawler" "because it's so damn slow". Another technique he employs is use of sound or music to build tension, as heard in Alien, with hissing steam, beeping computers and the noise of the machinery in the space ship.
Scott has developed a method for filming intricate shots as swiftly as possible:
"I like working, always, with a minimum of three cameras. [...] So those 50 set-ups [a day] might only be 25 set-ups except I'm covering in the set-up. So you're finished. I mean, if you take a little bit more time to prep on three cameras, or if it's a big stunt, eleven cameras, and — whilst it may take 45 minutes to set up — then when you're ready you say 'Action!', and you do three takes, two takes and is everybody happy? You say, 'Yeah, that's it.' So you move on."[36]
Although Scott is often known for his painterly directorial style, other techniques and elements include:
- Strong female characters.[40][41]
- Some of his movies feature strong conflicts between father and son that usually end with the latter killing the former (Blade Runner, Gladiator) or witnessing the event (Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood). The Lord of Darkness in Legend also mentions his "father" on a few occasions. As part of the conflict between father and son there are some repetitive scenes: in Gladiator, the son hugs the father seemingly as an expression of love but this embrace turns into the suffocation and death of the father. There is a similar sequence in Blade Runner. In "Prometheus" the character David says "Who doesn't want to kill their parents?"
- Scott utilises cityscapes as an emphasis to his storytelling (e.g., a futuristic Los Angeles in Blade Runner, Osaka in Black Rain, Jerusalem in Kingdom of Heaven).
- In Gladiator, Blade Runner and Kingdom of Heaven, a son gets to know his father when he is grown up. Other common elements are that the mother is not seen, and that the son or father is seen performing his last actions. For example, Roy Batty is dying when he saves Deckard, Maximus dies after killing Commodus and Godfrey of Ibelin kills some enemies after he has been mortally wounded by an arrow. In addition, the hero is saved from death before attaining his greatest deeds: Deckard is saved by Rachel, Maximus is saved by a slave and Balian is saved by a Muslim enemy. Similar situations can be seen in Tony Scott's Man on Fire.
- Military and officer classes as characters reflecting his father's career, such as in G.I. Jane, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of Heaven, Robin Hood and Prometheus.
- Storyboarding his films extensively. These illustrations, when made by himself, have been referred to as "Ridleygrams" in DVD releases.
- Scott was once known for requesting a great many takes. This was evident on Blade Runner: the crew nicknamed the movie "Blood Runner" because of this.
- He often makes use of classical music (the Hovis advertisements, Someone to Watch Over Me).
- Extensive use of smoke and other atmospheres (in Alien, Blade Runner and Black Rain), plus fans and fan-like objects (Blade Runner, Black Rain and the large Boeing jet engines in the 1984 TV advertisement). Fans are also used in Hannibal, for symbolic purposes.
- Consistency in his choice of composers, using Jerry Goldsmith (Alien and Legend), Vangelis (Blade Runner and 1492: Conquest of Paradise), Hans Zimmer (Black Rain, Thelma & Louise, Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down and Matchstick Men) or Marc Streitenfeld (A Good Year,American Gangster, Body of Lies, Robin Hood and Prometheus). Scott has also twice used songs by Sting during the film credits ("Valparaiso" for White Squall and "Someone to Watch Over Me" for the movie of the same title).
Prometheus: The basic information for 20th Century Fox, the distributer of Prometheus.
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation, with hyphen, from 1935 to 1985)
—also known as 20th Century Fox, 20th Century Fox Pictures, or simply 20th or Fox—is one of the six major
American film studios as of 2011. Located in the Century City area of Los Angeles, just west of Beverly Hills, the studio
is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation.
The company was founded on May 31, 1935,[1] as the result of the merger of Fox Film Corporation, founded by
William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck, Raymond
Griffith andWilliam Goetz.
William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck, Joseph Schenck, Raymond
Griffith andWilliam Goetz.
Twentieth Century Fox's most popular film franchises include Star Wars, X-Men, Ice Age, Rio, Die Hard, Predator,
Alien, Planet of the Apes, Home Alone, plus famous TV shows such as Batman, M*A*S*H, The X-Files, Cops,
The Simpsons,Family Guy, American Dad!, and 24. Among the most famous actresses to come out of this studio were
Shirley Temple, who was 20th Century Fox's first film star, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and
Jayne Mansfield. The studio also contracted the first African-American cinema star, Dorothy Dandridge.
Alien, Planet of the Apes, Home Alone, plus famous TV shows such as Batman, M*A*S*H, The X-Files, Cops,
The Simpsons,Family Guy, American Dad!, and 24. Among the most famous actresses to come out of this studio were
Shirley Temple, who was 20th Century Fox's first film star, Betty Grable, Gene Tierney, Marilyn Monroe and
Jayne Mansfield. The studio also contracted the first African-American cinema star, Dorothy Dandridge.
20th Century Fox is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Prometheus: Basic Information From Wikipedia
Prometheus is a 2012 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, and written by Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindelof. The film stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green, and Charlize Theron. The story is set in the late 21st century and centers on the crew of the spaceship Prometheus as they follow a star map discovered among the remnants of several ancient Earth cultures. The crew, seeking the origins of humanity, arrive on a distant world and discover an advanced civilization and a threat that could cause the extinction of the human race.
Development of the film began in the early 2000s as a fifth installment in the Alien franchise. Scott and director James Cameron developed ideas for a film that would serve as a prequel to Scott's 1979 science fiction horror film Alien. By 2003, the development of Alien vs. Predator took precedence, and the project remained dormant until 2009 when Scott again showed interest. Spaihts wrote a script for a prequel to the events of the Alien films, but Scott opted for a different direction to avoid repeating cues from those films. In late 2010, Lindelof joined the project to rewrite Spaihts's script, and he and Scott developed a story that precedes the story of Alien but is not directly connected to that franchise. According to Scott, although the film shares "strands of Alien's DNA, so to speak", and takes place in the same universe, Prometheus explores its own mythology and ideas.
Prometheus entered production in April 2010, with extensive design phases during which the technology and creatures which the film required were developed. Principal photography began in March 2011, with an estimated US$120–130 million budget. The project was shot using 3D cameras throughout, almost entirely on practical sets, and on location in England, Iceland, Spain, and Scotland. It was promoted with a marketing campaign that included viral activities on the web. Three videos featuring the film's leading actors in character, which expanded on elements of the fictional universe, were released and met with a generally positive reception and awards. Prometheus was released on June 1, 2012 in the United Kingdom and on June 8, 2012 in North America. Prometheus grossed over $400 million worldwide. Reviews praised both the film's visual aesthetic design, and the acting, most notably Fassbender's performance as the android David. However, the plot drew a mixed response from critics, who criticized plot elements that remained unresolved or were predictable.
Prometheus: Alternative Ending and Extra Features
This video shows the alternative ending potential, it is advertised to be on the blu-ray disc, which would encourage the viewers who have seen the film to buy it as it would mean that questions that are in their mind are answered and that they could have a potentially different view on the film entirely, purely because of the ending.
Prometheus: Rolling Stones Review
Prometheus
Michael Fassbender, Noomi Rapace
Directed by Ridley Scott
Rolling Stone: star rating
Community: star rating
June 7, 2012
The ending isn't squishy scary or deeply satisfying. Bummer. Otherwise, Prometheus – especially in its spellbinding first hour – kicks ass so hard and often that it's impossible not to be thrilled by it. For starters, the look of the film is an enveloping amazement, with director Ridley Scott using 3D with the fierce finesse of a master. Scott gives us a world to get lost in. Then there's Michael Fassbender. The Irish-German actor is brilliant as David, an android who's been modeled after Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia – the blond hair, the posh Brit accent, the blend of mirth and menace that plays on his face.
Wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. There's a plot. Scott, teasing the film's prequel ties to his 1979 classic Alien, is launching a different kind of galactic voyage. The destination is the planetary moon LV-223 (not LV-426, as it was in the original Alien). Archeologist Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) and her boyfriend Charlie Holloway (Logan Marshall-Green) are on their way to LV-223 to meet their makers. Prehistoric cave paintings have convinced the two scientists that human life originated there. Conclusions are meant to drawn from the fact that Charlie is a strict Darwinist and Elizabeth wears a crucifix. They've persuaded dead tycoon Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce appearing as a hologram smothered in old-age latex and still doing a bang-up job) to finance the trip aboard the spaceship Prometheus (named after the fire-stealing Titan). While Captain Jadek (Idris Elba) and Weyland bosslady Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) spend two years traveling in hyper-sleep with the rest of the crew, David the robot takes control. Shades of Hal 9000 in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey.
We are now entering spoiler territory. My cue to shut up. Still, post-landing and the start of LV-223 tunnel explorations – warning, parasites ahead! – you could argue that David is still in charge. Fassbender is so good, he owns the movie. And Rapace, the original Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, evokes stirring memories of Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in the first quartet of Alien movies. Rapace has one do-it-yourself medical scene that defines mind-blowing. It's here that Scott hits the buttons labeled "ick" and "eww" that he perfected with John Hurt's chestbusting scene in Alien. So even when the script by Jon Spaihts and Lost co-creator Damon Lindelof ties itself in knots trying to be profound, Scott – returning to sci-fi for the first time since 1982's iconic Blade Runner – shows you what cosmic terror can feel like in the hands of a true visionary. Buckle up.
Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/reviews/prometheus-20120607#ixzz2CI6NacfJ
Prometheus: geek.com About Alien and Prometheus Connection
Original Alien: Engineers (Prometheus) movie script posted online
Nov. 13, 2012 (6:15 pm) By: Laura Varley
Ridley Scott couldn’t seem to make up his mind whether Prometheus was a prequel to Alien or not, and now it’s easy to see why as the original script has been posted online. Initially, the movie was intended to be a prequel, but over time the script got edited and rewritten so much that it moved away from that original goal. Prometheus was meant to answer questions, not raise new ones, but now fans can finally take a look at what the movie would have been like without Damon Lindelof changing it.
The first script was written by Jon Spaihts and was named Alien: Engineers. The title isn’t as good, but his version of the story contained much bigger nods to the Alien series including use of facehugger and chestbursting aliens. Some scenes were also much more terrifying than the final cut. For example, the infamous Med-Pod scene with Elizabeth Shaw, who was called Watts in the original script, is much longer and focuses on Shaw being stuck inside the Pod.
Lindelof, who wrote the Lost series and the 2009 Star Trek movie, kept in many of the scenes originally written by Spaihts, but the nods to Alien weren’t as obvious. Spaihts has confirmed viaTwitter that the script is genuine and he told fan site Prometheus-Movie.com that it took around five “steps” to complete. The script that leaked is one of the last ones he did. He also explained the original script’s underwater dig site and space station visits had to be cut because they would have exceeded the budget.
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