By Travis Johnson
Over at his new home at Tested, Mythbusters mainstay Adam Savage recently headed into the fabled depths of New Zealand’s Weta Workshop to jaw with the legendary Richard Taylor about some of the practical effects, design and costume work being done on the upcoming live action Ghost in the Shell. Specifically, the two dig into the design and creation of the robot geisha you’ve doubtless seen in the trailers doing the rounds. It’s a lot of fun.
Things we took away from this:
- Adam Savage has boundless enthusiasm for this sort of thing.
- Rupert Sanders wanted to do as much physically as possible – so that’s props and models over digital effects.
- Richard Taylor has a sweet Thunderbirds shirt.
- Look in the background – there’s a Predator, a bust of Darkness from Ridley Scott’s Legend, and more. Weta must be a ridiculously fun place to work.
- It’s clear these guys speak the same language – that exchange about James Hong’s Blade Runner character is gold.
All else aside, Ghost in the Shell is gonna look amazing when it hits our screens on March 30. It’s also gonna sound pretty great, too – here’s Steve Aoki’s take on “The Awakening”, the theme from the ’95 animated film.
