Cinefex Diaries – “Venom” and “Alpha”

The new Cinefex is just out, with Joe Fordham's epic story on First Man gracing the cover. This issue, two of the five articles are mine, and they couldn't have been more different. First up is Alpha, which I actually finished writing in December 2017, ready for our February 2018 issue. When the film's release … Continue reading Cinefex Diaries – “Venom” and “Alpha”

Cinefex Diaries – Going Solo

My latest Cinefex story is Heft and Jank, an in-depth article on Pacific Rim Uprising, hot off the press in our June 2018 issue, Cinefex 159. I described the work that went into it in an earlier blog post – check it out here. Even while I was wrapping up the robots and monsters, however, I was … Continue reading Cinefex Diaries – Going Solo

Writing “Star Trek” for Cinefex with Scrivener

I write for Cinefex, a bimonthly magazine devoted to motion picture visual effects. In 2016, one of the many films I covered was Star Trek Beyond. Want to know how I tackled it? I’ll tell you. First up, a few facts and figures. My Star Trek Beyond article was 8,300 words long, about average for the … Continue reading Writing “Star Trek” for Cinefex with Scrivener

Cinefex 153 – High Octane Aliens

Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror flick Alien is probably my favourite film of all time. So imagine how thrilled I was to get the gig covering Alien: Covenant for the new issue of Cinefex. Since the average Cinefex article runs to about 26 pages (yes, we really do dig deep with our stories), that's a big gig. As … Continue reading Cinefex 153 – High Octane Aliens

There’s a Big Ape On My Desk

However, I do know that I watched King Kong again on VHS tape not long after I’d developed an unhealthy passion for animation and visual effects – specifically, after viewing a documentary on the making of The Empire Strikes Back. As I recall, this early version of the now-familiar “Special Features” section of your average … Continue reading There’s a Big Ape On My Desk

The Dreamsmiths Unleashed by Cinefex

My Cinefex assignments usually require me to peek behind the scenes on the latest feature films. This issue, my task was a little different. Inspired by the recent boom in virtual reality, the editorial team decided it was high time we took a look at the brave new world of immersive entertainment. As a VR … Continue reading The Dreamsmiths Unleashed by Cinefex

Cinefex 149 – Chariots and Spaceships

It’s in a mild state of dizziness that I’m announcing the publication of Cinefex 149, the latest edition of the world’s leading visual effects magazine. Why so dizzy? Because not only have I just submitted my two articles for the following issue 150, but I’m about to launch into wall-to-wall interviews for issue 151! Issue … Continue reading Cinefex 149 – Chariots and Spaceships

Warp Speed and “Warcraft” in Cinefex

Cinefex 148 has hit newsstands at warp speed, with four big articles on four big movies: Star Trek Beyond, Warcraft, Independence Day: Resurgence and The Legend of Tarzan. With two stories on my plate for this issue, I started out by tackling Warcraft. I started work at the beginning of April 2016, figuring that since the film more or less wrapped … Continue reading Warp Speed and “Warcraft” in Cinefex

Cinefex 145 – Now Available

There's something hot on my coffee table. It's issue 145 of Cinefex, and it's hot because (a) it's just been published; (b) it has the Millennium Falcon on the cover (signalling the presence of a drop-everything-and-read-it-now article by my colleague Joe Fordham about Star Wars: The Force Awakens); (c) it contains my first article for the … Continue reading Cinefex 145 – Now Available

“Mad God: Part 2” by Phil Tippett

Can you imagine taking Fritz Lang’s Metropolis by the scruff of the neck, dragging it through a septic tank filled with toxic waste and owl pellets, electrocuting it, injecting it with illegal hormones, and irradiating its nether regions so that its secret inner organs grow tumours and swell to the size of rotted grapefruits before … Continue reading “Mad God: Part 2” by Phil Tippett