Jaws 3D par Romain Néophyte

Décidément 2010 est bel et bien l’année du premier contact! Contre toute attente, je vous invite à découvrir le talentueux spécialiste des effets-spéciaux Gene Rizzardi ! Solide artisan au CV particulièrement impressionnant (Army of Darkness, Titanic, Team America ou encore Scared to Death, Critters et la mini-série V) ,Gene fait partie des magiciens qui ont rendu possible Jaws 3D. Et c’est très gentiment qu’il a accepté de répondre à quelques questions concernant son travail sur le film de Joe Alves.

« Hello Romain, I guess with all these 3D Movies Jaws 3D is making a comeback? As to my role on this film, I spent the majority of my time making smaller shark heads for the miniature work. We made molds and fiberglass skeletons to put the shark skin on. We also molded the skin coverings in I believe a urethane material called Smooth-On. I also worked on an underwater miniature that was filmed in a motion control stage with a heavy smoke atmosphere. You could not see your hand in front of your face the smoke was so dense. But it gave a good underwater effect. »

Gene Rizzardi (à droite sur la photo) continue: « There is a time lapse film of the workshop where we animated the shark head around the various desks as we worked. I have no idea if this film exists but it was fun to watch. I don’t know if I have any photos available from this job. I remember working outdoors in a large plastic film covered structure to do the fiberglass work for the molds and it always seemed to be raining. »

Were you employed by Private Stock Effects during the shooting of the movie? « Yes I was an employee of Private Stock effects, we worked under Chuck Cominsky Visual Effects Producer , Our Model supervisor was Danielle Verse a very talented woman who handled this task very well.

Which submarines miniatures were you in charge of? I did not work on the Submarines, only the underwater landscapes, making structure and detail

Can you confirm that the shark you worked on is indeed the 1/7 ratio one? I believe that is the one, our Sharks werer used on stage only, no water. When we work in the shop you don’t always get to be on stage with the miniatures, since the deadlines are usually short you need to keep producing parts for the next shot.

In retrospect, what do you think of your work and the movie itself? I had a lot of fun working on this film, and to be part of the Jaws legacy is a blast. It takes a lot of talented individuals to make a film I was lucky to be part of the team.

I would think another Jaws movie could be made, but I would think it would have more CGI effects and everything would be bigger. I am for a more measured approach with Miniatures and a mechanical shark enhanced by CGI. Certainly the 3D would be better. »

Merci donc à Gene Rizzardi pour sa gentillesse, sa précieuse aide et pour tout le plaisir que son travail nous procure à chaque vision du film. N’hésitez pas à visiter le site internet consacré à son entreprise Modelwerkes.  De magnifiques images d’ Evil Dead III vous attendent. J’en profite pour m’excuser auprès des lecteurs non-anglicistes pour l’absence de traduction et pour féliciter mon ami Jude pour ses efforts.