Still cheesed at the lack of film-specific extras on that POLTERGEIST 25th Anniversary DVD/Blu-ray? American Cinematographer's Iain Stasukevich has a pretty terrific podcast over at the magazine's official website to tide you over until Warner Bros. finally does right by the 1982 horror classic.
It's an interview with POLTERGEIST director of photography Matthew Leonetti and visual f/x legend Richard Edlund, and it's must-listen stuff for anyone who loves learning about the old nuts-and-bolts way of making movie magic (before the advent of CG). As someone who used to devour books and magazine articles about these movies, I've got to say that a lot of this information was new to me (e.g. I love that those then-groundbreaking lighting f/x were achieved in-camera via the clever use of 2x2 boards and mirrors; that'd all be done in post today).
And here's a pretty neat bonus set aside for AICN readers: Edlund talking about the accidental creation of a crucial cloud effect for RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK.
Finally, while I'm linking to podcasts I like, be sure to check out Jeff Goldsmith's weekly series for Creative Screenwriting. Up today is a seventy-minute chat with THE WRESTLER's Robert D. Siegel.
There. That should get you through this rotten movie weekend.
