Movies or television series’ are not just about the actors, but about the visual aspect of what you are watching, especially when it comes to the science fiction and fantasy genre, which sometimes relies heavily on CGI and such.

In the world of film making many steps are taken to bring you that visual aspect and most times we don’t think about the hours, days and processes that go into the work.

A company in Venice Beach, CA called Lightcraft Technology, has created the perfect camera system to improve the production pipeline. Click here to read a little more about that.

Eliot Mack, the founder and system architect of Lightcraft Technology has for the past 8 years been helping filmmakers work in real time visual effects with the system he developed with Co-Founder Phil Mass called Previzion.

We asked Eliot some questions about his camera system and here are his answers:

BLAST: Why did you create this product? What was the thought process behind it?

ELIOT MACK: I started building Previzion out of frustration with both the traditional production process (sets, locations, etc.) and the traditional visual effects process (tracking, keying, rendering, compositing, etc.) I had learned enough VFX to complete about 2 shots with standard methods, but simply could not believe how hard it was to do basic things, like pulling a key well or matching a lens accurately. At that point, I understood the underlying math and could start building a system to handle the repetitious, boring tasks like lens matching and camera position tracking.

BLAST: What movies/TV shows might the readers have seen this unique tech involved in?

EM: The productions with the widest viewing audience are probably “Alice in Wonderland,” the 2010 Tim Burton film, and “V,” the sci-fi television series.

BLAST: What future projects might this technology be used in?

EM: The two major areas we work in are feature film/high end episodic previsualization, and real time finishing, where the show is composited on the stage. We’re being used on complex stereoscopic motion pictures, to integrate stereo live action cameras and animated CG characters, as well as in telenovelas, where the production volume is high but the keying has to be very good. The underlying connection is our focus on high accuracy and image quality.

BLAST: Is this the only technology of its kind in the market today? And if no, how does your company differ from others?

EM: There are other types of real time keying systems that have been used for years in TV news, weather, and sports. Previzion is the only commercial real time system that is specifically designed for the demands of motion picture and television VFX production.

BLAST: How will Lightcraft Technology benefit movie making in the future?

EM: Previzion lets productions do much more creatively while saving money. Visual effects open up the storytelling palate, but the cost and complexity has limited their use. We’re already creating photorealistic sets that render in real time and fit on a thumb drive; painting a wall green and setting up some tracking targets is a lot less expensive than blocking off city streets or sending an entire production crew to some remote area.

BLAST: Where do you see your company in five years? In 10 years?

EM: We’re going to continue making the systems faster, more accurate, and easier to integrate into productions. Most people think of visual effects as limited to science fiction or summer blockbusters, but the rate of VFX speed and accuracy available in Previzion lets a wide range of productions use them.

BLAST: In regards to film school/students do you see your Lightcraft Technology being utilized in school as a teaching method?

EM: Very much so. In fact, we think that the technology could change the nature of student films. Our photogrammetry tools make it possible for a single person to go out with a DSLR and capture enough stills to create a photorealistic 3D background model. Students can expand the scope of their projects while they are learning to use the same on-set tools used on the largest VFX projects out there.

BLAST: For the average movie enthusiast who loves film, will they see a difference between traditional methods of creating film (actors filmed in front of a green screen) over your Lightcraft Technology?

EM: Previzion is in many ways similar to traditional VFX work. It uses the same blue and green screens and some of the same 3D modeling tools to create the backgrounds. The key difference is the speed – it’s a complete visual effects pipeline that happens to run in real time.

In “Alice in Wonderland,” director Tim Burton takes Lewis Carroll’s time-honored tale and converts it into a fantastical, eye-popping 3-D joy ride for the attention-deficit “Avatar” loving generation.

The most notable thing about “Alice” is that visual stimulation never stops. First, we meet a wayward, unhappy Alice (Mia Wasikowska) mourning her father’s death on the day that she receives a very public proposal from a ginger lord with digestion problems. Burton doesn’t miss a detail of the prim English countryside or its snobby, corset-wearing inhabitants.

When Alice uncomfortably edges away from the waiting crowd, a rabbit leads her to a large hole, which, of course, she falls into. This scene is 3-D at its best, with Alice swishing past books and chandeliers and bouncing on top of beds.

Fans of the cartoon movie will be confused with what follows. There is an unexpected implementation of plot, and while favorite scenes such as Alice shrinking and growing are left in, the scene where she cries herself a river is left out. Instead of following Alice on a disjointed acid trip of a journey, we soon find out, through the vehicles of the White Rabbit (Michael Sheen), the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), Dormouse (Barbara Windsor), and Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum (Matt Lucas) that they are looking for an Alice who has visited before to come and release them from the dominion of the Red Queen (Helena Bonham Carter). There is a bit of dissension about whether this Alice is the same Alice, and this is one of the plot points that gets tedious. Alice, of course, doesn’t remember being here before, and the only person who is convinced she was is the Mad Hatter.

Alice makes her way through Wonderland in an array of fabulous dresses (kudos to the costume designer), making friends with the Bandersnatch, fooling the Red Queen and eventually fulfilling her destiny by slaying the Jabberwocky.

Burton takes liberties with the original story and comes up with a plot that is painfully similar to The Chronicles of Narnia — a young girl stumbles into a world of kings, queens and talking animals. She then finds that she’s “chosen” and must rescue her little friends from a domineering queen and return the power to the benevolent ruler. The mystery of the story that is supposed to keep the audience guessing, whether or not this Alice is the one who will fulfill the prophecy, is at first, confusing (why wouldn‘t she be the right Alice?) and then annoying with repetition.

Wasikowska gives a seamless performance in this, her first major leading role. She is appropriately bold while conveying Alice’s youthful nature. She doesn’t lose herself in the potentially sappy storyline of “Am I just Alice or am I Alice?”

Johnny Depp’s Mad Hatter is one of the more anticipated characters — right up there with Stephen Fry’s Cheshire Cat — and he doesn’t diappoint. His clownish clothes and spastic hair fit well with his fluorescent eyeliner and his overwhelming personality. Depp’s only misstep is his accent — is he British? Or Scottish? He had a lisp, but now he doesn’t. What could be attributed to his apparent “madness” just comes off as confusing and inconsistent.

Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter play arch enemies — and sisters. Carter provides a great deal of comedic relief as an evil, yet pitiable, Red Queen who plays crochet with a hedgehog (as the ball), uses pigs as footrests and is wildly jealous of her well-liked predecessor and younger sister, the White Queen. Hathaway brings a quirk to her perfect, gracious character, but overacts in some scenes. For instance, one wonders if she got tennis elbow from holding her arms up like she’s waltzing 24/7.

But the movie works as a whole. It’s visual (the motion capture technology is impeccable — from Stayne’s spindly daddy long legs to the queen’s bulbous head), it’s funny (Alice has a dry sense of humor that is funnier because it’s unexpected…well now I guess I’ve ruined it for you), and it’s heartwarming. Each character is relatable and sympathetic, from the ridiculously brave dormouse to the heart-melting loyalty of Bayard, the hound. And lastly, for those who aren’t fans of 3-D, worry not. This movie isn’t filled with action scenes where things are thrown at the audience ad-nauseum. The 3-D is mostly unnoticeable and only enhances the scenes when it does anything.

Don’t miss this movie — it’s a substantial upgrade from the cartoon, and it’ll leave you wanting more.

We told you how to become involved with “9″ at Comic-Con, and now we have ways for all of you who missed Comic-Con to win some schwag from the Talisman Challenge sweepstakes.

Those of you who have been following the Scientist’s journal on www.facebook.com/9scientist know a few weeks back, the Scientist was forcibly removed from his laboratory and interrogated. Upon returning to his lab, the Scientist realized that the Chancellor’s men had seized a collection of designs vital to his research. One of these designs holds the key to his next phase of development.

The designs have been shredded and torn into nine pieces, scattered in nine secret locations. When all nine pieces are put together, they reveal a secret alchemical code. Only the typewriter on www.9experiment.com can help decode the hidden message from the designs.

Typewriter clue

This link from the “9″ Scientist Facebook page also provides more detail about where the nine clues are hidden around the web.

Stick with Blast over the next few days for interviews with Tim Burton, Shane Acker and Elijah Wood about “9,” plus other Comic-Con interviews.

SAN DIEGO — “Edward Scissorhands” director Tim Burton made his first-ever visit to Comic-Con International today and was welcomed with huge cheers from Hall H’s 6000-strong audience. Burton was there to discuss “Alice in Wonderland,” his highly anticipated re-imagining of the classic novel.

The film stars Johnny Depp (who made a brief surprise visit during the panel — Burton later claimed that “Johnny decided to drop by” after having been in the neighborhood “walking around dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow,” though Burton’s grin proved this fan dream false), Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, and Helena Bonham Carter.

During the presentation Burton and panel host Patton Oswalt showed — three times — a trailer for the March 2010 film. Narrated by Depp’s Mad Hatter, the trailer gave glimpses of the Cheshire Cat (voiced by Stephen Fry), the Queen of Hearts, and a variety of scenes that appeared to be wholly original to this version, including a romp through a forest of mushrooms and a seemingly beefier role for the Mad Hatter, a character that only appears in a few Alice tales.

Certainly the question of how exactly Burton’s “Alice” compares to the source material, that is “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and the sequel “Through the Looking Glass” is on everyone’s mind.

When asked about his motivation to do the film as well as his connection to the source material, Burton said, “Seeing other movie versions of it, I never felt an emotional connection to it. It was always a girl wandering around from one crazy character to another, and I never really felt any real emotional connection. So it’s an attempt to really try to give (“Alice in Wonderland”) some framework of emotional grounding that has never been in any version before. So that’s the challenge to me. You know every character’s weird, but it’s to try and give them their specific weirdness so that they’re all different. All his characters indicate some kind of mental weirdness that everybody goes through, but the real attempt was to try and make Alice feel more like a story as opposed to a series of events.”

A lot of the intrigue with Burton’s “Alice” also has to do with the rumored changes he has made to the original story.

“It’s not a sequel because there are so many stories in Alice in Wonderland,” Burton said. “The goal was to take the randomness of the books, taking elements of the book and making it its own stories. A lot of it is based on the Jabberwocky poem in one of the stories. And that’s not a big part of the story, but we’re just using elements of all the books because that’s the nature of them, and they don’t really follow a specific linear structure.”

There are also a few changes being made to the famous Mad Hatter, which Burton calls an “iconic character.” Some of these changes can also be attributed to Johnny Depp. “(Johnny) tried to find a grounding to the character, something that you feel, as opposed to just being mad. In a lot of versions it’s a very one-note kind of character and you know his goal was to try and bring out a human side to the strangeness of the character. Any time I work with him that’s something he tries to do so that’s no exception.”

Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” is also going to be presented in 3D, though it was originally filmed in 2D and will be converted to 3D.

“We didn’t do it with a 3D camera. We did it where we got all our information from different cameras,” Burton said. “There are maybe three or four reasons for that. One was the time element, where you know we didn’t really have five or six years to make it. Also I felt the techniques we were using — the pure animation, the live action (but manipulating and doing strange things to that), plus the other elements we’re adding into it — it just gave us more freedom to get the depths and layers we wanted in the time we were dealing with. Plus for me I couldn’t really see the difference. This seemed the right technique and the right approach to do it.”

He went on to discuss his personal view of the growing trend of incorporating 3D technology into film.

“I’m personally not out to make it a gimmick. I think it puts you in this world more, plus with the Alice material, the growing and shrinking and the weird kind of spaces and places you’re in, it just kind of helps with the experience. The gimmick elements are kind of falling by the wayside. Now it’s just more about an experience. (We had) “Nightmare” (“The Nightmare Before Christmas”) converted to 3D and I mean, I felt it was almost the way it should have been. You felt the texture of the puppets more, you felt things that you actually felt when you were on the set. I think that that just enhances the experience and makes things — in a lot of cases with the textures and things — the way you wanted it to be.”

In closing, there is also a bit of news about Burton’s future projects. He’s been rumored to be going on to do “Dark Shadows” once “Alice in Wonderland” is complete, and he said once asked that “Dark Shadows is the plan, if I ever finish this one.”

There is also some potential for more original projects like Burton’s acclaimed “Edward Scissorhands.” When asked if he planned on beginning an original project, he said, “Oh yeah, I mean — you know those are always kind of inside. Yeah I’ve got a few lying around and I try to sneak them in somewhere. Yeah, um — yes. Yes. But nothing right at this moment.”

“Alice in Wonderland” hits theaters in March 2010.

Creative visionary Tim Burton takes the producer’s seat alongside Timur Bekmambetov (director of “Wanted”) in the much anticipated animated film, “9″ “" a post-apocalyptic adventure in a world without humans, dominated by machines, and survived by nine curious rag doll creatures, fondly referenced as “stitched-punks.” The director behind the film is Shane Acker, whose 2005 short film, also entitled “9″ is the origin and basis of the feature-length film. The film also includes a star-studded cast of talented actors: Elijah Wood, Christopher Plummer, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, and Martin Landau.

Watch the new preview clip of a battle between the stitched-punks and their “winged-beast” adversaries.

Larger version:

Focus Features’s new animated film “9″ is one of the bigger films to be taking the stage in Hall H at Comic-Con this year, and we have the low-down on all your chances to make the most of the “9″ promotions!

First and foremost, check out the “9″ panel in Hall H Friday at 2:30 p.m. (though you’ll have to be in line far before then). Shane Acker, Tim Burton, Timur Bekmambetov and stars Elijah Wood and Jennifer Connelly will take the stage to talk about their upcoming film and most likely show some fun, exclusive Comic-Con video.

But the celebrity fun won’t stop there. Special edition collectible “9″ cards will be distributed throughout San Diego’s Gaslamp District daily. Nine different cards will be distributed (eight character cards and one machine card) and the first 100 people to bring their complete set to the NECA booth (#4345) will win a guaranteed place in line to receive an autograph by Timur Bekmambetov, Shane Acker and Elijah Wood.

Those too lazy to walk around the beautiful Gaslamp District are in for a treat if they catch a ride in one of the “9″ themed pedicabs. Text READER to 4FOCUS for instructions on downloading Focus’s preferred reader so your phone is QR-ready for when you catch a ride in one of these special vehicles. Once you unlock the QR code (a different one for each pedicab) you can be the first to see exclusive videos and content for “9.”

For all the latest news on “9,” head to the NECA booth, and check out 9Experiment.com to see its new Radio feature.

As always, stick with Blast for your latest Comic-Con 2009 coverage!

For those who like to keep Tim Burton on their radar, they have probably been keeping an eye on “9,” the decidedly adult animated film he is producing with “Wanted” director Tim Bekmambetov. For those who haven’t, check out the trailer below:

Blast had a chance to take an exclusive look at the new promotional poster for “9.”

Blast will be following the story of 9 and the rest of the machines up until the release of “9″ on September 9. For those of you who can’t wait till then, you can check out the “9″ Facebook page here.