I wanted to answer a couple questions in my web log that consistently came up in the comments. First of all, unfortunately the Comic-Con piece was one specifically made for that forum and will not been shown again. It was a very crude, albeit exciting, piece with temp sound and temp visual effect shots. We were hesitant to show the segment due to its unfinished nature, but considering that our release date is over eight months away, everything associated with the film is temp at this time. However, we sincerely believed that the fans at Comic-Con deserved to see our progress at that time and therefore we were happy to give them a sneak peak.

In regard to the next time you will get a glimpse of the movie, please know that we will have a trailer coming out this fall. Although I am not at liberty to say when exactly it will hit the theaters and internet at this time, I can tell you that I have seen a rough version of it and I am confident that you are going to be blown away. It is an incredible piece that showcases the full scope of the picture, both in terms of the gripping story as well as the groundbreaking visual effect shots. Be patient, it's going to be worth the wait.

I am writing you this week as I sit with VFX coordinator Mayumi Arakaki, VFX producers Terry Clotiaux and Josh Jaggers, animation director Spencer Cook, visual effects editors Jody Fedele and Rolf Fleischman, editor Bob Murawski, digital VFX supervisor Peter Nofz, director Sam Raimi, VFX supervisor Scott Stokdyk, and producer Laura Ziskin in what will end up being a 2 hour plus meeting. This meeting is one that we have had daily since we wrapped and will continue to do so until the film is delivered. Essentially, the team at Sony Pictures Imageworks shows us, Sam and Bob specifically, the shots that have been turned over which they are working on in order to receive feedback. Turnovers are shots in the movie which require VFX work. Sometimes they are shots that have elements which we filmed in camera during principle photography into which SPI is adding an element, and sometimes they are shots that are entirely CGI.

So, let's have a quick sidebar as I answer a question that may have popped into your head, "How do you turnover shots which are all CG?" Good question. Basically, all scenes start out as storyboards. After a VFX intensive scene is storyboarded, it is turned into an animatic which, all though a crude definition, can be defined as making a cartoon of the storyboards. Next, the animatic is turned into a pre-visualization, or pre-viz for short. During this process, the real world geography of the actual sets/locations are modeled and inserted into the shots as are models of the actors doing the action in the animatic. All of the above is accomplished via the direction of Sam, and at the end of the process you have a representation of what would happen if these shot were achievable in camera. It is SPI's latest iterations of these turned over shots that we review on a daily basis until Sam deems them finaled and ready to be cut into the final version of the film.

Comingsoon.net thinks it'll be attached to Casino Royale, which would make sense.