A Chat with Ariel Shaw
We recently had the pleasure of speaking with the visual effects supervisor for Dragonball: Evolution, Ariel Velasco Shaw, who had completed his work on the film. Ariel answered some questions that many of you have been asking lately.
DBthemovie: Were you (or the team) familiar with Dragonball before this film?
Ariel Velasco Shaw: Yeah, I have a 12 year old son, Milo who is a huge fan. I have always loved the series as well. It’s funny how excited the Visual Effects Houses were to get on the movie. They would do these Ki Energy tests where the CG artists would throw the Ki and then put in their incarnation of the effect.
Q: In the anime, everything seems to be bright and vibrant with fluffy cloud-filled skies. I noticed that, in the trailer, the scene with Gohan training Goku is very similar. Does that [scene] represent the overall look of the movie?
A: What I love about the look of the film is that it arcs from a terrestrial (earthly every day look, albeit, bright and hopeful) to something that is foreboding and other worldly. We went through a look development process (Look Dev) where we had our VFX houses develop the arc.
Q: Some fans were confused that the “Kame Hame Ha” [in the trailer] was executed with one hand. Was this the actual “Kame Hame Ha” or just a “Ki” blast put in the trailer to not spoil it?
A: The one handed ki blast was just a shadow crane strike. Goku has a limited arsenal of energy blasts that culminates in a Kame Hame Ha. Roshi’s arsenal is more powerful than Goku’s, and Piccolo has many types of energy blasts that culminates in a Spirit Bomb. I gotta say, the energy fights are pretty cool.
Q: Do any of the characters have auras in the film?
A: Yes.
Q: If Dragonball: Evolution does well, are you up for working on a sequel?
A: This was a great project to be a part of. The cast and the crew were fantastic. The Fox VFX department is second to none on helping the process along. Of course I’ll come back and join the party.
Many thanks to Ariel for taking the time to answer these questions.
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True he doesn’t do much but rampage vegeta. Yea repitition is bad but they could make it bigger with super stretchy saiyan armor LOL jk
@Walsh: I wish I could find DBZ remastered Episode 17. In it Yamcha uses a move he calls a spirit bomb. You can see it in English here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVbXXujIf8w&feature=related time-mark= 3:43 but it’s not in Japanese. In other versions of the same episode, he calls out spirit bomb but his voice is much lower in volume like here; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJ5Es4xpR2g&feature=related time-mark= 3:39 all in English. I figure someone misinterpreted the word. Maybe there is an Earthly and Heavenly spirit bomb attack? Any thoughts? Some fan here no doubt has the latest DVD versions they should come with a Japanese track, but since I don’t own the latest and greatest, don’t know anything about them.
@http://www.sajin0084.deviantart.com: Son Gohan should defiantly be in the next film dude. We need to see his relationship between Piccolo Jr.
I think the Next film should most of all Concentrate on the Arrival of Vegeta. I think Vegeta should go Oozaru, because we need to see how powerful Goku’s KAIO-KEN attack is.
@michael: Yamcha’s technique Sokidan means Spirit Bomb. (I remember hearing in the english dub of Dragon Ball Yamcha called it a Spirit Bomb, and not Spirit Ball).. Goku’s Genkidama, or “Spirit Bomb” actually means Energy Ball or Spirit Ball, Genkidama was just miss-translated as Spirit Bomb.
You would be looking for the word “Genki Dama” in Japanese or Spirit Ball in literal English…
WOW now that’s some good news. Auras, different attacks! Piccolo vs Goku is goin tu be craaaaaaazy!!!!
@http://www.myspace.com/coreywilson10:
I know us fans want him in there, Im just letting everyone know now so that if/when he isnt there we dont all get upset like with krillin. Its just a warning so people dont expect him just in case.
THough I doubt very much that goku will die in the next movie. King kai might be in the movie but he wont live in other world, he will be a martial arts master on earth or maybe an alien, but I dont think he will be in it at all.
The next movie will hopefully be vegeta coming to earth maybe with a few sayains. I wouldnt mind if there was more than just the three of them.
I do no one thing though and that is the next movie will be alot harder to wright than this one was.
I realy hope this movie does well so we can see the awsome sequal!!!
@cj thong:
ture fan XD
Q: Some fans were confused that the “Kame Hame Ha†[in the trailer] was executed with one hand. Was this the actual “Kame Hame Ha†or just a “Ki†blast put in the trailer to not spoil it?
A: The one handed ki blast was just a shadow crane strike. Goku has a limited arsenal of energy blasts that culminates in a Kame Hame Ha. Roshi’s arsenal is more powerful than Goku’s, and Piccolo has many types of energy blasts that culminates in a Spirit Bomb. I gotta say, the energy fights are pretty cool.
IT WAS NEVER SAID PICCOLO HAD A SPIRIT BOMB! learn english geez it said Piccolo also has a set of Ki blasts but they CULMINATE (meaning all of them) into the spirit bomb it is never said who HAS the spirit bomb though it is most likely goku
I think he meant it he makes like a spirit bomb like blast.
NO GOHAN IN THESE MOVIES EVER cept Grandpa (DRAGON BALL NOT Z!)
@www.sajin0084.deviantart.com
Yamcha NEVER sued the spirit bomb he used the spirit BALL it was just poor pronunciation and it sounded like bomb to the person who wrote the closed captions but he clearly says SPIRIT BALL
and this site says that somewhere
http://www.daizex.com/guides/rumors/characters.shtml
Well I have even lesser expectations, like they’ll use the Piccolo Jr. Saga as the heart of the sequel. That way If I’m wrong I will be surprised.
Think about it, Fox could use another long running franchise. Marvell wants their stuff back. Lucas has been Tapped out. If they would just manage this right, they could really turn it into a string of summer tent poles to last a decade. 3-D is coming in a big way. In the coming years it might be one of the few big draws for theater viewership.
@tharlkidgoku: No, you need to check my first link. It’s remastered the audio is very clear. There’s an error but it’s not in my hearing.
wait did no one notice that he said Piccolo has the Spirit Bomb? Did he mean special beam cannon? i hope so. ppl here need to stop beeing so blindly supportive
Thanks a lot Adam for all of this!!
I dont think that they would leave Gohan out. He is an important person to the Dragonball story. I think they may of just been hinting when they talked about how human auras are different to Aliens and Human-Alien hybrids.
I reckon they will probaly amaglamate lord piccolo and piccolo jr. but who knows at this point.
very good news, getting real excited about this movie
Thanks Adam for giving the interview on the visual effects including the kamehameha.
I appreiciated. 
piccolo doing a spirit bomb?
it’s good to hear that goku’s kamehameha wasn’t spoiled, and that he didn’t use one hand…but i hope the spirit bomb thing is a mistake or explainable…cause piccolo using the spirit bomb wouldn’t make sense, unless they’re looking to change the attack’s origin altogether… 
thx adam once again u mamaze us all with great news i love the spirit bomb so kewl this film will be loved by the critics and then all the haters wil see the truth of how great this film is
nice interview
is there gonna be an english version of the french trailer with some new scenes?
I can’t wait to see the aura effects!!! DRAGONBALL RULZZZ!!!!
Guys come on, its probably not THE spirit bomb, just a massive ki energy, i’m sure piccolo wont yell ”genki dama!/spirit bomb!” lol, if i remember correct you must be pure of heart to use it so this is again other reason why its NOT THE spirit bomb itself.
akira toyama draws album art for ayumi’s album
8O
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/scoops/news/?a=6158
Awesome interview Adam, if I get any more pumped for this movie I think I’m gonna exploud!
Thanks.
SWEET!!!
it was the most complete interview yet ..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNzZNTqaToI
With each new trailer it’s looking better and better. I’m getting pretty antsy. It sounds like they put a lot into the effects.
Piccolo better not have a spirit bomb. Man, this is starting to sound like the controversy that was around when Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich made that movie they dared call Godzilla. Geez, there are already enough inaccuracies with the movie compared to the manga and TV series. I don’t think there needs to be anymore, regardless of how COOL it would look.
I mean, would you want to see Batman firing lasers from his eyes just because it looked COOL? That spirit bomb better not make it into the movie. Because IF there is going to be a sequel (Dragon Ball Z) then of course the spirit bomb technique needs to be TAUGHT to GOKU by KING KAI! After all, doing a Dragon Ball “Z” movie series would probably need to be done in three or four different movies because of the villains and their own sagas. When Goku is using the spirit bomb to destroy Kid Buu, there is a scene where King Kai mentions that HE taught GOKU that technique….a scene that would be all too necessary for the Majin Buu Dragon Ball “Z” film.
djinn.thanks for the link
I dont get why adam dont post the new PSP DBE game picutres and game cover on the main page, its news and good pictures by any matter x.x
Being pure of heart doesn’t necessarily mean that it has to be good. You could have a heart of pure evil and be able to use the Spirit Bomb. It just means that your heart can’t have a conflict of good and evil within it.
Wait…’Spirit Bomb’…? Tell me he’s mistaken. The Genki Dama is a technique Son uses…and is taught while dead.
Yeesh.
Maybe Adam is busy and hasnt gotten around to doing it and probally doesnt know just yet.
wow. im sorry, i would say more, but im to busy hyperventilating from this amazing interview
Firstly thanks Adam for helping provide us with the answers to some of those aggravating questions that have been pestering us since the trailer
Secondly, I remember that a long time ago when I first came to the site there was someone who kept saying the ki blasts were going to be weak like Ryu’s in street fighter. Well to the haters that thought that ARE YOU SATISFIED NOW??? 
Omg it sounds awesome!!!! I am so excited! 
@Answer Me: I hope you’re right about Vegeta, that would be sweet! and I think pretty much anyone would kill for the chance to be in that movie even if it were just as an extra.
(Masenko Huh?=Videl. Hee hee hee I know it will never happen but still 
)
NICE INTERVIEW cool stuff we are going to see auras yes yes yes in your face haters when you go to watch this movie you are all going to kill yourself becuz you were wrong
but WTF piccolo doing the SPIRIT BOMB!?
Sounds like a politician especially in the second questions. He doesn’t answer the question at all lol! Oh well. pretty good update. Not even mad.
HOLY CRAP… SHERON!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwbyKPvqw0
THANK ME AGAIN HAHA
oh my f… god……………did you dudes see goku punching piccolo in zha rocks…………dude and shenron…………omg
oh hi at all by the way iknow was long time no here……..got some shit to care about….sorry dudes
ya people…. click on the link i put up….. eat fast at dennys and come back hahaha
new clip japones in http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwbyKPvqw0&eurl=http://www.dragonball-lapelicula.net/
@Victor: Damb victor! Nice find man! Awesome clip.
theres a video of youtube with new scenes of DBE with SHNERON!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3RwbyKPvqw0
One small flaw. Picollo doesn’t do the Spirit Bomb. I’m hoping she was really refering to something like the Spirit Ball kind of what Yamcha does. That will be fine.
Ideas for how the movie ends.
Vegeta lands from his spaceship. We never see his face but we see is foot stepping off the ship and we walks towards us and we see the label on his ship that says ‘Vegeta’
Thoughts?
@Victor:
OMG! I cant believe it… Was that actually shenron??? Did I REALLY SEE SHENRON?… I cant believe what I just saw.
Thanx Victor.
@Adam: Yo Adam, take Victor’s link and add it as news.
Greetings from “Republica Dominicana”
spirit bomb?
wtf?