Saiyan Island

Alex Tuis, a concept artist for Dragonball: Evolution, recently posted some of his artwork for the film on his official website. With not much else to report, it’s definitely worth a look if you’re interested in what could have been if they had chosen his designs. Click here to see his concept art for Piccolo and Oozaru.

The idea was to make something original and a little bit different from the Manga or the animated tv show. At this stage, I did not know who will play Lord Piccolo.I worked only four days on this movie. I hope to be on the next one, with more time.

[Thanks, Al]

WorldsFinest.it uploaded a brand new making-of featurette that includes new clips from the movie, interviews with the cast and director James Wong, and behind-the-scenes footage. Check it out.

Full video of the press conference that took place in Bangkok, Thailand on February 20th is now available to view online.

Part 2 here.

As part of their press tour around Asia, the cast and director of Dragonball: Evolution attended another press conference yesterday in Korea. Following a screening of 20 minutes of key action scenes, they proceeded to answer questions about the film.

Also check out The Associated Press and The Korea Times written reports.

Taiwan held a press conference for Dragonball: Evolution yesterday with director James Wong and cast Justin Chatwin, Emmy Rossum, Joon Park, Jamie Chung and Chow Yun-Fat in attendance. We can now watch it online.

Before the newest Japanese trailer for Dragonball: Evolution, Dragonball’s creator Akira Toriyama left a message that expressed his thoughts on the film. ANN translates:

As the original creator, I had a feeling of “Huh?” upon seeing the screenplay and the character designs, but the director, all the actors, the staff, and the rest are nothing but “ultra” high-caliber people. Maybe the right way for me and all the fans to appreciate it is as a New Dragonball of a different dimension. Perhaps, this might become a great masterpiece of power! Hey, I look forward to it!!

ScoringSessions.com has 31 photos of Brian Tyler conducting the music for Dragonball: Evolution with the Hollywood Studio Symphony. Click here to view them.

With Tyler himself conducting an 82-piece ensemble of the Hollywood Studio Symphony at the Newman Scoring Stage, the music to the film is appropriately percussive and big, taking full advantage of the large size of the orchestra. Melodic and even a big “Goldsmithian”, the score was orchestrated by Robert Elhai, Brad Warnaar, Dana Niu and Pakk Hui – all of whom were on hand to assist with any on-stage tweaks and adjustments.

Dragonball Evolution will be released by 20th Century Fox on April 8, 2009, and a soundtrack album is in the works.

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.