Yet another marvellous re-imagined MOON poster, this time from Dan Shearin. Tweeted to MOON Director Duncan Jones earlier today.
Much larger version available over on Dan’s portfolio, go and have a mooch 
Responding to an enquiry from a twitter follower yesterday, WARCRAFT Director Duncan Jones called multiple award winning VFX Director Bill Westenhofer his “A-Team”
@jc_nolangang Bill is the A-Team.He’s my BA, my Hannibal, my Face and Murdoch all rolled into one!
— Duncan Jones (@ManMadeMoon) May 10, 2013
The A-Team reference not only refers to Bill’s wide ranging skill set, but also to his role as visual effects supervisor on the 2010 feature film based on the successful 1980′s TV series. The news of Bill being appointed VFX Director on the long anticipated WARCRAFT feature film was broken on Twitter late last month by Nick Carpenter, Blizzard’s vice president of art and cinematic development.
Had my first meeting with the VFX Director on the film. We are in good hands. Welcome aboard Bill Westenhofer! #wowfilm @blizzplanet
— Nick Carpenter (@FubarNick) April 26, 2013
This is obviously great news for everyone looking forward to the cinematic realisation of the World of Warcraft. Bill has a wealth of VFX experience at the highest level and was recently the winner of both BAFTA (Special Visual Effects) and Academy Award (Best Visual Effects) for his work on Ang Lee’s Life of Pi. Bill also achieved the same reward for his work on The Golden Compass (2007), and was nominated in 2005 for his work on The Chronicles of Narina: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
As pre-production work starts to ramp up on WARCRAFT, hopefully this is the first of some regular news. We know Duncan is having a blast working with the team at Blizzard Entertainment, and we look forward to bringing you new developments soon 
Duncan Jones Presents Clint Mansell LA Orpheum 6th April 2013 – photo by Marc Moorghen
Since the announcement of Duncan Jones as Director of the much anticipated feature film adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment’s World of Warcraft, any further news has been thin on the ground. If you follow Duncan on Twitter you’ll know he is enjoying getting stuck in immensely, even inventing a new word for the process… Continue reading
Benedict Wong seems to be making a habit of appearing in British Sci-Fi films, so I decided to name the MOON / Sunshine double bill at the Prince Charles Cinema this month The Wong Connection, cus I can… Continue reading
Inspired by MOON and new developments in potential near Earth asteroid mining from companies such as DSI which could eventually lead to real life Lunar mining for Helium-3 (He-3), digital illustrator Adam Burn has created these fantastic concept lunar vehicles which have already caught an admiring eye from MOON Writer / Director Duncan Jones…
You know we love finding interesting new posters designed by all the talented people out there inspired by MOON & Source Code, but they are usually posters *for* MOON & Source Code.
This one tweeted to MOON Director Duncan Jones a couple of days ago by Matt Bucceri takes the idea of Sam Bell being cloned and appears to suggest that it was actually Sam Rockwell that was cloned. But by who? And how? And are there Sams walking around out there now?…
Cloning Sam Rockwell?
Digital Design student Patrick Chamberland was so inspired by his love of MOON and the work of Concept Artist and VFX Supervisor Gavin Rothery, he produced this stunning work as part of his course work at Centre NAD in Montreal, Canada.
Gerty Final by Patrick Chamberland
As well as sharing GERTY with us, Patrick was also kind enough to let us know some details about his version of GERTY:
I am currently a student in 3D Animation and Digital Design at Centre NAD, in Montreal, Canada, with a concentration in videogames.
We had a project in which we had to create a model of an object that was futuristic in nature and we had the option of creating a new design or using an already existing one. Being a huge fan of Moon (which I consider to be one of my top 5 movies of all-time) and Gavin Rothery’s designs, it then dawned on me that this would be the perfect opportunity to create my favorite robot ever, GERTY!
I was very fortunate that Gavin’s site was a treasure trove of fantastic reference to try and achieve the closest possible accuracy to the movie version of GERTY.
The actual model was created using 3DS MAX and a few different softwares were used to create the model’s textures with the main one being Photoshop.
What I think is really exciting with this model is that the image of the final rendered version is from a software named Marmoset Toolbag which is a real-time renderer. What this means is that the look of GERTY in the image is how he would look in an actual game engine such as the Unreal Engine.
If time permits, I would love to also model the whole Serang base and place it in the game engine which would mean that I would be able to walk around the whole base in real-time!
I have attached a picture of the non-textured/wireframed version of the model as well as a pic of the final “in-game” version.
This was certainly my most fun project to date and that was because of the passion ignited inside of me by Duncan’s amazing work in creating the movie masterpiece, Moon.
And here is the non-textured / wireframe image Patrick mentioned above. Stunning work once again from someone inspired by MOON. Thanks, Patrick
Gerty Wire by Patrick Chamberland
Have a mooch around Patrick’s site for more goodies.
As we were getting set for a live tweet of the British television premiere of MOON on BBC2 last sunday (30th December 2012 – highlights from Duncan & gang here) Duncan was pointed in the direction of something we’ve not come across previously, MOON Fan Fiction.
If you’re a regular visitor here, you will be well aware of the the high quality of fan contributions that we come across from time to time. We’ve had posters, music, a complete physical re-creations of GERTY and more, but nothing has quite reached the level of Wildgoosery’s fan fiction piece ‘Helping you is what I do‘ written to cover the events of MOON, from GERTY’s point of view.
I have to tell you, such is the level of authenticity, I was close to tears all over again. And it’s not just me that thinks Wildgoosery has done an incredible job, the ultimate seal of approval comes from the original creator of GERTY, Sam Bell, Lunar Industries and the whole MOON universe, Duncan Jones himself who commented on the piece:
To tune into the tone of Moon this well denotes a rare sensitivity & empathy. You’ve done an extraordinary job. It made my heart ache. Poor Sam. Poor Gerty. Poor Sam… And Sam… And Sam. Thank you so much for helping Moon to live on beyond our small film. I hope I can widen this universe for you in future films, if for no other reason but to see what you will do with it. A fan of your speculations, Duncan Jones. Writer/director Moon.
Which understandably prompted this reaction from Wildgoosery:
I’m just going to sit here for a while being utterly stunned!
Well, this is last thing I ever expected to find in the comments of my little story! I would be skeptical of its origins, except a poke through twitter reveals that you were pointed this direction yesterday!
I have no idea what to say, other than “Thank you!” Moon had a tremendous impact on me — I saw it twice in the theater, and have the DVD on hand for when I want my faith in modern science fiction filmmaking restored — and in writing this story, I came to even further appreciate the thought and care and craftsmanship that went into what you created. Hard SF movies are a rare thing these days, and quality ones are practically non-existent. After Moon and Source Code, I look forward to seeing what you do moving forward.
Please take a moment to pop over and read the full story, and to stand back an applaud a wonderful piece of writing
You can read more MOON fan fiction over on the same site.
A Duncan Jones Film – Clone Alone (Christmas 2012)
Ha! Just wanted to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS. Thanks as always for your support over the last year. Very much appreciated
The image above is from this very interesting post from MOON Concept Artist and VFX Supervisor Gavin Rothery’s excellent Making Of MOON blog and shows a still from an alternative ending to MOON (ok I’ve been fannying about with it a bit). Check Gav’s site for all the details
Thought that would make a nice little Christmas pressie for those that have not read it before, maybe best to steer clear if you have yet to see MOON and are looking forward to it’s British “proper telly” premiere on BBC2, Sunday 30th December.
2013 promises to be a very busy year for both Duncan & Gavin (also currently working on secret Sci-Fi projects) so we look forward to bringing you all the news.
Have a great Christmas, and all the very best for the New Year.
@Unklerupert
Radio Times Christmas Double Issue December 2012
If you live in the UK, one of the major signs that Christmas is nearly upon us is the bumper Christmas edition of the Radio Times TV listings magazine. Once purchased & lovingly plopped on the coffee table, in the magazine rack (or secretly secreted under the seat cushion of MY armchair) it’s time to get out the highlighter pen and get busy marking off the must see films & holiday specials.
This year there’s a particularly cool treat for Sci-Fi fans on Sunday the 30th of December when BBC2 host the UK “proper telly” premiere of Duncan Jones’ multiple award winning 2009 feature debut MOON. Cool as that is, MOON is sandwiched in between a 1 hour documentary on the legendary astronaut Neil Armstrong at 21:00, and one of Duncan’s all time favourites, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (Final Cut) at 23:30. That puts MOON at smack on 1hr 30 minutes* from 22:00 to 23:30 (or a little less with time for the nice announcer in between).
If your highlighter has run out of ink, Daniel Benneworth-Gray has already done the honours
MOON BBC2 30th December 2012 22:00 – Image by Daniel Benneworth-Gray
So that’s Sunday night sorted, and of course I’ll be watching. Like any other film I love, even if I own it on DVD or Blu-Ray, I cannot resist tuning in to a “proper telly” broadcast. Elsewhere in the Radio Times MOON is also singled out by Radio Times film editor Andrew Collins as his film of the day, so that’s that!
MOON film of the day BBC2 22:30 30th December 2012 – Andrew Collins
Thanks to Joanne Havens for that piccy
Maybe we could all watch it together? Will have a think and see if we can get a hashtag on the go for the evening, let me know what you think.
Sunday December 30th 2012
Neil Armstrong: First Man on the Moon BBC2 21:00
MOON BBC2 22:00
Blade Runner BBC2 23:30
Then if you’re still up at the end of all that, there is the great Blade Runner making of documentary Dangerous Days: on the edge of Blade Runner at 01:20.
*Looks like MOON has a running time of just under 1 hr 30 minutes taking into account announcer in between it and Blade Runner straight after. IMDb states a theatrical release running time of 1 hour 37 minutes, and the UK DVD is 1 hr 33 minutes.