The updated X-JET *pic included

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/702/702966p1.html

For the Lazy

April 25, 2006 - For director Brett Ratner, one of the key creative objectives for X-Men: The Last Stand is the movie's tone. "It's been very important for me to stick to the tone," says Ratner. "I feel so reverential to the first two [movies], I'm not reinventing anything that's already been done." That being the case, Ratner didn't reinvent the vehicle the X-Men use to get where they need to go (and quickly). However, that marvel of aeronautic engineering, the X-Jet, will have some slight modifications.


To make the jet appear a bit more realistic, Bruno and his team will create various digital extensions and minor enhancements. "We've streamlined [the jet] a bit, visually added a couple of bells and whistles, but it's essentially still the same vehicle you all know from the prior to movies."

"Fans won't be disappointed with the X-Jet," visual effects supervisor John Bruno tells IGN FilmForce. "We have various versions of it for filming purposes. There's some large set pieces, and then there's half set pieces, and [the visual effects team] will fill it in digitally. So, sometimes it's half real and half digital." The "real" X-Jet is predominantly comprised of the same set that was built for the first two movies. "They pulled it out of storage and put together portions of the original jet for specific scenes."


[SIZE=-2]20th Century Fox[/SIZE]
[SIZE=-1]
Click this exclusive pic for a larger version.[/SIZE]


One scene in which the X-Jet is featured has Storm, Wolverine and their fellow X-Men looking for Magneto's underground lair. The production filmed the first half of the scene on a large soundstage at Mammoth Studios in Vancouver. "They've landed in the forest and it's very foggy," says production designer Ed Verreaux. "They really can't see." As the scene continues, the X-Gang descends the ramp (which will be partially CG animated). "They walk in the forest a little bit," he says, "[and] Storm does one of her things and she clears the fog." And then, when the fog clears, they're "on a location which is at a lake an hour east [of the studio]."

For the scene, the underside of the jet and a portion of the central cabin was re-assembled and suspended from wires. Showing IGN FilmForce the set, Verreaux says, "This is the bottom of the X-Jet fuselage. The ramp, the fins and all that, everything else will be added digitally. You'll notice that the ramp is longer than the opening. For some reason the way it was designed in X2, they did the interior of the set with a shorter ramp bay than the exterior. To have the ramp come down and not be real steep like a ship's ladder, they had to have the ramp be longer." In X2, you'll see that "they cut away from it. You never see the ramp actually go up and nest in the fuselage."

Verreaux again points out the jet's ramp. "You'll see the treads rotate about 45 degrees. That's visual effects. They don't actually do that. [In X2] There wasn't actually time to mechanically build this to do that. It became a post thing."

As for the rest of the jet, "the nose, cockpit and all that are on another stage all wrapped up," says Verreaux. "We did shoot X-Jet interior stuff earlier here on the stage before the forest was here. We had this aft section and the front section connected, but we don't need that for this scene."

Now, you might ask, for which scene was the aft section required? (Those of you wary of spoilers, don't worry, we'll play it safe here.) We don't have all the information, so we can't confirm this - although, on a side note, we can confirm the Sentinels will appear - but from observing production art, the following may be surmised: the X-Jet has been refitted to include seating for Colossus, Iceman, and Kitty Pryde. And, it appears they'll take part in an airborne offensive on Magneto's Alcatraz; a team assault by (as far as we know) Storm, Colossus, Iceman, and Kitty Pride (dangling from Iceman). This could be one big jump from the X-Jet. And an ultra-cool attack (or rescue?) by the X-Men.

Stay tuned to IGN FilmForce for the latest!

srry if already posted

 

I think it looks sexy as hell