Adam Savage Geeks Out Over Rare Movie Artifacts (Feat. ‘Blade Runner,’ ‘E.T.’ and more)

[00:00:00]Spielberg has insisted that ET is a plant.

[00:00:03]>> [screaming] >> But, I would posit that I've never known a plant to have a rib cage and a pelvis.

[00:00:13]>> [music] >> Hey everybody, Adam Savage and I I'm in a really special place. Megan, tell me where we are.

[00:00:22]>> Absolutely. So, we are in the Cecil B.

[00:00:24]DeMille Reading Room at the Margaret Herrick Library. The library is part of the Academy collection. So, that is 52 [music] million pieces, the largest film-related collection in the world.

[00:00:35]>> 52 Okay, I knew it was bigger. Didn't know 52 [laughter] million.

[00:00:38]>> So, to give you a sense of those holdings, thought we would [music] do a deep dive today.

[00:00:42]>> All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain.

[00:00:52]>> Blade Runner.

[00:00:53]>> You're going right to my heart.

[00:00:55]Uh it is one of my all-time favorite movies and I'm going to say I'm going to I this might be controversial, but like I don't think in film history there is a better, more complete world building within a science fiction frame than Blade Runner. And here we have this amazing collaboration between Ridley Scott and specifically Syd Mead, right?

[00:01:13]>> Yes.

[00:01:14]>> These are some of his earliest concept drawings of the spinner, am I right?

[00:01:17]>> Exactly. And so, we are fortunate enough actually to have these drawings dated.

[00:01:21]>> June 1980.

[00:01:23]Oh, yeah. 63, 64, 66. This is all drawn during a couple of weeks.

[00:01:28]>> As part of our production artwork [music] collection, these are Syd Mead's original design drawings for various vehicles.

[00:01:34]>> It's just an incredible outlay. Like these drawings follow a very specific sort of industrial design format of quick marker sketching.

[00:01:42]Um >> [music] >> you know, this is like part of everybody's education in industrial design school.

[00:01:47]>> [music] >> We've already gone from the sort of broad shapes to a full world building where he's actually describing the packages this car comes with. He's literally writing science fiction to help support the production drawing. All of these effect shots were done in camera with multiple passes burned on the same piece of film, no compositing.

[00:02:06][music] It just looks so fresh.

[00:02:08]>> Yes, it does. And what I loved you talking about [music] the larger trajectory of film history, to my understanding, so many of the technologies they were employing for Blade Runner [music] that they newly developed with Close Encounters. And so just that collaborative spirit, particularly across the visual effects industry, pushing the boundary in the very best way.

[00:02:27]>> Your own sector, in command.

[00:02:31]Blade Runner spinner blueprints.

[00:02:33]>> Yes, indeed. We're fortunate to have, as donated by production designer Lawrence G. Paul, 50 blueprints >> 50?

[00:02:40]>> from Blade Runner with designs by both Paul and then art director David Snyder.

[00:02:45]We have here then the plan and elevations for the spinner.

[00:02:48]>> This is the part that always amazes me is the taking of the the conceptual and building it and making it actual. And I love this, eye bolts or hydraulic linkup for lift-off effect requ as required, see the assistant director. They know they're going to fly this thing at some point, they still haven't figured it out.

[00:03:06]>> Here in the front view, we have the laser weapon system.

[00:03:09]>> Right. Never plays in the film.

[00:03:10]>> So here we have elevations for the interior of Rick Deckard's apartment, played by Harrison Ford.

[00:03:16]>> Oh, so this is wow, each of the wall elevations of his apartment.

[00:03:21]>> As an archivist of graphic arts, it is such a treat to have a holding where we know the illustrator and we know the date produced. [music] There's nothing I love more than a good title block.

[00:03:33]It's [laughter] such a treat.

[00:03:34]>> They didn't need to create a graphical system for the labels on the blueprints, but they did cuz they were world-building and they built out the whole world.

[00:03:49]>> BLADE RUNNER DETAINED.

[00:03:50]>> We have Gladiator here.

[00:03:52]>> have >> This all comes from the collection of Arthur Max, who is a production designer and long-time collaborator with Ridley Scott. So, these are by Sylvaine Despretz and designs for Gentil Yates and the armorer and we just have these incredible design renderings.

[00:04:07]>> I believe Sylvaine also did one of my favorite help There it is.

[00:04:11]>> There it is.

[00:04:12]>> OH, THE TIGRIS OF GAUL HELMET. This is one of my favorite pieces in the whole movie. I noticed these books that sort of walk you through where this this is part of the production familiarizing itself with the Colosseum.

[00:04:24]>> Exactly. This is Arthur Max and the production design team. These are just samplings of these binders and research materials that they gathered detailing everything related to architecture, construction, not only for Rome, but for Germania, all the North African sets.

[00:04:42]When we get into the concept drawings, like for example, this is one drawing by Arthur Max and we have both the original and a photocopy, but I love to share the photocopy because he has annotated it as Ridley's Rome. And you can just see from the beginning that they were preparing for this Rome of outsized imagination, that scale and perception were all going to be dramatized to fit the narrative.

[00:05:06]>> [music] >> Tell me what this room is, first of all.

[00:05:13]Tell me what this room is for.

[00:05:14]>> The library was formed in 1928, [music] the year after the Academy was founded.

[00:05:19]And in addition to our core collection, our special collections comprise manuscripts, photographs, >> [music] >> and here, graphic arts. So, you were kind enough to share with us a list of some of your favorite directors to to show with you the scope of our production art holdings, of which we have We've just topped 175,000 [music] items.

[00:05:39]>> You've chosen a really, really [laughter] amazing spread. I was >> go wrong here.

[00:05:44]>> We're moving on to another iconic and amazing director, Steven Spielberg. This is Close Encounters.

[00:05:56]>> We have two works here from Close Encounters. This was illustrated by George Jensen.

[00:06:00]>> There's so much tactility in this. First of all, the incredible illustration that matches the shot I remember from the film. And then the three pieces here breaking down the different effects, a foreground element, the miniature live action set, a sky effects plate, which they were thinking about doing with front projection. I think yes, front projection plate.

[00:06:19]>> Exactly.

[00:06:20]>> I'm really most surprised by how beautiful the color is here. Their commitment to like these are aliens and was weird.

[00:06:28]>> Exactly. This is another gem that I love [music] cuz we can see then this is George Jensen's overlay, so then prepping for >> Oh, wow. So that's the production plate shot inside a sound stage.

[00:06:40]>> Yes.

[00:06:41]>> And this is the production designer helping the effects team understand the lights. So wow. Oh, that's so cool.

[00:06:49]>> [music] >> I'll be right here.

[00:06:56]>> So up top we have from Carlo Rambaldi drawn and credited as the creator of ET.

[00:07:03]>> Incredible.

[00:07:04]This is such marvelous nightmare fuel. I did not know that in their planning they gave him a skeletal infrastructure. It's just >> Apparently, Spielberg has insisted that ET is a [music] plant.

[00:07:19]>> [laughter] >> But I would posit that I've never known a plant to have a ribcage and a pelvis. So I'm going to take Carlo's side on this.

[00:07:27]>> That is so funny.

[00:07:35]>> Go.

[00:07:36]Move.

[00:07:36]>> And you've got another another creature.

[00:07:38]>> Yes. So Ridley Scott's alien inspired by H.R. Giger. Rambaldi, of course, designed believe the the head the puppetry for the the xenomorph. For Cameron's sequel, he then collaborated with Stan Winston studio. So, this is Stan Winston's design for Aliens, the xenomorph.

[00:07:57]>> Is this a Winston sketch?

[00:07:58]>> It is.

[00:07:59]>> Wow. What a thing to have. I mean, and again, just that like these incredible illustration skills. This is this is painting in the service of this marvelous horror.

[00:08:10]>> [laughter] >> So, moving then into T2.

[00:08:13]>> Hasta la vista, baby.

[00:08:18]>> We have three different iterations.

[00:08:21]These two drawn by John Rosengrant.

[00:08:23]Different stages of >> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:24]>> decay, >> [music] >> decomposition.

[00:08:26]>> No amount of a digital print could make it clear what incredible refinement of a line this. And like everything about the Terminator is visible, right? Like the carriage, the jacket. It's just It's all of a perfect piece.

[00:08:41]>> NO MORE MONKEY BUSINESS. NO.

[00:08:45]NO MORE MONKEY BUSINESS.

[00:08:49]>> SO, these are from 12 Monkeys?

[00:08:51]>> 12 Monkeys, and these are um costume design drawings by Julie Weiss, who just has this incredible stream of consciousness.

[00:08:59]>> Part of this is describing Bruce Willis's first costume in the film where he's wearing a clear suit over some stuff.

[00:09:05]>> Exactly.

[00:09:06]>> Um I actually own that clear suit.

[00:09:08]>> Oh my goodness. [laughter] >> I bought it a few years ago. It's unremarkable. It is vinyl sewn into that shape. But, I bought it because it's always been one of my all-time favorite costumes.

[00:09:20]>> The ephemera he's wearing really sets the tone for what you're going to witness in this movie. A crash of all sorts of different times and styles. I had no idea that a costume designer could turn out things like [music] this as inspiration for the costume team.

[00:09:36]>> To your point, all the ephemeral layers.

[00:09:39]>> Oh, look at this. Yes, wax canvas straight jacket, arms free to flail.

[00:09:43]Megan, it is so thrilling to look at the tip of the iceberg here in these eight drawings. It's just amazing. [music] >> Well, we got plenty more to show you.

[00:09:51]>> Oh, great. Thank you so much.