Debuting to just over $80 million worldwide this weekend, Alfonso Cuarón‘s space thriller Gravity exceeded expectations and already made most of its budget back. As word of mouth builds over the coming weeks, we expect many will be interested in just how the 90-minute thrill ride was put together. After a look at the 3D and the use of IMAX, a comprehensive featurette has arrived on the use of sound.
Running at just under ten minutes, Cuarón and re-recording mixer Skip Lievsay sit down to discuss how they were able to pull off an elaborate sound design, especially considering how there is no sound in space. They mainly discuss the immersive surround sound aspect (particurly using Dolby Atmos), but there’s a great deal of footage here, so if you haven’t seen the film, I’d hold off until you do.
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson also had a chance to see the film this weekend and took to Twitter to discuss the experience. While he does say he enjoyed the thriller “very much,” he rattled off a few of the “mysteries” (i.e. scientific inaccuracies). Check out all the tweets below, followed by the featurette.
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Zero Gravity"
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
The film #Gravity should be renamed "Angular Momentum"
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
The film #Gravity depicts a scenario of catastrophic satellite destruction that can actually happen.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock, a medical Doctor, is servicing the Hubble Space Telescope.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: How Hubble (350mi up) ISS (230mi up) & a Chinese Space Station are all in sight lines of one another.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: When Clooney releases Bullock's tether, he drifts away. In zero-G a single tug brings them together.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why anyone is impressed with a zero-G film 45 years after being impressed with "2001:A Space Odyssey"
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why Bullock's hair, in otherwise convincing zero-G scenes, did not float freely on her head.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Nearly all satellites orbit Earth west to east yet all satellite debris portrayed orbited east to west
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Satellite communications were disrupted at 230 mi up, but communications satellites orbit 100x higher.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Why we enjoy a SciFi film set in make-believe space more than we enjoy actual people set in real space
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 6, 2013
Mysteries of #Gravity: Astronaut Clooney informs medical doctor Bullock what happens medically during oxygen deprivation.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 7, 2013
My Tweets hardly ever convey opinion. Mostly perspectives on the world. But if you must know, I enjoyed #Gravity very much.
— Neil deGrasse Tyson (@neiltyson) October 7, 2013
Gravity is now in wide release.
What do you make of Tyson’s qualms?