Just when you thought the excellent Starlog magazine did articles on just about every possible element of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it tops itself again and again. In their spinoff magazine, Starlog Spectacular #6 from January 1993, they give a focus to the Fantasty II miniature work on T2. You might say that, well, Fantasy II did get a spotlight already few times in different publications on their work on the film, as well as detailed one in the fantastic Cinefex issue. But this focus is on a different level. This is the most comprehensive overlook on their work bar none, and it's so extensive (12 text PAGES plus two posters!) it covers the subject in the most detailed way possible, with lots of great never before seen photos thrown in. And not just any photos. Those were never ever published before, and they setups for the Future War and Steel Mill scenes and more, including a first ever photo of a miniature T-800 that was on top of the tanker when it tipped. This issue is to Fantasy II's work what SFX Magazine (also under Starlog) did for 4-Ward Productions (HERE). Both are the most detailed articles on the production subject I've ever seen, in any magazine or a book.
It isn't an article really, but an extensive interview with Fantasy II's late Gene Warren Jr, and it does get into a technical side as well which may be a bit hard to understand for someone not in optical printing. But that's just in some areas, and there's plenty here not covered anywhere else, for example, that they started miniature work for the scene in the script that was scrapped where the Ground HK smashes a concrete wall and flattens a car. Or, as another example, they cover things that you would never tell they are special effects, such as dust in a shot where the Terminator on his bike squeezes between the canal wall and the truck. It didn't work for Jim because the shot before and after had dust in it, this one didn't. And for those times, it was extremely complicated. The dust was shot in miniature on black screen and its direction (it had to look like it's coming from under the wheels) was guided with air mortars. Or, as another example, they talk how they (Fantasy II) added glow to the molten steel and the fire to the submerging T-800, which is said to be the hardest effect in the entire film for them. It is also worth of noting that out of all the effects houses, such as ILM, 4-Ward and Stan Winston Studios, Fantasy II had the most shots - 58.
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