Science of the Movies

"Spider-Man" Motion Control Host Nar Williams explores the motion-control technology behind cloning and the famous "Spidey-sense" shot from "Spider-Man"; Nar rides a CG elephant created by the creature special-effects team behind "300"; Nar embarks on a chase scene using wireless camera mounts.

Nar meets the masterminds who created the killer star-nosed mole creature from "City of Ember"; Nar unravels the science behind the IMAX experience; Nar gets versed in the mechanics – and safety – of movie weaponry by a military technical adviser at ISS Props.

Nar constructs a movie camera out of a block of magnesium at world-famous Panavision; Nar learns about the science behind crime-scene blood spatter on Showtime's top series "Dexter"; Nar meets Lola, the leading digital plastic surgeon in Hollywood; an indie filmmaker demonstrates some cheap DIY horror-film effects.

Nar gets scanned and made into an action figure by the digital wizards at Gentle Giant Studios "Iron Man"; Zoic Studios demonstrates how it creates the vampire effects for HBO's "True Blood"; Nar and a karate sensei use science to scrutinize the veracity of Peter Parker's power punch in "Spider-Man".

Nar goes behind the scenes of Sony Pictures Animation's 3-D feature, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs"; a professional snowboarder and a scientist attempt to re-create the avalanche scene from "xXx"; Nar explores camera crane technology as developed by Pursuit Systems.

New Deal Studios shrinks the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum for the "Night at the Museum" sequel; Nar visits Henson Digital Puppetry Studio and interacts with Sid the Science Kid, a cutting edge example of real-time 3-D animation; Nar learns the mechanics behind camera dollies at Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment.