Austin, TX
How the filmmakers brought 'Dune: Part Two' to life
AUSTIN, Texas — Author Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction classic “Dune” was long considered unfilmable. Much of the narrative unfolds in internal monologue. It’s notoriously complicated and explores religion, politics, ecology and technology.
Cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky attempted a film adaptation in the 1970s. It was canceled because of its inflating budget.
In 1984, David Lynch’s “Dune” was released to negative reviews. It was confusing to audiences, largely because its 132-minute runtime jettisoned pivotal information.
A 2000 miniseries fared a little better. Aired on the Sci-Fi Channel, “Frank Herbert’s Dune” won two Emmy Awards and received some critical praise. Still, it was limited by budget. A sequel miniseries, “Frank Herbert’s Children of Dune,” followed in 2003.
It wasn’t until 2021’s “Dune” that Herbert’s epic was translated to the screen in a way that was satisfying to most of the novel’s fans. At the helm was director Denis Villeneuve, who also co-wrote the screenplay and co-produced.
Villeneuve – who previously directed 2015’s “Sicario,” 2016’s “Arrival” and 2017’s “Blade Runner 2049” – has stated in interviews several times that bringing “Dune” to the big screen has been his dream since childhood.
“Dune: Part Two” released in March 2024 and garnered more praise than the 2021 film, grossing nearly $380 million worldwide against a $190 million budget.
Unreal Engine helps power ‘Dune’
A South by Southwest panel this week, “Dune Two, Real-Time Tech & the Implications for Storytelling,” delved deep into how real-time tools and processes helped to bring the blockbuster sequel to life.
“Dune: Part Two” co-producer Jessica Derhammer joined filmmaker and self-described “frontier technologist” Brian Frager with Epic Games to discuss how the production balanced the practical with pre-visualization to best represent Herbert’s space epic.
According to Derhammer, Villeneuve wanted to “do everything practical and true and stay on site.” That wasn’t completely possible with a film of this magnitude, however. That’s where Unreal Engine came in.
Developed by Epic Games, Unreal Engine, a series of 3D computer graphics game engines, was created for PC first-shooters but has been adopted by other industries, most notably the film industry.
“This was a perfect, perfect situation and perfect software (with which) Deni had created his vision. (Cinematographer) Greig (Fraser) had put his touches on it, and Patrice (Vermette), our designer, had put his touches on it. And then we as a production came in and was like, ‘OK, so what do you need?’ Derhammer said.
Frager explained that the technology allowed the crew to pre-visualize sets and even characters. Drones can even be deployed to scout locations, and that data can be inputted to Unreal.
Unreal tech was combined by Villeneuve with traditional storyboards.
“As far as the creative side, very much there’s storyboards all throughout. That’s Deni’s love language – storyboards. That’s how he gets his vision out,” she said. “And then there were more problematic situations where we then brought in Unreal. Problematic means it’s a desert, we don’t know what we’re doing, or there’s an interior ornithopter that’s being built.”
“They didn’t replace each other, they kind of worked in tandem,” Derhammer explained.
VFX bolsters the practical
“Dune: Part Two” had two principal locations. The vast deserts were captured in Abu Dhabi. Rock formations were mostly shot in Jordan. Sets were constructed on massive stages.
“We all very quickly learned that there’s a lot of prep to do in the desert. We were spending two months total in the desert. We spent about one month in Jordan and one month in Abu Dhabi, but we were prepping it from Budapest,” Derhammer said.
Derhammer said Villeneuve would shoot everything practically if he could, but visual effects were needed. One example is the ornithopter, the preferred flying machine on the planet Arrakis. Unlike a helicopter, the vehicles fly like birds.
“There’s more practical than you would think because we’re in the location. Obviously all the ornithopters are visual effects,” she said. “A lot of the explosions, there are elements later placed in, but even the explosions we did real. We exploded a bunch of stuff in the desert to capture it in the light and then VFX put that into a thing. A lot of the flying stuff that you see, they’re real helicopters in the sky.”
Derhammer said that while technology like Unreal isn’t practical for all filming situations, it’s something she recommends her fellow producers familiarize themselves with.
“I would encourage many people in my position to explore Unreal, to explore other pre-visualization techniques that can help you support your director as much as you can,” she said. “And this was what this was all about – how we can support our director.”
Villeneuve’s dream
Derhammer said that what ultimately drove the enormous production crew and A-list cast was Villeneuve’s enthusiasm and a deep desire to give life to his vision.
“He’s so passionate. When he says, ‘I deeply love that,’ you’re like, ‘OK, we’re moving on.’ You want it for him. You want to see him succeed because this is his childhood dream. He does not hide it; he shows it,” she said.
Villeneuve has stated he’d like to make a third film, an adaptation of Herbert’s first sequel novel, “Dune Messiah.” Derhammer said she wouldn’t change the approach.
“Probably a lot of the same thing. It was a pretty well-oiled machine by the time we were done with it. Maybe a little more prep time would be nice. It honestly ended so well, and I don’t think I would have changed a thing,” she said.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Society Sons of the American Revolution unveiled a new monument at the Texas State Cemetery on Saturday, dedicated to Texas Revolutionary War soldiers.
“We must educate every generation about why it is that America grew from a tenuous 13 colonies into the most powerful country in the history of the world,” said Governor Abbott. “This monument here is an enduring testament to the heroes who fought for the freedom that is unique to America.”
The monument was dedicated to 69 soldiers who fought in the American Revolutionary War and later settled in Texas, according to a press release.
Among those that were honored, Abbott recognized:
- José Santiago Seguín, grandfather of Texas Revolutionary hero Juan Seguín.
- Peter Sides, who fought in the 2nd Battalion of the North Carolina Regiment of the Colonial Army, and was later killed in the 1813 Battle of Medina, fighting for Mexican independence against Spain.
- Antonio Gil Y’Barbo, the founder of Nacogdoches.
- William Sparks, who fought as a mounted rifleman in the American Revolution and later settled in Texas. He had two sons and two grandsons who fought in the Texas Revolution.
“This year marks the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, which not only gave freedom to the British colonies of North America, but inspired movements for freedom and liberty all over the world,” said TSSAR President Mel Oller. “Texans played a role in the war too, and it’s important to recognize them, and the sacrifices they made for our freedom.”
At the monument unveiling, Abbott was also inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution and received its Silver Good Citizenship Medal.
AUSTIN, Texas — Inside a green wooden box mounted to a steel fence, a treasure trove of trinkets awaits. Just a few miles north is another goodie box, this time covered in leopard print and inside a craft studio. Farther east, a simple white trinket box sits mounted on a wooden pole, decorated with stars and a crow saying, “Thanks for visiting!”
These boxes, filled to the brim with stickers, keychains, jewelry, collectibles and more, are known as trinket trade boxes. Austin has seen a sudden surge in these boxes over the last few months, and despite their varying locations, one sentiment ties them all together: trinket trading is a fun way to bring a bit of joy to the community.
“Little things that bring people joy is so important right now, which I think a lot of us can agree with, and I’ve seen all sorts of people use the box so far,” said Anna Arocha, whose trinket box is in The Triangle neighborhood downtown. “Little kids and all the way up to people in their 50s and 60s, I’ve seen stop by.”
Trinket trading operates on a simple system of take something, leave something. People can swap a toy car for a lanyard, a bracelet for a Sonny Angel, or a Pokémon card for a rubber duck.
“There was somebody who was just walking by with their kid in the stroller, and there was a finger puppet inside of the box, and I saw her swap something out and walk away with the little finger puppet,” Arocha said. “And it was just such a cute moment to see a mom and a kid enjoy something like that.”
Arocha put her crafting skills to work and made her green wooden box in just one day using craft wood and a wine crate last month. Amy Elms opted for a small, white junction box to ensure it could withstand harsh Texas weather. Ani’s Day & Night on East Riverside, which has a large outdoor space for picnic tables and food trucks, gave Elms permission to place her trinket box on their property in January.
Ally Chavez used her own property, Create! Studio ATX on West Anderson Lane, for her leopard-print box that opened in March.
“There wasn’t a ton up here in the north area, so we just kind of wanted to put it together and put it up for the studio just as a way to connect with the community in a way that no one has to spend money,” Chavez said.
Since their debuts, all three trinket boxes have garnered thousands of interactions on social media. When Arocha posted about the opening of her box in March, she racked up 100,000 views on TikTok. But with the excited comments came a bit of negative attention, and her cameras caught a thief trying to take all the trinkets. Arocha now locks the box at night.
“If somebody wants to do that, so be it,” Arocha said. “We can start over, and if the joy that it brings outweighs that every time, I think it’s worth doing.”
Arocha, Elms and Chavez’s boxes are now registered on a website called Worldwide Sidewalk Joy, alongside all the others in Austin and across the globe, as trinket trading grows to become a kind of new, modern geocaching.
“Honestly, it’s been I think even better than I expected so far,” Elms said. “I’ve had people… visiting Austin from out of town, and they’re making it a stop during their visit. I’ve also had multiple people reach out to me to ask how they can start their own trinket trade box, too, which I really love.”
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Forbes on Friday released its annual list of ‘New Ivies,’ and the University of Texas at Austin made it. This is not UT’s first time on the list; it was included in 2024 and 2025.
It’s important to note the Forbes designation does not make UT an Ivy League School. Schools currently designated as Ivy League are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University.
Forbes argued its list was created because a growing number of employers have said they are less likely to hire an Ivy League grad today compared to five years ago. The list is curated by surveying over 100 C-Suite and hiring executives, as well as using data from the 2024 National Center for Education Statistics to gauge if a school fulfilled the criteria to be on the list.
One respondent said instead of prestige, employers are looking for graduates who have “complex emotional intelligence, radical adaptability and visionary creativity to orchestrate AI tools rather than compete with them.”
Forbes said colleges had to meet three criteria to be considered, which included:
- Size: Private schools must enroll at least 3,000 students, and public colleges must have at least 4,000 students enrolled.
- Selectivity: All but one private college had an admission rate of less than 15%; public college admission rates were 50% or less.
- Testing Requirements: At least half the entrants must have submitted either the SAT or the ACT scores
Forbes argued testing requirements indicated academic rigor, as a result. Schools such as the University of California and California State schools were not considered.
When it came to UT meeting the requirements for the list, UT had an undergrad enrollment of 44,663 students with a 27% acceptance rate. When it came to test scores, it had a median SAT score of 1390 and a median ACT score of 31.
For a full list of the public and private schools included in the Forbes 2026 New Ivies list, click here.
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