The USC School of Cinematic Arts and Intel call their 3-D flying model of the whale airship from Scott Westerfeld’s YA novel Leviathan “extreme fan-fiction.” But mostly, we call it pretty incredible.

Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev was looking for remote natural wilderness in which to shoot some key scenes in his new film, he says. He also wanted to set it in a small, unremarkable town. Easier ...