Andy Serkis Omitted from SAG Awards
(smh.com.au) IF THE Screen Actors Guild award nominations are any indication, Hollywood's acting community isn't ready to honour work in the performance-capture format.
Despite a push by Fox Studios for his role as a hyper-intelligent chimp named Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Andy Serkis was omitted from the guild's supporting actor category.
Serkis has been an ad-hoc spokesman for performance capture, or motion capture, a technique in which the actions of human actors are recorded and used to animate digital character models. He appears in performance-capture roles in two films this year - as Caesar and as Captain Haddock in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin, which opens on Boxing Day.
Fox has been running ''for your consideration'' trade advertisements in which an image of Serkis in his motion-capture suit is juxtaposed with the finished shot in Apes, where he has been rendered an ape by artists at Weta Digital. ''The Time is Now,'' the ad says in bold type, with a quote from Time magazine film critic Richard Corliss that reads: ''Serkis gives a performance so nuanced and powerful it may challenge the Academy to give an Oscar to an actor who is never seen in the film.''
The guild nominations both cleared and muddied the Oscars picture in one swoop.
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" Looks For $65M Open
(thecelebritycafe.com) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law, is expected to easily top the box office with as much as $65 million, The Associated Press predicts. However, both Entertainment Weekly and The Hollywood Reporter predict more modest numbers. Both predict between $40 and $54 million. Guy Ritchie’s first Holmes film, released in 2009, opened to the tune of $62.3 million on Christmas weekend. The film hasn’t received as much critical acclaim as the first and cost Warner Bros. $125 million to make.
Game Environments No Longer Need to be Made Out of Polygons
(blog.tekmaster.co.uk) "Euclideon" was formed in May of 2010 in Brisbane Australia. It’s Unlimited Detail method can supposedly show unlimited point cloud data in real time — meaning that game environments would no longer need to be made out of polygons, but could be made out of tiny atoms, dramatically improving the level of detail in a game. The following video, narrated by Euclideon CEO Bruce Robert Dell, describes the process rather well. We’d don’t know much more about this technology at this time. Does this really work as well as it looks like it does? Or is Euclideon putting us all on a bit? We can’t wait to find out.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://blog.tekmaster.co.uk/can-games-look-real-today-computer-graphics-identical-to-real-life-pure-midget-news/
Eureka! The Secrets of Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Joe Letteri Headshot 300x196 Eureka! The secrets of Rise of the Planet of the ApesJoe Letteri is the Senior Visual Effects Supervisor at Peter Jackson’s Weta Digital Studios in Wellington, New Zealand. The CGI big cheese. He’s been working effects magic on movies like Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, The Lord of the Rings and more. Most recently, he was instrumental in bringing digital apes to life in the new-to-Blu-ray Rise of the Planet of the Apes, starring Andy Serkis as Caesar, the ape with souped-up intelligence. Just before the launch, in Weta’s Wellington HQ, Letteri talked exclusively to the Independent about making the movie.
Can you start by telling me how motion capture works?
The idea with motion capture is you want to take what the actor’s doing and record it in three dimensions so you can put it on to a new and unique character and have that character express the same performance, the same emotions.
For the body we have the actor wear a skintight suit and put reflective dots glued all over the suit that we’re then able to record via a number of cameras. By looking at what the dots are doing we get a sense of the movement of the actor’s body and the underlying skeleton. That gives us the performance of the body that we can then use to drive the muscles and the skin and so forth in the animation.
We also want to record the performance of the face, for dialogue and emotions and expressions, and that’s a little trickier to do and so we rely on a small video camera mounted in front of the actor’s face from a helmet. Once you understand what the muscles are doing you can understand the emotion that the actor was making.
ROA 585 300x168 Eureka! The secrets of Rise of the Planet of the ApesSo although humans’ and chimps’ faces are different shapes, the actor’s face is so closely mapped that you know what each movement means?
That’s right. So we all recognise a smile when we see another human do it – we don’t necessarily recognise a smile when we see a chimp do it. In a chimp, sometimes a smile can mean nervousness, sometimes happiness is shown with more of a grimace which might actually look threatening to us. And so we take what the actor is doing and then adjust it so that we can understand that emotion but in the context of the new character. So it’s not a one-to-one mapping of say Andy Serkis’s face to the chimp’s face but it’s a one-to-one mapping of Andy’s emotion.
There’s a bit of science that goes into it, there’s also quite a bit of artistry which in the end just comes down to a gut feeling. You look at it, you look at Andy and you say do I feel the same way, is this the same performance? And if not you go back and refine it. So the technology is a tool to help us achieve that translation, that expression.
Your animation and effects are so sophisticated now. Do you think one day you’ll be able to manage without actors in the equation at all?
People ask that all the time. In fact you can animate without actors, a lot of films do that, look at for example any of the Pixar films. They do fantastic animation without using actors other than from for the voices. But those are meant to be very different kinds of performance, those are meant to be very broad strokes performances, whereas what we are looking for is more of a nuanced performance. Especially interacting with live action actors. We rely on actors to bring that because it’s a different type of drama, it’s more the drama that you get in theatre and live action and that’s what we’re after. That kind of realism.
In Rise of Planet of the Apes you moved to a new kind of motion capture, with Andy Serkis right there in the shot all the time with the other actors. This enhances everyone’s performance. What’s the next stage?
It really depends on the story. It’s hard not to emphasise that. For example the reason it worked so well for us on this one is that we were doing a story about chimps and chimps are roughly the same size as humans so it wasn’t a big stretch to have actors in there working together and allowing us to capture that in that fashion. If the story had been about something else, an eight-foot long creature with tentacles it would have been harder for an actor to fit in in quite that same way.
In the making of this movie, were there any eureka moments, when things wonderfully, unexpectedly fell into place?
Sure, for me the moment when it all really came together was the shot when we see Caesar in his cell. It’s the morning after he’s administered the drug to the other chimps and you can just see in his eyes following the actions of the other chimps waking up and starting to understand now what he’s wrought. You see that turning point where you can tell he’s been defeated and he’s been caged and yet he’s starting to formulate a plan and he knows that he has to take control of the situation and make it his own. You see all that very clearly in one shot. And if you see Andy’s original performance for that you see that very clearly as well. And so the first time we saw Caesar perform that and got that same sense of that emotion and that realism we knew that we had got to the point where that character would work and would be able to deliver all the rest of the moments we needed for the film.
"Attack of the Puppet People" Actress Susan Gordon Dies At 62
(contactmusic.com) Former child star Susan Gordon has died at the age of 62.
The actress, also known as Susan L. Aviner, passed away on Sunday (11Dec11) in New Jersey after a long battle with cancer, according to Variety.
Gordon made her acting debut as a child in 1958 movie Attack of the Puppet People, which was directed by her father Bert I. Gordon.
She went on to land roles in 1959 film The Five Pennies and hit TV show The Twilight Zone, as well as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Gunsmoke and a TV version of Miracle on 34th Street.
In her later career she worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency in Japan before returning to acting to star in a 2002 Off-Broadway production of A Magic Place in a New Time.
CG Chipmunks Look for $20M Open
(thecelebritycafe.com) The third Alvin and the Chipmunks film. Fox is trying to be conservative about its predictions, believing that the film will make around $20 million, less than half of the $48.9 million that the second film made in 2009. The AP and EW are both predicting that it could make as much as $35 million, even though reviews have been horrendous.
Early Jim Henson Cut-Paper Animation Found
(washingtonpost.com) Before there were the Muppets we know and love today, there was Alexander — the little grape who longed to be a watermelon.
The little piece of fruit is the subject of a cut-paper animated short made by the late muppeteer Jim Henson that was recently unearthed by the Jim Henson Company. Alexander, the puniest grape of them all, works hard to become as big as a watermelon so he can defeat his bully. The unfinished cartoon subs in storyboard stills from Henson’s Red Book, his hand-written journal of ideas.
Take a look: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/arts-post/post/early-jim-henson-cut-paper-animation-found/2011/12/14/gIQAONtwtO_blog.html
Real Time Motion Capture & CGI Included In Avatar Extras Download
(pcmag.com) The studio behind the blockbuster Avatar is offering an unprecedented look into digital filmmaking, with downloadable extras that will allow a viewer to watch the motion capture actors or CGI in real time.
Beginning on Dec. 20, customers can now download a total of eight hours of extras via Apple's iTunes from Twentieth Century Fox, which include the three different views of the movie, plus a number of other extras that offer a real-time look into how the movie was made. The Avatar iTunes Extras Special Edition will cost $19.99 for a high-definition version, and $14.99 for the standard version; both include the movie as well as the extras. Apple will begin accepting preorders at 11 AM PT, a Fox spokeswoman said.
Fox's motivation is to encourage consumers to get into "digital collecting" of digital movies, explained Aubrey Freeborn, senior vice president of marketing and product management for PPV, VOD and EST for Twentieth-Century Fox. The extras will be released to the U.S., the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia on Dec. 20. Avatar is the top-selling Blu-ray disc of all time.
"We strive to develop compelling experiences for every screen whether it's on Blu-ray, VOD or digital download," Freeborn said. "As consumers' entertainment choices expand, it is critical that we deliver the right value proposition to enhance digital ownership and drive increased adoption." Avatar's Blu-ray disc allows users to watch either one of three versions: the theatrical version of the film, a version that tracks the motion capture actors, and the "template," or early CGI rendering. Lightstorm Entertainment, the company founded by Avatar director James Cameron, filmed the extra scenes and supplied them to Fox.
Avatar Extras Views
What the new extras add is the ability to either watch one view or all three views simultaneously, covering 120 minutes each. Users can also divide the film into multiple regions, so that the he or she can see the head and shoulders of the CGI Na'vi in the film, and the legs and torso of the actual motion-capped actor who created the scene below.
"This really allows viewers to engage with the film in a whole new way," Freeborn said.
In addition, Fox has added a "green screen X-ray" with never-seen-before footage. A viewer can mouse over a scene as it plays, and the "radar" will "expose" the part of the scene that used green-screen footage. In one scene, for example, mousing over an actor who moved "weightlessly" in space exposed the hoop harness he used. Fox isn't charging extra for the extras, although the download times and capacity may be daunting: 7 gigabytes for the SD version (4.6 Gbytes for the extras) and 12 gigabytes for the high-def version (with 7 Gbytes for the new extra material). The content includes the 2D version of the film.
"Cloud storage over time will make a lot of sense for this, over time," Freeborn said.
Customers who bought the three-disc Avatar collector's edition version of the film were able to view the theatrical, template, or mo-cap versions of the film, Freeborn explained. But the ability to blend and combine the various versions digitally is new, as is the fact that the entire film is now covered.
While the movie itself was considered a landmark for filmmaking (especially for modern 3D technology, which it helped pioneer, plus CGI) the new extras allow the users to gain an unprecedented look behind the scenes, Freeborn said.
Without the enhancements of the CGI, the sets themselves are sparse, with brooms and other props used as guides for the actors. "It gives you a fuller appreciation for what these actors go through," Freeborn said.
Avatar Extras "Green Screen" Radar
Freeborn said that Fox is taking the same approach to extras to other new releases, including dramas and comedies, but acknowledged that the rich diversity of content (a Na'vi-to-English dictionary is included, for instance) lends itself to rich worlds such as the one created by Avatar.
Apple's iTunes is the leader in the digital space, and the "elegant delivery of extras," Freeborn said. "But we're also strongly encouraging other retailers and platforms to enable this type of interface, because that will expand digital overall."
Self-similar Textures in 3D Computer Graphics
(gurneyjourney.blogspot.com) A property of many natural textures is that they retain their geometric character at various levels of magnification.
Thus, a piece of the object is similar to the whole object. For example, in this photograph, a little piece of Romanesco broccoli has the same “spiral-knobby” character as the whole broccoli.
Much more with pics & video: http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com/2011/11/self-similar-textures-in-3d-computer.html
Podcast Interview With 'Tintin' Visual Effects Luminary Now Online on Autodesk AREA
(cadcamnews.in) 'The Adventures of Tintin' Virtual Production and Visual Effects Q&A With Weta Digital’s Joe Letteri Available Exclusively Via Autodesk AREA Online Community Site.
Tuesday night in Los Angeles, Autodesk, Inc., presented a screening of Steven Spielberg’s latest 3D film, “The Adventures of Tintin,” followed by a question and answer (Q&A) session with Joe Letteri, senior visual effects (VFX) supervisor at Weta Digital who discussed the virtual production aspects of the new movie.
A podcast of the Q&A is now available to audiences worldwide on Autodesk Media & Entertainment Vice President Marc Petit’s blog. The blog is part of AREA, the Autodesk Media & Entertainment virtual digital entertainment community. Log in to the Q&A to gain insights into the intricate and complex virtual production, performance capture and visual effects used to help immerse viewers in the wonderful world of Tintin.
Joe Letteri is a four-time Oscar winner — for his groundbreaking visual effects work on James Cameron’s “Avatar;” the last two “The Lord of the Rings” films: “The Two Towers” and “Return of the King;” and “King Kong,” the latter three films with Peter Jackson. He was also nominated for the visual effects of “I, Robot.”
Source: http://www.cadcamnews.in/2011/12/podcast-interview-with-tintin-visual.html
iStopMotion Brings Stop Motion Animation to iOS
(tuaw.com) Boinx Software is one of my favorite Apple development companies. I use their Boinx TV app to produce TUAW TV Live every week, and all of our onsite video from Macworld Expo 2011 went through Boinx TV. Their Fotomagico software has been a slideshow favorite for years, and their You Gotta See This! iOS app does a cool job of creating photo collages on the iPhone. Now the company is moving the powerful iStopMotion Mac app to the iPad, and has created a new iPhone app (iStopCamera) to act as a remote camera for iStopMotion for iPad.
iStopMotion for iPad (US$4.99) is an app that is designed to get younger iPad users into the thrill of making animated movies through the magic of stop motion animation. When the app is launched, a pair of clay figures are animated to show you how to use iStopMotion. The "star" of the tutorial, a little yellow figure with spiky hair, will be named in a user contest coming up shortly. The app itself is available on Thursday, December 15 -- TUAW was given a preview of both iStopMotion for iPad and the companion iStopCamera app.
Full Article & Video: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/12/13/daily-ipad-app-boinx-istopmotion-brings-stop-motion-animation-t/
Does Mission: Impossible Prove IMAX Is The Future Of Moviegoing?
(cinemablend.com) For years we've been promised that 3D, the clunky, expensive method of jazzing up images that are usually pretty impressive on their own, was the future of moviegoing. Movie theaters have been suffering declining audiences since the invention of television, but lately things seemed to be getting much worse, with a million other things competing for the attention of people just looking for something to do on a Friday night. For a while, or at least when Avatar came out, 3D seemed like a win for everybody-- moviegoers got to see something spectacular, exhibitors and filmmakers made more money from premium tickets.
As we all know, that hasn't lasted-- 3D has been used badly more often than not, and at a certain point the novelty wears off, leaving you wearing glasses to see something that would probably look great anyway. Studios have clung to 3D as a liferaft of cash in an era of declining audiences, but this week a new contender might have presented itself as the future of moves-- a contender that's more than 40 years old.
If you see even a frame of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol on the largest screen possible, you'll know what I mean-- and if you see it on IMAX, you might be too busy scraping yourself up off the floor to read this. The new film from Pixar veteran Brad Bird, which opens today on IMAX screens and everywhere next Wednesday, is the most spectacular narrative use of the large-screen format maybe ever, and has a power to thrill audiences that comes directly from its enormous screen. The movie isn't shot entirely in IMAX-- we're a long way off from that being a reality thanks to the clunky cameras-- but it switches seamlessly from 35 mm to the IMAX 70 mm for the sake of giant action sequences, and every single one of them pays off. The already famous scene in which Tom Cruise scales Dubai's Burj Khalifa is the pinnacle of the IMAX grandeur, but there's more where that came from, all of them adding up to a moviegoing experience that'd be absolutely impossible to recreate at home.
That's the holy grail that studios and exhibitors have been searching for, and though they may not yet be admitting that 3D isn't it, the very existence of 3D TVs proves it's no longer a "see it exclusively at the movies" kind of experience. But I'm not aware of any TVs claiming to be IMAX, and even if they were they couldn't match the experience of, say, the IMAX theater at Lincoln Square in New York, where I saw Ghost Protocol. A middle seat in that theater, which may be the very best in New York, perches you in the middle of the 8-story screen; when the camera flies over the top of the Burj Khalifa tower, you may instinctively grab the bottom of your seat to keep from pitching into the empty sky. Try getting that effect while wearing 3D glasses.
Obviously not every movie is going to be made in IMAX, and few filmmakers are likely to match the vertiginous effects that Brad Bird accomplished (and in his first live-action film!) But Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol is the first non-3D movie in a long, long time that I absolutely insist everyone I know needs to see, on the biggest screen possible (and preferably not on those bullshit fake IMAX screen that practically ruin my argument). IMAX has been around for so long that it's not hard to imagine it outliving the 3D trend, and if anyone puts as much thought and effort into the format as Bird, or Christopher Nolan with The Dark Knight, we might really be able to preserve the age-old tradition of going to the movies to see something spectacular that absolutely cannot be replicated at home.
Motion Capture Kool-Aid For The Uncanny Valley
.(ology.com) As I sat in a conference room on the thirty-somethingth floor of New York's Mandarin Oriental Hotel with Central Park splayed out beneath me, a persistent question plagued my mind.
What the hell is Steven Spielberg talking about?
We had gathered on that crisp December day for the Adventures of Tintin press conference. Before us sat producer Kathleen Kennedy, visual effects artist Joe Letteri, actors Jamie Bell and Nick Frost, and Spielberg himself. To be in the presence of greatness was extremely humbling, until greatness started talking. Almost immediately, Spielberg was asked (essentially) just why the hell he made a movie using that dreaded motion capture technology.
Well, we didn’t even try to avoid [ the uncanny valley] because it wasn’t an issue for any of us. I don’t think that all animation needs to be squashed and stretched. Animation has a thousand defining fathers and this just happens to be the right medium for the proper message. In order to honor the artwork, I didn’t want to shoot a live action movie and have Jamie come in with a big red coiffe and extraordinarily strange clothing, and have to get Andy Serkis to wear a prosthetic nose, chin and ears. Everybody else would have had to have the Dick Tracy, NeverEnding Story, Baron Von Munchausen-type makeup if I really wanted to honor Hergé. The only way to tell the story and still honor the origins of Tintin was to do the whole picture in the medium of digital animation and the pursuit of that, which we call performance capture techniques.
Hold up. I can understand not wanting to bury everyone in makeup, but what on Earth is wrong with traditional 2D animation? Isn't that the perfect method for bringing Hergé's characters to life?
Hell, why not go the Pixar route? You could even release it in 3D and all! I just don't see a single benefit of using performance capture for human characters. Sure, it works great with apes and goblins and such, but people are a whole different ball game. It will never not look weird to me.
We couldn’t have made this movie at all without Joe’s team at Weta Digital. They had just come off of Avatar, where they had taken motion capture animation to its highest form of success and artistic achievement that had ever been achieved, ever since Robert Zemeckis, the Thomas Edison of this art form, invented motion capture to make Polar Express.
Excuse me? Calling Bob Zemeckis the Thomas Edison of motion capture is like calling Arthur Galston the Nikola Tesla of Agent Orange. In the words of Dr. Stanley Goodspeed, "It's one of those things we wish we could disinvent." Poor Zemeckis, that wonderful man who gave us Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, he hasn't made a real movie since 2000's Cast Away. It's like he's determined to make mocap work, come hell or high water. I still have nightmares of the dead-eyed tykes who populate The Polar Express.
Spielberg went on to describe the look he was going for as "impossibly inhuman and yet human like," before admitting that he was so moved by Avatar that he shed actual physical tears. I guess that settles it. Someone get Steven another pitcher of mocap kool-aid. He's parched.
Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol Looking For $10M IMAX-Only Open
(thecelebritycafe.com) Tom Cruise’s fourth Mission: Impossible film, which is also the live-action directorial debut for The Incredibles director Brad Bird, only opens in 300 IMAX theaters across the country and 125 large format screens. It could make $10 million, enough to put it in third place. In 42 of those locations, Batman fans can see the Dark Knight Rises prologue before the film.
Death of Beloved Hungarian Puppeteer Cruelly Overshadowed by Death of More Beloved Czech Cartoonist
(pestiside.hu) In other current events involving Hungary and its regional frenemies, the death of a famous and beloved Hungarian puppeteer yesterday was cruelly overshadowed by the passing on the same day of a far more famous and beloved Czech cartoonist.
Henrik Kemény, who continued the century-plus tradition of his family by designing and carving marionettes for small audiences of restless Hungarian children at traveling puppet shows, died at the age of 87 within hours of the death of Zdeněk Miler, the 90-year-old creator of the cartoon character loved by generations of Hungarians of all ages as "Kisvakond," or "little mole," and millions more around the world, and even beyond, as a stuffed "Krtek" was brought along by an American astronaut on the second to last U.S. space shuttle fight apparently on the urging of his no-doubt-blonde Czech-American wife. Oh, and isn't Prague just soooo much more lovely than Budapest? Grrrr!
-H The monster was the best friend I ever had. -Boris Karloff
Friday, December 16, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Worth a mention - 12/15/11
Digital Domain Joint Venture to Build Visual Effects Studio in China
(tcpalm.com) Digital Domain Media Group has announced a joint venture with Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co., LTD with plans to build a visual effects studio in China.
Digital Domain will provide technology and expertise in running a visual effects operation as well as design the facility and train personnel, while Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. will provide the land and build the facility, according to a company news release.
The new partnership will have a different focus than the original content animation studio in Port St. Lucie, though the two could work in concert on various projects and be a step closer to the idea of 24-hour filmmaking, Digital Domain Chief Executive Officer John Textor said Wednesday.
Textor said the company still is committed to North American filmmaking. The goal of this joint venture is to expand into the Chinese market, which has seen increased demand for high-end, American-driven film productions.
"Their economy is exploding," Textor said. "Their box office grew 60 percent last year, something like that."
The agreement is a culmination of several trips to China with many members of the management team, he said. Representatives with Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. also came to Port St. Lucie.
"This was a real personal connection," Textor said.
He did not have an estimate as to when the new facility will be up and running, given items such as land acquisition still must be addressed. "It's a long time off."
Digital Domain is building a $40 million, 120,000-square-foot animation studio on 19 acres in Tradition. In 2009, the company received cash grants totaling about $70 million from Port St. Lucie and Florida in exchange for agreeing to hire up to 500 employees with an average salary of $65,000 by 2014.
According to the news release, the Chinese facility is expected to be comparable in scale to the Port St. Lucie facility.
The company's Tradition Studios' first feature animation film, "The Legend of Tembo," is slated to be released in the fall of 2014.
The company also announced it received a license from the Florida Department of Education for its West Palm Beach-based Digital Domain Institute, which is a collaboration with Florida State University.
Can Peter Jackson's Weta Studios Allow Anyone to Play a Gorilla?
(independent.co.uk) In the breezy but temperate streets of Wellington, New Zealand, between one anonymous warehouse and another, sits a piece of Hollywood. Weta Digital, the special-effects house created by Sir Peter Jackson, has its headquarters in a sumptuous but understated mansion with spacious rooms and an elegant terrace. There's also a stunningly equipped screening room with flickering starlit sky above and super-comfy seats.
Weta was set up in 1993 and is responsible for the special effects on movies from Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong as well as the recent Adventures of Tintin and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It's earned them five Oscars, most recently for Best Visual Effects on James Cameron's Avatar.
In one of the rooms, I'm talking to Andy Serkis, supremely relaxed and affable, leaning comfortably into a voluminous leather sofa. Serkis rose to Hollywood prominence for his digitally enhanced performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, a role he's reprising now in The Hobbit movies, filming now in New Zealand.
Right now, industry gossip is turning to next year's Oscar nominees and a campaign is under way on Twitter and elsewhere to get Andy Serkis nominated for his performance in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He played Caesar, an ape with artificially enhanced intelligence, a central character in the movie. It's an arresting, detailed, utterly convincing performance. If the nomination happens, it will be a first for a motion-captured role.
Mocap, as it's abbreviated, is that process where an actor is poured into a form-fitting suit with tiny white balls attached and has his every movement digitally captured. Usually this is filmed separately to the main action, in a special studio called the Volume. However, Rise of the Planet of the Apes broke new ground by shooting mocap action outdoors, and with Serkis on location with the other actors, instead of being added in post-production.
Before speaking to Serkis, I tried on a mocap suit myself. My body was scanned as I performed basic movements and then my actions were recorded in the Weta Digital volume. It's a big, brightly-lit room with banks of desks creaking under the weight of computers, a carefully marked floor and scores of special cameras on the walls to register the mocap balls which were Velcroed to my every joint.
The new techniques used on Rise of the Planet of the Apes mean there's much more interaction between the actors than previously, as Serkis explains. He differentiates between motion capture and the latest techniques, called performance capture.
"At first with Gollum it wasn't even performance capture, it was motion capture and then the facial performance was shot on 35mm film. Then the animators rotoscoped – basically painted frame by frame over my expressions, matchframing every facial expression I made.
"The main difference now is this. I still filmed Gollum on location, I was in every single location and with the actors on real sets but the performance capture then had to be created months down the line in the Volume separately. So my performance was filmed on 35mm as Gollum. Then I repeated some of it for the motion capture. But with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, there's no disconnect. You're filming the live action actors and you're filming the performance captured performances in one hit. So it's all absolutely in the moment, everything happens on location, all in one beat and then we never have to go back and reshoot. And the same with Gollum this time."
The effects are so sophisticated and realistic now – there's not a real ape in the entire movie – does he think Hollywood will one day be able to manage without actors?
"That's entirely nonsense. Who is going to provide the emotional content to those scenes, who's going to drive that digital puppet if it's not an actor? Performance capture lends itself to live-action film-making.
"You can always tell the difference if you see a computer-generated character in a live action movie because it never has the right weight, it never feels its connected to the environment, there's never any messiness about it, it's too perfect."
So should a performance capture role be nominated for an Oscar? Serkis is too modest to suggest his own candidacy, but says: "For me as an actor there isn't any difference between playing a performance capture role or a live action role. I don't approach them any differently.
"For anyone who has been through the process of doing performance capture, it's just no more than acting. If I was wearing prosthetic make-up you wouldn't even be asking this. There are different ways of approaching performance capture but it's just digital make-up, basically."
"I tried to convince myself and the actors that I was an ape. It's a complicated and intense process, involving a curious square-hipped walk, rolling shoulders and heavy leaning on crutch-like extensions to replicate ape dimensions. I did it for less than 15 minutes and was exhausted."
"When [director] Rupert Wyatt cuts the movie he's just editing for all the emotional content, for the pace of the scene, the drama. It doesn't really matter what the make-up's like, is the emotional content there?"
Dressed in a grey tight-fitting suit, Serkis's face is covered with 51 dots for the mocap camera. "Head-mounted cameras are used to capture the face. So now you can go anywhere without worrying about occluding the cameras. You can get into all sorts of positions that the previous system didn't allow. So you have a lot more freedom to move."
"Caesar is based on a chimp called Oliver from the 1970s who walked upright. His expressions were almost human. And he'd sit down in a chair, pick up a glass and drink, have a cigar. He was believed to be progeny of man and ape, and when they discovered he wasn't, he was thrown into a sanctuary. They found him 30 years later, screwed up and broken."
"You don't actually get to see the visual effects until months down the line when they all start to come in and the visual effects shots begin to replace the actual thing, well after the final edit. And the animators can calibrate the character on the computer: you can dial the curvature of the spine, so you'll notice by the end of the movie Caesar's absolutely upright. He's more human in his movements."
ILM's Mike Jutan - TED Talk: The Power of Enthusiasm
(youtube.com) At age 10, Mike Jutan envisioned his future at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas's groundbreaking visual effects film studio. His passion for computer graphics led him to earn his B.Math (Honours Computer Science Co-Op) degree at the University of Waterloo. He now lives his childhood dream every single day as a Research & Development Engineer at ILM in San Francisco, California. Mike is always busy planning his next adventure, to explore the globe and to make a difference to the world around him. Using his mentoring skills and extremely contagious enthusiasm, he is determined to share his joie de vivre with the world and inspire the next generation through a blend of art and science.
Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I5J4P0XaPA
Next "Tintin" To Be "The Calculus Affair"?
(darkhorizons.com) Herge penned just twenty four Tintin stories, and Steven Spielberg's new CG animated "The Adventures of Tintin" makes use of parts of three of them.
With sequel plans already in development thanks to strong reviews and even stronger international box-office, it seems one thing we expected looks to have already changed - which books will be adapted.
Over a year ago Peter Jackson, who is helming the second film, said that the plan was to adapt "The Seven Crystal Balls"/"Prisoners of the Sun" two-parter as the basis of the film. A few months ago however he indicated his desire had changed but he hadn't made a decision yet. Even so it was thought 'Prisoners' could end up being the theoretical third film.
Now producer Kathleen Kennedy tells The Playlist that that particular story is out altogether - "'Prisoners of the Sun' was a very, very early discussion, and it isn't under discussion anymore. We've still got Anthony Horowitz working on the second movie, and we don't know what we're doing with the third movie yet."
The stories used in the first movie were employed because they introduced Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and their interpersonal relationship. So now Kennedy says "what we're thinking [for the second film] is what new characters do we want to introduce? Well, we'll probably introduce Calculus and bring him into the fold."
Professor Cuthbert Calculus was introduced in "Red Rackham's Treasure", a book unlikely to be adapted as the ending of it makes up the last few minutes of the recent film. The absent-minded inventive genius however figured in numerous other stories where he would often drive Haddock to angry outbursts.
One such story is also one of Jackson's personal favourites - "The Calculus Affair", a kidnap thriller meets East European espionage story which has Tintin and Haddock racing across Europe to rescue him. Asked if that would be the basis, Kennedy says "We haven't decided yet, but that's the direction we're headed."
Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit
Most television and film companies incorporate some sort of computer animation or special effects technology within their productions. Keeping up-to-date on these software programs and hardware that can run them can be costly and take financial resources away from required wage expenses.
The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) is offering a tax incentive program to help Ontario production companies with wages related to computer animation and special effects, allowing your company to free financial resources to keep your special effects cutting edge. The program is known as the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects (OCASE) Tax Credit and can cover 20% of eligible Ontario labour expenses related to your special effects and animation activities. The program can also be stacked with the previously mentioned Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC).
Eligibility Factors for this Ontario Tax Credit
Corporations eligible for the OCASE Tax Credit can be either Canadian or foreign-owned, but need to have a permanent establishment within Ontario that files Ontario corporate taxes. The company can be an animation or visual effects house, post-production house, and/or film and television production company.
Eligible activities include:
* Designing
* Modelling
* Rendering
* Lighting
* Painting
* Animating
* Compositing
Activities that are not eligible under the OCASE tax incentive are audio effects, in-camera effects, credit rolls, subtitles, animation or visual effects used in promotional materials, or activities that are scientific research and experimental development.
Ontario Tax Incentive Amount
The OCASE covers 20% of eligible labour costs with no maximum amount. Eligible labour costs carried out in Ontario are split up into the following:
* Salaries and wages (i.e., amounts paid to employees) directly attributable to eligible activities carried on by the qualifying corporation, that are paid to Ontario residents (individuals resident in Ontario at the end of the previous calendar year) who report to a permanent establishment of the qualifying corporation in Ontario at which the eligible activities are carried out;
* 50% of remuneration paid to freelancers who are individuals or partnerships for qualifying expenditures incurred before March 27, 2009; and
* 100% of remuneration paid to freelancers who are individuals, partnerships, or arm’s-length incorporated individuals (such as personal services corporations), for qualifying expenditures incurred after March 26, 2009.
Apply for the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit
Interested parties should review the downloadable OCASE Tax Credit Guidelines. If you are in compliance with all outlined eligibility requirements, feel free to continue to the OMDC Online Application Portal or contact Mentor Works
Can Pixar Continue its Golden Globes Winning Streak with 'Cars 2'?
(latimesblogs.latimes.com) "Arthur Christmas," "Cars 2," "Puss in Boots," "Rango" and "The Adventures of Tintin" are the Golden Globe nominees for best animated feature
Every year since the Golden Globes added an animated feature film category in 2007, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has picked a Pixar movie for the prize. Will the streak continue in 2012 with "Cars 2?"
The sequel is going up against "Arthur Christmas," "Puss in Boots," "Rango" and "The Adventures of Tintin." The original "Cars" won the Golden Globe back in 2007.
This time, the race is more wide open, and reflects the emergence of live-action filmmakers in the genre, including Steven Spielberg ("Tintin"), Gore Verbinski ("Rango") and Guillermo del Toro (executive producer, "Puss in Boots"), as well as a diversity of studios.
If "Cars 2" director John Lasseter is sweating it, he wasn't showing it Thursday morning. "I'm really excited that the animation industry is so healthy," said Lasseter, chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, in a phone call from his home in Glen Ellen, Calif. "People ask me about competition. I'm so glad that so many great films are being made by lots of different studios."
Notable animated films excluded from the list include the critical and commercial successes "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Rio."
Sarah Smith, director of "Arthur Christmas," reacted to news of her film's nomination while pushing a baby carriage down a London street.
"I'm absolutely delighted on behalf of all the people who made it," said Smith, whose movie was a joint production of the Britain-based Aardman Animations and Culver City-based Sony Pictures Animation. "We had Europeans and Russians, as well as the team from Sony in the States. When they came to Bristol, we made everybody drink tea and warm beer. ... When we came to the States, they introduced us to more civilized forms of entertainment."
A Great Look at Practical Effects Created For ‘The Thing’
(slashfilm.com) When The Thing was released earlier this year, there were some viewers who weren’t thrilled with the degree to which CGI was used to bring the movie’s alien creature to life. John Carpenter’s 1982 movie of the same name, for which this year’s film is a prequel, is a landmark in the use of practical effects. Early in the development of the ’11 movie, we’d heard that it would feature a good mix of practical and CGI effects work. The final release edit countered that assertion; at the very least, it seemed to have a lot of CGI painted over the practical effects.
Now a video posted by Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., the company that did the film’s practical effects, shows a lot of the unvarnished work done for the movie. It looks great, and features a good look at what may be the alien’s ‘original’ form — or at least the form that landed on Earth. Check it out below.
Slight spoilers for The Thing follow, but this video has such great stuff that I’d say check it out anyway. Not like there’s any doubt that almost everyone in The Thing dies, anyway.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.slashfilm.com/votd-great-practical-effects-created-the-thing/
Oscar Hopefuls’ Campaign Strategies
(nytimes.com) Q. What’s the difference between the regular movie-promotion circuit and the awards circuit?
GORE VERBINSKI The likely front-runner in the Oscar animation race, “Rango,” the story of a chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) is full of film references and adult jokes. It was a joint first venture into feature-length animation, for Mr. Verbinski and the effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic. They began the process by holing up in a house in Pasadena, Calif., drafting the characters and the story line. Mr. Verbinski said a nomination for “Rango” would be equal to one for a live-action movie; he doesn’t judge animation differently. “It’s just a technique for telling a story,” he said.
Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/movies/awardsseason/possible-nominees-look-toward-oscars.html
New 3D Technology Projects Images Onto Thin Air
(wireframe.com) Remember watching the holographic Princess Leia in Star Wars with wonder struck eyes. 3D holograms were something that sparked popular curiosity back in the 1970s. And ever since then, researchers and scientists have been trying to create similar 3D holograms in their labs all over the planet. However, Japanese company Burton has cracked the mystery code to project real 3D images in mid-air without using any kind of screen.
Burton has been working hard on its Aerial 3D technology for the past five years and uses a unique technology that excites the air where the holographic images are projected. The 3D images are created by high-powered lasers, which ionize the atoms of oyxgen and nitrogen in the air, creating plasma and a colored light emission. When these lasers move rapidly, they create a 3D image in mid-air. Currently it can create 50,000 points of light per second, which gives it a frame rate of 10-15 fps. Efforts are on at Burton to improve that to 24-30 fps, which will make it comparable to basic video. And the next thing you know is a 3D image that is almost as good as the Princess Leia hologram from your favorite Star Wars episode.
And who knows, it just might become a reality that you can watch whole movies with 3D holographic images in the luxury of your living room. What’s more, it can pave the way for future holographic teleconferences, entertainment, 3D advertisements, and telemedicine. May the Force be with you.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.wwwireframe.com/drool/tech-toys/new-3d-technology-projects-images-onto-thin-air.html
Digital Domain Media Group Announces 3D Conversion Technology Licensing Program
(reuters.com) Digital Domain Media Group (NYSE: DDMG), a leading digital production company focused on visual effects, original content animation and major studio co-productions, today announced its 3D conversion technology licensing program. Digital Domain Media Group's wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Domain Stereo Group ("DDSG"), formerly In-Three, owns the six U.S. patents that represent the original commercially feasible computerized process for converting 2-dimensional filmed imagery into 3-dimensional stereoscopic imagery. These patents, developed by In Three, relate to methods for employing basic visual effects tools and processes in the performance of 3D conversions and the subsequent distribution of the converted images. The DDSG patents provide fundamental coverage of any modern conversion process that involves rotoscoping (i.e., computerized, semi-automatic and semi-automatic conversion with roto), and relate to any conversion process that includes horizontal image displacement / transform.
DDMG is now embarking on a program to license these patents to the various media and entertainment industry companies that may benefit from access to the technology embodied in DDMG's patents. The company has not previously offered access to these patents to the media and entertainment industry through a comprehensive licensing program. However, given the growth of the 3D market in theaters, home entertainment and other platforms, DDMG has elected to make its patent portfolio available now to select companies the broader industry through a studio-friendly program.
The first such agreement was recently signed with the South Korean consumer electronics company Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. This agreement provides a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for Samsung to use DDMG's patented technology for 3D conversion for a term that ends with the expiration of the last licensed patent. The agreement allows Samsung to use the licensed technology in any kind of consumer electronics, components, services and software of Samsung and its affiliates. However, Samsung has no right to sublicense the technology and cannot transfer its rights to a third party without the approval of DDMG. In addition, Samsung agrees to notify DDMG of any suspected infringement of these patents and to cooperate with DDMG in prosecuting such infringement.
DDMG will continue to offer 3D stereoscopic conversion services to film studios through its DDSG subsidiary, and will include select competing 3D conversion companies in this licensing program. DDMG's focus will be to actively negotiate licenses with its competitors while allowing them to continue to provide 3D conversion services to their studio customers so as not to disrupt current 3D conversion projects. Where negotiations are unsuccessful, DDMG will seek to enforce its patent rights, as is the case with DDMG's patent infringement lawsuit against Prime Focus North America, Inc. and Prime Focus VFX USA, Inc.
Irish Animation Company Kavaleer to Create 30 New Jobs
(siliconrepublic.com) Irish animation company Kavaleer will create 30 new animation jobs over the course of 2012 and it celebrated its tenth anniversary.
“It’s amazing to think that what started out in 1998 as a hobby has developed into something this big over the past decade,” said Kavaleer’s CEO and founder Andrew Kavanagh.
“Ten years ago, we got our first commission and took a risk by starting a business in the midst of a recession. I’m so glad we did because now this gets to be my day job.
“We’re delighted to announce that we will be taking on additional staff in 2012 as we work on exciting international projects,” he said.
The animation production company has been twice nominated for an IFTA, a British Animation Award and has won four Digital Media Awards. It has worked with Sesame Street, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Disney and its productions have been selected by over 100 international festivals over the past ten years.
It first co-produced a pre-school series called Lifeboat Luke with Straandlooper Productions set in the fictional seaside community of Donaghadoo. It then launched its own series called Garth and Bev on RTE Junior, which has since been sold to the UK, China, Portugal, America and Australia. Its most recent collaboration was with Dinamo Productions on a new series called Abadas.
Along with a co-production of a pre-school series, the company intends to extend its interactive games and e-learning production to a €1m turnover by April 2012.
11 Actors Who’ve Debased Themselves Alongside CGI Co-Stars
(pajiba.com) A list like this needs very little introduction, particularly in this venue where kiddie flicks are generally viewed as, well, total dog crap. Yes, there are a few exceptions to that rule, but we’re not here to talk about those lofty examples. Instead, I’m referring to those children’s CGI-action movies that feature sellout actors, who usually try to justify their behavior by saying they only wanted to be in a movie that their kids could watch. Even though they really did it for the money.
Take a look: http://www.pajiba.com/seriously_random_lists/11-actors-whove-debased-themselves-alongside-cgi-costars.php
(tcpalm.com) Digital Domain Media Group has announced a joint venture with Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co., LTD with plans to build a visual effects studio in China.
Digital Domain will provide technology and expertise in running a visual effects operation as well as design the facility and train personnel, while Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. will provide the land and build the facility, according to a company news release.
The new partnership will have a different focus than the original content animation studio in Port St. Lucie, though the two could work in concert on various projects and be a step closer to the idea of 24-hour filmmaking, Digital Domain Chief Executive Officer John Textor said Wednesday.
Textor said the company still is committed to North American filmmaking. The goal of this joint venture is to expand into the Chinese market, which has seen increased demand for high-end, American-driven film productions.
"Their economy is exploding," Textor said. "Their box office grew 60 percent last year, something like that."
The agreement is a culmination of several trips to China with many members of the management team, he said. Representatives with Beijing Galloping Horse Film Co. also came to Port St. Lucie.
"This was a real personal connection," Textor said.
He did not have an estimate as to when the new facility will be up and running, given items such as land acquisition still must be addressed. "It's a long time off."
Digital Domain is building a $40 million, 120,000-square-foot animation studio on 19 acres in Tradition. In 2009, the company received cash grants totaling about $70 million from Port St. Lucie and Florida in exchange for agreeing to hire up to 500 employees with an average salary of $65,000 by 2014.
According to the news release, the Chinese facility is expected to be comparable in scale to the Port St. Lucie facility.
The company's Tradition Studios' first feature animation film, "The Legend of Tembo," is slated to be released in the fall of 2014.
The company also announced it received a license from the Florida Department of Education for its West Palm Beach-based Digital Domain Institute, which is a collaboration with Florida State University.
Can Peter Jackson's Weta Studios Allow Anyone to Play a Gorilla?
(independent.co.uk) In the breezy but temperate streets of Wellington, New Zealand, between one anonymous warehouse and another, sits a piece of Hollywood. Weta Digital, the special-effects house created by Sir Peter Jackson, has its headquarters in a sumptuous but understated mansion with spacious rooms and an elegant terrace. There's also a stunningly equipped screening room with flickering starlit sky above and super-comfy seats.
Weta was set up in 1993 and is responsible for the special effects on movies from Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong as well as the recent Adventures of Tintin and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. It's earned them five Oscars, most recently for Best Visual Effects on James Cameron's Avatar.
In one of the rooms, I'm talking to Andy Serkis, supremely relaxed and affable, leaning comfortably into a voluminous leather sofa. Serkis rose to Hollywood prominence for his digitally enhanced performance as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, a role he's reprising now in The Hobbit movies, filming now in New Zealand.
Right now, industry gossip is turning to next year's Oscar nominees and a campaign is under way on Twitter and elsewhere to get Andy Serkis nominated for his performance in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He played Caesar, an ape with artificially enhanced intelligence, a central character in the movie. It's an arresting, detailed, utterly convincing performance. If the nomination happens, it will be a first for a motion-captured role.
Mocap, as it's abbreviated, is that process where an actor is poured into a form-fitting suit with tiny white balls attached and has his every movement digitally captured. Usually this is filmed separately to the main action, in a special studio called the Volume. However, Rise of the Planet of the Apes broke new ground by shooting mocap action outdoors, and with Serkis on location with the other actors, instead of being added in post-production.
Before speaking to Serkis, I tried on a mocap suit myself. My body was scanned as I performed basic movements and then my actions were recorded in the Weta Digital volume. It's a big, brightly-lit room with banks of desks creaking under the weight of computers, a carefully marked floor and scores of special cameras on the walls to register the mocap balls which were Velcroed to my every joint.
The new techniques used on Rise of the Planet of the Apes mean there's much more interaction between the actors than previously, as Serkis explains. He differentiates between motion capture and the latest techniques, called performance capture.
"At first with Gollum it wasn't even performance capture, it was motion capture and then the facial performance was shot on 35mm film. Then the animators rotoscoped – basically painted frame by frame over my expressions, matchframing every facial expression I made.
"The main difference now is this. I still filmed Gollum on location, I was in every single location and with the actors on real sets but the performance capture then had to be created months down the line in the Volume separately. So my performance was filmed on 35mm as Gollum. Then I repeated some of it for the motion capture. But with Rise of the Planet of the Apes, there's no disconnect. You're filming the live action actors and you're filming the performance captured performances in one hit. So it's all absolutely in the moment, everything happens on location, all in one beat and then we never have to go back and reshoot. And the same with Gollum this time."
The effects are so sophisticated and realistic now – there's not a real ape in the entire movie – does he think Hollywood will one day be able to manage without actors?
"That's entirely nonsense. Who is going to provide the emotional content to those scenes, who's going to drive that digital puppet if it's not an actor? Performance capture lends itself to live-action film-making.
"You can always tell the difference if you see a computer-generated character in a live action movie because it never has the right weight, it never feels its connected to the environment, there's never any messiness about it, it's too perfect."
So should a performance capture role be nominated for an Oscar? Serkis is too modest to suggest his own candidacy, but says: "For me as an actor there isn't any difference between playing a performance capture role or a live action role. I don't approach them any differently.
"For anyone who has been through the process of doing performance capture, it's just no more than acting. If I was wearing prosthetic make-up you wouldn't even be asking this. There are different ways of approaching performance capture but it's just digital make-up, basically."
"I tried to convince myself and the actors that I was an ape. It's a complicated and intense process, involving a curious square-hipped walk, rolling shoulders and heavy leaning on crutch-like extensions to replicate ape dimensions. I did it for less than 15 minutes and was exhausted."
"When [director] Rupert Wyatt cuts the movie he's just editing for all the emotional content, for the pace of the scene, the drama. It doesn't really matter what the make-up's like, is the emotional content there?"
Dressed in a grey tight-fitting suit, Serkis's face is covered with 51 dots for the mocap camera. "Head-mounted cameras are used to capture the face. So now you can go anywhere without worrying about occluding the cameras. You can get into all sorts of positions that the previous system didn't allow. So you have a lot more freedom to move."
"Caesar is based on a chimp called Oliver from the 1970s who walked upright. His expressions were almost human. And he'd sit down in a chair, pick up a glass and drink, have a cigar. He was believed to be progeny of man and ape, and when they discovered he wasn't, he was thrown into a sanctuary. They found him 30 years later, screwed up and broken."
"You don't actually get to see the visual effects until months down the line when they all start to come in and the visual effects shots begin to replace the actual thing, well after the final edit. And the animators can calibrate the character on the computer: you can dial the curvature of the spine, so you'll notice by the end of the movie Caesar's absolutely upright. He's more human in his movements."
ILM's Mike Jutan - TED Talk: The Power of Enthusiasm
(youtube.com) At age 10, Mike Jutan envisioned his future at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), George Lucas's groundbreaking visual effects film studio. His passion for computer graphics led him to earn his B.Math (Honours Computer Science Co-Op) degree at the University of Waterloo. He now lives his childhood dream every single day as a Research & Development Engineer at ILM in San Francisco, California. Mike is always busy planning his next adventure, to explore the globe and to make a difference to the world around him. Using his mentoring skills and extremely contagious enthusiasm, he is determined to share his joie de vivre with the world and inspire the next generation through a blend of art and science.
Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I5J4P0XaPA
Next "Tintin" To Be "The Calculus Affair"?
(darkhorizons.com) Herge penned just twenty four Tintin stories, and Steven Spielberg's new CG animated "The Adventures of Tintin" makes use of parts of three of them.
With sequel plans already in development thanks to strong reviews and even stronger international box-office, it seems one thing we expected looks to have already changed - which books will be adapted.
Over a year ago Peter Jackson, who is helming the second film, said that the plan was to adapt "The Seven Crystal Balls"/"Prisoners of the Sun" two-parter as the basis of the film. A few months ago however he indicated his desire had changed but he hadn't made a decision yet. Even so it was thought 'Prisoners' could end up being the theoretical third film.
Now producer Kathleen Kennedy tells The Playlist that that particular story is out altogether - "'Prisoners of the Sun' was a very, very early discussion, and it isn't under discussion anymore. We've still got Anthony Horowitz working on the second movie, and we don't know what we're doing with the third movie yet."
The stories used in the first movie were employed because they introduced Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock and their interpersonal relationship. So now Kennedy says "what we're thinking [for the second film] is what new characters do we want to introduce? Well, we'll probably introduce Calculus and bring him into the fold."
Professor Cuthbert Calculus was introduced in "Red Rackham's Treasure", a book unlikely to be adapted as the ending of it makes up the last few minutes of the recent film. The absent-minded inventive genius however figured in numerous other stories where he would often drive Haddock to angry outbursts.
One such story is also one of Jackson's personal favourites - "The Calculus Affair", a kidnap thriller meets East European espionage story which has Tintin and Haddock racing across Europe to rescue him. Asked if that would be the basis, Kennedy says "We haven't decided yet, but that's the direction we're headed."
Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit
Most television and film companies incorporate some sort of computer animation or special effects technology within their productions. Keeping up-to-date on these software programs and hardware that can run them can be costly and take financial resources away from required wage expenses.
The Ontario Media Development Corporation (OMDC) is offering a tax incentive program to help Ontario production companies with wages related to computer animation and special effects, allowing your company to free financial resources to keep your special effects cutting edge. The program is known as the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects (OCASE) Tax Credit and can cover 20% of eligible Ontario labour expenses related to your special effects and animation activities. The program can also be stacked with the previously mentioned Ontario Production Services Tax Credit (OPSTC).
Eligibility Factors for this Ontario Tax Credit
Corporations eligible for the OCASE Tax Credit can be either Canadian or foreign-owned, but need to have a permanent establishment within Ontario that files Ontario corporate taxes. The company can be an animation or visual effects house, post-production house, and/or film and television production company.
Eligible activities include:
* Designing
* Modelling
* Rendering
* Lighting
* Painting
* Animating
* Compositing
Activities that are not eligible under the OCASE tax incentive are audio effects, in-camera effects, credit rolls, subtitles, animation or visual effects used in promotional materials, or activities that are scientific research and experimental development.
Ontario Tax Incentive Amount
The OCASE covers 20% of eligible labour costs with no maximum amount. Eligible labour costs carried out in Ontario are split up into the following:
* Salaries and wages (i.e., amounts paid to employees) directly attributable to eligible activities carried on by the qualifying corporation, that are paid to Ontario residents (individuals resident in Ontario at the end of the previous calendar year) who report to a permanent establishment of the qualifying corporation in Ontario at which the eligible activities are carried out;
* 50% of remuneration paid to freelancers who are individuals or partnerships for qualifying expenditures incurred before March 27, 2009; and
* 100% of remuneration paid to freelancers who are individuals, partnerships, or arm’s-length incorporated individuals (such as personal services corporations), for qualifying expenditures incurred after March 26, 2009.
Apply for the Ontario Computer Animation and Special Effects Tax Credit
Interested parties should review the downloadable OCASE Tax Credit Guidelines. If you are in compliance with all outlined eligibility requirements, feel free to continue to the OMDC Online Application Portal or contact Mentor Works
Can Pixar Continue its Golden Globes Winning Streak with 'Cars 2'?
(latimesblogs.latimes.com) "Arthur Christmas," "Cars 2," "Puss in Boots," "Rango" and "The Adventures of Tintin" are the Golden Globe nominees for best animated feature
Every year since the Golden Globes added an animated feature film category in 2007, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has picked a Pixar movie for the prize. Will the streak continue in 2012 with "Cars 2?"
The sequel is going up against "Arthur Christmas," "Puss in Boots," "Rango" and "The Adventures of Tintin." The original "Cars" won the Golden Globe back in 2007.
This time, the race is more wide open, and reflects the emergence of live-action filmmakers in the genre, including Steven Spielberg ("Tintin"), Gore Verbinski ("Rango") and Guillermo del Toro (executive producer, "Puss in Boots"), as well as a diversity of studios.
If "Cars 2" director John Lasseter is sweating it, he wasn't showing it Thursday morning. "I'm really excited that the animation industry is so healthy," said Lasseter, chief creative officer of Pixar and Disney Animation Studios, in a phone call from his home in Glen Ellen, Calif. "People ask me about competition. I'm so glad that so many great films are being made by lots of different studios."
Notable animated films excluded from the list include the critical and commercial successes "Kung Fu Panda 2" and "Rio."
Sarah Smith, director of "Arthur Christmas," reacted to news of her film's nomination while pushing a baby carriage down a London street.
"I'm absolutely delighted on behalf of all the people who made it," said Smith, whose movie was a joint production of the Britain-based Aardman Animations and Culver City-based Sony Pictures Animation. "We had Europeans and Russians, as well as the team from Sony in the States. When they came to Bristol, we made everybody drink tea and warm beer. ... When we came to the States, they introduced us to more civilized forms of entertainment."
A Great Look at Practical Effects Created For ‘The Thing’
(slashfilm.com) When The Thing was released earlier this year, there were some viewers who weren’t thrilled with the degree to which CGI was used to bring the movie’s alien creature to life. John Carpenter’s 1982 movie of the same name, for which this year’s film is a prequel, is a landmark in the use of practical effects. Early in the development of the ’11 movie, we’d heard that it would feature a good mix of practical and CGI effects work. The final release edit countered that assertion; at the very least, it seemed to have a lot of CGI painted over the practical effects.
Now a video posted by Amalgamated Dynamics, Inc., the company that did the film’s practical effects, shows a lot of the unvarnished work done for the movie. It looks great, and features a good look at what may be the alien’s ‘original’ form — or at least the form that landed on Earth. Check it out below.
Slight spoilers for The Thing follow, but this video has such great stuff that I’d say check it out anyway. Not like there’s any doubt that almost everyone in The Thing dies, anyway.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.slashfilm.com/votd-great-practical-effects-created-the-thing/
Oscar Hopefuls’ Campaign Strategies
(nytimes.com) Q. What’s the difference between the regular movie-promotion circuit and the awards circuit?
GORE VERBINSKI The likely front-runner in the Oscar animation race, “Rango,” the story of a chameleon (voiced by Johnny Depp) is full of film references and adult jokes. It was a joint first venture into feature-length animation, for Mr. Verbinski and the effects wizards at Industrial Light & Magic. They began the process by holing up in a house in Pasadena, Calif., drafting the characters and the story line. Mr. Verbinski said a nomination for “Rango” would be equal to one for a live-action movie; he doesn’t judge animation differently. “It’s just a technique for telling a story,” he said.
Full Article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/15/movies/awardsseason/possible-nominees-look-toward-oscars.html
New 3D Technology Projects Images Onto Thin Air
(wireframe.com) Remember watching the holographic Princess Leia in Star Wars with wonder struck eyes. 3D holograms were something that sparked popular curiosity back in the 1970s. And ever since then, researchers and scientists have been trying to create similar 3D holograms in their labs all over the planet. However, Japanese company Burton has cracked the mystery code to project real 3D images in mid-air without using any kind of screen.
Burton has been working hard on its Aerial 3D technology for the past five years and uses a unique technology that excites the air where the holographic images are projected. The 3D images are created by high-powered lasers, which ionize the atoms of oyxgen and nitrogen in the air, creating plasma and a colored light emission. When these lasers move rapidly, they create a 3D image in mid-air. Currently it can create 50,000 points of light per second, which gives it a frame rate of 10-15 fps. Efforts are on at Burton to improve that to 24-30 fps, which will make it comparable to basic video. And the next thing you know is a 3D image that is almost as good as the Princess Leia hologram from your favorite Star Wars episode.
And who knows, it just might become a reality that you can watch whole movies with 3D holographic images in the luxury of your living room. What’s more, it can pave the way for future holographic teleconferences, entertainment, 3D advertisements, and telemedicine. May the Force be with you.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.wwwireframe.com/drool/tech-toys/new-3d-technology-projects-images-onto-thin-air.html
Digital Domain Media Group Announces 3D Conversion Technology Licensing Program
(reuters.com) Digital Domain Media Group (NYSE: DDMG), a leading digital production company focused on visual effects, original content animation and major studio co-productions, today announced its 3D conversion technology licensing program. Digital Domain Media Group's wholly owned subsidiary, Digital Domain Stereo Group ("DDSG"), formerly In-Three, owns the six U.S. patents that represent the original commercially feasible computerized process for converting 2-dimensional filmed imagery into 3-dimensional stereoscopic imagery. These patents, developed by In Three, relate to methods for employing basic visual effects tools and processes in the performance of 3D conversions and the subsequent distribution of the converted images. The DDSG patents provide fundamental coverage of any modern conversion process that involves rotoscoping (i.e., computerized, semi-automatic and semi-automatic conversion with roto), and relate to any conversion process that includes horizontal image displacement / transform.
DDMG is now embarking on a program to license these patents to the various media and entertainment industry companies that may benefit from access to the technology embodied in DDMG's patents. The company has not previously offered access to these patents to the media and entertainment industry through a comprehensive licensing program. However, given the growth of the 3D market in theaters, home entertainment and other platforms, DDMG has elected to make its patent portfolio available now to select companies the broader industry through a studio-friendly program.
The first such agreement was recently signed with the South Korean consumer electronics company Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. This agreement provides a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for Samsung to use DDMG's patented technology for 3D conversion for a term that ends with the expiration of the last licensed patent. The agreement allows Samsung to use the licensed technology in any kind of consumer electronics, components, services and software of Samsung and its affiliates. However, Samsung has no right to sublicense the technology and cannot transfer its rights to a third party without the approval of DDMG. In addition, Samsung agrees to notify DDMG of any suspected infringement of these patents and to cooperate with DDMG in prosecuting such infringement.
DDMG will continue to offer 3D stereoscopic conversion services to film studios through its DDSG subsidiary, and will include select competing 3D conversion companies in this licensing program. DDMG's focus will be to actively negotiate licenses with its competitors while allowing them to continue to provide 3D conversion services to their studio customers so as not to disrupt current 3D conversion projects. Where negotiations are unsuccessful, DDMG will seek to enforce its patent rights, as is the case with DDMG's patent infringement lawsuit against Prime Focus North America, Inc. and Prime Focus VFX USA, Inc.
Irish Animation Company Kavaleer to Create 30 New Jobs
(siliconrepublic.com) Irish animation company Kavaleer will create 30 new animation jobs over the course of 2012 and it celebrated its tenth anniversary.
“It’s amazing to think that what started out in 1998 as a hobby has developed into something this big over the past decade,” said Kavaleer’s CEO and founder Andrew Kavanagh.
“Ten years ago, we got our first commission and took a risk by starting a business in the midst of a recession. I’m so glad we did because now this gets to be my day job.
“We’re delighted to announce that we will be taking on additional staff in 2012 as we work on exciting international projects,” he said.
The animation production company has been twice nominated for an IFTA, a British Animation Award and has won four Digital Media Awards. It has worked with Sesame Street, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Disney and its productions have been selected by over 100 international festivals over the past ten years.
It first co-produced a pre-school series called Lifeboat Luke with Straandlooper Productions set in the fictional seaside community of Donaghadoo. It then launched its own series called Garth and Bev on RTE Junior, which has since been sold to the UK, China, Portugal, America and Australia. Its most recent collaboration was with Dinamo Productions on a new series called Abadas.
Along with a co-production of a pre-school series, the company intends to extend its interactive games and e-learning production to a €1m turnover by April 2012.
11 Actors Who’ve Debased Themselves Alongside CGI Co-Stars
(pajiba.com) A list like this needs very little introduction, particularly in this venue where kiddie flicks are generally viewed as, well, total dog crap. Yes, there are a few exceptions to that rule, but we’re not here to talk about those lofty examples. Instead, I’m referring to those children’s CGI-action movies that feature sellout actors, who usually try to justify their behavior by saying they only wanted to be in a movie that their kids could watch. Even though they really did it for the money.
Take a look: http://www.pajiba.com/seriously_random_lists/11-actors-whove-debased-themselves-alongside-cgi-costars.php
Monday, December 12, 2011
Worth a mention - 12/12/11
"Hobbit," "Twilight" Top Most Anticipated List
(darkhorizons.com) Fandango has conducted a poll amongst their user base for the most anticipated movies of next year, splitting the results by both gender and separating both remakes and films overall.
The results prove a tad surprising, especially the higher than expected placements of Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", Len Wiseman's "Total Recall" remake and Tarsem Singh's "Mirror Mirror":
THE MOST ANTICIPATED BLOCKBUSTER IN 2012:
According to Men:
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros)
2. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
3. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros)
4. The Bourne Legacy (Universal)
5. Men in Black III (Sony)
According to Women:
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Summit)
2. The Hunger Games (Lionsgate)
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros)
4. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros)
5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
THE MOST ANTICIPATED REMAKE IN 2012:
According to Men:
1. Total Recall (Sony)
2. The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony)
3. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros)
4. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal)
5. Mirror Mirror (Relativity)
According to Women:
1. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal)
2. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros)
3. Mirror Mirror (Relativity)
4. Total Recall (Sony)
5. The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony)
15 Features Selected For VFX Oscar Long List
(blogs.sites.post-gazette.com) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 films have been selected for consideration for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 84th Academy Awards. They are, in alphabetical order:
"Captain America: The First Avenger"
"Cowboys & Aliens"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (left)
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
"Sucker Punch"
"Super 8"
"Thor"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"The Tree of Life"
"X-Men: First Class"
In early January, the members of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the 15 films, will narrow the list to 10.
All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, Jan. 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Steven Spielberg on the Next Jurassic Park
(comingsoon.net) it's been over ten years since Jurassic Park 3 hit theaters and with rumblings of them finally getting around to doing Jurassic Park 4, something hinted at by original director and producer Steven Spielberg at this year's Comic-Con, fans of the successful franchise and dinosaur enthusiasts have been itching for any good news that it really was going to happen this time.
At today's junket for The Adventures of Tintin, ComingSoon.net sat down with Spielberg for four glorious minutes of questions about his adaptation of Hergé's globe-trotting adventurer and we tried to quickly get in a question about their progress on Jurassic Park 4.
"I haven't been active in the last year because I've been so busy obviously on 'War Horse,' 'Tintin' and now I'm currently shooting 'Lincoln,' but right now, it's on the schedule to bring out another 'Jurassic Park.'"
Unfortunately, when we attempted to find out if it will continue on from the last movie or reboot and start from scratch, he couldn't tell us. "It's just another boring secret," he chuckled.
So yeah, sorry to say that we don't have much to add, although if Spielberg has it on his radar, that's certainly a good sign that maybe we'll see it sometime in the next few years? Fingers crossed!
Hot Sci-Fi Movie Project 'Rosa' Lands at Fox
(hollywoodreporter.com) 20th Century Fox is in final negotiations to pick up Rosa, a sci-fi project based on an animated short from Jesus Orellana, a comic book artist who not only created the short but will direct the live-action feature movie.
The pick-up shows the level of heat Spain-based Orellan has generated with his short, which hit the web the second week of Nov. By the end of the month, he had agency representation with Verve and last week was pitching the project to studios.
STORY: Ben Kingsley In Talks to Join Sci-Fi Thriller 'Ender's Game' (Exclusive)
What is noteworthy is that the short, made from his home computer in Barcelona on a next-to-nothing budget, is the only thing that Orellana has directed. It was made to show his vision for a live-action project he hoped to direct. Consider the impending deal mission accomplished.
Fox-based Simon Kinberg and his Genre Films banner will produce with Scott Glassgold and Raymond Brothers of I Am Entertainment, which also reps Orellan. A scribe will be hired to write the script, which will build on the storyline and the characters of the short. Orellana had a roadmap for the feature story as part of his pitch presentation.
MSN Goes Ape at WETA in New Zealand
(movies.uk.msn.com) It's the blockbuster of the year. And we've travelled far to find out how they did it. 'Breaking Motion Capture Boundaries' is one of the documentaries on the new Blu-Ray for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and, having witnessed the technology at the Weta workshop in Miramar, New Zealand, I can attest to the revolutionary work that these special effects wizards are achieving.
Andy Serkis is modest in his discussion of motion capture performance. But having attempted this first hand, I can only begin to describe the difficulty of the artform that he's mastered. He's absolutely comfortable in these conditions. The end result, the unique CGI character of Caesar in ROTPOTA, could only have been achieved by Serkis.
Andy Serkis performing on the set of Rise OF The Planet Of The Apes (© Twentieth Century Fox)
Twentieth Century Fox
My experience with the motion capture suits, in which I was trained to ape about like the actors in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, was mindblowing. It's eerie to watch yourself in ape form immediately after running through these basic performances. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I put my back out and flew home on a cocktail of painkillers. But that's another story...
VIDEO - Take a look: http://movies.uk.msn.com/msn-goes-ape-at-weta-in-new-zealand
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Hits $1 Billion in 16 Days
(Activision) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has broken Avatar's record for hitting the $1 billion mark in 17 days. The game has reached the mark in just 16 days:
Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc., announced today that Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare™ 3 crossed the $1 billion mark in sales since its launch on November 8, 2011, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information. Highlighting the trend of interactive entertainment gaining a greater hold of audiences worldwide, the game achieved this milestone in just 16 days, eclipsing the record set in 2009 by the feature film "Avatar," which reached the $1 billion milestone in 17 days.
THQ Lays Off 30
(venturebeat.com) uDraw GameTablet for WiiTHQ has laid off 30 people from its Play THQ development team, including executive of kids-family-casual games Martin Good.
Play THQ is the team behind the uDraw GameTablet (pictured above). The system was viewed as an innovative addition to the Wii game console that could bring out the artistic side of younger players. But sales during the season of huge blockbusters were weak.
VentureBeat first heard of the layoffs on Twitter and contacted THQ to confirm the story. In a statement, THQ said that lower-than-expected sales of the device have led the company to take the difficult, but important, step of reducing the number of employees that support the brand. The company adds this will allow them to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and increase the focus of the organization.
“WWE ’12 and Saints Row the Third are two of the top games this holiday season and we also have another huge hit coming up in February with the launch of UFC 3,” THQ said. ”We want to make sure that we are focused on maximizing the sales and profitability of these titles as well as the broader pipeline of titles that matter most to our future.”
Earlier this week, THQ updated its outlook for its fiscal 2012 third quarter, which ends on December 31. Due to uDraw’s weak sales, the company says it now expects to report net sales for the third quarter approximately 25 percent below its previously announced guidance of $510 million to $550 million.
THQ expects to announce fiscal 2012 third quarter results in early February 2012 and will provide an update to its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter and full year guidance at that time.
Oscar Winning Special Effects Studio “Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.”
(bzfilm.com) Here it is – an exclusive interview from Alec Gillis, one of the founders of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. In the interview Alec talks about how ADI started off, shares his thoughts on today’s special effects, and more.
I’d like us to stop by the “Thing”, one of ADI’s latest works. Obviously, you’re aware of the 1982 original film, and the SFX work done there. I’ve seen both films, and though the effects in the 2011 film were top notch, the still looked somewhat less real than those of 1982 film. How much of computer graphic effects were used in the 2011 film? Why didn’t ADI go heavier on the traditional old-school effects?
I really want the fans to know that ADI does not have the final word on what the ultimate FX approach is. We are sometimes as surprised as anybody when we see the final results on screen. I read a lot of comments online that reflect a basic lack of understanding of how corporate film making works these days. In 1982 it was different. Before studios realized that genre FX films were the goldmine that they are today, they paid less attention to the filmmakers making genre films. Nowadays there is much more scrutiny of the process, much more studio input, and much less freedom for directors to take chances. Everyone who we worked shoulder-to-shoulder with on “THE THING”, from the director to Image Engine to the producers to Strike Entertainment is top-notch, talented and conscientious. The folks at Universal are as well. Everyone wanted that movie to succeed. But there is a different process in place in 2011 that there was in 1982. I promise you and the fans that we always try to encourage the use of practical effects, but it isn’t often solely our call.
Full Article: http://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/exclusive-interview-with-oscar-winning-special-effects-studio-amalgamated-dynamics-inc/
Weta Digital Alum Finish Shoot For "The Cure"
(voxy.co.nz) The action thriller The Cure, starring Antonia Prebble (Outrageous Fortune, Power Rangers, The Tribe) and Australian Daniel Lissing (Packed to the Rafters, Crownies) wrapped this week following a phenomenal five week shoot in and around Wellington.
The film is written, produced and directed by David Gould previously of Weta Digital where he handled visual effects on features such as The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of TinTin. In between these features he returned to Australia to make the short films Awaken and Inseparable Coil. This week, after wrapping THE CURE, he attended the AUSTRALIAN SCREEN INDUSTRY AWARDS in Brisbane, winning the BEST DIRECTOR AWARD. He also won the BEST NEW FILM AWARD for AWAKEN.
He comments: "The award winners are chosen by members of the wider film industry rather than a select few individuals, so it's great to know that you have the support and respect of your fellow industry peers. Having just wrapped the shoot of my first feature film a mere 48 hours earlier made it all the more satisfying. What an amazing year!"
Team Will Show Can't-tell Photo Inserts at Siggraph
(physorg.com) Visitors to this month's Siggraph Asia conference on computer graphics from December 12 to 15 will witness a presentation from a team at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign on how to tweak photos by adding in something that was not there before. They will present their study, Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs, which details their approach.
So what? What could possibly be new about this? Their method has more going for it than older techniques used by the Kremlin or budding Photoshop enthusiasts. The team, Kevin Karsch, Varsha Hedau, David Forsyth, Derek Hoiem, can simulate lighting conditions so that the object looks realistic.
Humans can quickly detect photo fraud, maintains Karsch. They can do so in spotting lighting inconsistencies in a doctored photograph.
In contrast, the university team’s method, he says, is successfully confusable even for people who pride themselves in spotting differences.
If you don’t know the perspective, if you don’t know the geometry of an object, then you are just manipulating pixels, he commented, with unconvincing results.
In their computer program, a user is asked to select light sources in the picture. An algorithm recreates the 3-D geometry and lighting of the scene and the artificial object is inserted into its new environment. The program adds shadows and highlights to the object before converting it back to 2-D.
The weakness in existing photo editing programs, they say, is that they simply insert a 2-D object. Karsch, a computer science doctoral student whose advisor is David Forsyth, explains that image editing software that only allows 2-D manipulations does not account for high-level spatial information that is present in a given scene, yet 3-D modeling tools may be complex and tedious for novice users.
The team set out to extract the 3-D scene information from single images, to allow for seamless object insertion, removal, and relocation.
The process involves three phases: luminaire inference, perspective estimation (depth, occlusion, camera parameters), and texture replacement. The team, in their paper, says their method can realistically insert synthetic objects into existing photographs without requiring access to the scene or any additional scene measurements.
“With a single image and a small amount of annotation, our method creates a physical model of the scene that is suitable for realistically rendering synthetic objects with diffuse, specular, and even glowing materials while accounting for lighting interactions between the objects and the scene.”
Potentially useful applications include interior design, where decorators might take a photo of a room and experiment with different furniture and object insertions. Other possibilities include entertainment and gaming.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-uiuc-team-cant-tell-photo-inserts.html
ILM Vs. Henson
(madartlab.com) Inspired by the No Right Answer concept at The Escapist, I give you an impossible question:
Which is better: Industrial Light and Magic or the Jim Henson Company?
Industrial Light and Magic was founded by George Lucas in order to make the first Star Wars movies possible. They have remained an FX studio on the cutting edge of technology ever since and are responsible for the visual effects in such films as Willow, Jurassic Park, Terminator, Avatar and the NeverEnding Story.
The Jim Henson Company is, unsurprisingly, the company created by Jim Henson and is responsible for not only the Muppets and Sesame street, but also Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal, and Farscape amongst others.
Which is the better FX house: Industrial Light and Magic or the Jim Henson Company?
Chime in with your answer: http://madartlab.com/2011/12/05/ai-ilm-vs-henson/
The Culture of Dissent at Pixar Animation Studios
(bigthink.com) What's the Big Idea?
Pixar Animation Studios, the company Steve Jobs acquired in 1986, has won a total of 26 Academy Awards and made over $6.3 billion worldwide. The studio's incredible run of success includes Toy Story 3, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. In fact, with the exception of Cars 2, every feature film Pixar has produced has been both a critical and commercial success, grossing on average $602 million, the highest in the industry. Talk about the Midas touch! With a track record like that, Pixar must be immune from making mistakes.
Not true at all, points out the economist Tim Harford in his book Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure. According to Harford, instead of preventing errors, Pixar is really good at with fixing them quickly. To put it another way, Pixar's President Ed Catmull embraces a process of rigorous critique in which the studio ensures that films go "from suck to nonsuck." Films are scrutinized right up to the last stage of production.
According to Harford, what Pixar has done so well is the studio has established a positive environment for dissent. In the video below, Harford argues that all organizations are bound to make mistakes. The key is for these mistakes to be "revealed, exposed and then corrected as soon as possible." The culture has to be right for this to work. After all, people hate criticism. On the other hand, dissent must be listened to if you don't want your product to "suck."
VIDEO - Take a look: http://bigthink.com/ideas/41463
'Green Lantern' Fails to Make the Long List for Visual-Effects Oscar
(nola.com) Given the critical bashing it suffered upon its release this past summer, few expected the New Orleans-shot "Green Lantern" to be an Oscar powerhouse, exactly. But it wouldn't have been unwarranted to see it nominated in a couple or three technical categories.
'Green Lantern'An image from Warner Bros.' New Orleans-shot superhero film 'Green Lantern.'
Now it appears that's not going to happen.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its long list of those films still in the running for the visual effects Oscar - likely the best chance of "Green Lantern" to grab a nomination. Alas, it didn't make the cut, making its chance of Oscar-night gold that much slimmer.
Unused Motion Capture Previs Action Scene For X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Revealed
(comicbookmovie.com) Hit the jump to check out this cool deleted motion capture previs sequence for Matthew Vaughn's critically acclaimed film X-Men: First Class, featuring Azazel battling the X-Men inside the Blackbird...
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga – and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Wolvie09/news/?a=51096
Filmmakers Recreate Awesome Star-Wars-Era Special Effects
(fastcodesign.com) New cameras allow indie filmmakers to use old-time special effects on a cut-rate budget.
Watching the stylish trailer for C, you could be forgiven for failing to realize that you're looking at a set made of cardboard and milk crates. But that's exactly what it is. Derek Van Gorder and Otto Stockmeier's science fiction film about an idealistic flight officer gone rogue is being shot on a shoestring budget, so they make up for a shortage of materials by being long on craftsmanship.
"The cameras allowed us to take a new approach to studio shooting."
The ultra-low budget means no money for CGI. Instead, they've turned to older effects techniques, working with miniatures for the exterior shots, and exploiting tricks of light and depth of field to create the darkened interiors of the spaceship. Though CGI is not involved, none of this would be possible without the latest digital technology.
Thanks to the improved low-light sensitivity of contemporary digital cameras, the team is able to exploit techniques that would have once required massive lighting rigs, with the attendant massive budgets. "[It] allowed us to take a new approach to studio shooting," says Van Gorder.
For model shots, the improved sensitivity means they can narrow the aperture, which keeps more of the ship in focus, so that it looks less like a miniature. This kind of setup used to require so much lighting that models melting on set was an occasional hazard. For the interior shots, their lighting fixtures use inexpensive gear like regular fluorescent tubes, flashlights, Christmas bulbs, and home video projectors, all light sources that would have been too dim to film with in the past. The result is the ability to create highly controlled lighting on set at almost no cost.
Beyond budget, the big appeal of these effects is that they evoke the signature look of science fiction films from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, says Van Gorder. While much contemporary science fiction has turned inward and gone gritty, C is intended to be a movie that returns to the excitement of space exploration and an enthusiasm for the future. Van Gorder says that both digital and analog tools have a place in modern filmmaking and that, for indie filmmakers, the exciting thing is that CGI is no longer the only option.
"I think this fits with the theme of our film, which is all about appropriating the technology around us and putting it to work for progress," says Van Gorder, "Ultimately, the tools are a means to an end--they're not important in and of themselves, what matters is how you use them."
They've passed their funding goal on Kickstarter, but you can still pre-order the film and support the project. They've already worked out a budget for turning that extra money into higher productions values--but not too high, of course.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665604/filmmakers-recreate-awesome-star-wars-era-special-effects
-H There is an undeniable truth, that what you see really exists, even it if is posed by hand, 24 times a second. This truth is what I find most attractive about stop-motion animation. -Henry Selick
(darkhorizons.com) Fandango has conducted a poll amongst their user base for the most anticipated movies of next year, splitting the results by both gender and separating both remakes and films overall.
The results prove a tad surprising, especially the higher than expected placements of Baz Luhrmann's "The Great Gatsby", Len Wiseman's "Total Recall" remake and Tarsem Singh's "Mirror Mirror":
THE MOST ANTICIPATED BLOCKBUSTER IN 2012:
According to Men:
1. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros)
2. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
3. The Dark Knight Rises (Warner Bros)
4. The Bourne Legacy (Universal)
5. Men in Black III (Sony)
According to Women:
1. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Summit)
2. The Hunger Games (Lionsgate)
3. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Warner Bros)
4. Dark Shadows (Warner Bros)
5. The Avengers (Marvel/Disney)
THE MOST ANTICIPATED REMAKE IN 2012:
According to Men:
1. Total Recall (Sony)
2. The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony)
3. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros)
4. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal)
5. Mirror Mirror (Relativity)
According to Women:
1. Snow White And The Huntsman (Universal)
2. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros)
3. Mirror Mirror (Relativity)
4. Total Recall (Sony)
5. The Amazing Spider-Man (Sony)
15 Features Selected For VFX Oscar Long List
(blogs.sites.post-gazette.com) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 15 films have been selected for consideration for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 84th Academy Awards. They are, in alphabetical order:
"Captain America: The First Avenger"
"Cowboys & Aliens"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes" (left)
"Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
"Sucker Punch"
"Super 8"
"Thor"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"The Tree of Life"
"X-Men: First Class"
In early January, the members of the Academy's Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the 15 films, will narrow the list to 10.
All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, Jan. 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Steven Spielberg on the Next Jurassic Park
(comingsoon.net) it's been over ten years since Jurassic Park 3 hit theaters and with rumblings of them finally getting around to doing Jurassic Park 4, something hinted at by original director and producer Steven Spielberg at this year's Comic-Con, fans of the successful franchise and dinosaur enthusiasts have been itching for any good news that it really was going to happen this time.
At today's junket for The Adventures of Tintin, ComingSoon.net sat down with Spielberg for four glorious minutes of questions about his adaptation of Hergé's globe-trotting adventurer and we tried to quickly get in a question about their progress on Jurassic Park 4.
"I haven't been active in the last year because I've been so busy obviously on 'War Horse,' 'Tintin' and now I'm currently shooting 'Lincoln,' but right now, it's on the schedule to bring out another 'Jurassic Park.'"
Unfortunately, when we attempted to find out if it will continue on from the last movie or reboot and start from scratch, he couldn't tell us. "It's just another boring secret," he chuckled.
So yeah, sorry to say that we don't have much to add, although if Spielberg has it on his radar, that's certainly a good sign that maybe we'll see it sometime in the next few years? Fingers crossed!
Hot Sci-Fi Movie Project 'Rosa' Lands at Fox
(hollywoodreporter.com) 20th Century Fox is in final negotiations to pick up Rosa, a sci-fi project based on an animated short from Jesus Orellana, a comic book artist who not only created the short but will direct the live-action feature movie.
The pick-up shows the level of heat Spain-based Orellan has generated with his short, which hit the web the second week of Nov. By the end of the month, he had agency representation with Verve and last week was pitching the project to studios.
STORY: Ben Kingsley In Talks to Join Sci-Fi Thriller 'Ender's Game' (Exclusive)
What is noteworthy is that the short, made from his home computer in Barcelona on a next-to-nothing budget, is the only thing that Orellana has directed. It was made to show his vision for a live-action project he hoped to direct. Consider the impending deal mission accomplished.
Fox-based Simon Kinberg and his Genre Films banner will produce with Scott Glassgold and Raymond Brothers of I Am Entertainment, which also reps Orellan. A scribe will be hired to write the script, which will build on the storyline and the characters of the short. Orellana had a roadmap for the feature story as part of his pitch presentation.
MSN Goes Ape at WETA in New Zealand
(movies.uk.msn.com) It's the blockbuster of the year. And we've travelled far to find out how they did it. 'Breaking Motion Capture Boundaries' is one of the documentaries on the new Blu-Ray for Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes and, having witnessed the technology at the Weta workshop in Miramar, New Zealand, I can attest to the revolutionary work that these special effects wizards are achieving.
Andy Serkis is modest in his discussion of motion capture performance. But having attempted this first hand, I can only begin to describe the difficulty of the artform that he's mastered. He's absolutely comfortable in these conditions. The end result, the unique CGI character of Caesar in ROTPOTA, could only have been achieved by Serkis.
Andy Serkis performing on the set of Rise OF The Planet Of The Apes (© Twentieth Century Fox)
Twentieth Century Fox
My experience with the motion capture suits, in which I was trained to ape about like the actors in Rise Of The Planet Of The Apes, was mindblowing. It's eerie to watch yourself in ape form immediately after running through these basic performances. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I put my back out and flew home on a cocktail of painkillers. But that's another story...
VIDEO - Take a look: http://movies.uk.msn.com/msn-goes-ape-at-weta-in-new-zealand
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Hits $1 Billion in 16 Days
(Activision) Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has broken Avatar's record for hitting the $1 billion mark in 17 days. The game has reached the mark in just 16 days:
Activision Publishing, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, Inc., announced today that Call of Duty®: Modern Warfare™ 3 crossed the $1 billion mark in sales since its launch on November 8, 2011, according to Charttrack and retail customer sell-through information. Highlighting the trend of interactive entertainment gaining a greater hold of audiences worldwide, the game achieved this milestone in just 16 days, eclipsing the record set in 2009 by the feature film "Avatar," which reached the $1 billion milestone in 17 days.
THQ Lays Off 30
(venturebeat.com) uDraw GameTablet for WiiTHQ has laid off 30 people from its Play THQ development team, including executive of kids-family-casual games Martin Good.
Play THQ is the team behind the uDraw GameTablet (pictured above). The system was viewed as an innovative addition to the Wii game console that could bring out the artistic side of younger players. But sales during the season of huge blockbusters were weak.
VentureBeat first heard of the layoffs on Twitter and contacted THQ to confirm the story. In a statement, THQ said that lower-than-expected sales of the device have led the company to take the difficult, but important, step of reducing the number of employees that support the brand. The company adds this will allow them to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and increase the focus of the organization.
“WWE ’12 and Saints Row the Third are two of the top games this holiday season and we also have another huge hit coming up in February with the launch of UFC 3,” THQ said. ”We want to make sure that we are focused on maximizing the sales and profitability of these titles as well as the broader pipeline of titles that matter most to our future.”
Earlier this week, THQ updated its outlook for its fiscal 2012 third quarter, which ends on December 31. Due to uDraw’s weak sales, the company says it now expects to report net sales for the third quarter approximately 25 percent below its previously announced guidance of $510 million to $550 million.
THQ expects to announce fiscal 2012 third quarter results in early February 2012 and will provide an update to its fiscal 2012 fourth quarter and full year guidance at that time.
Oscar Winning Special Effects Studio “Amalgamated Dynamics Inc.”
(bzfilm.com) Here it is – an exclusive interview from Alec Gillis, one of the founders of Amalgamated Dynamics Inc. In the interview Alec talks about how ADI started off, shares his thoughts on today’s special effects, and more.
I’d like us to stop by the “Thing”, one of ADI’s latest works. Obviously, you’re aware of the 1982 original film, and the SFX work done there. I’ve seen both films, and though the effects in the 2011 film were top notch, the still looked somewhat less real than those of 1982 film. How much of computer graphic effects were used in the 2011 film? Why didn’t ADI go heavier on the traditional old-school effects?
I really want the fans to know that ADI does not have the final word on what the ultimate FX approach is. We are sometimes as surprised as anybody when we see the final results on screen. I read a lot of comments online that reflect a basic lack of understanding of how corporate film making works these days. In 1982 it was different. Before studios realized that genre FX films were the goldmine that they are today, they paid less attention to the filmmakers making genre films. Nowadays there is much more scrutiny of the process, much more studio input, and much less freedom for directors to take chances. Everyone who we worked shoulder-to-shoulder with on “THE THING”, from the director to Image Engine to the producers to Strike Entertainment is top-notch, talented and conscientious. The folks at Universal are as well. Everyone wanted that movie to succeed. But there is a different process in place in 2011 that there was in 1982. I promise you and the fans that we always try to encourage the use of practical effects, but it isn’t often solely our call.
Full Article: http://bzfilm.com/talks-interviews/exclusive-interview-with-oscar-winning-special-effects-studio-amalgamated-dynamics-inc/
Weta Digital Alum Finish Shoot For "The Cure"
(voxy.co.nz) The action thriller The Cure, starring Antonia Prebble (Outrageous Fortune, Power Rangers, The Tribe) and Australian Daniel Lissing (Packed to the Rafters, Crownies) wrapped this week following a phenomenal five week shoot in and around Wellington.
The film is written, produced and directed by David Gould previously of Weta Digital where he handled visual effects on features such as The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of TinTin. In between these features he returned to Australia to make the short films Awaken and Inseparable Coil. This week, after wrapping THE CURE, he attended the AUSTRALIAN SCREEN INDUSTRY AWARDS in Brisbane, winning the BEST DIRECTOR AWARD. He also won the BEST NEW FILM AWARD for AWAKEN.
He comments: "The award winners are chosen by members of the wider film industry rather than a select few individuals, so it's great to know that you have the support and respect of your fellow industry peers. Having just wrapped the shoot of my first feature film a mere 48 hours earlier made it all the more satisfying. What an amazing year!"
Team Will Show Can't-tell Photo Inserts at Siggraph
(physorg.com) Visitors to this month's Siggraph Asia conference on computer graphics from December 12 to 15 will witness a presentation from a team at the University of Illinois in Urbana Champaign on how to tweak photos by adding in something that was not there before. They will present their study, Rendering Synthetic Objects into Legacy Photographs, which details their approach.
So what? What could possibly be new about this? Their method has more going for it than older techniques used by the Kremlin or budding Photoshop enthusiasts. The team, Kevin Karsch, Varsha Hedau, David Forsyth, Derek Hoiem, can simulate lighting conditions so that the object looks realistic.
Humans can quickly detect photo fraud, maintains Karsch. They can do so in spotting lighting inconsistencies in a doctored photograph.
In contrast, the university team’s method, he says, is successfully confusable even for people who pride themselves in spotting differences.
If you don’t know the perspective, if you don’t know the geometry of an object, then you are just manipulating pixels, he commented, with unconvincing results.
In their computer program, a user is asked to select light sources in the picture. An algorithm recreates the 3-D geometry and lighting of the scene and the artificial object is inserted into its new environment. The program adds shadows and highlights to the object before converting it back to 2-D.
The weakness in existing photo editing programs, they say, is that they simply insert a 2-D object. Karsch, a computer science doctoral student whose advisor is David Forsyth, explains that image editing software that only allows 2-D manipulations does not account for high-level spatial information that is present in a given scene, yet 3-D modeling tools may be complex and tedious for novice users.
The team set out to extract the 3-D scene information from single images, to allow for seamless object insertion, removal, and relocation.
The process involves three phases: luminaire inference, perspective estimation (depth, occlusion, camera parameters), and texture replacement. The team, in their paper, says their method can realistically insert synthetic objects into existing photographs without requiring access to the scene or any additional scene measurements.
“With a single image and a small amount of annotation, our method creates a physical model of the scene that is suitable for realistically rendering synthetic objects with diffuse, specular, and even glowing materials while accounting for lighting interactions between the objects and the scene.”
Potentially useful applications include interior design, where decorators might take a photo of a room and experiment with different furniture and object insertions. Other possibilities include entertainment and gaming.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-uiuc-team-cant-tell-photo-inserts.html
ILM Vs. Henson
(madartlab.com) Inspired by the No Right Answer concept at The Escapist, I give you an impossible question:
Which is better: Industrial Light and Magic or the Jim Henson Company?
Industrial Light and Magic was founded by George Lucas in order to make the first Star Wars movies possible. They have remained an FX studio on the cutting edge of technology ever since and are responsible for the visual effects in such films as Willow, Jurassic Park, Terminator, Avatar and the NeverEnding Story.
The Jim Henson Company is, unsurprisingly, the company created by Jim Henson and is responsible for not only the Muppets and Sesame street, but also Labyrinth, the Dark Crystal, and Farscape amongst others.
Which is the better FX house: Industrial Light and Magic or the Jim Henson Company?
Chime in with your answer: http://madartlab.com/2011/12/05/ai-ilm-vs-henson/
The Culture of Dissent at Pixar Animation Studios
(bigthink.com) What's the Big Idea?
Pixar Animation Studios, the company Steve Jobs acquired in 1986, has won a total of 26 Academy Awards and made over $6.3 billion worldwide. The studio's incredible run of success includes Toy Story 3, the highest-grossing animated film of all time. In fact, with the exception of Cars 2, every feature film Pixar has produced has been both a critical and commercial success, grossing on average $602 million, the highest in the industry. Talk about the Midas touch! With a track record like that, Pixar must be immune from making mistakes.
Not true at all, points out the economist Tim Harford in his book Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure. According to Harford, instead of preventing errors, Pixar is really good at with fixing them quickly. To put it another way, Pixar's President Ed Catmull embraces a process of rigorous critique in which the studio ensures that films go "from suck to nonsuck." Films are scrutinized right up to the last stage of production.
According to Harford, what Pixar has done so well is the studio has established a positive environment for dissent. In the video below, Harford argues that all organizations are bound to make mistakes. The key is for these mistakes to be "revealed, exposed and then corrected as soon as possible." The culture has to be right for this to work. After all, people hate criticism. On the other hand, dissent must be listened to if you don't want your product to "suck."
VIDEO - Take a look: http://bigthink.com/ideas/41463
'Green Lantern' Fails to Make the Long List for Visual-Effects Oscar
(nola.com) Given the critical bashing it suffered upon its release this past summer, few expected the New Orleans-shot "Green Lantern" to be an Oscar powerhouse, exactly. But it wouldn't have been unwarranted to see it nominated in a couple or three technical categories.
'Green Lantern'An image from Warner Bros.' New Orleans-shot superhero film 'Green Lantern.'
Now it appears that's not going to happen.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released its long list of those films still in the running for the visual effects Oscar - likely the best chance of "Green Lantern" to grab a nomination. Alas, it didn't make the cut, making its chance of Oscar-night gold that much slimmer.
Unused Motion Capture Previs Action Scene For X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Revealed
(comicbookmovie.com) Hit the jump to check out this cool deleted motion capture previs sequence for Matthew Vaughn's critically acclaimed film X-Men: First Class, featuring Azazel battling the X-Men inside the Blackbird...
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS unveils the epic beginning of the X-Men saga – and a secret history of the Cold War and our world at the brink of nuclear Armageddon. As the first class discovers, harnesses, and comes to terms with their formidable powers, alliances are formed that will shape the eternal war between the heroes and villains of the X-Men universe.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/Wolvie09/news/?a=51096
Filmmakers Recreate Awesome Star-Wars-Era Special Effects
(fastcodesign.com) New cameras allow indie filmmakers to use old-time special effects on a cut-rate budget.
Watching the stylish trailer for C, you could be forgiven for failing to realize that you're looking at a set made of cardboard and milk crates. But that's exactly what it is. Derek Van Gorder and Otto Stockmeier's science fiction film about an idealistic flight officer gone rogue is being shot on a shoestring budget, so they make up for a shortage of materials by being long on craftsmanship.
"The cameras allowed us to take a new approach to studio shooting."
The ultra-low budget means no money for CGI. Instead, they've turned to older effects techniques, working with miniatures for the exterior shots, and exploiting tricks of light and depth of field to create the darkened interiors of the spaceship. Though CGI is not involved, none of this would be possible without the latest digital technology.
Thanks to the improved low-light sensitivity of contemporary digital cameras, the team is able to exploit techniques that would have once required massive lighting rigs, with the attendant massive budgets. "[It] allowed us to take a new approach to studio shooting," says Van Gorder.
For model shots, the improved sensitivity means they can narrow the aperture, which keeps more of the ship in focus, so that it looks less like a miniature. This kind of setup used to require so much lighting that models melting on set was an occasional hazard. For the interior shots, their lighting fixtures use inexpensive gear like regular fluorescent tubes, flashlights, Christmas bulbs, and home video projectors, all light sources that would have been too dim to film with in the past. The result is the ability to create highly controlled lighting on set at almost no cost.
Beyond budget, the big appeal of these effects is that they evoke the signature look of science fiction films from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, says Van Gorder. While much contemporary science fiction has turned inward and gone gritty, C is intended to be a movie that returns to the excitement of space exploration and an enthusiasm for the future. Van Gorder says that both digital and analog tools have a place in modern filmmaking and that, for indie filmmakers, the exciting thing is that CGI is no longer the only option.
"I think this fits with the theme of our film, which is all about appropriating the technology around us and putting it to work for progress," says Van Gorder, "Ultimately, the tools are a means to an end--they're not important in and of themselves, what matters is how you use them."
They've passed their funding goal on Kickstarter, but you can still pre-order the film and support the project. They've already worked out a budget for turning that extra money into higher productions values--but not too high, of course.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.fastcodesign.com/1665604/filmmakers-recreate-awesome-star-wars-era-special-effects
-H There is an undeniable truth, that what you see really exists, even it if is posed by hand, 24 times a second. This truth is what I find most attractive about stop-motion animation. -Henry Selick
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Worth a mention - 12/08/11
Andrew Stanton Already Working On John Carter 2 And 3
(giantfreakinrobot.com) John Carter isn’t even arriving in theaters until March 9th, 2012, but like many a high-profile would-be blockbuster before it, they’re already got their eyes on the franchise. Bleeding Cool was in London to see John Carter director Andrew Stanton premiering some clips from the film, and they’re reporting that Stanton is already working on the potential second and third movies. Think that’s optimistic? If Stanton has his way, he’ll “go to all eleven stories and make more.”
Stanton said that they bought the rights for the first three of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter books at the outset. (That includes A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars.) While he is working on planning out the second and third movies, he’s not exactly counting pre-hatched chickens just yet. Here’s what he said:
I never expected anyone to say we’d definitely do more than one. It’s a huge risk for them… and it’s a huge chunk of change to make any of these movies, something this big. So it made complete sense to me, from their side of the fence, to wait until the movie’s out.
So if the worst is that it was just a writing exercise for me to plan the others and then I never get to do them, I don’t think I’ll have any regrets. So we’ve been planning out all three all along, just on the chance that they do go ahead.
Even if the movie isn’t the kind of success it needs to be and we only get one John Carter movie, fans will still get to see bits of the later books. While the movie is mostly based on A Princess of Mars, the script also draws in elements from the rest of the series, including a villain in the form of Matai Shang (played in the film by Mark Strong):
There was no main villain in Princess of Mars, and the villain would change every few chapters. There’s that axiom “You’re only as good as your villain” and I don’t know if that’s true but I didn’t want to find out the hard way. I went to later books and found a villain that did scope over multiple stories, and I brought him in earlier.
He had an agenda that was equal to the scope of Carter, and that’s how I’d want to balance it out anyway with any antagonistic situation even if I was making an original film. We were just using good old school storytelling techniques.
In the books by Burroughs, Matai Shang was a leader of a Martian cult called the Holy Therns, who practiced slavery and human (Martian?) sacrifices. Does that mean we’ll see John Carter going up against the Holy Therns onscreen next March? Either way, it’s cool to know that Stanton is thinking big and planning for John Carter’s future. Fingers crossed that we get to see it.
Will Jurassic Park Return in 3D?
(tgdaily.com) It's still a few years away from the 20th anniversary of Jurassic Park, but apparently there are waves of nostalgia flooding back for the classic film.
While movies can certainly feel CGI'd to death these days, and there were obviously computer effects before Jurassic Park, it was Steven Spielberg's dinosaur epic that really let the genie out of the bottle for the technology, and it's changed the world of film forever.
Will Jurassic Park return in 3D?Now Collider reports the first Jurassic Park may be converted to 3D, and yes, there is still talk about another Jurassic Park film on the horizon.
The publication interviewed long time Spielberg producer Kathleen Kennedy, whose industry credits include E.T., The Sixth Sense, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, along with Tintin and War Horse. (Kennedy also executive produced Goonies and Back the Future, among many others).
First, on whether the original Jurassic will be converted to 3D, Kennedy said they've been approached by Universal to do it, but the question is whether Spielberg can pencil it into his always hectic schedule.
"I'm not a huge proponent of post-conversion, but I think if the filmmakers gets intricately involved in the post-conversion – I think it can be really, really good and I think Jurassic Park is a perfect example of a movie that could work really, really well as a 3D picture," she said.
Kennedy added, "I also think it's tricky because unless you framed the movie with [3D] in mind, not all those shots - it's not necessarily going to translate, and so that's what you've go to have the DP and you've got to have the director frame-by-frame involved in the process of that conversion."
As for whether there will be a Jurassic 4 depends on the script, although Kennedy mentioned there's already plans for a Tintin sequel for Christmas 2014 or Summer 2015.
For Jurassic 4, Kennedy told writer Adam Chitwood, "We have a very high bar for ourselves because we're just like the audience, we don't want to make the movie if there's not a reason to make the movie... We're in the midst of working on that right now."
Tom Cruise Flying High On Top Gun 2
(MTV) Tom Cruise confirmed to MTV that he is involved in Top Gun 2 saying "We're working on it.".
Christopher McQuarrie was previously hired to write the script for the sequel, but it doesn't sound like he will have time. "I don't think Chris [McQuarrie] is going to write it. Chris is directing 'One Shot' right now, which I'm acting in. We've got to go back in January and finish it," he said.
About reuniting with director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for the possible sequel, Cruise said that "Tony and I and Jerry, we never thought that we would do it again. Then they started to come to us with these ideas of where it is now. I thought, 'Wow, that would be ... what we could do now.'"
Cruise added: "If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot 'Top Gun.'"
Eye on the Oscars: Animation - 'Rango'
(variety.com) The western boasts several firsts, including an unlikely bug-eyed chameleon hero starring in the first animation film for both "Pirates of the Caribbean" helmer Gore Verbinski and industry vfx powerhouse ILM.
"Doing an animated film was completely new for so many of us, so there were a lot of challenges," reports production designer Crash McCreery. "Gore and I are huge Western fans, especially the classic Westerns with the dense, gritty atmosphere, so our approach from the start was to make a Western first, then an animated film second."
The team began by focusing on the characters and a photo-real style "that I don't think had been done to this extent before," McCreery says. "We kept telling ILM, 'Put more fuzz on it,' meaning we wanted to get away from that typical, hard-edged shiny CG look. We wanted frayed edges on the costumes and a blurry line between characters in the foreground and background, so that it all felt far more filmic than the usual animation."
To achieve this look, the team broke time-honored toon rules of texture and palette, even going so far as to use desaturated colors. "It probably helped (that we hadn't made an animated film before) as we just kept pushing to get what we wanted," he says. "We didn't set any limits as far as rendering capabilities, and ILM was with us the whole way. People have asked us, 'Where did you shoot it?' but it's all animated. Now that we have the pipeline worked out, we're discussing other possible projects as we all loved the animation process."
Holographic "The Time Is Now" Oscar Ad For Andy Serkis
(firstshowing.net) I guess the time really IS now. I received an email with a link to a video of the cover of an upcoming issue of The Hollywood Reporter, the print edition (they still have one?). The cover is unique because, not only is it an Oscar ad supporting Andy Serkis for Best Supporting Actor in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it's a holographic ad, the video shows as you move it the face morphs from Andy to Caesar and back. It's pretty damn cool. I'd actually love one of these (hey THR!) to see in real life. We just wrote about the launch of Fox's "The Time is Now" Oscar campaign for Serkis, which is getting a bigger push coming up, it seems.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNv3QwTZweg&feature=player_embedded
Digital Reshapes Prod'n Budgeting, Billing
“Hugo” shows how digital has changed the production process.
“Hugo” shows how digital has changed the production process.
Holdouts and traditionalists may be sticking with 35mm film, but the digital revolution has triumphed.
You probably knew that, even if you don't like it. What you may not have fully grasped yet, though, is that this revolution means more than doing the same things you've always done but now with digital gear. It means changing the way you think about your work, the way you do your work, and, in many cases, the way your work is billed and paid for.
Consider Martin Scorsese's 3D pic "Hugo" and visual effects company Pixomondo.
In the analog world, f/x were "post." The editor and director locked their cut and handed it over to visual effects, hoping they'd have no regrets when they saw the result. Changes late in the game were difficult and expensive. Most visual effects studios still charge on a flat-bid model left over from those days, based on cost per shot.
Digital editing is more fluid, though. It starts earlier -- on some pics rough cutting starts before a scene is done shooting -- and continues later. That shift thrown the vfx business model for a loop. Since the cut isn't locked early, vfx studios are coping with continuous adds and changes that weren't in their flat bid.
Scorsese and longtime film editor Thelma Schoonmaker like to experiment with their cut almost up to the pic's delivery date. On "Hugo," they had a short post-production period by their standards -- about 38 weeks instead of the 58-68 weeks they prefer -- and a vast number of 3D visual effects to be completed. Adds and changes were inevitable.
Full article: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047168
Fantastic Four & Daredevil Get The Reboot
(comingsoon.net) Fox is still developing its reboots of the "Daredevil" and "Fantastic Four" franchises. Rothman says “Daredevil is still with David Slade. It’s in development now. We’re working on it and Fantastic Four. I think for all of us, the bar has been raised, so we’ve got to aim high now. Marvel’s done a terrific job with their films. Where our Marvel movies are concerned or other movies like that. It’s like what we had with Planet of the Apes this summer. I think it’s important for us to really aim high and deliver an A-level experience to the audience.”
MAAC and VFX to Host Eighth 24 FPS Awards 2011
Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) – leader in 3D Animation and VFX training has announced to host the eighth 24 FPS Awards 2011 in association with United Nations Information Centre (UNIC). India’s most coveted animation awards are to be held at The Leela in Andheri, Mumbai on 9th December 2011. This time around, MAAC has joined hands with UNIC to promote the 8 Millennium Goals through 24FPS where the movies based on the set theme will be used to drive and accomplish the 8 Millennium Development Goals.
With over 1000 entries from countries like China, France, Germany and the US and over 5000 animation enthusiasts expected to attend, this larger than life event is getting bigger by every passing year and will have more professionals than ever before. The jury of 24FPS 2011 consists of more than 38 industry stalwarts from across the world.
Over the last eight years, this event has gained momentous support from the global animation fraternity and has been a key driver and promoter of fresh animation talent in the country.
Animation Techniques Create Oscar Quandary
(theenvelope.latimes.com) After losing an Oscar, Walt Disney once remarked, "Disney has never actually been part of Hollywood ... I think they refer to us as being in the cornfield in Burbank."
Consider this the year Hollywood invaded the animation cornfield. The animated feature Oscar field is crowded with traditionally live-action Hollywood filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson ("The Adventures of Tintin"), Gore Verbinski ("Rango"), George Miller ("Happy Feet Two") and Guillermo del Toro (executive producer of "Puss in Boots" and "Kung Fu Panda 2"). At the same time, two high-profile filmmakers from Pixar Animation Studios are now directing big-budget live action films: Brad Bird ("Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol") and Andrew Stanton ("John Carter").
It's no coincidence that more filmmakers are moving between the genres of animation and live action: Once rigidly distinct art forms, the two have become more and more alike. Live-action movies rely increasingly on digital effects, often created using the same techniques as those in computer-generated animation films. Meanwhile, animated films are depending more on motion capture, a filmmaking method in which the performances of human actors are used to animate digital character models.
There are financial reasons too for the genre migration, according to Bill Damaschke, co-president of production at DreamWorks Animation, where Del Toro serves as a creative consultant and where "The Squid and the Whale" director Noah Baumbach is currently writing the animated "Madagascar 3."
"Every year there are three to five animated films in the top 10" at the box office, said Damaschke. "Live action is a business that's contracted a bit. Fewer films get made, and many of them are branded properties. Working in animation, a medium that's breaking boundaries technology-wise, doing incredibly high-quality work for a wide audience is very attractive for the live-action filmmakers I've spoken to. The attention to story and detail, the control, being able to finesse and direct every aspect in such a slow and thoughtful process is something many of them have come to love."
"The Adventures of Tintin," which Spielberg directed and Jackson produced, is stretching the very definition of animation. The story of a boy adventurer created by the Belgian artist Hergé, "Tintin" makes the leap to the big screen via motion capture, with Jamie Bell as Tintin and Andy Serkis as his sidekick Capt. Haddock. Snowy, Tintin's canine companion, is a wholly animated character.
The tools Spielberg used to make Tintin are in many cases identical to ones James Cameron relied on for "Avatar," a movie treated by critics and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as live action.
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"We used the same technology for both. The difference is the director's intention," said Jamie Beard, animation supervisor at Weta Digital, Jackson's visual effects house, which worked on "Tintin" and "Avatar." "Jim [Cameron] wanted a real world for Pandora. He wanted it to feel real. With 'Tintin,' we wanted to bring the world of Hergé, we wanted it to be unto itself. You wouldn't walk into Hergé's world. It was a mind shift."
In both cases, animators and visual effects artists did pivotal work placing those human performances in fantastical worlds, a factor crucial for the academy to consider a film animated. Academy rules added in 2010 stipulate that "motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75% of the picture's running time."
In many ways, motion capture is the latest iteration of the constantly evolving art form of animation, according to "Happy Feet Two" director Miller. "Happy Feet," which Miller also directed, used motion-capture footage of dancers, such as Savion Glover, to help create the film's key effect: its dancing penguins. That film won the animated feature Oscar for 2006.
"In the old days, every raindrop was animated in 'Bambi,' every bit of water that ripples across a pool was animated," Miller said. "But now that's done as a simulation based on some algorithm. Motion capture … is yet another tool. As the filmmaking advances, the tools are used in better and better ways."
In motion capture, once an actor's movement is recorded, animators and visual effects artists begin their digital artistry on the image — turning a human dancer into a penguin, or an actor like Bell into a stylized character like Tintin.
"Happy Feet Two" is 94% animated, Miller said, with the rest of the film relying on motion capture and live-action filmmaking. As with the first film, the motion capture was used selectively, just for the scenes of penguins dancing.
"To be a great dancer, to be a Savion Glover, you're born with an innate gift, and you're dancing from the moment you're on your feet," Miller said, explaining why he used the technique. "An animator sitting at a desk drawing is a lifetime skill as well. To have those two skills combined [in one person] is unlikely. And to have that in many people — which you need for scenes with lots of characters — is even more unlikely."
The rapidly changing technology creates a dilemma come award season, however. Is that kind of on-screen magic the work of an actor or an animator? Is it a visual effect, which should be honored by the visual effects branch? What about the sweeping cinematography in this year's animated films — should it be considered by the cinematographer's branch?
Consider the opening sequence in "Cars 2," a James Bond-esque action sequence that takes place on the open sea. The technique used to create the digital waves helped earn a visual effects nomination for the 2000 live-action film "The Perfect Storm."
"Because of motion capture and CG animation, there's a whole lot of new stuff in terms of how we make these films," said Jim Morris, general manager and executive vice president of production at Pixar. "Some of it gets down to how you want to define it and how you want to recognize it. But it brings up a lot of questions. The beautiful camera work that Steven Spielberg does in 'Tintin' or Gore Verbinski does in 'Rango,' that stuff hasn't been traditionally recognized by the cinematography branch. None of it's been recognized much by the production design branch. There is as much artistry in the cinematography and the production design of those movies as there is in any live-action film. We're confronted with changing times and changing technologies, and it always takes time for people to recognize that and honor it."
CGI Studio Files for Chapter 11
(maxwelllegal.com) Bacon fanatics will be disappointed to know that the glistening strips of meat pictured in certain television commercials can’t be reproduced at their local fast food chain.
And sorry, sweet lovers, but that mouth-watering creamy caramel which forms a gooey chain in the latest Mars candy bar commercial isn’t edible either.
California-based Sway Studio is behind that visual food seduction. The firm, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, creates computer-generated enhancements for recognizable commercials. Remember the one where a pack of sharks swim alongside the fish filet-nibbling aquarium employee as she walks past their tank? What about the dancing champagne twists of Chandon bubbly?
Firm designers lined up a crowd of fake people to form numbers in a Cheerios commercial, appealing to directors who don’t like to fuss with human extras. In another project that Sway Studio claimed was a computer-generated first for Burger King, the firm enhanced the look of the sandwich that a hungry bystander held as he reported the chain’s mischievous mascot to police.
“Not only did our wraps move with a smooth, natural motion, the agency thought our CG food looked better than the real thing,” the firm’s website said.
The firm boasts a webpage where it compares real food to fake food it created, challenging viewers to pick out which one is computer-generated. (Hint: Look for the dab of bright yellow mustard that seems to ooze too perfectly from the burger’s folds.)
The company said it also created a software program that allows cars to virtually, and safely, traverse fake rocky hillsides and weave through obstacle courses.
But Sway Studio doesn’t get paid for its work until they deliver a new project. Without the money to finish up $324,586-worth of projects it has taken on for advertising studios, it sought to reassign the unfinished work to contracts to Big Block Inc., according to court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles. Big Block has agreed to hire two Sway Studio employees to finish the work.
Disney’s Bob Iger To Chair Academy Film Museum
(deadline.com) Beverly Hills, CA – Academy President Tom Sherak announced today that Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Bob Iger will serve as chairman of the capital campaign for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Actress Annette Bening and actor-producer Tom Hanks will join as co-chairs. “With Bob, Annette, and Tom’s leadership, our dream of finally opening a world-class film museum in Los Angeles will become a reality,” Sherak said.
As Academy CEO Dawn Hudson noted, “The momentum has been building for a long time, and with the enthusiasm Bob, Annette, and Tom all bring—and the respect they are accorded throughout the industry—we have marked the beginning of a new chapter for this project.”
Earlier this fall, the Academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced their intention to work together in establishing the Academy-run museum in the historic May Co. building, currently known as LACMA West. With permanent and rotating exhibitions, the museum is intended to provide an interactive experience that will explore how motion pictures have evolved and how they continue to change.
“The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures represents a bold new way of saving and presenting film history,” said Iger. “It will innovate not only the museum experience, but also the public’s relationship to the art form.”
“I am thrilled to be part of this crucial phase in what will be an extraordinary landmark,” Bening remarked. “It will give so much to our city, to historians, and to visitors from all over the world, who love movies.”
Animated Pics Boost Property Values
(variety.com) While Pixar director John Lasseter was promoting "Cars" around the world in 2006, he began envisioning a sequel with sports-car star Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater on the international Grand Prix circuit. Five years later, those familiar characters finally arrived on the world stage, and got snared in a spy caper to boot.
But "Cars 2" is just one of several 2011 toon releases that owe their existence to popular predecessors. DreamWorks delivered "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots," while Walt Disney Animation released a new "Winnie the Pooh" in the classic handdrawn style. Beloved comicbook characters also got star turns this year, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson transforming Belgian cartoonist Herge's globe-trotting reporter into "The Adventures of Tintin," while another Belgian comics property -- Peyo's blue-skinned, ankle-high Schtroumpfs -- was animated by Sony in the CG/live-action hybrid "The Smurfs," which was so successful that it's already spawning a sequel. Clearly, franchise property values are staying high in this corner of Hollywood.
Full article: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047072/
"X-Men" Sequel Evolves Into Greenlight
With this past Summer's successful reboot of the "X-Men" franchise, questions have now arisen as to when can we expect a sequel and/or where the franchise will go next.
20th Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman tells MTV News that a sequel to director Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class" is a go, it's just a question of timing - “It’s ‘go’ in the sense that we’re trying like hell. We’re trying as hard as we can. We really want to do it. We’re planning to do it. But the reason, in addition to [Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy] and Matthew Vaughn, that it was as good as it was that the script was really good. The key to making a great continuing franchise is to have a great script, so we’re working hard on it.”
Will Vaughn return? “I know he’d like to. We certainly would like him to. But it’s a matter of, as I said, getting a script that’s really worthy.”
422 to Animate Britain
(broadcastnow.co.uk) Bristol-based animation and VFX company 422 South has been commissioned by BBC Scotland to produce CGI and graphics for Britain Beneath Our Feet.
Each of the four episodes will include images of the present day, which resolve into a photo-real construction of how the landscape used to look.
Fourth "Transformers" To Shoot Next Year?
(darkhorizons.com) No surprise here, Michael Bay is in final negotiations to direct a new "Transformers" film for Paramount Pictures reports Vulture.
Bay has recently been developing his long-gestating personal project, the black comedy "Pain and Gain" about two dimwitted Miami bodybuilders who kidnap a businessman. However he has been having issues finding a studio and financing for the film.
As a result it looks like the deal being discussed will allow Bay to do both at Paramount - the helmer getting a green light on 'Pain' in exchange for a commitment to a fourth outing with the Autobots.
In fact if the deal closes, then the helmer is expected to shoot 'Pain' starting in the early Spring while prepping a fourth 'Transformers' at the same time. This would allow him to segue from principal photography on 'Pain' to shooting 'Transformers 4' in the second half of next year.
"Spielberg does this all the time where you’re doing art development and visual effects tests on your next movie while you’re still shooting the current one. The beauty of Michael doing Pain and Gain is that there’s no [technical] complexity to it compared to Transformers" an insider tells the paper.
An official announcement is expected as early as next week.
Star Wars Camera Sells For $625,000
(tgdaily.com) Movie buffs everywhere, myself included, are somewhat freaked out that film cameras will no longer be manufactured, as everything in Hollywood is going digital.
In fact, the last celluloid camera just rolled off the assembly line, and for one fan with a lot of money, that makes his purchase of the camera that filmed Star Wars an even greater collector’s item.
Star Wars camera sells for $625,000Yes, the camera that shot the original 1977 Star Wars went for a record $625,000 at auction to a private buyer. It breaks the record for Star Wars memorabilia, and is the most anyone’s paid for a film camera at an auction.
Interestingly enough, Charlie Chaplin’s handcrank camera didn’t sell at this auction. (It went for a minimum price of $200,000.)
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the camera is a Panavision PSR 35mm, and Star Wars was also blown up to 70mm in its initial run.
The Star Wars cinematographer was Gilbert Taylor, who had previously shot A Hard Day’s Night, and Dr. Strangelove, among many other titles. As director Richard Donner recalled on The Omen’s DVD commentary, he brought Taylor out of retirement to shoot The Omen, then some reels of his work were shown to Lucas, who hired Taylor to film Star Wars.
The previous record for Star Wars memorabilia was $402,500 for an original model TIE-fighter, sold at auction in 2008, and a Darth Vader helmet from Empire, which went for $70,000 at auction in 2003.
Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/60073-star-wars-camera-sells-for-625000
-H Audiences are experiencing VFX on the same timeline that filmmakers are creating them. Audiences don't want to go back to what’s been done before. -Joe Johnston
(giantfreakinrobot.com) John Carter isn’t even arriving in theaters until March 9th, 2012, but like many a high-profile would-be blockbuster before it, they’re already got their eyes on the franchise. Bleeding Cool was in London to see John Carter director Andrew Stanton premiering some clips from the film, and they’re reporting that Stanton is already working on the potential second and third movies. Think that’s optimistic? If Stanton has his way, he’ll “go to all eleven stories and make more.”
Stanton said that they bought the rights for the first three of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ John Carter books at the outset. (That includes A Princess of Mars, The Gods of Mars, and The Warlord of Mars.) While he is working on planning out the second and third movies, he’s not exactly counting pre-hatched chickens just yet. Here’s what he said:
I never expected anyone to say we’d definitely do more than one. It’s a huge risk for them… and it’s a huge chunk of change to make any of these movies, something this big. So it made complete sense to me, from their side of the fence, to wait until the movie’s out.
So if the worst is that it was just a writing exercise for me to plan the others and then I never get to do them, I don’t think I’ll have any regrets. So we’ve been planning out all three all along, just on the chance that they do go ahead.
Even if the movie isn’t the kind of success it needs to be and we only get one John Carter movie, fans will still get to see bits of the later books. While the movie is mostly based on A Princess of Mars, the script also draws in elements from the rest of the series, including a villain in the form of Matai Shang (played in the film by Mark Strong):
There was no main villain in Princess of Mars, and the villain would change every few chapters. There’s that axiom “You’re only as good as your villain” and I don’t know if that’s true but I didn’t want to find out the hard way. I went to later books and found a villain that did scope over multiple stories, and I brought him in earlier.
He had an agenda that was equal to the scope of Carter, and that’s how I’d want to balance it out anyway with any antagonistic situation even if I was making an original film. We were just using good old school storytelling techniques.
In the books by Burroughs, Matai Shang was a leader of a Martian cult called the Holy Therns, who practiced slavery and human (Martian?) sacrifices. Does that mean we’ll see John Carter going up against the Holy Therns onscreen next March? Either way, it’s cool to know that Stanton is thinking big and planning for John Carter’s future. Fingers crossed that we get to see it.
Will Jurassic Park Return in 3D?
(tgdaily.com) It's still a few years away from the 20th anniversary of Jurassic Park, but apparently there are waves of nostalgia flooding back for the classic film.
While movies can certainly feel CGI'd to death these days, and there were obviously computer effects before Jurassic Park, it was Steven Spielberg's dinosaur epic that really let the genie out of the bottle for the technology, and it's changed the world of film forever.
Will Jurassic Park return in 3D?Now Collider reports the first Jurassic Park may be converted to 3D, and yes, there is still talk about another Jurassic Park film on the horizon.
The publication interviewed long time Spielberg producer Kathleen Kennedy, whose industry credits include E.T., The Sixth Sense, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, along with Tintin and War Horse. (Kennedy also executive produced Goonies and Back the Future, among many others).
First, on whether the original Jurassic will be converted to 3D, Kennedy said they've been approached by Universal to do it, but the question is whether Spielberg can pencil it into his always hectic schedule.
"I'm not a huge proponent of post-conversion, but I think if the filmmakers gets intricately involved in the post-conversion – I think it can be really, really good and I think Jurassic Park is a perfect example of a movie that could work really, really well as a 3D picture," she said.
Kennedy added, "I also think it's tricky because unless you framed the movie with [3D] in mind, not all those shots - it's not necessarily going to translate, and so that's what you've go to have the DP and you've got to have the director frame-by-frame involved in the process of that conversion."
As for whether there will be a Jurassic 4 depends on the script, although Kennedy mentioned there's already plans for a Tintin sequel for Christmas 2014 or Summer 2015.
For Jurassic 4, Kennedy told writer Adam Chitwood, "We have a very high bar for ourselves because we're just like the audience, we don't want to make the movie if there's not a reason to make the movie... We're in the midst of working on that right now."
Tom Cruise Flying High On Top Gun 2
(MTV) Tom Cruise confirmed to MTV that he is involved in Top Gun 2 saying "We're working on it.".
Christopher McQuarrie was previously hired to write the script for the sequel, but it doesn't sound like he will have time. "I don't think Chris [McQuarrie] is going to write it. Chris is directing 'One Shot' right now, which I'm acting in. We've got to go back in January and finish it," he said.
About reuniting with director Tony Scott and producer Jerry Bruckheimer for the possible sequel, Cruise said that "Tony and I and Jerry, we never thought that we would do it again. Then they started to come to us with these ideas of where it is now. I thought, 'Wow, that would be ... what we could do now.'"
Cruise added: "If we can find a story that we all want to do, we all want to make a film that is in the same kind of tone as the other one and shoot it in the same way as we shot 'Top Gun.'"
Eye on the Oscars: Animation - 'Rango'
(variety.com) The western boasts several firsts, including an unlikely bug-eyed chameleon hero starring in the first animation film for both "Pirates of the Caribbean" helmer Gore Verbinski and industry vfx powerhouse ILM.
"Doing an animated film was completely new for so many of us, so there were a lot of challenges," reports production designer Crash McCreery. "Gore and I are huge Western fans, especially the classic Westerns with the dense, gritty atmosphere, so our approach from the start was to make a Western first, then an animated film second."
The team began by focusing on the characters and a photo-real style "that I don't think had been done to this extent before," McCreery says. "We kept telling ILM, 'Put more fuzz on it,' meaning we wanted to get away from that typical, hard-edged shiny CG look. We wanted frayed edges on the costumes and a blurry line between characters in the foreground and background, so that it all felt far more filmic than the usual animation."
To achieve this look, the team broke time-honored toon rules of texture and palette, even going so far as to use desaturated colors. "It probably helped (that we hadn't made an animated film before) as we just kept pushing to get what we wanted," he says. "We didn't set any limits as far as rendering capabilities, and ILM was with us the whole way. People have asked us, 'Where did you shoot it?' but it's all animated. Now that we have the pipeline worked out, we're discussing other possible projects as we all loved the animation process."
Holographic "The Time Is Now" Oscar Ad For Andy Serkis
(firstshowing.net) I guess the time really IS now. I received an email with a link to a video of the cover of an upcoming issue of The Hollywood Reporter, the print edition (they still have one?). The cover is unique because, not only is it an Oscar ad supporting Andy Serkis for Best Supporting Actor in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it's a holographic ad, the video shows as you move it the face morphs from Andy to Caesar and back. It's pretty damn cool. I'd actually love one of these (hey THR!) to see in real life. We just wrote about the launch of Fox's "The Time is Now" Oscar campaign for Serkis, which is getting a bigger push coming up, it seems.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNv3QwTZweg&feature=player_embedded
Digital Reshapes Prod'n Budgeting, Billing
“Hugo” shows how digital has changed the production process.
“Hugo” shows how digital has changed the production process.
Holdouts and traditionalists may be sticking with 35mm film, but the digital revolution has triumphed.
You probably knew that, even if you don't like it. What you may not have fully grasped yet, though, is that this revolution means more than doing the same things you've always done but now with digital gear. It means changing the way you think about your work, the way you do your work, and, in many cases, the way your work is billed and paid for.
Consider Martin Scorsese's 3D pic "Hugo" and visual effects company Pixomondo.
In the analog world, f/x were "post." The editor and director locked their cut and handed it over to visual effects, hoping they'd have no regrets when they saw the result. Changes late in the game were difficult and expensive. Most visual effects studios still charge on a flat-bid model left over from those days, based on cost per shot.
Digital editing is more fluid, though. It starts earlier -- on some pics rough cutting starts before a scene is done shooting -- and continues later. That shift thrown the vfx business model for a loop. Since the cut isn't locked early, vfx studios are coping with continuous adds and changes that weren't in their flat bid.
Scorsese and longtime film editor Thelma Schoonmaker like to experiment with their cut almost up to the pic's delivery date. On "Hugo," they had a short post-production period by their standards -- about 38 weeks instead of the 58-68 weeks they prefer -- and a vast number of 3D visual effects to be completed. Adds and changes were inevitable.
Full article: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047168
Fantastic Four & Daredevil Get The Reboot
(comingsoon.net) Fox is still developing its reboots of the "Daredevil" and "Fantastic Four" franchises. Rothman says “Daredevil is still with David Slade. It’s in development now. We’re working on it and Fantastic Four. I think for all of us, the bar has been raised, so we’ve got to aim high now. Marvel’s done a terrific job with their films. Where our Marvel movies are concerned or other movies like that. It’s like what we had with Planet of the Apes this summer. I think it’s important for us to really aim high and deliver an A-level experience to the audience.”
MAAC and VFX to Host Eighth 24 FPS Awards 2011
Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) – leader in 3D Animation and VFX training has announced to host the eighth 24 FPS Awards 2011 in association with United Nations Information Centre (UNIC). India’s most coveted animation awards are to be held at The Leela in Andheri, Mumbai on 9th December 2011. This time around, MAAC has joined hands with UNIC to promote the 8 Millennium Goals through 24FPS where the movies based on the set theme will be used to drive and accomplish the 8 Millennium Development Goals.
With over 1000 entries from countries like China, France, Germany and the US and over 5000 animation enthusiasts expected to attend, this larger than life event is getting bigger by every passing year and will have more professionals than ever before. The jury of 24FPS 2011 consists of more than 38 industry stalwarts from across the world.
Over the last eight years, this event has gained momentous support from the global animation fraternity and has been a key driver and promoter of fresh animation talent in the country.
Animation Techniques Create Oscar Quandary
(theenvelope.latimes.com) After losing an Oscar, Walt Disney once remarked, "Disney has never actually been part of Hollywood ... I think they refer to us as being in the cornfield in Burbank."
Consider this the year Hollywood invaded the animation cornfield. The animated feature Oscar field is crowded with traditionally live-action Hollywood filmmakers, including Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson ("The Adventures of Tintin"), Gore Verbinski ("Rango"), George Miller ("Happy Feet Two") and Guillermo del Toro (executive producer of "Puss in Boots" and "Kung Fu Panda 2"). At the same time, two high-profile filmmakers from Pixar Animation Studios are now directing big-budget live action films: Brad Bird ("Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol") and Andrew Stanton ("John Carter").
It's no coincidence that more filmmakers are moving between the genres of animation and live action: Once rigidly distinct art forms, the two have become more and more alike. Live-action movies rely increasingly on digital effects, often created using the same techniques as those in computer-generated animation films. Meanwhile, animated films are depending more on motion capture, a filmmaking method in which the performances of human actors are used to animate digital character models.
There are financial reasons too for the genre migration, according to Bill Damaschke, co-president of production at DreamWorks Animation, where Del Toro serves as a creative consultant and where "The Squid and the Whale" director Noah Baumbach is currently writing the animated "Madagascar 3."
"Every year there are three to five animated films in the top 10" at the box office, said Damaschke. "Live action is a business that's contracted a bit. Fewer films get made, and many of them are branded properties. Working in animation, a medium that's breaking boundaries technology-wise, doing incredibly high-quality work for a wide audience is very attractive for the live-action filmmakers I've spoken to. The attention to story and detail, the control, being able to finesse and direct every aspect in such a slow and thoughtful process is something many of them have come to love."
"The Adventures of Tintin," which Spielberg directed and Jackson produced, is stretching the very definition of animation. The story of a boy adventurer created by the Belgian artist Hergé, "Tintin" makes the leap to the big screen via motion capture, with Jamie Bell as Tintin and Andy Serkis as his sidekick Capt. Haddock. Snowy, Tintin's canine companion, is a wholly animated character.
The tools Spielberg used to make Tintin are in many cases identical to ones James Cameron relied on for "Avatar," a movie treated by critics and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as live action.
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"We used the same technology for both. The difference is the director's intention," said Jamie Beard, animation supervisor at Weta Digital, Jackson's visual effects house, which worked on "Tintin" and "Avatar." "Jim [Cameron] wanted a real world for Pandora. He wanted it to feel real. With 'Tintin,' we wanted to bring the world of Hergé, we wanted it to be unto itself. You wouldn't walk into Hergé's world. It was a mind shift."
In both cases, animators and visual effects artists did pivotal work placing those human performances in fantastical worlds, a factor crucial for the academy to consider a film animated. Academy rules added in 2010 stipulate that "motion capture by itself is not an animation technique. In addition, a significant number of the major characters must be animated, and animation must figure in no less than 75% of the picture's running time."
In many ways, motion capture is the latest iteration of the constantly evolving art form of animation, according to "Happy Feet Two" director Miller. "Happy Feet," which Miller also directed, used motion-capture footage of dancers, such as Savion Glover, to help create the film's key effect: its dancing penguins. That film won the animated feature Oscar for 2006.
"In the old days, every raindrop was animated in 'Bambi,' every bit of water that ripples across a pool was animated," Miller said. "But now that's done as a simulation based on some algorithm. Motion capture … is yet another tool. As the filmmaking advances, the tools are used in better and better ways."
In motion capture, once an actor's movement is recorded, animators and visual effects artists begin their digital artistry on the image — turning a human dancer into a penguin, or an actor like Bell into a stylized character like Tintin.
"Happy Feet Two" is 94% animated, Miller said, with the rest of the film relying on motion capture and live-action filmmaking. As with the first film, the motion capture was used selectively, just for the scenes of penguins dancing.
"To be a great dancer, to be a Savion Glover, you're born with an innate gift, and you're dancing from the moment you're on your feet," Miller said, explaining why he used the technique. "An animator sitting at a desk drawing is a lifetime skill as well. To have those two skills combined [in one person] is unlikely. And to have that in many people — which you need for scenes with lots of characters — is even more unlikely."
The rapidly changing technology creates a dilemma come award season, however. Is that kind of on-screen magic the work of an actor or an animator? Is it a visual effect, which should be honored by the visual effects branch? What about the sweeping cinematography in this year's animated films — should it be considered by the cinematographer's branch?
Consider the opening sequence in "Cars 2," a James Bond-esque action sequence that takes place on the open sea. The technique used to create the digital waves helped earn a visual effects nomination for the 2000 live-action film "The Perfect Storm."
"Because of motion capture and CG animation, there's a whole lot of new stuff in terms of how we make these films," said Jim Morris, general manager and executive vice president of production at Pixar. "Some of it gets down to how you want to define it and how you want to recognize it. But it brings up a lot of questions. The beautiful camera work that Steven Spielberg does in 'Tintin' or Gore Verbinski does in 'Rango,' that stuff hasn't been traditionally recognized by the cinematography branch. None of it's been recognized much by the production design branch. There is as much artistry in the cinematography and the production design of those movies as there is in any live-action film. We're confronted with changing times and changing technologies, and it always takes time for people to recognize that and honor it."
CGI Studio Files for Chapter 11
(maxwelllegal.com) Bacon fanatics will be disappointed to know that the glistening strips of meat pictured in certain television commercials can’t be reproduced at their local fast food chain.
And sorry, sweet lovers, but that mouth-watering creamy caramel which forms a gooey chain in the latest Mars candy bar commercial isn’t edible either.
California-based Sway Studio is behind that visual food seduction. The firm, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, creates computer-generated enhancements for recognizable commercials. Remember the one where a pack of sharks swim alongside the fish filet-nibbling aquarium employee as she walks past their tank? What about the dancing champagne twists of Chandon bubbly?
Firm designers lined up a crowd of fake people to form numbers in a Cheerios commercial, appealing to directors who don’t like to fuss with human extras. In another project that Sway Studio claimed was a computer-generated first for Burger King, the firm enhanced the look of the sandwich that a hungry bystander held as he reported the chain’s mischievous mascot to police.
“Not only did our wraps move with a smooth, natural motion, the agency thought our CG food looked better than the real thing,” the firm’s website said.
The firm boasts a webpage where it compares real food to fake food it created, challenging viewers to pick out which one is computer-generated. (Hint: Look for the dab of bright yellow mustard that seems to ooze too perfectly from the burger’s folds.)
The company said it also created a software program that allows cars to virtually, and safely, traverse fake rocky hillsides and weave through obstacle courses.
But Sway Studio doesn’t get paid for its work until they deliver a new project. Without the money to finish up $324,586-worth of projects it has taken on for advertising studios, it sought to reassign the unfinished work to contracts to Big Block Inc., according to court documents filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles. Big Block has agreed to hire two Sway Studio employees to finish the work.
Disney’s Bob Iger To Chair Academy Film Museum
(deadline.com) Beverly Hills, CA – Academy President Tom Sherak announced today that Walt Disney Co. President and CEO Bob Iger will serve as chairman of the capital campaign for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Actress Annette Bening and actor-producer Tom Hanks will join as co-chairs. “With Bob, Annette, and Tom’s leadership, our dream of finally opening a world-class film museum in Los Angeles will become a reality,” Sherak said.
As Academy CEO Dawn Hudson noted, “The momentum has been building for a long time, and with the enthusiasm Bob, Annette, and Tom all bring—and the respect they are accorded throughout the industry—we have marked the beginning of a new chapter for this project.”
Earlier this fall, the Academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art announced their intention to work together in establishing the Academy-run museum in the historic May Co. building, currently known as LACMA West. With permanent and rotating exhibitions, the museum is intended to provide an interactive experience that will explore how motion pictures have evolved and how they continue to change.
“The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures represents a bold new way of saving and presenting film history,” said Iger. “It will innovate not only the museum experience, but also the public’s relationship to the art form.”
“I am thrilled to be part of this crucial phase in what will be an extraordinary landmark,” Bening remarked. “It will give so much to our city, to historians, and to visitors from all over the world, who love movies.”
Animated Pics Boost Property Values
(variety.com) While Pixar director John Lasseter was promoting "Cars" around the world in 2006, he began envisioning a sequel with sports-car star Lightning McQueen and tow truck Mater on the international Grand Prix circuit. Five years later, those familiar characters finally arrived on the world stage, and got snared in a spy caper to boot.
But "Cars 2" is just one of several 2011 toon releases that owe their existence to popular predecessors. DreamWorks delivered "Kung Fu Panda 2" and the "Shrek" spin-off "Puss in Boots," while Walt Disney Animation released a new "Winnie the Pooh" in the classic handdrawn style. Beloved comicbook characters also got star turns this year, with Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson transforming Belgian cartoonist Herge's globe-trotting reporter into "The Adventures of Tintin," while another Belgian comics property -- Peyo's blue-skinned, ankle-high Schtroumpfs -- was animated by Sony in the CG/live-action hybrid "The Smurfs," which was so successful that it's already spawning a sequel. Clearly, franchise property values are staying high in this corner of Hollywood.
Full article: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118047072/
"X-Men" Sequel Evolves Into Greenlight
With this past Summer's successful reboot of the "X-Men" franchise, questions have now arisen as to when can we expect a sequel and/or where the franchise will go next.
20th Century Fox chairman Tom Rothman tells MTV News that a sequel to director Matthew Vaughn's "X-Men: First Class" is a go, it's just a question of timing - “It’s ‘go’ in the sense that we’re trying like hell. We’re trying as hard as we can. We really want to do it. We’re planning to do it. But the reason, in addition to [Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy] and Matthew Vaughn, that it was as good as it was that the script was really good. The key to making a great continuing franchise is to have a great script, so we’re working hard on it.”
Will Vaughn return? “I know he’d like to. We certainly would like him to. But it’s a matter of, as I said, getting a script that’s really worthy.”
422 to Animate Britain
(broadcastnow.co.uk) Bristol-based animation and VFX company 422 South has been commissioned by BBC Scotland to produce CGI and graphics for Britain Beneath Our Feet.
Each of the four episodes will include images of the present day, which resolve into a photo-real construction of how the landscape used to look.
Fourth "Transformers" To Shoot Next Year?
(darkhorizons.com) No surprise here, Michael Bay is in final negotiations to direct a new "Transformers" film for Paramount Pictures reports Vulture.
Bay has recently been developing his long-gestating personal project, the black comedy "Pain and Gain" about two dimwitted Miami bodybuilders who kidnap a businessman. However he has been having issues finding a studio and financing for the film.
As a result it looks like the deal being discussed will allow Bay to do both at Paramount - the helmer getting a green light on 'Pain' in exchange for a commitment to a fourth outing with the Autobots.
In fact if the deal closes, then the helmer is expected to shoot 'Pain' starting in the early Spring while prepping a fourth 'Transformers' at the same time. This would allow him to segue from principal photography on 'Pain' to shooting 'Transformers 4' in the second half of next year.
"Spielberg does this all the time where you’re doing art development and visual effects tests on your next movie while you’re still shooting the current one. The beauty of Michael doing Pain and Gain is that there’s no [technical] complexity to it compared to Transformers" an insider tells the paper.
An official announcement is expected as early as next week.
Star Wars Camera Sells For $625,000
(tgdaily.com) Movie buffs everywhere, myself included, are somewhat freaked out that film cameras will no longer be manufactured, as everything in Hollywood is going digital.
In fact, the last celluloid camera just rolled off the assembly line, and for one fan with a lot of money, that makes his purchase of the camera that filmed Star Wars an even greater collector’s item.
Star Wars camera sells for $625,000Yes, the camera that shot the original 1977 Star Wars went for a record $625,000 at auction to a private buyer. It breaks the record for Star Wars memorabilia, and is the most anyone’s paid for a film camera at an auction.
Interestingly enough, Charlie Chaplin’s handcrank camera didn’t sell at this auction. (It went for a minimum price of $200,000.)
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, the camera is a Panavision PSR 35mm, and Star Wars was also blown up to 70mm in its initial run.
The Star Wars cinematographer was Gilbert Taylor, who had previously shot A Hard Day’s Night, and Dr. Strangelove, among many other titles. As director Richard Donner recalled on The Omen’s DVD commentary, he brought Taylor out of retirement to shoot The Omen, then some reels of his work were shown to Lucas, who hired Taylor to film Star Wars.
The previous record for Star Wars memorabilia was $402,500 for an original model TIE-fighter, sold at auction in 2008, and a Darth Vader helmet from Empire, which went for $70,000 at auction in 2003.
Source: http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/60073-star-wars-camera-sells-for-625000
-H Audiences are experiencing VFX on the same timeline that filmmakers are creating them. Audiences don't want to go back to what’s been done before. -Joe Johnston
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