Worth a mention - 02/28/12

The Lone Ranger Starts Principal Photography

(Walt Disney Pictures) Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films announced today the start of principal photography of The Lone Ranger:

Production has commenced on location in New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and Colorado on Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films’ epic adventure “The Lone Ranger.” The film reunites the filmmaking team of the first three “Pirates of the Caribbean” blockbusters—producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski—with Johnny Depp, who created Captain Jack Sparrow in his iconic, Academy Award®-nominated performance and contributed the voice of the title character of Verbinski’s Academy Award-winning “Rango.”

Depp plays spirit warrior Tonto in “The Lone Ranger,” with Armie Hammer (“The Social Network,” “J. Edgar”) starring in the title role. Depp and Hammer are joined by a prestigious international cast which includes Tom Wilkinson, two-time Academy Award nominee (“Michael Clayton,” “In the Bedroom”) and Golden Globe® and Emmy® winner (“John Adams”); William Fichtner (Jerry Bruckheimer’s productions of “Armageddon,” “Pearl Harbor” and “Black Hawk Down”); Emmy Award-winner Barry Pepper (TV’s “The Kennedys,” “True Grit,” “Saving Private Ryan”); James Badge Dale (“The Grey,” TV’s “The Pacific” and “Rubicon”); Ruth Wilson (television’s “Jane Eyre” and “Luther”); and two-time Academy Award nominee and six-time Golden Globe nominee Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech,” “Alice in Wonderland”). The film is slated to open on May 31, 2013.

“The Lone Ranger” is a thrilling adventure infused with action and humor, in which the famed masked hero is brought to life through new eyes. Native American spirit warrior Tonto (Johnny Depp) recounts the untold tales that transformed John Reid (Armie Hammer), a man of the law, into a legend of justice—taking the audience on a runaway train of epic surprises and humorous friction as the two unlikely heroes must learn to work together and fight against greed and corruption.

“The Lone Ranger” is written by Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio of “Pirates of the Caribbean,” Eric Aronson and Justin Haythe. The executive producers are Mike Stenson, Chad Oman, Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, Eric Ellenbogen and Eric McLeod.

“The Lone Ranger” will film exteriors and studio work in New Mexico, followed by locations in Arizona, Utah and Colorado.




The Avengers To Be Renamed Avengers Assemble In The UK

(bleedingcool.com) In the sixties, there was a British TV series that also aired in the US, called The Avengers. A tongue-in-cheek spy action adventure series starring a bowler hatted pinstripe-suited dapper fellow and selected beauties in skintight leather as his foil.

They even made a rather poor film of the series a few years ago. Everyone tried to forget it.

Nevertheless, that original Avengers TV show still has a certain following in the UK and, it seems, in an attempt to avoid confusion,the upcoming Marvel Studio film The Avengers is to be renamed Avengers Assemble for the UK market. And here’s the new poster as proof…

Take a look: http://cdn.bleedingcool.net/wp-content/uploads//2012/02/02_AVG_Online1Sht_UK2_rgb.jpg?f2df00




Why Andrew Stanton Dedicated ‘John Carter’ To Steve Jobs

(slashfilm.com) When Steve Jobs died in October of last year, it was a blow to us all. The loss was felt especially hard at Pixar, the successful film company he helped not only create, but isolate from the Hollywood machine. John Carter, directed by one of Pixar’s most prolific directors, Andrew Stanton, comes out next week and though it’s not Pixar, the film is dedicated to the memory of the legendary businessman and inventor. During the credits, a card says:

Dedicated to the Memory of Steve Jobs, an Inspiration to Us All

At a recent press junket, Stanton was asked why he decided to dedicated Carter to Jobs and his answer was both logisically sound and beautifully poignant. Read it after the jump.

Here’s what Stanton said when asked if he’d talk about why the film was dedicated to Jobs:

We just happened to be, sadly, the first production up that was Disney that wanted to give [a dedication]. And I personally wanted to. I talked to John [Lassater] about it because I didn’t want to steal any thunder from Pixar’s dedication because that’s really the real family member for Steve. But it felt right just cause I didn’t want too much time to pass without giving him some sort of permanent acknowledgement. And I talked to his wife.

It was kind of eerie because on the set I would get asked all the time, from all these people, ‘What Pixar was like?’ And it was fascinating to talk to all these movie people that knew all the films, but some of them didn’t even know Pixar was in San Francisco. It was funny. They knew of us, they knew of these movies and knew there was something different but they didn’t get it to the point [where they knew] where we were and stuff. And it would be such a long explanation to them about, trying to tell them why it ran differently and why the movie came out the way they did, that I ended up just simplifying my answer down to ‘Steve. Steve’s why.’

And I did really realize how much, because I was now living it. I was now pregnant with the dysfunction of Hollywood to make this movie and how this all works, the good and the bad, and it was amazing to see how much he had firewalled us from. Like we knew he had, but he had truly firewalled us and protected us from all the bad influences of the outside world and we had just been raised in this little eden in San Francisco and had no clue how bad it could be. And so I really have to give so much more credit to him than I ever was, even though I always was, of how much he was a major factor for Pixar.

John Carter, complete with Steve Jobs dedication, will be released March 9. Check back soon for our one-on-one interviews with Taylor Kitsch and Andrew Stanton.




Marin Planners OK Huge Lucasfilm Project

(mercurynews.com) Filmmaker George Lucas' plan for a huge digital production studio on the old Grady Ranch in Lucas Valley won a unanimous vote of approval from Marin County planning commissioners Monday as officials agreed the project was in line with a master plan approved more than a decade ago -- and will have little impact on the environment.

The project, which will be largely hidden from view, will take three years to complete. The commission's decision may be appealed to the Board of Supervisors.

The panel acted after considering the project and an environmental analysis for more than six hours, during which three dozen speakers rose to take stands pro and con. A commission request that those on opposite sides rise indicated the audience of about 100 people was fairly evenly split on the project.

Lucas wants to transform 52 acres into a three-story digital technology production center flanked by two towers rising amid 187 acres of open space. Plans feature 51,000 square feet of film stages, 27,918 square feet of screening rooms, a 4,381-square-foot cafe, a 1,151-square-foot kitchen, 20 units providing 11,228 square feet of guest quarters, a general store and a gym. The building will top underground parking for 202 cars and 24 bicycles.

Outside, plans include nine bridges spanning creeks, as well as a 4,000-square-foot cave to age casks of wine from the filmmaker's 35 acres of vineyards. Excavated material will be used to build a knoll hiding
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the project from neighbors, and to shore up, raise and restore Miller, Grady and Landmark creeks.

Neighborhood residents called the large commercial structure with a footprint bigger than two football fields an aberration in their quiet residential community. They expressed worries about noise, traffic and night lighting, grading and creek erosion, and complained the project was being rushed without adequate environmental study -- and, in the case of downstream sedimentation and related issues, little apparent study at all.

But advocates called Lucas a good neighbor who spared the valley from suburban sprawl by saving 5,000 acres as open space, noted his other projects have proceeded with few if any problems, and added the latest plan will generate jobs and tax revenue while eliminating potential for residential development on land once zoned for up to 800 dwellings.

Commissioners came down solidly behind Lucas.

"It's a pleasure for me to vote yes," said Commissioner Katie Crecilius, citing the project's land stewardship, creek restoration program and "very attractive" design. "To tell you the truth, I'm a little sorry it's hidden from view."

Commissioner Don Dickenson generally agreed, although quickly added he wasn't unhappy the project will be screened behind a man-made knoll and landscaping.

Dickenson, rejecting claims from some that the use of the structure had changed from office use approved earlier to a commercial film factory, said county supervisors intended for the offices to support film production and added the latest project "was very clearly consistent with what the board approved in 1996."

Dickenson worked on Lucas' nearby Skywalker project in the 1970s as a county planner, but then as a San Rafael resident joined foes of initial plans for Grady Ranch, arguing then the use was inappropriate for the area. The land use decision was made by supervisors in 1996, he noted, and that battle is over.

But he added that much to his surprise, he found much to like about the new development plan, including its creek restoration program aimed at reducing erosion and sediment. He added he was stunned on a recent visit to Skywalker Ranch to view the extraordinary restoration of the old Bull Tail Creek.

"I was amazed," he said. "It's a totally different creek" after old cars, tires and other debris dumped over the years were removed and the area restored and replanted.

Commissioners tweaked a number of conditions, but in substance adopted recommendations of the planning staff, which noted the project was less intensive and more environmentally friendly than the project proposed in the 1996 master plan.

They limited on-site population of workers and guests to 340, required that the structure be painted a darker shade of tan, and said on a split vote that any further expansion plan may trigger a full-blown master plan hearing. At issue is 95,000 square feet of building space approved in 1996 but not part of the current project, and Lucasfilm officials may return at some point with plans for an archival storage building.

The commission vote came after a parade of speakers took varying stands.

Liz Dale, president of the Lucas Valley Estates Homeowners Association, which includes 174 homes next door to the project, repeated assertions that estates residents were not notified about the project in 1996, when the county approved a master plan outlining an even bigger complex next door.

Carolyn Lenert, head of the North San Rafael Coalition of Residents, added that a "rush to judgment" resulted in a process so flawed that residents were unable to get adequate information about the Lucas plan, and noted that a thick report on the project was issued by the county just a week ago.

Tom Taylor of Lucas Valley, an architect, said he was "appalled by the poor design of this project" that required 480,000 cubic yards of grading.

Others expressed concern about what will happen after Lucas' holdings pass on to his heirs. "Could it become a theme park? ... A resort hotel? A wine tasting establishment?" wondered Joy Dahlgren.

Other critics included the Marin Conservation League, Marin Audubon Society and the Las Gallinas Valley Sanitary District, which called for study of sedimentation impacts affecting its plant, more review of creek hydraulics and suggested the project use recycled water produced by the district.

But advocates cited Lucas' 30-year record of being a "good neighbor." Nicasio residents reported no problems with his development at Skywalker Ranch, and noted Lucas provides a firefighting force that helps the county without any taxpayer support.

Aimi Dutra, president of the Marin Builders Association, said the project would provide jobs that would help ease the construction industry's economic woes. "We are in a crisis" and the project will put people to work, she said. "They have a solid record, employ thousands of people and contribute millions to our economy."

"This is a fabulous company," added Cynthia Murray, head of the Northbay Leadership Council, of which Lucasfilm is a member. "It is a crown jewel for Marin. They have just been unbelievable stewards," she said, calling the plan a "model project."

Robert Eyler of the Marin Economic Forum said the project will create 690 jobs, including 460 construction jobs, adding that every job Lucasfilm creates in turn generates 2.7 more jobs for the Marin economy overall. Every $100 million in construction costs will provide an additional $82 million economic boost for the county -- in addition to $3.9 million in tax revenue, he estimated. "You're really talking about a job generator for Marin County," he said.

Dale Miller of the Lucas Valley Homeowners Association said that while the organization remains "neutral" on the project, he was an enthusiastic supporter.

And Jeff Grady of Novato, who remembered growing up on the old ranch run by his grandfather, Bob, said it is time to allow Lucas to move forward.

A master plan was approved 15 years ago, Lucas donated 800 acres of that ranch to the county as open space, and has met other conditions. "He has more than made good on his obligations," Grady said.





6 Animators Turned Filmmakers

(shadowlocked.com) Who knew animator to director was a legitimate career path?

The recent success of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) has seen Brad Bird make the successful jump from animation to live-action filmmaking. Bird is best known for his work on Pixar productions The Incredibles (2004) and Ratatouille (2007), and for his cult classic animation The Iron Giant (1999).

Alongside Bird, this year a number of prominent animators are set to follow the same course. The upcoming buddy cop comedy 21 Jump Street (2012) – based on the popular eighties TV show of the same name – is being directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the duo behind Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2011). March will also see Bird’s colleague from Pixar Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo (2003) and WALL-E (2008), enter the live-action arena with the big-budget blockbuster John Carter (2012).

Whereas it may seem a somewhat risky prospect to hire an animator to helm a major production, the likes of Bird and his cohorts are not the first individuals to make the transition to live-action filmmaking. In fact, some of the most successful and critically acclaimed contemporary directors started off as animators.

Full article: http://www.shadowlocked.com/201202272409/lists/6-animators-turned-filmmakers.html





Digital Domain Stereo Group Head Jeff Barnes Talks Business

(studiodaily.com) In 2010, Digital Domain acquired In-Three, creator of the proprietary Dimensionalization technology for 2D-to-3D conversion, and moved the bulk of its staff to Florida, where it was renamed the Digital Domain Stereo Group and became a key part of the new strategy for its parent company. The group is headed by Jeff Barnes, who co-founded The Computer Cafe Group in 1993 and worked as a VFX producer and/or production executive on films including Alice in Wonderland, Spider-Man 3, Sin City, and Pan's Labyrinth. He's also a board member and past Chairman of the Visual Effects Society. In an exclusive interview with StudioDaily, we asked him about DD's value proposition for 3D conversions, the company's co-production strategies, and staying ahead in a brutal business environment.

SD: It was kind of surprising to see the public backlash against 3D conversions that came with the release of Clash of the Titans.

JB: That was an interesting statement. It was the first time the public rose up and said, "We're not going to pay for this." On the other hand, I think Titanic is going to be huge for the industry, as well as the success that Disney has seen with animation conversion projects like The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast. The studios realize that they can repurpose all of their old titles and make a reasonable return as long as they take the time and do it right. And it really is about being realistic with time frames and budgets. Great stereo conversion work can be achieved if those parameters are kept in check.

Full article: http://www.studiodaily.com/main/news/headlines/Digital-Domain%C2%A0Stereo-Group-Head-Jeff-Barnes-Talks-Business_13679.html




Sony Acquires Dracula Mythology Pitch

(darkhorizons.com) Sony Pictures has acquired an untitled new pitch from "Machine Gun Preacher" and "Mirror Mirror" scribe Jason Keller described as a period origin story on the Dracula mythology reports Deadline.

"Snow White and the Huntsman" producers Joe Roth and Palak Patel will produce this film which the studio reportedly hopes will launch a period franchise.

The film joins several other Dracula-themed projects currently in development at the major studios, many with similar ideals of going back to the story of 15th century Romanian prince Vlad III whose bloody battles against the Ottoman Empire's expansion inspired his nickname (Vlad the Impaler) and the name of the titular vampire in Bram Stoker's classic 1897 novel.

Amongst them is Universal's "Dracula Year Zero" which previously had Sam Worthington attached to star, Warner Brothers' "Harker" with Russell Crowe linked, and a contemporary apocalyptic-themed film based on the novel trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.



Pa. Film Studio to Feature 'Avatar' Technology

(AP) PITTSBURGH — A Pittsburgh film studio has made deals with the creators of the computer animation used in the movie "Avatar" and other groups to open a new motion-capture production facility that is the first of its kind outside of Hollywood.

Chris Breakwell of The 31st Street Studios announced the deal that involves "Avatar" animators Knight Vision, Carnegie Mellon University's Entertainment Technology Center and Paramount On Location, a division of Paramount Studio Group that moves lighting, rigging and other movie-making equipment to remote shooting locations across the country.

Knight Vision creates computer animation by having humans wear costumes fitted with digital markers that computers can use to transfer the person's motion to an animated character. But the company's innovation is that filmmakers can see the digitally-created characters where they will appear in the film frame instead of having to imagine where they will be added using computers after the fact.

"We're going to do things no one else is doing anywhere," said James Knight, the company's founder. He's creating a new company, Knight Vision 31, that will employ technology even more advanced than that used to animate the 2009 Oscar-winning "Avatar" for Breakwell's Pittsburgh studio along the southern shore of the Allegheny River.

Knight said state tax credits and the chance to work with Carnegie Mellon University were keys to the Pittsburgh deal. The state offers up to $60 million in tax credits annually that filmmakers can put toward some production expenses, provided at least 60 percent of a film's total budget is spent in the state.

CMU's entertainment technology students will work with Knight Vision technology and hopefully become skilled enough to work for the company or do their own similar work.

"This is the way of the future," said Anthony Daniels, an actor and visiting professor at the Entertainment Technology Center, who is best known for portraying the cyborg C-3PO in the "Star Wars" movies. Daniels quipped that the studio deal is a "great coming together of the forces."

Movie productions have injected about $300 million into the Pittsburgh area in the last three years, including "The Dark Knight Rises," the new Batman sequel starring Christian Bale, and the Tom Cruise thriller "One Shot," both filmed in the city last year.

"Pittsburgh really is becoming the Hollywood of the East," Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald said at Monday's news conference. But even more exciting than having Bale and Cruise come to town is economic growth, Fitzgerald said.

"What it really means to us is jobs," he said.




Universal Wants to Make More VFX Blockbuster Films

(latino-review.com) Imagine you’re Peter Berg. You used to be known best for your acting (and still are in some circles), but lately you’ve decided to focus on directing. You’ve directed mostly smaller films and produced/created a critically lauded television series based on one of your movies. You directed one of Hollywood’s biggest stars in one of his most profitable films, and now you’ve been handed the reigns to a movie Universal Pictures is setting up as their summer of 2012 tent pole film. You’re getting the script sorted out and lining up your actors when the heads of the studio call you into an urgent meeting. Needless to say, you’re slightly concerned.

You expect them to say, “Its too big, too expensive. Make it smaller. In these economic times, with audience attendance down, we want to spend less!” Instead they tell you to add another major action sequence and throw millions of dollars more into your budget. This is what happened to Mr Berg, and, understandably, he was shocked.

“It was one of the craziest meetings I’ve ever had,” recalled Berg. “They said, ‘We want to go bigger.’”

Universal Pictures has not been having a good run of it lately, they’ve been consistently on the bottom when ranking the major studio’s profits and have decided to make some changes.

Adam Fogelson and Donna Langley, chairman and co-chairman of Universal Pictures have decided to change Universal’s normal release tactics. Ordinarily they would only release one tent pole film per year. This year, however, they are releasing three: Berg’s Battleship, costing $211 million; along with Snow White and the Huntsman and the Keanu Reeves starring 47 Ronin, which each have a budget of $175 million.

Fogelson on the new thinking:

“This year you can see us marrying a new strategy with a level of resources that Universal has not had in the past. We are in complete agreement that we need to do better and are optimistic that we will.”

The new level of resource comes from Philadelphia’s Comcast Corp., who bought a controlling interest in NBCUniveral, the studio’s parent company.

Langley’s perspective:

“We can no longer afford to make movies that we love creatively, but where the scenario for success is marginal and the scenario for failure is cataclysmic.”

One of the reasons Fogelson and Langley have chosen to focus on the bigger budget spectacles is the overseas market. Huge franchise films like Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean have done exceptionally well over seas and those markets seem to prefer the larger films.

I’m not sure how I feel about Universal openly sacrificing creativity for profits. From an artistic perspective its a glaring misstep, but from a business perspective it makes sense, at least on paper. After all, it is called show business. There must be a happy medium though.



San Francisco's Stop-Motion Explosion!

(missionlocal.org)

Start: March 3, 2012 8:00 pm

Venue: Oddball Films

Address: 275 Capp Street, San Francisco, CA, United States, 94110

Oddball Films and guest curator Kat Shuchter bring you Stop-Motion Explosion!, a program of mind-blowing stop-motion animation from the 1930s to the 1980’s. In a world saturated with CGI, Oddball Films opens the vaults to celebrate when historical, fantastical and anthropomorphic creatures were hand-sculpted and manipulated into “life.” Blast off with original 1957 Gumby shorts, in which our little clay buddy goes to Space, nearly gets eaten by a chocolate éclair and trampled by a giant glob. Frog and Toad Together (1987) brings to life the classic children’s book with the adventures of the beloved green life partners. Sink your teeth into The Munchers (1973), a psychedelic oral hygiene rock opera that will educate your sweet tooth. Then, get ready for epic battle on small-scale and mild historical-inaccuracies in Dinosaurs: The Terrible Lizards (1986). And the Japanese once again outcute the world in The Ant and the Grasshopper (1967). With jazzy and stylish George Pal Puppetoon Cavalcade of Music (1934) and so much more! It’s a night millions of minute movements in the making!

Find out more about these films here.



The North American Film Subsidy Trade War

(vfxsoldier.wordpress.com) Film Works LA Campaign Manager and lawyer Adrian McDonald published a superb 81-page case against state film subsidies. It’s a great weekend read for anyone interested on educating themselves on the whole matter. It’s available here:

http://www.stop-runaway-production.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/McDonald_To-Send-to-Author.pdf

Essentially what is happening in the USA and provinces of Canada is a trade war. Various locations are engaged in protectionism against market economics by offering artificial prices to producers through film subsidies.

This is a race to the bottom and I’ve always said on this blog “In a race to the bottom, the last one left standing is the biggest loser.”

That notion is surprisingly mentioned by Canadian officials in comments on their own subsidies as Mr. McDonald points out. Here is the Toronto Film Office:

There is a race to the bottom going on worldwide to establish Booniewoods around the globe. This is a race Toronto doesn’t want to win.

Within North America our success has been successfully copied. Even though the provincial government raised the Ontario tax credit in 2005 to try and fend off the competition, the competition simply raised its credits higher. The race to the higher tax credit is another one we can’t win.

and British Columbia:

At some point, British Columbia may be either unable or unwilling to match another region’s incentives, which could leave BC’s film production industry with a shortage of foreign productions wanting to film in the province.

Adrian also covers the failed 2007 attempt to get the US Trade Representative to petition the WTO to stop the subsidies. I feel he writes the effort off too easily.

It is the sole discretion of the US Trade Representative to approach the WTO with a dispute. As Adrian points out, we still to this day do not know the exact reason for the denial. The freedom of information act request was redacted.

According to some sources involved, I was told the petitioners actually withdrew their complaint. Who knows what was going on there. Also its important to note that this complaint was filed during the Bush administration and relatively low unemployment. The Obama administration certainly sounds interested in combating subsidies and unemployment levels are troubling.




Disney Flexing Their CGI Muscles

(holymoly.com) Here is the latest clip from the upcoming Disney alien film John Carter. The animations of the aliens are very impressive, as is the desert landscape of the planet of Barsoom. BUT WE DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY HE'S A SUPERHERO.

It's that canyon jump. It looks like something you'd see in The Mummy (which came out twelve years ago). Considering director Andrew Stanton has worked on pretty all of the early Pixar films (Toy Story, WALL-E, Finding Nemo and A Bug’s Life) you'd expect a better level of detail.

Anyway, that minor bother aside, it's still looking good to us. Good to see Mark Strong in another film. His 38th this year, in fact.

DON'T TRY TELLING US IT'S THE GRAVITY. THAT JUST WON'T WASH.

VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.holymoly.com/film-dvd/video/latest-john-carter-clip-disney-flexing-their-cgi-muscles61958



Why 'Rango' & 'Hugo' Won at the Oscars

(news.cnet.com) With no Pixar film to beat, 'Rango' won the Academy Award for best animated feature, while "Hugo" won for best visual effects. Both victors show things are changing in Hollywood.

Martin Scorcese's 'Hugo' won the Oscar for visual effects Sunday night in Hollywood. At the same time, Gore Verbinski's 'Rango' won the Academy Award for best animated feature.
(Credit: Screenshot by CNET)

If there's been one thing you could count on every year since the Academy Awards started honoring animated features, it's that Pixar would walk away with the Oscar. Through last year, six of the studio's eight films won golden statuettes.

But Pixar's 2011 entry, "Cars 2," a box office success but a critical failure, not only didn't win on Sunday, it wasn't even nominated. And that meant a golden opportunity for a slew of other animated filmmakers.

In the end, it was "Pirates of the Caribbean" director Gore Verbinski's "Rango" that emerged with the Oscar, beating out "A Cat in Paris," "Chico & Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2," and "Puss in Boots."

A lot of people liked "Rango" and it broke ground with its realistic approach to making an animated Western.

In making the film, Verbinski "wanted to be able to smell the breath of the characters," Kevin Martel, the film's associate animation supervisor, told CNET last year. "The feeling was that if you were to take a deep breath, you'd inhale all that dust and dirt, and you'd probably start coughing."

And though "Rango" clearly succeeded with that approach, the movie didn't stand out from the rest of the field the way that, say, Pixar's "Toy Story 3" did a year ago, nor was it a major box office blockbuster. So the question is, in a year where there wasn't a no-doubt-about-it animated film, is there a way to tell why "Rango" won?

With all due respect to Verbinski and the team at Industrial Light & Magic that applied to "Rango" the visual effects tricks it generally uses on live action movies, the film's Oscar win probably wouldn't have happened if "Cars 2" had been as well loved as most of Pixar's other films have been.

But that said, "Rango" was a success that managed to win over the many different constituencies among the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences--the cinematographers, the actors, the animators, and more. "If you look at 'Rango,' a lot of filmmaking disciplines are well represented," said David Cohen, an editor at Variety. "That movie is beautifully lit, the costuming is creative, those animated characters actually act pretty well, the production design is gorgeous, [and] the writing is eccentric. It's not the same old family pablum."


Indeed, Cohen said that he'd fully expected "Rango" to come away with the win. The big surprise in the animated feature category this year, Cohen said, was that "Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita" nabbed nominations but Steven Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin," which had beautiful animation based on performance capture, didn't.

Cohen said that it's always difficult to explain why the Academy votes the way it does, particularly because "they don't vote as a bloc [and] there's not a cabal here." But he said "Tintin" was likely snubbed because, in his opinion, "I think animators in general, and the animation branch of the Academy in particular, really don't much care for performance capture."

'Hugo' wins for visual effects
Some years, there's simply no doubt about which film will win the Oscar for best visual effects. In 2010, for example, there probably wasn't a person in Hollywood who thought any movie but James Cameron's "Avatar" would win.

This year, there was no "Avatar," and in the end, Pixomondo's Rob Legato and his team won for their visual effects work on Martin Scorcese's "Hugo."

This was just the second year that the Academy has picked five nominees in the category--there had been three in the past--and that was in part, Cohen explained, because the state of visual effects hadn't yet advanced to the point where there were five films each year that deserved to win. "One reason they were slow to move to five," Cohen said, "is that there were worries inside the [Academy's] visual effects branch that if they had five, an unworthy film [could] win."

But now, Cohen added, that's no longer true. The field is much deeper, and "the difference between the first best visual effects [film] and the sixth or seventh is pretty small."

Cohen said he had expected "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," with visual effects by "Avatar" winner Joe Letteri and his team at Weta Digital, to snag this year's Oscar. But he also said he wasn't surprised that Legato won for "Hugo." In fact, Cohen said that either "Hugo," "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," or "Transformers: Dark of the Moon" would have been unsurprising choices.

But "Hugo" surely deserved to win, in part because of the way Hollywood may finally recognize that visual effects are an art on par with older specialties like cinematography or sound editing.

"What's interesting to me about 'Hugo' winning for visual effects," Cohen said, "is that it seems to me that what was being recognized was the beauty of the work, and not the scale and innovation of the work. And visual effects [Oscars] have tended to go more for scale and innovation rather than beauty. It's probably a sign that the category is becoming more of a normal category."




Saluting Japan’s Computer Graphics Pioneers

There was a revolution in the 1980s. It started in the military and the space industry, but it didn't use rockets or weapons. Instead, it used computers and floppy disks. The revolution was the proliferation of computer graphics, and it soon spread to entertainment.

"Japanese institutions were just as avid as its American and European
counterparts to follow the trend," Shuzo Shiota recently told Kotaku. Shiota should know; he's the president of Polygon Pictures, Japan's biggest and oldest 3D computer graphics studio. Polygon has done CG work for acclaimed anime like Innocence and The Sky Crawlers as well as high profile games like Onimusha 2 and Metroid: Other M, among many more projects.

Just as the potential of 3D computer graphics were being realized, Japan left the fray and focused on two-dimensional rendering. Its Western rivals pushed onward. Something must have happened. Turns out, something did.

The 1980s were a golden age for Japan. The economy's sky-high ascent continued, and the world was its for the taking. It wasn't only business that was booming, but anime, too. According to Shiota, hits like Starblazers and Mobile Suit Gundam welcomed "newer" and "cooler" forms of expression that painted with big brushes on large canvases. This was the future. It was finally here.

It was during this era that CG rendering was starting to come into its own, with the Japan Computer Graphics Laboratory, among others, rivaling the CG work of their American colleagues. It was also during this time—1983—that Polygon Pictures was founded.

"The euphoria didn't last much beyond the decade as CGI was very much more expensive than its 2D counterpart, and unlike the US, Japan didn't have a robust enough film industry to support its growth as an expression," explained Shiota. "Animation in most cases was shown on TV which didn't provide enough money to render in CGI."

Full article http://kotaku.com/5888854/saluting-japans-computer-graphics-pioneers



-H "The first 45 minutes of the original Ghostbusters is some of the funniest stuff ever made. The second one was disappointing because the special-effects guys took over." -Bill Murray