'Star Trek 2' To Start Shooting This Winter

(firstshowing.net)                Back in July came somewhat of a confirmed update that J.J. Abrams, the director who quite successfully rebooted the Star Trek franchise in 2009, would be returning to direct the sequel, but the proposed summer 2012 release date was being pushed back to allow for a non-rushed completion of the script. Since then Abrams has skirted the issue of confirming his return to the director's chair. But now apparently Vulture has learned Abrams is fully committed to shooting the sequel himself, pre-production is underway, the script will be finished by the end of the month, and the film will begin shooting this winter.

Apparently most of the delay on the script is due to Alex Kurtzman (who co-wrote the first film with Robert Orci) finishing his first directing effort Welcome to People. But apparently the film is complete and now Kurtzman is back on the Star Trek boat, working hard to finish the script. Frankly, this confirmation is merely a formality as we've always assumed that Abrams would return for the Star Trek sequel, especially after taking a break from the franchise with Super 8. However, after this installment, I wouldn't be surprised if he hands the reigns to someone else and concentrates on more original films.



Guarded Optimism: ‘The Lone Ranger’ Is Alive

(deadline.com)               For the first time since Deadline broke the shocking news that Disney had pulled the plug because of a huge budget on the Gore Verbinski-directed The Lone Ranger with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, insiders tell me that things are starting to look up for the film and there is now optimism that the picture might actually get made. Back on August 12, Disney derailed a film that had a December 21, 2012, release date because the budget had gone to the stratosphere. Insiders feared the film could cost $275 million, though my sources at that time said the filmmakers had already taken $10 million out and got it to $232 million. No matter which of those numbers you embrace, that’s a lot of dough for a Western, and it’s probably not coincidence this standoff happened after the mega-budget Cowboys & Aliens tanked, and proved to be one of the summer’s biggest debacles.

Disney pulled the plug and initially demanded the film be brought down to $200 million; producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Verbinski have been trying for a number closer to $215 million. Deadline has reported Depp won’t make the movie without Verbinski, his director on the first three Pirates of the Caribbean films and Rango, so it is an all or nothing proposition because this film would never get made without the world’s most bankable male star. Verbinski’s difficult challenge has been to pare costs while retaining the spectacle that made the movie worth making in the first place. Bruckheimer, Depp and Verbinski have all made salary concessions to get the film made. We should have an answer shortly, but don’t be surprised if The Lone Ranger rides again.




'Iron Man Autopsy Armor' Pulled From Auction

(moviepropcollectors.com)                  The auction will no longer be held at New York’s Comic Con, but instead is taking place online only with Live Auctioneers on Saturday, October 22nd. The catalog is not online yet, but be sure to check both Live Auctioneers and Propworx for updates.

Potential bidders should note this announcement on the Propworx web site:

As stated on our website before we were going to auction off the Hero Iron Man Autopsy Armor. Unfortunately this item will not be part of the auction, but will be archived by Marvel, but don’t worry, with over 150 Iron Man items and 100 Hulk items, there is something for everyone.




Interview: VFX Supervisor Ben Snow, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

(blu-ray.com)               Blu-ray.com recently had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with Academy Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Ben Snow, whose most recent film, director Rob Marshall's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, arrives on Blu-ray on October 18th.

With a filmography that includes Iron Man 2, Terminator: Salvation, Iron Man, Van Helsing, Star Wars: Episode II, Pearl Harbor, Galaxy Quest, The Mummy, Deep Impact, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Twister and more, Snow has built an impressive career and had a hand in the development of visual effects as we know them over the last seventeen years.

If you compare your work on Pirates of the Caribbean to films like Iron Man or The Mummy, what are the most notable differences in the work flow and the tools you use?

Pirates has more organic creatures, unlike Iron Man and its metallic surfaces, so it had some of the same challenges of The Mummy. However, today's tools have advanced a long way since I worked on [The Mummy]. We were just experimenting with facial motion capture on that film and it has become a more useful and reliable technique since then. Our ability to capture the motions of performers on real sets or locations is far more advanced. And we were able to leverage improvements we had made to those techniques on Iron Man and push them even further to get a smooth blend between the actresses' bodies and the mermaid tails.

It was great to work on an organic creature again after all the metal of Iron Man and Terminator. But like Iron Man, we had to use the best of our on-set tracking tools to match the bodies to the performers. In this case, though, it was the surface of the mermaids' skin. We also had to create skin, hair and everything else that goes into an organic creature, which presents a different set of challenges than a metal suit.

VIDEO and full article:   http://www.blu-ray.com/news/?id=7357





"Adventures of Tintin" CGI MoCap Character Photos Emerge

(darkhorizons.com)                   Sixteen new stills from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's much anticipated animated adaptation of "The Adventures of Tintin" have hit the net thanks to Falcon (via Bleeding Cool). The new shots include some stellar looks in detail at the characters including Tintin, Captain Haddock, Snowy, the Thomson twins, Mr. Sakharine, first mate Allan and more. Click any of the shots below to access the gallery:

http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/21825/gorgeous-new-adventures-of-tintin-photos




The VFX Tour in Colombia

(chaosgroup.com)                  Starting on 22 September, the VFX Tour is a first of a kind event in Latin America, aiming to educate the next generation of students who would like to enter the animation and VFX industry. Traveling to 4 cities in Colombia (Bogota, Cali, Pereira and Medelin), the Tour is expected to generate a massive flow of people and set the beginning of a series of such events in other countries in South America.

As a proud sponsor of this event, we would like to congratulate the organizers and the artists who are making this possible.

Through a series of workshops, the Tour will show professionals and students the steps required for the creation of a scene, tracking, layout, modeling, animation, lighting and compositing.

The VFX Tour has attracted some of Hollywood’s most talented and well recognized Visual Effects artists as speakers that will travel to Colombia to take part in this event:

"The VFX Tour is about taking 5 established Visual effects artists in Hollywood and creating educational content using cutting edge workflows with only the best visual effects software out of the box . The event features the latest in ptex lighting/plate techniques using V-Ray for Maya and Mari together with final compositing in Nuke.  This production is pure passion and 100 percent informative techniques we believe in.  We are hoping to inspire and teach on a tour across the world.  Fabio Zapata covers integration, Masa Narita for his modeling/Z-Brush wizardry, Steward Burris shows his moves with animation, Scott Metzger with texturing and lighting in V-Ray/Mari, and the final golden touches are being assembled in comp with Peter Demarest in Nuke. This is a full workflow of VFX from concept to final picture. First stop Colombia."




A Breakdown of Hollywood’s Biggest VFX

(ae.tutsplus.com)                This is a brief introduction of some of the most unbelievable Visual Effects in Hollywood’s biggest movies. This “Part 1″ will describe the making of movies: 2012, Avatar, Alice in Wonderland and The Lord of the Rings.

Take a look:  http://ae.tutsplus.com/articles/in-depth/a-look-at-hollywoods-biggest-vfx-part-1/




Weta Headhunts WOW Artist

(stuff.co.nz)                       Years of hard work have paid off for Raumati South artist Jan Kerr, who has been head-hunted by Sir Richard Taylor to work at Weta Workshop - then to ice the cake scooped two top World of WearableArt awards on Friday night.

Kerr's entry, Hermecea, a colourful sea-creature, won the Weta Award, chosen by Sir Richard, co-founder and co-director of Weta Workshop, for a garment that best crosses the boundaries of film and WearableArt. Sir Richard liked the costume so much he wants Kerr on his payroll.

Kerr received a phone call from a Weta staff member two weeks ago asking if she could call Sir Richard.

"I sat on the phone number for the night and then half the next day and then I plucked up the courage to ring him."

Kerr, a gallery manager for Raumati's Lush Design Gallery, said Sir Richard complimented her on her WearableArt entry and offered her a job, which starts today.

"It was really out of the blue. I certainly wasn't expecting that to happen. It's like I've had this door open and I have to walk through it. It's a huge opportunity for me, so I'm going to go for it."

Kerr said she has been in a euphoric state for two weeks.

"It just doesn't seem real, I have to keep pinching myself in case it's a dream.

"It's like the pinnacle of my career. I've worked really hard for years and now it's been acknowledged.

"[Sir Richard] is right up there in the film industry. He's right at the top of the ladder. To be acknowledged by someone like him who knows his stuff is a real compliment."

Kerr was invited to visit Weta Workshop, which "sort of feels like Hogwarts", to see her new office.

"It's just an amazing place. There's all these incredibly gifted artists working there, quite a lot of whom I know already. It's just like a big family, it's wonderful."

Kerr said Sir Richard liked her costume because of its attention to detail, a skill she will transfer to the soft fabric wardrobe department working on orcs for The Hobbit.

She said some of the materials and techniques used at Weta come from overseas and while she is excited about what she will learn she is also apprehensive.

"My art will probably change because of it."

Sir Richard was flexible about her hours and she has settled on four days a week so she has time to work on her own art.




John Landis Explores Evolution of Monster VFX Tech

John Landis has been a horror movie luminary ever since he directed An American Werewolf in London in 1981. In the decades since then, he's seen monsters evolve from elaborate works of costume and make-up magic to elaborate works of CGI.

In his new book Monsters in the Movies, out Monday, Landis explores a century of cinematic creatures, from the currently hot vampires and zombies to apes, genetic mutants, mad scientists, psychos and scary children. Scanning through the book, it's hard not to be taken by the evolution of how Hollywood monsters are created, from rudimentary make-up tricks to really slick technical feats.

"Technology in movies is always changing," Landis told Wired.com. "In terms of CG, it's an amazing technology and like all new technologies, completely overused immediately."

It's a transformation the director has witnessed first-hand. When he was in the process of writing his seminal monster movie An American Werewolf in London in 1970, he asked computer-generated graphics pioneer John Whitney if it would be possible for his werewolf's transformation to be done with CG. The answer was, "Potentially." By the time he began making the movie in 1981, Whitney had passed away, so Landis asked John Whitney Jr. if it could be done. The answer was, "Soon, soon."

The technology did not develop soon enough, but maybe that's a good thing: Landis created his werewolf with make-up artist Rick Baker, who went on to win an Oscar for his work. It was so good Michael Jackson hired Landis and Baker to make his video for "Thriller." That video turned out to be kind of a big deal, and by the time Landis made Jackson's "Black or White" video, he got the technology he wanted — it was used to morph the faces of many races at the end of the clip.

"That was really startling for everybody when that video came out," Landis said. "But within years you can by that software and do it on your laptop."

Landis adds that there's a time and place for CG, just like any other movie-making tech, like zoom lenses or Steadicams. Sometimes it works (the director sites Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End as an example) and sometimes viewers walk away thinking, "Well, that looks shitty," Landis said.

VIDEO - Full article:   http://www.wired.com/underwire/2011/09/john-landis-movie-monsters-2/?pid=4684&pageid=79004&viewall=true




Digital Domain IPO Prospectus Online

(marketbrief.com)             This is an initial public offering of Common Stock of Digital Domain Media Group, Inc. We are offering  shares of our Common Stock.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for shares of our Common Stock. We expect that the initial offering price per share will be between $      and $      . The market price of the shares after the offering may be higher or lower than the offering price.

We expect to apply to list our Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DDMG.”

Investing in our Common Stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 15 of this prospectus.

Take a look (WARNING - HUGE PDF):    http://marketbrief.com/digital-domain-holdings-corp/s1/a/ipo-registration-(amendment)/2011/8/12/8974706/filing




Emmys: Special Visual Effects Nominee Reception

(soundandpictureonline.com)                     A few days before the Creative Arts Awards, the Academy put together a reception for those nominated in the Special Visual Effects categories. It was a spectacular evening which showcased each team’s craft in their nominated show. Television Academy Governors Mark Spatny and Kevin Pike moderated as they played reels illustrating the behind the scenes visual effects work from the noms. Watching, I couldn’t believe how involved the effects are in a show like Mildred or Gettysburg. From hiding cars to creating entire battle fields, don’t let anyone tell you differently, the visual effects department is such an essential part to the storytelling.

Mark Spatny couldn’t agree more. “We’ve changed the structure of the nominees this year. Before, we only recognized the Special Effects Supervisor in the nomination process. Now, we have it so the artists themselves are being nominated as well as the effects supervisors. It just makes sense for the entire team to be recognized not just the people who oversee the work.”

Spatny, only in his first term as Governor, is pleased with the strides his peer group has made and would like to see even more happen. “The involvement of the effects department on set has grown immensely over the years. It’s great productions understand how much we can improve a budget, but the sooner we are involved the better we can help impact a show from the start,” explains Spatny.

As a TV fan, it’s amazing to see firsthand exactly what these storytellers can do in only a few days turnaround and how it’s become almost second nature for a viewer to expect this kind of perfection. You guys are truly awesome. With the Creative Arts Awards only a few hours away, I’d like to congratulate all the nominees this year and say good luck to you.

Pics:   http://soundandpictureonline.com/2011/09/emmys-special-visual-effects-nominee-reception/




Canada Video Game Industry: Argument Over Merits Of Subsidies Heats Up

(huffingtonpost.ca)                    Should video game makers be subsidized? That’s the question at the heart of a debate that exploded in Canada’s gamer community this week.

Should video game makers be subsidized?  That’s the question at the heart of a debate that exploded in Canada’s gamer community this week after a Maclean’s column asserted that the hundreds of millions of dollars provincial governments have ponied up to bring video game makers to Canada is a waste of money.

The assertion has angered gamers and developers alike, with many taking to Twitter to denounce Jesse Brown’s Maclean’s column. But beyond the personal repartees lies a heated debate about the role of government in the development of private industries.

In a column entitled “Grand theft tax break,” published on Tuesday, Brown asserted that the race between provinces to attract video game companies is a waste of money because the industry is highly profitable and the jobs being created will eventually be sent overseas.

“When developing workforces in, say, Bangalore train enough skilled code-monkeys to undercut local coders, the jobs will quickly migrate to India, leaving little of the creative economy behind,” Brown wrote.

Brown also attacked the “dodgy notion that video game jobs are somehow more valuable than other jobs, and that video game technology is somehow a crucial area that [the U.S. and Canada] should lead.”

He added that this amounted to “magical thinking that has convinced American legislators they are in desperate need of unshaven game devs in funny Internet t-shirts" and "also mesmerized our own Canadian policy makers.”

Within hours, Brown’s comments raised a torrent of objections from video game makers and fans alike.

Nathan Vella, co-founder of Toronto’s Capy Games, took to Twitter to denounce Brown.

Oh hey, @jessebrown is on twitter. Mr. Brown, your Macleans article insults my co-workers and shits on Canadian devs unfairly. For shame.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet ReplyNathan Vella
Capy_Nathan

Others set their sights on debunking Brown’s arguments. On his blog, Peter Nowak, an occasional Huffington Post Canada contributor, argued that the return on the government’s investment in the industry is more than worth it.

    According to a recent study compiled by SECOR for the Entertainment Software Association of Canada – to which I contributed some input – the games industry here employs 16,000 people and will generate $1.7 billion in economic activity this year. That’s not revenue, it’s the amount of dough it contributes to the national economy. At that rate of return, the hundreds of millions the provinces have doled out in subsidies will be repaid in short order, if they haven’t been already.

    Moreover, the Canadian industry is growing quickly and is expected to expand 17% over the next two years. That means even more employees and more contribution back to the economy.

Nowak went on to argue that subsidizing the video game industry can have a positive social impact, suggesting that video game companies can lead the way in rejuvenating struggling urban neighbourhoods.

    In Montreal, this has meant the revitalization of Mile End, a part of town that was quite sketchy prior to Ubisoft’s arrival in 1997. The same happened to Yaletown in Vancouver. It’s already happening in Toronto; one of the first things I noticed when I attended Ubisoft’s studio opening in the Junction area last year were the high-end condos going up right across the street.

Nowak and others also objected to the argument that the “code monkeys” who program the games will soon be replaced by workers in the developing world. Writing at the Torontoist, Jamie Woo argued that subsidies can just as easily create new businesses.

    Often dubbed the acorn model, in Vancouver, the presence of companies like Electronic Arts actually bolstered independent Canadian game studios by building a culture that was hospitable for game development, leading to EA employees splintering off to create their own studios, such as United Front Games. Similarly, the award-winning Klei was started by a developer who worked at foreign studio THQ in Vancouver.

Writing at Village Gamer, blogger Tami takes issue with Brown’s characterization of the video game business.

    If that article had been about an ethnic group or any type of visible minority, it never would have been published containing the insults and general slurs it does. It is one thing to be angry about something the industry receives, it is another to wipe a wide brush of insult across those who work in the industry.

All the negativity prompted Brown to qualify his comments a little. In the midst of a heated Twitter exchange, he declared, “I like and respect devs and think they deserve their own [Canadian] industry. … Subsidized gigs for foreign firms make that hard.”

And John Michael McGrath at OpenFile adds another point worth considering:

    [I]t's not like subsidizing culture is new in this country. The province and city trip all over themselves to variously fund movies, television, and music—so why should videogames be any different?




Blood, Sweat and Latex: The ‘Predator’ Experience
   
(filmschoolrejects.com)                   There are events that define one’s existence that go beyond being learning or growing experiences. They become scars. Battle scars. They may fade in time, but they don’t go away. They persist. The memories of the events may become blurry, but every now and then, you run your fingertips along the raised, healed wound and remember. It all comes back like a punch in the nose. I had been on movie sets before and believed that I had been trained. The snarky ADs , the disinterested teamsters, the hustling, the waiting, they were all nearly second-nature to me, especially with the close of my on-set involvement with Monster Squad. However, nothing could prepare me for what I was going to face. My first location experience. My first time out of the country. My first time working set on a big budget film. My first time supervising a team.

Predator would be all of those things and it would change my life forever.

Full story:   http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/features/blood-sweat-and-latex-the-predator-experience-part-i.php





Air Show Race and Hollywood Special Effects

(blog.seattlepi.com)                  When I heard Canadian Defense Force Major Adam Cybanski talking about his Hollywood approach to air crash investigations, by analyzing the videos of citizen documentarians, I knew he was on to something. What I did not know was that his Tuesday lecture to the International Society of Air Safety Investigators would be Friday's reality.

National Championship Air Race pilot Jimmy Leeward (R) crashed his World War Two P-51 Mustang into a seating area at the Reno race track Friday afternoon and within minutes, two separate videos were posted on You Tube.

There’s no crystal clear view of what happened, but glimpses suggest that Leeward, an experienced racer, pulled up out of the way of other racers before the plane nosed over and dived into the ground.
 
Leeward, 74, called in a mayday and "pulled up to clear the race path" according to Mike Draper, a spokesman for the race. Clearly Leeward was unable to control the plane after that. The video shows the P-51 smashing into the ground. Fifty four people were taken to the hospital and the initial fatalities including Leeward.

That this accident and the crash on Thursday of a private airplane across the street from a school in Salt Lake City came the very week that air safety specialists were meeting in Utah strikes me as a coincidence. Still, I hear the Twilight Zone soundtrack playing softly in the background.

Let's start with Major Cybanski and his interest in movie special effects.  In 2010, he was asked to help investigators determine why an F-18 Hornet crashed during an air show rehearsal. Demonstrating how he used Hollywood special effects software to help determine what happened kept an audience of seasoned investigators mesmerized. 

"We can analyze the video and see how the wings were moving," he told me, "how the control surfaces were moving and how the elevator was moving; all sorts of stuff we wouldn't have if we didn't have the cameras there."

Expect Major Cybanski’s expertise in movie analysis to get a workout over the next few months. But even he may not be able to explain why, with all the safety prerequisites at air shows and races, the Reno spectator section was placed below the circuit where airplanes perform at low altitude and at  speeds in the 350-400 mile per hour range. It’s not as if this was Reno’s first accident. There have been more than 20 accidents in the show’s history, and in 2007 there were three fatal accidents all in one week.

When I start hearing the ain’t-this-odd soundtrack swelling in my head, it’s because all of this information converges as we are learning that commercial airline operations have never been safer. If Investigators were at risk of leaving Salt Lake City complacent that their work was done, they didn’t have to wait long for the wake-up call.  When it comes to general and sport aviation, it’s a whole different story.