(latino-review.com)
With the premiere of “The Amazing Spider-Man” this week, director Marc Webb was asked about his initial reaction the footage.
“How could you feel anything but good?” Webb told The Hollywood Reporter at the Annual VES Awards this week. “It was really wonderful; I mean, I enjoyed the events in particular because it was very affirming. We’ve been working in our secret laboratory for so long that it’s nice to get it out.”
The initial trailer premiered last summer, but it had mixed reactions from Spider-Man fans. And Webb has to live up to the other Spider-Man series that was directed by Sam Raimi.
One of the main focus was towards the main villain for the movie—The Lizard. He was played by Dylan Baker in the Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man films, but never transformed into his monstrous form.
In the reinvented Spider-Man film, actor Rhys Ifans plays the Spider-Man’s main adversary for the movie. And Webb had to figure out a way to present The Lizard rather than just a man-sized lizard with a lab coat.
“We spend a lot of time thinking about the biology of a lizard, and how his muscles work, and there’s an entire staff of people dedicated to making him look lifelike,” he said. “It is an extraordinary task, and very, very difficult. It takes a lot of time, which a lot of people in this room can attest to.”
In the final trailer, he felt it would be better to show more of the relationship between Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy.
“This time we wanted to show Peter and Gwen a little bit more,” said Webb. “To get to know more of the characterization, and a lot of the visual effects stuff that we’ve been working on, just to display the attitude of the film that we’re trying to create.”
Scorsese Makes a Surprise Visit To The VES Awards
(hollywoodreporter.com)The trophy for the Visual Effects Society Awards—which were handed out for the 10th year on Tuesday—features the iconic image of the man in the moon from Georges Melies’ La Voyage Dans La Lune (A Trip To The Moon). Fittingly, the show opened with a clip of that classic scene, that was lovingly restored at Technicolor in 2011.
Melies and his film are also at the heart of Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, and the director made a surprise appearance during the ceremony, talking about how lost Melies films are still turning up. “It is because of the durability of celluloid,” he said. “Despite the fact that celluloid is prone to deterioration … It still really remains the best format for the preservation of cinema at this point in time.”
Hugo won two trophies featuring Melies’ creation during the VES Awards, for the categories of supporting visual effects and outstanding virtual cinematography. “(The trophy design) is even more special now that I worked on the movie and had a chance to study the genius of the man,” said the film's visual effects supervisor Rob Legato, who is nominated for an Oscar for the film’s VFX.
Tim Partridge Leads Return of Marin FX
(cinesourcemagazine.com)Partridge, CEO of the just started 32TEN Studios, in his building's delux theater, once known as the George Lucas, where THX Sound was in fact was developed. photo: D. Blair
When Kerner Optical, the vaunted action miniature and effects studio, closed last September, it devastated the Bay Area. There was the loss of the symbol, the last vestige of Lucasfilm's ILM and Hollywood North in Marin, but also the actual workshop, a wonderland where so many had learned their craft, invented new techniques and created the phenomenal effects that helped make so many Hollywood movies blockbusters.
Of course the talent behind the brand didn't go anywhere. And while the Kerner name could not be saved much of the old team has reclaimed its spirit as 32TEN Studios, even setting up shop in the same building on Kerner Avenue in San Rafael.
"When Kerner closed, I realized there was a strong desire among the work force to get back up and running," noted Tim Partridge, the CEO of 32TEN, when I dropped by for a visit last week.
image
"Several other people wanted to do something in the area—specifically in this building, because they started their careers here," Partridge continued. "Some wanted to do CG work and, of course there were the model makers, as well as a couple of other initiatives that I can't mention now but I thought would be exciting."
As Partridge showed me around the completely empty building, the state-of-the-art theater (once called the George Lucas Theater), the work rooms where early CGI was developed, I noticed it had a very organic feel—there were no straight lines—perfect to inspire creativity. Evidently, that also affected the new effects company's business model.
"I got all these people into a room. Each business was too small to take on this building but altogether it made sense. Right now it is one company, 32TEN Studios, but I hope other companies will join us and we will end up with a creative community."
In fact, 32TEN seems to be a worker-owned, albeit the capitalist version, with investor-professionals owning their fair share of the pie (take note Occupiers).
imageThe 32TEN team in front of the 3210 building, which has very organic feel: (lft-rt) Anthony Shafer, Scott C Smith, Geoff Heron, Nick D'Abo, Vince De Quattro, Greg Maloney (COO), Tim Partridge, Marty Brenneis, Sean House, Marty Rosenberg, Greg Beaumonte. photo: courtesy T. Partridge
Greg Maloney, with a visual effects IMdb list as long as your arm, will serve as COO; Geoff Heron, with even more credits, will supervise effects, and Nick d'Abo, a talented model maker, will do models.
Then there's the super-techs: Anthony Shafer, Scott Smith, Greg Beaumonte and even Marty "Droid" Brenneis (the old-time ILM hand). The team is rounded out by Sean House on Props, Marty Rosenberg as Director of Photography and others, like Vince De Quattro.
These are not fan boys. Between them, they have worked on all of the "Star War"'s series, all of the “Back to the Future”s, all of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” as well as “Indiana Jones 4,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” “Transformers,” “Terminator Salvation,” “Iron Man II,” and more.
Our first stop was the fabulous 138 seat theatre. "We will be renting the stage and this screening room to content creators and for non-entertainment purposes as well: local companies which want to host an event in a really nice venue. Hopefully all the companies that become part of this community will use these facilities and the talent pool."
"We wanted to do something similar to Kerner because we loved the work," Partridge continued. "The business was actually on an upswing before it closed. There were a lot of other forces that contributed to its demise."
"But the business is fun and the people round here are very well connected and very talented. [Hence] we thought it was business worth pursuing—with a different business model, of course—and with some other things added on."
"We have been cleaning the place—all the carpets, the windows and some repainting—now we can start decorating with some film posters."
Although Partridge was President for a while of the last Kerner incarnation, he was untouched by its meltdown and embodies almost the exact opposite of prior management. He has broad film business experience, is modest and self-effacing and English to boot—only the cucumber sandwiches were missing.
Partridge came over in 1999 from Dolby's London office, following the lead of Ray Dolby himself, an American who started the business in Britain in 1965 before moving to San Francisco in 1976. Joining the company straight out college in the mid-'80s, Partridge came up through its tech side, which he loved.
"I rose from an interesting job working on movies and tuning theaters through the ranks of obscurity in management. My favorite times were when I was helping filmmakers realize their vision." Mostly, he would jet-set around the world, Europe, South East Asia and China as well as Cannes and other festivals, either mixing films or "tuning" theatres to the "San Francisco Sound," as it should be called.
Now the industry standard, it was largely invented here, from Dolby itself to Walter Murch's "5.1" sound (left, center, right, and subwoofers behind the screen as well as left and right surround) to Lusasfilm's THX technology, which was developed with assistance from Dolby, in the very theatre where we were now standing.
"The talent pool is here," continued Partridge, as we carried on our tour. "An amazing group of people. We will target feature films, television and commercials. We had two inquiries yesterday: one a stage rental, one a model build—our publicity only went out two days ago." In fact, in a recent update from Partridge, he informed me they are already bidding on three feature model builds, the stage is booked into March and two more companies have joined the 32TEN community. After snaking through a dark hallway, he opened the door on an emerald world fit for a Green Lantern.
"This is the sound stage. With the addition of the green screen around 2007, it is an attractive facility for commercials—pretty unique in the Bay Area. It is almost 6000 square feet and there is no green screen as big as this, about 20 feet high, 60 wide and 30 deep this close to San Francisco.'
image32TEN's massive 6000 sq ft green screen is the largest in the Bay Area. photo: courtesy T. Partridge
"That building was the original one that ILM moved into. The original model shop was that room there with two roll-up doors that are now gone," Partridge said pointing across the yard to the neighboring building.
"We are also taking piece of that, remodeling the model shop (as it were). The roll up door is going back in today. The model guys and set builders will work there and then everything can be wheeled across the court yard into the stage here."
"We have a smaller footprint, because we want to survive. Only three or four people on the pay roll. The rest will be project people but they are super-committed. When work comes in we will grow the crew."
Full Article: http://cinesourcemagazine.com/index.php?/site/comments/tim_ partridge_and_32tens_ resurrection_of_action_ miniatures/
"The Wolverine" Set For July 2013
(darkhorizons.com)Fox has announced a July 26th 2013 release date for the Hugh Jackman-led "The Wolverine" says Heat Vision.
The long delayed James Mangold-directed flick takes the Canadian mutant with healing powers and an unbreakable retractable claws to Japan.
With the new date set, the studio is reportedly making this production a priority. The film is hoping to capitalise on a mid-July bow which has proven profitable in recent years for superhero films such as "The Dark Knight" and "Captain America: The First Avenger".
It's only competition for that weekend next year at the moment is the "Dirty Dancing" remake.
Visual Effects Society Awards Harbinger of Oscars to Come?
(studiodaily.com)In what could be a harbinger of Oscars to come, the Visual Effects Society gave its two top awards to Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Hugo. The Apes team of Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Cyndi Ochs, and Kurt Williams won for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture, while Hugo's Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning, Rob Legato, and Karen Murphy were cited for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture. (While a movie like Hugo employs a large quantity of VFX to undergird its whimsical period settings, it was nominated and honored in a different category from films like Apes, which are more directly driven by the contributions of their VFX teams.)
Face Off' Renewed: Syfy Orders Season 3
(huffingtonpost.com)Syfy has renewed its hit reality competition "Face Off." The show, now in its second season, features make-up artists competing for $100,000 in seed money to help further their special effects career. Season 3 is expected to start production in the spring for a summer 2012 premiere.
According to Syfy, "Face Off's" second season premiere on Jan. 11 was watched by 2.5 million viewers.
The Wed., Feb. 8, episode of "Face Off" will feature Vivica A. Fox and "Being Human" star Sam Huntington. LeVar Burton of "Star Trek: The Next Generation" fame will guest judge on the Wed., Feb. 22 episode. In Burton's episode, the remaining designers will be tasked with creating original alien creatures from series judge Patrick Tatopoulos' sketches. Two people will be eliminated at the end of that episode. Burton will sit on the judging panel alongside three-time Oscar winner Ve Neill and special make-up effects artist Glenn Hetrick.
In addition to the $100,000 prize, the winning artist will win a year's supply of Alcone make up products and a 2012 Toyota Camry Hybrid.
I ... am VFX Soldier
(animationguildblog.blogspot.com) Tonight marks the 10th time the Visual Effects Society has gathered to present their awards for achievement and recognition. As I was sitting by Twitter eagerly awaiting news of results, this caught my attention:
http://animationguildblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/i-am-vfx- soldier.html
Good day for a reminder that we all need to be @VFXSoldier 's, fighting to improve conditions for #vfx artists
Most of my recent conversations regarding unionization of visual effects end up in a discussion of why organizing is important. Usually, this begins by discussions of the Hot-Button topic of the day (Health and Pension plans, job protection, globalization, etc) but always end up in a dialog about the purpose of collective action and why standing together and organizing should be important to all artists.
At the core of the work relationship between artist and employer, there is a symbiotic relationship based on need. Shop Owners *need* artists for their experience, skill and talent. Artists *need* shop owners for their ability supply employment by successfully bidding on (or creating) work. This basic relationship is mutually beneficial and co-dependent. As long as the shop owner has work, the artists will keep working .. and as long as the artists keep applying their skill, the shop owner will be recognized as successful and continue to get work.
Union contracts like ours use the collective leverage that comes from the above mentioned core relationship to establish boundaries against owners seeking profit at the expense of artists. Our contracts set standards and conditions that artists have input in drafting. Effectively this resets the artist/owner relationship back to that core where both sides stand on equal footing with regards to the items stipulated in the contract.
Artists not only have to talk about this, artists have to stand up and demand this. There are precious few shop owners I know that are willing to open their hearts to unionization. Organization has to come from within and eventually be demanded by artists.
Artists need to learn what the union is, what it can do, and why collectively they are a dominant force in the industry. While we are able to talk to that, the message spreads more effectively and is better understood when it comes from within the community. None has done a finer job of this than the anonymous artist known as VFX Soldier.
For his efforts in maintaining and contributing to his blog, and discussions across the internet, his identity is constantly sought out. Jeff Heusser's tweet tries to tell us, the identity of VFX Soldier isn't important, his message is. Jeff also understands that in order for the industry to stop using artists as a means to speed up the race to the bottom, we all have to identify with VFX Soldier and stand for the same cause.
I've been questioned countless times by artists, friends and shop owners if I am VFX Soldier. While I can not say I am the blog author, I hope you start to say with me "We are all VFX Soldier. I Am VFX Soldier."
VFX Trailblazer Douglas Trumbull Describes His Radical 3-D Experiment to Save Movies
(movieline.com)Between the rise of digital media and the shortcuts many theaters have taken to alleviate waning profits – forgoing film rigs for digital projectors, replacing projectionists with button-pushers, lowering projection-bulb levels to cut replacement costs – many filmmakers are concerned about the state of their industry. Visual effects veteran and filmmaker Douglas Trumbull (2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters, The Tree of Life), for one, is doing something about it: He hopes to bring back the spectacle of the theater-going experience – and revitalize the industry in the process -- with a project he’s shooting at 120 frames per second, in 3-D, to be projected at seven times the luminosity often seen in theaters today.
Trumbull rocked the visual effects community with his big ideas for change while accepting the Georges Méliès Award at the annual Visual Effects Society Awards last night in Beverly Hills. Named after the cinema pioneer whose groundbreaking work in motion-picture art was celebrated in Martin Scorsese’s Oscar-nominated Hugo (which, incidentally, took home top honors for Supporting Visual Effects), the Méliès Award “honors a special individual who has pioneered a significant and lasting contribution to the art and science of the visual effects industry.”
Trumbull, who collaborated with Steven Spielberg on Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Ridley Scott on Blade Runner, and most recently contributed mesmerizing effects to Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, pointed to his work on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey as the kind of moviegoing experience he hopes to recreate with his 120 FPS, 3-D project. The key, however, and the element that makes many a filmmaker cringe when their product is released into the world, is the substandard light level at which many theaters project 3-D films, which Trumbull argues diminishes the power of a movie and the often amazing visual effects work that created it. While the industry standard recommended luminosity for a projected film is 16 foot-lamberts for 2-D projection, many theaters wind up projecting 3-D at much dimmer levels, as low as four foot-lamberts, and Trumbull suggests this has led to diminishing appeal for moviegoers.
Trumbull has nearly twice the ideal standard -- 30 foot-lamberts -- in mind for his new project. Add in the 120 fps frame rate Trumbull is working with and that's one helluva recipe for mind-blowing visual presentation; standard films use a frame rate of 24 frames per second, but a few filmmakers have recently begun exploring filming at a higher than standard rate for increased picture clarity and smoothness, especially with 3-D. Peter Jackson is currently filming The Hobbit at 48 fps; James Cameron was considering either 48 fps or 60 fps for his Avatar sequels, explaining the choice thusly: "The 3D shows you a window into reality; the higher frame rate takes the glass out of the window. In fact, it is just reality." So just imagine Trumbull's movie projected in 3-D, brighter and more detailed at 30 foot-lamberts and 120 frames per second. If Cameron and Jackson think 48 fps and 60 fps will bring us this much closer to a perception of true reality at the movie theater, what will the Trumbull experience do to the way we see movies?
From Trumbull’s VES Awards speech:
“I am horrified when I go to a movie theater and I see any of our movies projected on four foot-lamberts or less. This is bad. The mission that I’ve been on ever since I’ve had the really great pleasure and responsibility to work with Stanley Kubrick on 2001 was that that movie was shot and projected in Cinerama, on giant 90-foot-wide screens -- which are unheard of today except in a few IMAX theaters -- and it was an experience that went beyond normal cinematic conventions. It took you on an adventure to outer space, and it was a first-person experience, not necessarily a third-person experience. It didn’t have much in the way of drama, conflict, suspense, or action in the normal sense, but Kubrick wanted to get out of the way and let you go on this trip in outer space, and was enabled by this amazing giant screen movie process… and a lot of special effects. So I’m looking forward to a time that I think is achievable in the very near future with this mission that I’m personally on right now. I feel that I have to direct a film the way I want to see a film be made and to be seen. I’m experimenting right now, amazingly, at 120 frames a second in 3-D on giant screens, 30 foot-lamberts after polarization. And I have to tell you that the illusion is like a window unto reality.
So it’s not just like going to a movie, it’s like going to a live Broadway show. It’s like Cirque du Soleil, a spectacle. It has potential to unleash the power of all of the work that you all do, to deliver to the audience incredible… if you’re going to spend $100, $150, $250 million on a movie that’s being throttled through a very narrow bandwidth of a 4:2:2 digital cinema package to go to a theater to get projected in four foot-lamberts, I think it’s unacceptable. So my job is to try to fix that for you. I don’t find anybody else working on it, strangely enough; Michael Bay talks about his frustrations with the brightness of his movies, as do other movie directors. I’m hoping I can make some progress and I’m hoping I can make a movie that actually demonstrates how this all works.”
Full article: http://www.movieline.com/2012/02/08/vfx-trailblazer-douglas- trumbull-describes-his- radical-3-d-experiment-to- save-movies/
Laika Licenses Shotgun Software For Stop-Motion Animation
(btlnews.com) Portland, Oregon-based animation studio Laika has purchased a site license of Shotgun Software to manage production and enhance collaboration for stop-motion and VFX work throughout its studio. Laika implemented the web-based system as a central platform for modernizing production management of the data-heavy stop-motion process on its upcoming 3D animated feature ParaNorman, releasing Aug. 17 from Focus Features.
“The traditional method of sharing information and keeping a stop-motion production rolling involves armies of people with clipboards and a massive hallway of shot boards, printouts and schedules,” said Jeff Stringer, Laika’s director of production technology. “We have been using Shotgun to manage visual effects work for a long time, and when we started ParaNorman, we saw an opportunity to use it within the stop-motion pipeline also, to modernize some of the processes we were doing manually.
“The biggest benefit Shotgun gives us is the ability to organize approved artwork and relate it to the shots,” Stringer added. “When we are talking about a particular piece of artwork, everyone is now sure they’re looking at the exact same thing. That was not the case before Shotgun.”
"300: Battle of Artemisia" Moves Forward
(Variety) Sullivan Stapleton (Animal Kingdom) could be headed to the fifth century, B.C. as Variety has word that he's being eyed to play a leading role in Noam Murro's 300: Battle of Artemisia.
The film, a sequel to Zack Snyder's 300 (in turn based on Frank Miller's 1998 comic book miniseries), will tell, in part, the story of Greek General Themistocles, who lead Athens against Persian invaders in a battle that played out simultaneously with the Battle of Thermopylae (depicted in the first film).
ComingSoon.net spoke with the film's producers last fall and got an update on the status of the quasi-sequel.
"We have to say that Zack Snyder and Kurt Johnstad, his writing partner, have killed it," said Mark Canton of the screenplay. "They've done a tremendous job making a highly intelligent, epic story that will stand on its own. But it's not a conventional sequel and, for what we do, that's what you hope and pray for. That you can be original and authentic at the same time."
Image Metrics Releases Real-time Facial Animation SDK
(gamasutra.com) Image Metrics has released the software development kit for Live Driver, its new facial analysis and animation tech designed to capture movements, expressions, and emotions in real-time with a standard webcam.
Live Driver is designed to be incorporated in a wide range of applications, allowing for personalization in social media, gaming, and online communication platforms. It supports computer webcams, as well as cameras on phones and tablets.
The facial animation company says that with just a consumer-grade video camera, Live Driver can translate a user's expressions and emotions onto the faces of virtual 3D characters, such as in online games or user-created videos.
Space Adventure Film Is a Potential Trouble Spot for Disney
(mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com) The city of Helium from the film "John Carter," which was produced by Walt Disney Studios for an estimated $250 million.Ryan Church/Walt Disney PicturesThe city of Helium from the film “John Carter,” which was produced by Walt Disney Studios for an estimated $250 million.
Wall Street smells blood in the water surrounding “John Carter,” a space adventure from Walt Disney Studios that arrives in theaters on March 9.
It’s still too early to predict what kind of box office numbers “John Carter” might deliver, and Disney is just gearing up its marketing onslaught for the film. (An ad ran during the Super Bowl, for instance.) But the movie, produced for an estimated $250 million, has been battling negative buzz in Hollywood circles and now financial analysts are voicing concern that it could underperform.
Michael Nathanson, a media analyst at Nomura, said on Wednesday that “John Carter” could stir “near-term noise” of a negative nature. Michael C. Morris of Davenport & Company told investors to anticipate a write-down tied to the film. Doug Creutz, a Cowen analyst, listed “John Carter” as a “potential speed bump.”
On Tuesday, Disney reported generally positive quarterly earnings.
Keep a few things in mind before hopping on this bandwagon, however. “Wall-E,” which faced uncertain prospects before its release, took in $521 million globally at the box office. Analysts are a fretful bunch by nature. And “John Carter” has an insurance policy when it comes to its impact on Disney’s second-quarter financial results: Last year, the studio took a huge write-down for “Mars Needs Moms” in the same period; at the very least, that makes year-on-year comparisons easier for Disney should “John Carter” encounter trouble.
VES Awards: ILM Sweeps
(fxrant.blogspot.com)This weekend, ILM cleaned up at the 6th Annual VES Awards, which took place in the Kodak Theater Ballroom in Hollywood. "Transformers" took home four awards, and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" garnered two awards.
It was a terrific night for visual effects fans. Steven Spielberg was honored with a lifetime achievement award, presented by Dennis Muren, and award presenters included Brad Bird, John Knoll, Michael Bay, "Transformers" star Megan Fox, Douglas Trumbull, Harrison Ellenshaw, and many more. There that night were other legends of visual effects having fun, like Ken Ralston, Richard Edlund, Jim Morris. Best of all, I had the opportunity to catch up with a lot of old friends that I worked with in Los Angeles, like my mentor and friend Van Ling, my Pixel Magic cohorts George Macri and Ray Scalice, Reid Paul, Bonnie Kanner, Johnathan Banta, and all the ILM'ers and... boy, it was a dizzying night! And it was over too soon.
Here we are accepting our award for Outstanding Compositing in a Motion Picture for "Transformers": compositing supervisor Pat Tubach, sequence supervisors Todd Vaziri and Mike Conte, and roto/paint supervisor Beth D'Amato.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://fxrant.blogspot.com/2008/02/ves-awards-ilm-sweeps. html
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