(usatoday.com) LOS ANGELES – It never takes superheroes long to mix it up.
Power in numbers? Thor (Chris Hemsworth, left) and Captain America (Chris Evans) join forces to combat Loki in Marvel's 'The Avengers.'
Which explains why Hollywood's iconic crime fighters — Batman, Spider-Man and the all-star superhero team The Avengers — are duking it out months before their movies hit the big screen in summer.
All three films —The Avengers and The Amazing Spider-Man from Marvel and Batman saga The Dark Knight Rises from DC — have staged publicity blitzes to gain momentum for a showdown expected to make up for last year's subpar spandex performances.
Though 2011's crime fighters —The Green Hornet ($99 million), Thor ($181 million), Green Lantern ($117 million) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($177 million) — did solid numbers, they fell short of many expectations and became poster boys for the anemic year at theaters, which saw a 15-year attendance low.
This year marks a return of comics' A-listers, prompting studios to start swinging early:
•Bap! In December, Warner Bros. premiered IMAX footage of The Dark Knight Rises (out July 20) for reporters to drum up support for its trailer, attached to last year's Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.
•Kapow! Last month, Sony touted its reboot of the Spider-Man franchise with extended footage of The Amazing Spider-Man (July 3 in 13 theaters). The campaign included beaming the spider logo onto London's Parliament and Sydney's Opera House.
•Biff!The Avengers (May 4) trumpeted its trailer with a viral campaign that, according to Marvel, set an online trailer viewership record Feb 29. The studio says 13.7 million people viewed the ad, besting The Dark Knight's 12.5 million views in 2008.
Already, analysts are wagering on who will emerge the victor.
"The Avengers will be big, The Amazing Spider-Man will be bigger, and The Dark Knight Rises will be the biggest superhero movie of all time," predicts Scott Mantz of Access Hollywood. If he's right, Rises would have to eclipse its 2008 predecessor Knight, which holds the record at $533 million.
Mantz gives the edge to Rises "because Batman could die. You just don't know what (director) Chris Nolan will do."
Rob Worley, author of the comic Scratch9, sees a different outcome:
"I pick Avengers to win, because it's so unique to have heroes from these tent-pole movies wrapped into one. Dark Knight Rises places, because it's got Chris Nolan. And Spider-Man shows, because it's still unknown. But they could all be huge."
Can The UK Visual Effects Industry Survive A Subsidy Cap?
(vfxsoldier.wordpress.com)
A few weeks ago I did a post on the film subsidy race in Europe which got ZERO comments. Well perhaps this post might oblige your response.
Variety broke a potentially huge article that the European Union is proposing new guidelines for subsidies in Europe that will limit them for many US studio productions to 10%:
aid for foreign films with budgets between $13 million and $26 million would fall to 30%, and drop to just 10% for films budgeted above $26 million.
You can read the whole proposal here.
Film Works LA Campaign Manager and lawyer Adrian MacDonald puts it quite succinctly:
In effect, the proposals would not outlaw incentives for US productions entirely, but it would make the rate more and more regressive the bigger the project’s budget is. At 10% for films over $26 million, this would effectively nullify their draw for the US productions.
Why is this huge news for the VFX industry? US Studios send a lot of VFX work to the UK to take advantage of artificial pricing because of a 25% government rebate. Animation studios like Illumination Entertainment send their work to France to take advantage of a 20% rebate.
Now this is a proposal that isn’t set in stone and won’t go into effect until 2015. However studios have to plan in advance where post-production work will be done and this will probably be taken into account.
If it does, mark my words: watch how fast the VFX industry leaves. When huge subsidies were passed in Canada and the UK it was as though projects were lost overnight in California. The studios will place pressure on the UK facilities to send work to locations that offer huge subsidies like Canada or perhaps even Louisiana. I’m not sure if this event is related but I did hear word of a UK facility that has already started the process of sending more work to a satellite office in the US.
As you know on my blog I rail against all film subsidies, even the ones offered by various states in the US. It artificializes the price of VFX and forces VFX professionals and their families to bounce around the globe as they live out of their suitcase chasing a job.
Even if the UK can continue the 25% subsidy, it’s still under the huge pressure that Imageworks New Mexico faced: The state offered a 25% rebate and it was shut down because studio clients preferred a 46% subsidy in Vancouver!
Ironically this event may be a catalyst for unity between Californian VFX professionals and UK VFX professionals. We are both in relatively big media markets that are at a disadvantage to various state and provincial subsidies.
In the coming weeks I’ll be putting a proposal up on my blog to get your reaction on how to stop these subsidies. The concern I have is whether I will get an educated response or the usual complete apathy. If it’s apathy and the subsidies in the UK are capped, you will learn what I really mean when I say:
Soldier On.
DreamWorks Animation Presents Sneak Preview of 2012 Films
(btlnews.com) DreamWorks Animation presented a sneak preview of their 2012 releases Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted and Rise of the Guardians at the DGA Theater in Hollywood. The event included a continental breakfast and a full lunch catered by Wolfgang Puck. Filmmakers from each project were on hand to introduce work in progress clips and 3D trailers.
Cast member, Jada Pickett Smith, joined Madagascar’s three directors, Tom McGrath, Conrad Vernon and Eric Darnell on stage to share her experiences voicing the hippo, Gloria, commenting that it was the “first time I had to work with three directors.”
Although unfinished, Madagascar’s screening showed a continuation of the comic characters from the previous films as well as an addition of an over-the-top new villain Captaine Chanel DuBois voiced by Francis McDormand. Noah Baumbach wrote the screenplay. The film is set for release in June 2012.
Director Peter Ramsey revealed that the books of children’s author William Joyce, who won an Oscar this year for his animated short The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, inspired the ideas behind Rise of the Guardians. The film taps into a child-like world of imagination as it follows the iconic characters of childhood: Santa Claus (Alec Baldwin), the Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), the Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher), the Sandman and Jack Frost (Chris Pine) as they battle the Boogeyman (Jude Law).
Speaking of his first experience working on an animated film, Pine shared that he enjoyed the process, but admitted that is was “one of constant exploration.” Talking about the power of imagination, he explained that his character, Jack Frost, is an outsider who fights against cynicism, commenting, “It is always stirring to get back to childhood.” The film releases Nov. 21, just in time for the holidays.
The Art of Practical Effects
(jamesriverfilm.wordpress.com)As noted by my other entries, I am biased towards natural cinematography shot on motion picture film. If it’s shot through a lens onto celluloid, count me in! Recently, I have been thinking about a list of films with flawless execution of “special” effects. By “special,” I mean true to life, in camera, photographic effects. This excludes computer generated imagery of course. Optical printing effects such as the brilliant work of Douglas Trumball were not included. Those excellent works will be saved for another list. There’s nothing like the actual texture of alien creatures, fantastical puppet wizardry, and goosebump inducing make-up art. This short selection of six films contains representatives from numerous eras. On any given day this list may change, but this is the selection for today. Free from computer templates and copied looks – these films are as fresh as they day they were exposed.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://jamesriverfilm.wordpress.com/2012/03/04/the- art-of-practical-effects/
Star Trek Visual-Effects Guru Shares Expertise
(nst.com.my) STAR Trek's visual-effects producer and seven-time Emmy Award winner, Dan Curry recently shared his expertise in Hollywood filming at a meet-and-greet session with fans here.
Dan Curry (in blue) shaking hands with a fan. Pic byMuhaizan Yahya
The event, organised by Spacetoon Malaysia in collaboration with K-Perak, was held at Impiana Hotel Ipoh.
Curry, who is from the United States, has worked on the Star Trek television series since 1987.
His visit to Spacetoon Malaysia is to collaborate and share his knowledge on visual effects to industry players.
He started his talk by showing slides on the visual effects used in the making of Star Trek movies such as Enterprise, Deep Space Nine, Voyager and The Next Generation.
Curry said craftmanship and high quality of execution are essential for producing excellent animation work.
"A good virtual artist requires intelligence, creativity and understanding of art," he said.
Spacetoon Malaysia chief executive officer Sharifah Hendon Al-Yahya said the programme was aimed at motivating animators, and giving them tips on how to produce award-winning works, and an opportunity to exchange views with a world-class animator.
She said the sharing session was to push creative boundaries as well as enjoy the spirit of camaraderie with ease.
"We are attracting a globally diverse group of technologists, production and support staff to create a wonderful visual-effect experience," she said.
Spacetoon Malaysia, located in Jelapang, has creative animators, editors and technicians who make 3D film animation and computer generated imagery (CGI) productions for local and foreign producers.
Source: http://www.nst.com.my/streets/northern/visual-effects-guru- shares-expertise-1.60629
A "Green Hornet" Sequel? Not A Chance
(darkhorizons.com)Producer Neal Moritz tells The Hollywood Reporter that plans for a sequel to last year's "The Green Hornet" are essentially dead. The reason? The expense.
"The movie did almost $250 million and was actually very well liked, but we made the movie for too much money. One, we made it in L.A. for certain reasons, and two, we decided to go to 3D -- that added another $10 million. If I had done it in a tax-rebate state and not done 3D, it would have been considered a huge financial success for the studio. So we're not making a sequel right now" he says.
Previously scribe Evan Goldberg had said plans for a followup were already drawn up.
Hollywood Blockbusters Go Anime: Crowdsourcing VFX
Over at kickstarter.com, Peter Hyoguchi has some epic plans underway for a crowdsourced, CGI series of 5-7 minute episodes of a science fiction series called The New Kind. Inspired by a genre of anime that doesn’t resonate with Hollywood producers, the project aims at a niche seldom explored outside of Japanese animation.
Harnessing the passions of 250 visual special effects industry workers from 30 countries, the project has almost $1 million pledged in “sweat equity” by the VFX wizards. With the kickstarter fund, the project hopes to raise enough to fund the first two episodes. Thus far, the pool of contributors is impressive, drawing from the talent that produced last year’s Hugo, Ice Age, Coraline, The Matrix trilogy, and even Avatar. Now that personal computers are powerful enough and creative software cheap enough to produce CGI of quality, VFX industry members can produce something amazing while learning from those who work for other studios and projects.
Eventually all episodes will be released on the web free in monthly installments, but funders of a dollar or more receive early access. As with most kickstarter.org projects, larger pledges result in greater concessions, including the ultimate prize of an onscreen cameo with spoken lines. Like most crowdsourced initiatives, The New Kind seems to be a labor of love.
Time will tell if the model of free contributions is enough to sustain a webseries of such scale, but the geek in me can dream.
Kickstarter Page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/729054704/the-new- kind
"Y: The Last Man" Moves Forward
(The Hollywood Reporter) Just as the first issue of the author's new ongoing comic book series, "Saga," hits stores, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the film adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan's most popular series Y: The Last Man, is on the verge of hiring two new screenwriters.
Matthew Federman and Stephen Scaia are said to be the men for the job and are negotiating to come aboard the New Line project, which has gone through its fair share of stops and starts over the years.
Created by Vaughan and artist Pia Guerra, Y: The Last Man ran for 60 issues beginning in 2002. It tells the story of Yorick Brown, a 20-something who (along with his capuchin monkey, Ampersand) somehow survives a catastrophic event that kills off every living creature with a Y chromosome. Left in a world of only women, Yorick teams with a government operative, 355, to try and uncover the truth about the plague and why he and he alone made it through alive.
Federman and Scaia have dealt with the post-apocalypse before on the television series "Jericho" and have also adapted comic books with "Human Target."
CGI'd to Death
(opiniondominion.blogspot.com)The title for this story seems a bit harsh - John Carter got a 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which isn't all that bad - but it seems the movie is doomed to financial failure, and the background of its problems in production makes for interesting reading. Premiere magazine, in the heady days of 1980's blockbusters following Spielberg's and Lucas' rise to power, used to do articles like this. I think the magazine is now defunct.
But back to John Carter: I know for one that as soon as I saw the trailers, the CGI reminded me of those in (I think) Star Wars 2. (It is a sign of the lack of permanent impact of the Star Wars prequels that I just had to check on line to remember it's actual title - Attack of the Clones.)
As I have noted many times, I also did not care a bit for the Lord of the Rings movies, and apart from my cynicism about the value of the story, I just couldn't find myself being impressed by the huge battle vistas which were all clearly made inside a computer.
Of course, I suppose people could cite Avatar in response. I haven't even bothered watching that all the way through no DVD.
Still, I suspect my theory of a public decline in interest in too much CGI, especially in protracted battle movies, might have something going for it.
Behind the Scenes of a Special Effects Powerhouse
(sloblogs.thetribunenews.com)To better understand Richard Taylor, the special effects supervisor behind “Avatar” and the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, simply look at his suit.
The single-breasted olive green suit, which Taylor commissioned for his wedding, is lined with silk-screened images from the Hayao Miyazaki animated classic “Porco Rosso,” about a World War I flying ace turned porcine bounty hunter.
The suit’s brass buttons, cast from magnets, resemble the main characters’ heads. And the cut is modeled after an outfit worn by the film’s villain.
Clearly, this is one creative guy.
On Saturday, Taylor stopped by the Fremont movie theater in San Luis Obispo to receive the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival’s highest honor: the King Vidor Career Achievement Award.
Past King Vidor recipients include director Norman Jewison and actors Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell and Greg Kinnear. But Taylor, who was knighted in 2010 for his contributions to film, is the first special effects supervisor to earn that honor.
“I got into this (business) to be a sculptor. I wanted to make things with my hands,” Taylor explained.
The recipient of five Academy Awards, Taylor has served as the creative director of New Zealand special effects house Weta Workshop and its affiliates for more than 25 years.
Under his leadership, the companies have created digital and physical effects for such blockbusters as “The Adventures of Tintin,” District 9,” “King Kong” and “The Chronicles of Narnia” movies.
Taylor talked about his craft in length on Saturday, discussing Weta, its work, and the ever-evolving use of of technology in film-making. Here are a few interesting excerpts from that conversation.
Richard Taylor began by talking about Weta’s origins in a humble flat in Wellington, New Zealand.
Led by Taylor and future wife Tania Rodger, the special effects firm got its first big break on the satirical television show “Public Eye,” crafting puppet caricatures of local politicians.
“We were using roll-on deodorant balls as eye mechanisms,” recalled Taylor, describing the weekly show as New Zealand’s answer to Great Britain’s “Spitting Image.” “It was a seminal moment where I realized that with very little skill … and boundless energy, I and Tania and his this other guy could actually make a mark.”
“Public Eye” caught the eye of budding Kiwi director Peter Jackson, who was looking for a firm to handle his effects needs for the 1987 comedy-horror flick “Bad Taste.”
“There’s been no one in our career more pivotal than Peter Jackson,” Taylor said. “In him we found a director who would inspire us to do things beyond our expectations.”
It was Jackson’s 1994 crime drama “Heavenly Creatures,” based on a real-life New Zealand murder case, that provided Weta with its first true technological challenge. The production team had leased a computer, but Taylor and company quickly realized that it wasn’t powerful enough to handle all 14 digital effects.
“We mortgaged our homes and raised the money” to buy “the first silicon graphics computer in the Southern Hemisphere,” Taylor said. “In two years, it was holding a door open.”
Over the years, Weta’s reputation as a state-of-the-art special effects house grew — coming to a head in the early 2000s with the “Lord of the Rings” series.
The first film in the trilogy, “The Fellowship of the Rings,” won four Academy Awards, including best visual effects and makeup, while its sequel, “The Return of the King,” earned 11 Oscars, including best picture, best director, best costume design and best visual effects. (“King Kong” also won an Oscar for visual effects.)
“‘Lord of the Rings’ was (our) opportunity to go from a little known company tinkering away in the backwaters of New Zealand to a company people have heard of,” Taylor said.
These days, Weta and Jackson are hard at work on “The Hobbit,” also based on J.R.R. Tolkein’s work. The first half of the series, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,” opens in theaters Dec. 14.
Weta also has branched into children’s television programming with the production company Pukeko Pictures. Its titles include the animated shows “Jane and the Dragon” and “The WotWots.”
“Through great entertainment, you can also teach,” Taylor said. “You can deliver moral values to children around the world.”
Taylor also spent some time talking about the technological advances he’s seen over the years. He foresees big advances in 3D filmmaking, noting, “The exponential growth of it all is quite exhausting.”
“Everyone was thrilled by the experience of ‘Avatar,’ but at the end of the day, you were still sitting in a theater with the green glowing exit signs, looking at a single pixel projected on a screen,” he explained. He anticipates a future in which audiences can spend time in fully immersive environments.
For instance, Taylor predicts the creation of more realistic onscreen avatars for videoconferencing. “If you’re going to spend time in this environment, it better look bloody beautiful … or it’s going get really boring,” he said.
“The mysteries of technology deserve to and need to be stripped away,” Taylor said.
Planet of the Apes (1966) Studio Pitch/Makeup Test
The original makeup test with Charlton Heston as Thomas (not Taylor), Edward G. Robinson as Dr. Zaious, James Brolin as Cornelious and Linda Harrison (who played Nova in the finished movie) as Zira. This test was used to get the greenlight from Fox executives and has narration and conceptual art based on the original Rod Serling adaptation of the Pierre Boulle novel. This version shows a more modern ape civilization which would of been too expensive to film. The final product would eventually represent a more rudimentery ape society.
Video - Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9cufbVNjr8
Disney's 'John Carter' Write-Down 'May Not Be as Bad as Feared'
(hollywoodreporter.com)NEW YORK - Most on Wall Street expect Walt Disney to take a large write-down on big-budget sci-fi adventure John Carter, which opened with global box office revenue of slightly more than $100 million this past weekend.
Analysts previously surveyed by THR have mostly predicted a $100 million-$150 million write-down. But Janney Montgomery Scott's Tony Wible suggested on Wednesday that things could well play out better for Disney.
"We have been tracking each of Disney's films since 2005 in our film database, which helps us analyze the potential fallout from John Carter," he wrote in an investor note. "While the Street is anticipating a large impairment on the film, our analysis shows that the impairment may not be as bad as feared if the film tracks in line with average performance ratios seen in 2011."
Wible's average-case scenario would lead to only a $53 million loss, while his best-case scenario actually shows a $53 million profit. He does, however, see a possible $180 million write-down in his worst-case scenario. "The best case is improbable," Wible acknowledged. "However, our median case is not a stretch and would be an upside to expectations."
He suggested though that the size of the write-down may not matter much as he signaled hope for a better film performance from Disney in the future. “The film is part of Disney’s legacy studio management and does not reflect the company's current shift to a leaner more profitable film slate,” he said.
Here is Wible's math for John Carter: The film opened to around $30 million in the U.S. and $70 million abroad. "On average, Disney has seen its U.S. box office ultimate at 3.2 times its opening weekend, which implies the film is on track to do $95 million," the analyst said. "If the film sustains its current 30:70 split on U.S./international, we would see global box office of $318 million, which would net Disney $132 million in revenue."
Assuming that the film tracks at a discount to the average DVD-to-box office ratio for Disney (at 0.45 times versus its 0.55 times average), Disney could also collect $143 million in the home entertainment window, Wible added. Plus, global TV sales could add another $48 million in revenue, bringing the total to a $322 million revenue ultimate.
"Netting out $125 million in [prints and advertising] and a $250 million negative cost suggests the film would lose $53 million over its life, which is better than bearish expectations," Wible concluded.
Stop Motion With the Pros
(gibbonsanim.blogspot.com)For those out there still over analyzing, over thinking, squeezing the proverbial pencil to tight, the MG crew rattled off another couple shots. We were graced with Dennis Muren on this shoot. He swept in and in about 30min. had a set a few lights found an apple box and set down to animate some Search Lights, no fuss, what a talent, said he hadn't shot a frame in something like 25yrs. and he rattled off a shot, perfect, NO RESHOOTs ! i love that guy...
Project Blog - take a look: http://gibbonsanim.blogspot.com/
In Defense of Charming, Fake Looking Effects
(moviemorlocks.com)Recently, I wrote a piece about my disdain for many modern affectations of cinema (and by modern, I mean anything from the last ten years to the last fifty, depending on the topic) and those included the many technological advances that have made anything that is available to the imagination, a possibility on the screen. But this isn’t about that although it is distantly related. This is about the loss of impressionism in movie art direction, special effects, makeup and, yes, acting. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) has made so much available that there’s nothing left to invent. But it doesn’t stop there. Naturalistic performances make every actor seem like a stale impersonation of the last. But what I look for in a movie is often that which is defined by its very existence as a movie: make-believe. Put another way, quite frankly, sometimes I just want things to look fake.
Let’s start with the physical aspects of movie making. On Jim Emerson’s Scanner’s blog, in the comment section of the piece I wrote that he linked to (I know, it’s all very confusing) I was discussing the idea of CGI not being real versus stop-motion being very much real. I wrote, “ It is not that I think CGI looks less ‘realistic’ than a stop-motion clay figure, it’s that I know it is less realistic, as in, it doesn’t actually exist. The clay figure does. And my mind works that around, subconsciously, as I watch and it bothers me.” Looking at a stop-motion King Kong in the 1933 version is far more exciting to me than watching the CGI creation (motion-capture of the very talented Andy Serkis that is then overlain with the CGI’d King Kong) in the 2005 remake. When I watch any movie with special effects by Ray Harryhausen, I enjoy knowing I’m watching a figure, usually a very small one, that was molded out of clay and painstakingly moved, inch by inch, one frame at a time.
When I watch a movie that has buildings coming down, like San Francisco, 1936, with Jeannette MacDonald, Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy, I like seeing the detailed model work that went into building those miniatures and if they’re more obviously miniatures than others, I like them all the better. For instance, at the start of The Lady Vanishes, there’s an awesome shot of a train station, snowed in and cold, nestled in the mountains. There’s a little car that even zooms across the tracks to provide movement and more easily convince us that what we’re looking at is real. We’re not convinced. It’s obviously a miniature. But what a cool miniature! So cool that I don’t care one lick that I can tell it’s a miniature. I think, “Wow, what craftsmanship! I wish I had that model!”
Now, I’m of two minds on this. I understand the whole philosophy of “if you notice it, you’ve been taken out of the movie.” For instance, a musical score should augment the action and if you really notice the score, it’s not doing it’s job. I don’t really agree with that. I understand it but I also understand suspending disbelief. I can admire a piece of music or a well constructed miniature or a bold set design and still pay attention to the movie as if I were watching real people. I mean, I’m not a Shetland pony. I can work back and forth between abstract and concrete thoughts pretty easily.
And then there’s set design. Boy, once location shooting started, soundstage shooting dropped dramatically. But, the thing is, I like the look of the soundstage! When I’m watching The Wizard of Oz, I don’t want to see Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man and the Lion in an absolutely realistic forest. I like that soundstage forest look too much. And I think it was Roger Ebert who once mentioned that when Dorothy’s heading down the yellow brick road, it’s pretty clear that the camera cuts off about two seconds before she face-plants into the back wall of the set, painted to look like the continuation of the yellow brick road. And who cares? Hell, it’s kind of fun to notice.
For example, ever seen Written on the Wind (or any Douglas Sirk movie for that matter)? It’s better because the lake set is so blatantly artificial. Sirk wasn’t one to shy away from soundstage shoots for the sake of realism. In fact, he liked the idea of using artificiality as a means of exposing artificiality and shallowness in the world around him. Who cares about realism, anyway? Well, okay, a lot of us do. It certainly has its place but so does the Hollywood tradition of painting a piece of glass and convincing me it’s the London skyline (ala Mary Poppins). The problem is, the non-realistic ways of doing things have been all but abandoned. Too bad. There’s a certain charm to it and if just a couple of filmmakers did this kind of thing more often, I’d be thrilled.
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