Star Trek Sequel Will Use Post-Conversion 3D, IMAX Being Considered
(cinemablend.com)
Movies actually shot in 3D will always trump those that have been post-converted, but the truth is that the latter has been getting much better recently. While the post-conversion fad got off to a horrible start with the release of Clash of the Titans - which is easily one of the worst 3D movies we've seen in recent years - some of 2011's best 3D movies weren't actually shot stereoscopically. While not perfect, The Lion King, Green Hornet and Green Lantern all did a pretty damn good job taking advantage of the technology. So keep that in mind while swallowing this new bit of news.
J.J. Abrams has confirmed with MTV that the next Star Trek movie will be shot in 2D and then be post-converted. While the director was reticent when it came to revealing details about the plot, he was quick to talk about how they will be handling the use of the new technology. "We're shooting on film, 2D, and then we'll do a good high-end conversion like the Harry Potter movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good." But that's not the end of it. Apparently some consideration is also being given towards filming part of the movie in IMAX, a la Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and The Dark Knight Rises. "IMAX is my favorite format; I'm a huge fan," Abrams said.
Visual Effects Society Announces Nominees for 10th Annual VES Awards
(comingsoon.net)The Visual Effects Society (VES) today announced the nominees for its 10th Annual VES Awards ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry in 23 categories of film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games. Nominees were chosen Saturday, January 7 by distinguished panels of VES members who viewed submissions at the FotoKem screening facilities in Burbank and New York, FotoKem’s Spy in San Francisco, and other facilities in London, Sydney, Vancouver and Wellington, NZ.
“The standard of the creative work that is being considered this year is unbelievably high across all categories,” said Jeffrey A. Okun, Chair of the Visual Effects Society. “The judges faced a huge challenge because all of the work was so far above the norm. We’re honored to have the opportunity to focus the spotlight on the outstanding work that has contributed to some of the highest grossing films and broadcast projects of all time.”
As previously announced, Stan Lee will be honored with the VES 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award and Douglas Trumbull with the Georges Méliès Award.
The 10th Annual VES Awards will take place on Tuesday, February 7, 2012 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will air exclusively on ReelzChannel.
The nominees for the 10th Annual VES Awards are as follows:
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature Motion Picture
Captain America: The First Avenger
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
Anonymous
Hugo
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Source Code
War Horse
Outstanding Visual Effects in an Animated Feature Motion Picture
Arthur Christmas
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss In Boots
Rango
The Adventures of Tintin
Full Nominations Listing: http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=85759
"Thor 2" Starts Filming this Summer
(Empire) In an online chat at Empire, Tom Hiddleston revealed when and where Marvel Studios will start filming Thor 2:
I have no idea. And without revealing too much, there's a specific skill set you need to be Loki's army - let me know if you have the qualifications. And all I know about Thor 2 is that we're supposed to film it in London in the summer and that it's being directed by Alan Taylor.
Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios are planning a November 15, 2013 release for the sequel.
Hiddleston can first be seen as Loki again in Marvel's The Avengers, opening in theaters on May 4.
10 Contenders Remain in VFX Oscar Race
(SHOOT Publicity Wire) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 84th Academy Awards®.
The films are listed below in alphabetical order:
"Captain America: The First Avenger"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"The Tree of Life"
"X-Men: First Class"
All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Sam Worthington Completes "Wrath of the Titans"
(comingsoon.net)Set for a busy year on the big screen, Sam Worthington takes the title role in the upcoming action thriller Man on a Ledge, starring opposite Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Genesis Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie and Edward Burns. We'll soon be posting video interviews with the entire cast, but Worthington also dropped a few details about two highly anticipated sequels that also feature him as a leading man: Wrath of the Titans and Avatar 2.
"I saw [it] the other day and I love it," says Worthington of Wrath. "I think it did exactly what I wanted. There were things about the first one that I felt that I, personally, could improve myself on and work a bit harder on."
Set ten years after the events of Clash of the Titans, the film revolves around Worthington's Perseus and his relationship with both his son, Helius and his father, Zeus.
"Even though we've got big-ass monsters and it's set in a Greek mythological world and it's a f--ing huge blockbuster, it's about a father and a son," the actor explains.
Avatar 2, meanwhile, remains somewhat of a mystery even to Worthington. Scheduled for a December 2014 release, the plan is to shoot the sequel back to back with a third film.
"I'm talking to Jim next week," says Worthington of his imminent return to Pandora. "I'm going to visit him and we're going to see what's going on."
Steven Spielberg: 'CGI is Artificial & Audiences Can Tell'
(digitalspy.com)Steven Spielberg has claimed that an audience can always tell the difference between CGI and real-life action.
The director admitted to BBC Breakfast that he would probably use computer technology if he were making his breakthrough movie Jaws today.
Spielberg said: "Today, I would probably shoot a Jaws movie with CGI, but you know something? The audience can tell the difference.
"The second you see a million soldiers charging, you know that no-one hired a million soldiers charging any place in the world, and you know that it's artificial."
He added: "I think one of the the reasons Jaws was so effective was it was authentic.
"Just those small pieces [of footage] that were used in the cutting of the film gave the shark some bite."
Asked if he would ever return to the series, Spielberg said: "No, the only way I'm going back on the water is on a pleasure cruise! I hated being on the water, I hated shooting that movie.
"The movie really resulted in... it just really started my career, so I can't ever [deny] how important the film was to my career, but making a movie on the water is insane!"
Of the use of CGI in new movie War Horse, Spielberg said: "There are only three shots in the film that aren't real horses, and those are pretty obvious shots."
He continued of shooting in Dartmoor: "There is no place like it in the world. When I got to Dartmoor, I suddenly realized that I had a third character that I had to include in War Horse, and that was the land and the sky. so Dartmoor plays a major role.
"We had three days of amazing sunsets, and we actually took advantage of those. There is no sky replacement."
Spielberg added: "You know, audiences are so used to digital enhancements or replacements that they don't trust cinema anymore.
"They see a movie and... if something beautiful strikes them emotionally, or in a beautiful way, they say 'That was faked' or 'They did that later on the computer'.
"Not a single shot in this movie has a sky enhancement or a replaced sky or a replaced landscape. That is Devon, Dartmoor... it is pretty extraordinary country."
Disney Grabs Two-Time Oscar Winner To Direct ‘Maleficent’
(geeksofdoom.com)It’s been a while since we heard about Maleficent, the Walt Disney project that focuses on the villain of their classic animated film Sleeping Beauty, but now the Mouse has a director.
With names like Tim Burton rumored to be possibly involved, instead it turns out that Disney has chosen Robert Stromberg to direct the movie, which is being developed as a starring vehicle for Angelina Jolie.
Maleficent will be Stromberg’s first time directing a feature, but he’s a two-time Academy Award-winner—for Art Direction on James Cameron’s Avatar and Burton’s Alice in Wonderland—and also visual effects whiz with 92 VFX credits on his resume. Titles he’s worked in the visual effects department on include Pan’s Labyrinth, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, The Golden Compass, and HBO series John Adams, The Pacific, and Boardwalk Empire.
It’s not yet known exactly what storyline the movie will follow, only that it will be a new take on the Sleeping Beauty tale, this time from the perspective of the infamous and intimidating Maleficent.
Stromberg will direct from a script written by Linda Woolverton, who also wrote Alice in Wonderland and worked on the screenplays for Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King for Disney.
Rhythm & Hues Studios Establish VFX Studio in Kaohsiung
(CNA) Rhythm & Hues Studios Inc. (R&H), one of the world's top five visual effects companies, will set up a visual effects center in Kaohsiung and launch two other ventures in Taiwan next year, the company's head said Friday in Taipei.
The R&H VFX Center in Taiwan's southern harbor city will be the Oscar-winning company's sixth facility in the world and will allow the studio to run a 24-hour production cycle. Established in Los Angeles in 1987, the company has two facilities in India and one in both Malaysia and Canada.
"We're very happy to come to Taiwan," John Hughes, the president and founder of R&H, said in Chinese to express his gratitude to those who had helped make the move possible.
The Kaohsiung studio will hire 200 artists and train 40 instructors and 600 students before it creates animations and visual effects, according to Hughes.
The studio will allow people in Taiwan to contribute to the animation market, as they will be able to make world-class visual effects themselves, he added.
In addition, R&H will also make Taiwan the leading provider of computer services for Hollywood and the digital content industry by setting up a cloud computing database in Taipei with Chunghwa Telecom Co., the nation's top telecom carrier, and Quanta Computer Inc., the world's largest notebook computer ODM service supplier.
Furthermore, the company will also initiate a film fund to help co-finance and co-produce Hollywood films, it said.
"I'm very, very excited to begin these ventures in Taiwan," Hughes said, adding that he hopes to stimulate the digital content industry in Taiwan and thus attract other similar companies to follow suit, ultimately forming a community.
The investment will be a boost to Taiwan's digital content industry, said Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang, who attended the ceremony.
The actual total investment from R&H could be as high as NT$6 billion (US$198 million), Shih said, adding that the investment will cement Taiwan's leading position in the IT industry and could make Taiwan a cloud computing hub for the world.
Taiwan's digital content industry has been thriving over the years. Its output rose from NT$153.7 billion in 2002 to NT$522.5 billion in 2010, and is expected to exceed NT$600 billion this year despite the global economy downturn.
R&H has been involved in more than 130 Hollywood films, such as "The Incredible Hulk," "Night at the Museum" and "T
Tim Burton and Robert Downey Jr. Eye Pinocchio
(The Hollywood Reporter) First announced in 2010, Warner Bros. is developing a live-action take on Pinocchio with producer Dan Jinks and a script from Bryan Fuller. Now, The Hollywood Reporter brings word that the studio is in talks with Tim Burton to direct and Robert Downey Jr. to potentially star as Geppetto.
The story originated in Italian author Carlo Collodi's novel "The Adventures of Pinocchio," published at first as a serial beginning in 1881. In 1940, Walt Disney Pictures released the most famous adaptation, though many subsequent takes have followed, including another project currently in production. That Pinocchio film is a stop-motion feature being developed through the Jim Henson Company with a script from Guillermo del Toro and Gris Grimley.
Tim Burton's most recent film was 2010's Alice in Wonderland and, this year, he's set to release Dark Shadows and Frankenweenie. Downey, meanwhile, recently appeared in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows and can next be seen in Marvel's The Avengers.
Image Conscious: A Conversation With VFX Supe Michael Owens
(flickeringmyth.blogspot.com)“Today you can almost do anything and the quality is way better,” reflects Michael Owens. “I remember early on in my career we were like a red headed stepson. Nobody wanted us on the set. They thought we were doing voodoo. They were like, ‘I don’t get this.’ Now, today you’re partnering with all of these people whether you needing a tear to fall or 10,000 spaceships to fly through.” The movie industry acceptance has come with a price. “Quite frankly, the tentpole films coming out are never considered to be good movies which is unfortunate; they’re big visual effects movies that make billions of dollars and are in 3D.” The latest trend in Hollywood has not completely convinced Owens. “The project I’m currently helping out with right now at Method is a post-conversion 3D. I’m not a big fan of 3D myself or stereo. It is a massive headache and complication to what you’re already trying to do. What we do naturally is put square pegs in round holes. This is 10 times worse now. I don’t know anybody you enjoys the process of it.” The technological transition resembles a previous one. “It’s like when you went from the silent era to the sound era. The camera just got nailed to the ground. It’s that same thing. It’s so cumbersome to deal with.”
“At the moment I’m helping out on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter [2012]. Method needed some help and I said ‘Okay,’” states Michael Owens. “One of the ones I really wanted to work on and was late getting to was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close [2011]. The script is brilliant and has all this cool kid imagination stuff in it. I look forward to seeing that movie.” When asked what is required to be a successful visual effects supervisor, Owen advises. “You need to understand your technique and your tools. Preferably, you need to understand them on the set as well. The other half of it is cinematic artistry.” He adds, “You develop an eye and it doesn’t happen over night. I’ve always loved cinema and I hope I do it well.”
Full article: http://flickeringmyth.blogspot.com/2011/12/image- conscious-conversation-with. html
Bad Robot App Delivers VFX On Your iPhone
(herocomplex.latimes.com)The week before Christmas was a big one for J.J. Abrams and his production company, Bad Robot, with the wide release of “Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.” which quickly gave Bad Robot the bragging rights to the biggest hit of the holiday season. But the week was also notable for another landmark: Bad Robot is now in the iPhone app business.
The app is called Action Movie FX and it gives users the ability to insert special effects into any video they take with Apple’s smartphone. The two effects included with the app are a missile attack and car smash, allowing anyone to get all Michael Bay on unsuspecting family members, sleeping pets or the guy who cut them off on the 405 Freeway.
In an e-mail interview, Abrams called Action Movie FX the first of a “slew” of “cool projects” that his Bad Robot is working on in the interactive space.
“I think it should be noted that this is the first time I have used the word slew,’” the filmmaker noted, adding that the endeavors include “movies, some TV shows or books, some short-form filmed and animated projects, some music and some apps.”
The app was financed by Bad Robot and overseen by Andrew Kramer, the visual effects wizard whom Abrams plucked from his website, Video Copilot, to work on the opening credit sequences of the Fox series “Fringe” and the 2009 feature film “Star Trek.” He and Bad Robot executive David Baronoff worked on the app with a small team of outside programmers for about two months.
“I just loved the idea that people could add high-quality visual effects to their footage, all with a phone they already carry with them,” Abrams said of the app.
Kramer said the biggest challenge was getting the app to track moving images while also making the interface as foolproof as possible. “We went through so many different versions while wondering, ‘How are people going to use this app? Should we have director’s notes? What about on-screen tips?’”
“Action Movie FX” debuted Dec. 22, and surged to No. 1 on the list of most downloaded free entertainment apps and since then it ranked consistently among the top 25 free apps of all kinds.
Source with video: http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/01/06/action-movie- fx-bad-robot-app-delivers-big- bangs-for-your-buck/
Kanye West To Meet George Jetson?
(darkhorizons.com)Kanye West has met with film executives to discuss working on a live-action "The Jetsons" movie according to NME.com.
The rapper is reportedly a huge fan of the cartoon series and has met the team working on the film for a "brainstorming" session. Earlier this week he talked about his new design company DONDA on his Twitter account and said he was in talks about potentially serving as creative director on the 'Jetsons' film which has been in development for some years.
Producer Denise Di Novi confirmed his involvement but said it was still very early days yet - "He was interested in creatively brainstorming what we were doing with the movie and what ideas he might have. It was a really friendly, preliminary conversation… He was going to think about it more and see if he got inspired visually."
“Rango” Helped Paramount Become Top Studio of ’11
(blog.bcdb.com) Aided by such films as Gore Verbinski’s animated Rango, Paramount Pictures announced Monday that it ended 2011 in the No. 1 position among all studios.
Paramount achieved the highest total combined gross of any studio for the year, earning a record $5.17 billion worldwide. The studio, which released a total of 16 new releases domestically this year, placed first in the North American market share with $1.96 billion, while also amassing record grosses at the international box office with $3.21 billion.
“This year, our studio reached some key milestones, including the release of three vibrant Paramount franchise pictures and our first original CGI animated film,” said Paramount Pictures chairman and CEO Brad Grey. “Our first original animated film, Rango, from director Gore Verbinski, earned rave reviews and more than $100 million at the domestic box office. We also benefited from our distribution partnerships with DreamWorks Animation and Marvel, and I want to thank them both.”
Rango has made $123.5 million at the North American box office. Other animated titles were DWA’s Kung Fu Panda 2 ($165.2 million) and Puss In Boots ($145.8 million), and Steven Spielberg’s Tintin ($51.4 million).
“This achievement reflects the combined efforts of our entire team across the globe and the careful process by which we select the projects and partners we believe in,” said Grey.
Budget Cuts Halt "Akira" Production
(darkhorizons.com)Warner Bros. Pictures is shutting down its "Akira" remake again due to casting and budgetary issues says Heat Vision
Production offices in Vancouver are being closed with crew members apparently told to stop working and go home.
Producers Jennifer Kiloran Davisson and Andrew Lazar will work with director Jaume Collet-Serra for the next two weeks to iron out the script. Should that not work out, the whole project could be scrapped altogether.
This live-action remake of the classic 80's anime struggled in development hell for years with numerous incarnations and budgetary cutbacks along the way.
This would technically mark its fourth so called 'death', each time though it has come back. In order to do that this time though, its already lean $90 million budget will have to be cut down significantly further - somewhere more around the $60-70 million mark.
In fact its becoming a common thing for various Warner-related projects in the works with word this time last month the studio shut down its "Arthur and Lancelot" while regular cohort Legendary Pictures put a hold on "Paradise Lost" - in both cases it was due to budgetary issues.
Portman To "Ascend" For Wachowskis?
(darkhorizons.com)Natalie Portman is being courted by Lana and Andy Wachowski to star in their next sci-fi feature "Jupiter Ascending" says The Press Association.
Portman, who worked with the pair on "V for Vendetta" which they produced, is said to be seriously considering signing up for the top secret project which begins shooting this Fall.
The role would mark her first since giving birth to son Aleph. Portman is also looking at adapting Jonathan Safran Foer's book "Eating Animals" for the big screen.
Stallone Assures Movie Fans ‘I do all my own CGI’
(newsbiscuit.com)Evergreen action hero Sylvester Stallone is taking Hollywood back to the ’80s with his latest blockbuster, promising fans he’ll perform all his own CGI.
Movie fans have long bemoaned the lack of unrealistic stunt doubles to laugh at in low budget blood baths, the sheer availability of talented computer programmers making rubbish films a thing of the past.
But Stallone has already clawed back some ground with recent releases, winning plaudits such as ‘unintentionally funny’ and ‘utter, utter bollocks’ across a number of influential internet forums.
Stallone told his followers that the action scenes in his latest film, ‘The Unbearables’, are all his own work. The film tells the tale of an ageing boxer who finds himself in Vietnam, surrounded by monster trucks and high explosives. ‘I used my own ‘pooter,’ explained the two-dimensional character, ‘you’d know if a pro stood in for me. I’m told you can easily spot my style.’
With the help of some children, Stallone was repeatedly shown how to look for explosions on YouTube. ‘It’s easy when someone knows how,’ admitted Stallone. ‘The kids helped me over and over, they were very understanding. I forget stuff when I blink.’
Stallone’s unique approach to special effects has drastically reduced the cost of his films. By quickly swinging the camera between the action on set and a video being played on his laptop, almost any unlikely event can be seamlessly inserted into the movie, as long as it’s easy to spell.
‘We got a helicopter flying out of the sea, then exploding, then being laughed at by a kitten,’ revealed the star, ‘and it cost nearly nothing.’ In fact, Stallone’s movie was made on a lower budget than most pantomimes, a situation aided by his unwillingness to pay for a script.
Stallone maintains that a script is unnecessary if you put enough cattle-physiqued actors in one place, and get them to face the right way. ‘Me, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, David Walliams. With that talent, why buy word papers?’ he asked. But some costs are inevitable.
With takings down slightly for Stallone’s last film, the studio is putting some pressure on him to deliver. Stallone now admits it was a mistake to design the posters himself, and still has a crayon lodged in his armpit. ‘We got a professional make-up artist this time, she does all the growth hormones and steroids. It’s easy to push a needle in a bit too far, I learnt that the hard way,’ he admitted. Fortunately for the big man, audiences are yet to notice that Jason Statham’s frontal lobes have been botoxed.
Source: http://www.newsbiscuit.com/2012/01/06/stallone-assures- movie-fans-i-do-all-my-own- cgi/
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