(4rfv.co.uk) VFX is the fastest growing component of the UK's burgeoning film industry: however the UK is not producing enough VFX talent to fuel this growth.
Two short films to help address the skills shortage in the UK's booming visual effects (VFX) industry by inspiring young people to pursue a VFX career have been launched.
Funded by Skillset, who worked in partnership with UK Screen and some of the UK's biggest VFX post-production houses, the films feature VFX artists from some of the UK's leading companies talking about how they got into the industry and what skills are needed to work on films such as Captain America, Iron Man and Harry Potter.
The two films are aimed at young people aged 10-plus and 15-plus respectively, as well as careers advisers, teachers and parents and advise what subjects to study and how to get started in the industry.
Skillset's Executive Director (Deputy CEO), Kate O'Connor, said: "VFX is the fastest growing component of the UK's burgeoning film industry. However the UK is not producing enough VFX talent to fuel this growth, leaving us reliant on skilled migration. This is not sustainable, which is why Skillset has launched a slate of programmes to ensure that the UK produces the talent resource our VFX industry needs to remain a world leader."
Sarah Mackey, Acting Chief Executive of UK Screen, said: "The short films are the perfect way to educate children, parents and teachers about careers in the VFX industry. The UK is a global centre for VFX and by encouraging young people to study the core subjects of math, science and art we investing in essential home grown UK talent."
The films were created in response to the recommendations of the Next Gen Report, which sets out how the UK can be transformed into the world's leading talent hub for video games and visual effects.
Encouraging young people to study maths, science and art at school, the films are the first step towards bringing the idea of a VFX career into the classroom and providing an online VFX careers-related resource hub for teachers, careers advisers and young people.
"Top Gun 2" Producers Want $75m F-35 Stealth Fighter
(thestar.com) Is the F-35 fighter jet about to soar into movie stardom?
The controversial military aircraft — beset by delays and cost overruns — will reportedly take a starring role alongside Tom Cruise in the long-awaited sequel to the 1980s smash Top Gun.
That means movie watchers and politicians alike may get to see Cruise’s character, Lieutenant Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, blow up the bad guys, all the while Canada’s air force continues to stretch the lives out of its fleet of aging CF-18s.
The Conservative government has ordered 65 of the new F-35s at a cost of $75 million each. But delays in production and questions about the true cost of the aircraft have fuelled criticism of the purchase — a joint effort with Britain, Denmark, Norway, Holland, Italy, Turkey and Australia.
Add to that U.S. President Barack Obama’s cutbacks to Pentagon spending and reduced orders from some allied nations, and the prognosis for an on-time, on-budget delivery looks grim. The Canadian government has stopped referring to the exact cost of the planes recently, saying instead that $9 billion has been set aside to replace its current fleet of fighter-bombers, along with an additional $7 billion for maintenance over two decades. It has, however, stayed firm on its commitment to purchase the jets.
Manufacturer Lockheed Martin confirmed to the Star Tuesday it had met with the movie’s producers, but would not provide any details.
“I can tell you that we did meet with the producers last fall but there’s nothing definite,” said Mike Rein, a spokesperson for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Program. “My understanding is that there are several different scenarios and (the F-35) is one of their considerations.”
Cruise confirmed last December that he was in talks with producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott to bring Maverick back into the pilot’s seat in a follow-up to the 1986 blockbuster. The movie charts the lives of the U.S.’s best naval aviators as they train to do battle with the enemy and spend their leisure time wooing women.
Little is known about the plot of the rumoured sequel, but aviation industry website Flightglobal.com reports that Tom Burbage, the F-35 program manager for Lockheed Martin, told a National Aeronautics Association luncheon last week that not only would the long-delayed aircraft make an appearance in the film, but Cruise would be returning as an F-35 test pilot.
Michael Singer, manager of marketing and publicity for Jerry Bruckheimer films, declined to comment about the report.
“I know nothing about it,” Singer told the Star.
Computer-Aided Design (CAD) Pioneer, Dies at 84
(sfgate.com) Carl Machover, a computer graphics "evangelist" and retired President of Machover Associates Corp., died Monday, at his home in White Plains, NY, after a prolonged illness. He was 84.
Trained as an electrical engineer right after World War II, Machover began his career in an era when computers occupied entire rooms while lacking even basic visual displays. "Computer graphics are the cure for no known disease," he liked to joke, alluding to his uphill battle to convince companies that better graphical interfaces would transform their industries. A sought-after public speaker, he combined his engineering knowledge with business savvy to champion full-color, real-time graphics displays for everything from complex scientific data and architectural design to computer-animated movies - a vision he lived to see turn into reality many times over.
Born in Brooklyn to Rose and John Machover, Carl was three when the family moved to Davenport, Iowa. After graduating from Davenport High School, Machover enlisted in the Navy during World War II, in the Eddy radar and radio program. Following the war, he attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, under the GI bill, where he majored in electrical engineering. In Troy, he met his future wife, Wilma Doris Simon, a budding concert pianist, then still in high school but soon to be a student at The Juilliard School in New York.
Machover went to work at Norden Laboratories Corporation in White Plains, NY, and published the primer Basics of Gyroscopes (1960), a classic that combined lucid scientific description with witty hand-drawn cartoons intended initially for the Norden sales force. He then moved to Skiatron Electronics & Television Corporation where he helped form a subcontractor RMS Associates to build and market CRT character generators. RMS later changed its name to Information Displays, Inc. (IDI) and created the stand-alone computer-aided design (CAD) platform the IDIIOM (IDI Input-Output Machine). IDIIOM had its own operating system based on the Varian 620-I computer, a DEC PDP competitor. In 1976, he left IDI to form Machover Associates Corp (MAC), a computer graphics consultancy which became known internationally for providing a broad range of management, engineering, marketing, and financial services to computer graphics users, suppliers, researchers and investors.
'John Carter' To Challenge 'The Lorax' For Top Box Office Spot
(RTTNews.com) With a sky-high budget and enormous expectations, sci-fi adventure "John Carter" hits theaters this weekend looking to take over the box office, though it probably won't be a runaway with "The Lorax" also in position for another big weekend. Other titles hitting theaters this weekend include horror film "Silent House," starring Elizabeth Olsen, and Eddie Murphy's "A Thousand Words," though neither seems to be poised for much of an opening. The weekend should also be the last that romantic drama "The Vow" lands in the top ten after a very strong box office run that places it among the most lucrative releases of 2012 so far.
From director Andrew Stanton, the filmmaker behind Pixar's animated gems "Wall-E" and "Finding Nemo," PG-13 "John Carter" storms theaters this weekend hoping to catch on with mainstream, action-seeking audience. With Disney's pull with family audiences, "John Carter" should be able to attract families with older kids in addition to the usual action seekers, which should translate to a fairly easy chart-topping opening.
Backed by a production budget that was rumored to be as high as $300 million, but is more likely in the $200 million range, "John Carter" should be the most expensive movie on the 2012 release schedule until the big releases start hitting theaters in May. With that type of budget, Disney has unloaded a major marketing campaign to try to get theaters packed this weekend, though that may be easier said than done. Family-friendly "The Lorax" should take a section of the intended demographic, which could limit "John Carter" from having an enormous opening.
But March has also become a very good time for blockbusters to launch in the last six years, with a bevy of releases crossing $50 million in opening revenue despite never doing so before 2006. "John Carter" doesn't have the brand of a popular sequel like "Ice Age: Meltdown" ($68 million in 2006) or "Alice in Wonderland" ($116 million in 2010), but the promise of top-tier special effects and sci-fi action should get audiences to theaters at least for this weekend. Look for "John Carter" to surpass $50 million domestically this weekend and to boast some very nice overseas figures due to Disney's pull outside of the U.S.
As "John Carter" takes aim at mainstream action-seeking audiences, horror film "Silent House" will hope to find the horror junkies as it hits roughly 2,000 total venues. Starring Elizabeth Olsen, the younger sister of Mary-Kate and Ashley, "Silent House" has a few limitations that could seriously suppress its box office potential this weekend. With an R-rating and limited buzz, adult audiences may have a hard time committing to a limited release horror film when there are plenty of other options for adults. Distributor Open Road Films also doesn't have the greatest track record as of yet, making an opening below $10 million seem likely this weekend for "Silent House."
Weta's Unsung Hero Sir Richard Taylor To Recieve Career Achievement Award
(sanluisobispo.com) This year, the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival honors the man behind some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters.
Sir Richard Taylor, the special effects supervisor behind “Avatar,” “The Adventures of Tintin” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, will receive the film festival’s King Vidor Career Achievement Award, which honors excellence in filmmaking.
“He is extremely well-loved in the film business and in general,” festival Executive Director Wendy Eidson said, describing Taylor as a “celebrity” in his field.
Festival organizers will honor Hollywood’s unsung heroes over five days of film screenings, panel discussions and red-carpet galas at venues across the county.
That’s a shift in focus from previous years, when the festival wooed movie stars such as Morgan Freeman, Malcolm McDowell and Greg Kinnear.
Instead, organizers want to recognize lesser-known figures such as celebrity photographer Timothy White and Sir Richard Taylor, the special effects supervisor behind “Avatar,” “The Adventures of Tintin” and “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy.
Taylor, a New Zealand native, is slated to receive the King Vidor Career Achievement Award, which honors excellence in filmmaking
Saturday comes to a close with the Independent Film Awards and the King Vidor award ceremony at the Fremont, followed by a question- and-answer session.
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 effects for some of Hollywood’s biggest blockbusters, including “District 9,” “King Kong” and “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”
“He’s a celebrity in his own world,” Eidson said of Taylor, who was knighted in 2010 for his contributions to film.
Taylor will then join other industry experts for a panel discussion about motion capture technology and its possible applications in business, education, government and medicine.
“It’s a real cool blend of science and art and engineering,” Eidson explained.
Makeup FX Maestro, Barney Burman Slide Show
Take a look: http://www.famehog.com/
CG Dinosaurs Migrate To Netflix - 'Terra Nova' May Survive
(The Live Feed) Following Monday's announcement that Fox had cancelled "Terra Nova" after one season comes word that production company 20th Century Fox Television is in early talks with Netflix for the series to continue on the streaming service.
"While discussions are merely preliminary, the move could make sense for Netflix as it continues its push into original scripted programming with fare including 20th Television's Arrested Development, which the company resurrected in November," says The Live Feed.
"Terra Nova" averaged 7.5 million total viewers and 2.6 million in the adults 18-49 demographic for its 11-episode first season. The finale drew a 2.1 rating among adults 18-49 and an audience of 7.2 million.
The show, from executive producers Steven Spielberg, Peter Chernin, René Echevarria and Brannon Braga, followed an ordinary family, the Shannons, on a journey back in time to prehistoric Earth as part of an experiment to save mankind. It starred Stephen Lang, Jason O'Mara, Shelley Conn, Landon Liboiron, Naomi Scott and Alana Mansour.
M. Night Shyamalan’s After Earth Shoots with Sony F65
(btlnews.com) Director M. Night Shyamalan (left) and cinematographer Peter Suschitzky on the set of After Earth – the first major motion picture to be shot with the new Sony F65 camera. (Photo by: Frank Masi).
The latest film from the production company Overbrook Entertainment and director M. Night Shyamalan, After Earth, scheduled for release next year by Sony Pictures Entertainment‘s Columbia Pictures, is the first major motion picture to be shot using Sony’s new F65 CineAlta digital production camera.
“I couldn’t be any happier with the F65, which is amazing since I’m a ‘film guy’ and I thought I’d die a film guy,” said Shyamalan. “It’s a digital media that’s warm and has humanity in it, which is obviously the most important thing to me.”
“The F65 is like a great leap forward,” said director of photography Peter Suschitzky. “As soon as I did testing of the F65, I was immensely impressed by the amount of detail it captures, by its incredible flexibility, from low lights to high lights, and its great contrast range. It really is a camera for the future and I’m going to use it again on a number of films.”
Sony began worldwide deliveries of the camera in January. Approximately 400 units were pre-ordered, and several other high-profile productions are planning to shoot with the F65 in the near future.
VFX Vets Launch 'There'
(variety.com) Production veterans Elliott Jobe and Taylor Jobe have opened a company called There that specializes in digital sets and green-screen production.
The bicoastal shingle aims to provide an alternative to location-based production, combining the realism of live-action shoots with the flexibility of digital production, and making it possible to scenes that would otherwise be cost-prohibitive.
"With digital sets we can give our clients access and control of lighting," said Elliott Jobe, creative director. "There offers another solution besides traditional vfx that also results in a big production and great production value. We combine on-set technology with digital sets using assets we capture or create, as well as existing assets we repurpose."
The company's early projects include commercials for Virgin America and Crystal Geyser, featuring digital sets of a plane interior and a modern kitchen, respectively; and a "Rock Center" promo with Brian Williams, featuring digital sets of seven production floors at Manhattan's Rockefeller Center - including stages of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon," "Saturday Night Live" and "30 Rock" - that made it possible to schedule shooting with multiple celebrities.
The company is based on the premise that even in a production climate characterized by tight schedules and shrinking budgets, clients should not have to compromise on creative. "You can be inside the Louvre, Red Square or Grand Central Terminal in one afternoon," says Taylor Jobe, business development director. "Those are pretty amazing options. Our studio is a hybrid of practical and digital technology, which many live-action productions tend to approach separately."
There provides an environment in which both director and d.p. can interact with talent on green-screen as if they were shooting at an actual location. This allows the director to work with actors on performance surrounded by "real" objects in the frame versus a typical green-screen situation with limited contextual reference. Similarly, a d.p. can calibrate which lens to use and how to light a scene based on actual distances and images within the digital set versus the type of estimating usually done with green-screen.
"The technology used on-set showed me exactly what the end result would look like," said director Jim Jenkins of O Positive, who worked with There on the Virgin America spot via Y&R NY. "Elliott made it all very simple and the plane interior looked great."
Other There clients include Bravo, LucasFilm, Geico and Warner Bros.
Avatar Tech Master Making Computer Animation More Human
(finchannel.com)
“Imagine a machine that can not only express what is on its mind, but also allows you to glimpse the mental imagery that it is constantly changing in its mind,” says Dr Sagar.
According to The University of Auckland, the Laboratory for Animate Technologies, based in the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, will create interactive autonomously animated systems which “will help define the next generation of human-computer interaction and facial animation“.
Industries to benefit from research and technology created in Dr Sagar’s lab could include those where establishing emotional rapport is important such as education, advertising, and the entertainment industry.
Dr Sagar says his Lab will create an experience that will allow visitors to engage with “smart technology” that appears conscious, emotive and thinking. “One question we are pursuing is: can technology be made more appealing if it is more natural?”
Dr Sagar says the technology created in his lab will simulate the lifelike qualities and the observable natural reflexes and behaviour of someone engaging with another person.
”Our computational models of emotion, perception, learning and memory will generate highly expressive realistic – or fantastic – imagery which engages the user on a visceral, emotional level,“ he says.
The Lab will also develop advanced computer vision techniques to track facial expression and behaviour. These techniques will be used with other modes of sensory input to allow the smart machine to sense its world.
Visitors to the Lab will engage with expressive interfaces including realistic faces and also be able to see the inner workings or underlying “brain activity” generating the machines’ responses.
“We are building a collaborative modular model of the face and brain, a brain and face Lego with swappable and re-shapable parts. Both scientists and artists who want an interactive context to test and visualise their work can design, combine, integrate, inspect, react, be reacted to, and redesign," says Dr Sagar.
The Lab will be developed using state-of-the-art projective computer graphics and brain-based computational models. Its foundations are being built by Dr Sagar and others in the University with expertise in areas such as computer and the neural sciences, engineering, architecture and the arts. The Lab will work on both blue skies research and commercial applications.
Dr Sagar previously worked for Weta Digital where he created technology for achieving the realistic appearance and performance capture animation of digital characters such as Avatar’s Na’vi people. His pioneering work in computer-generated faces was recognised with two consecutive Oscars at the 2010 and 2011 Sci-tech awards, a branch of the Academy Awards that recognises movie science and technological achievements. Dr Sagar will continue to work with Weta on selected projects.
The former medical researcher started his career building computer simulations of the human eye for virtual surgery. He has a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Engineering from The University of Auckland.
His postgraduate research involved a landmark study in how to develop an anatomically correct virtual eye and realistic models of biomechanically simulated anatomy. It was one of the first examples of how lifelike human features could be created on a screen by combining computer graphics with mathematics and human physiology.
Professor Peter Hunter, Director of the ABI, says he feels very fortunate to have Dr Sagar working at the Institute.
“Mark is an exceptional researcher, scientist and artist with immense vision and passion. He has made a huge contribution to the motion picture industry in a relatively short time and I expect that he will continue to excel here and abroad with his work at the Laboratory for Animate Technologies.”
Good Advice from Pixar’s Mark Andrews
(rabbitroom.com)This is a lecture that Mark Andrews (Pixar’s director of the forthcoming Brave) gave to a group of students at CalArts (California Institute of the Arts). He’s talking chiefly about the art of storyboarding, but I found that most of what he says applies directly to the art of writing as well (or any other artistic medium). The video is in two parts. In the first, he shows his storyboard of his treatment of the Icarus myth. In the second part, he discusses the choices he made and how he went about putting the story together. The quality isn’t the best, but the advice is spot on. Well worth the fifteen minutes if you’re a storyteller.
VIDEO - Take a look: http://www.rabbitroom.com/2012/03/good-advice-froom- pixars-mark-andrews/
Life-Caster & Special Effects Artist John Schoonraad Interview
(denofgeek.com) “Head on a stick!” I’m sitting opposite life-caster and special effects artist John Schoonraad, and he’s regaling me with a story about the time he made a fake head of Kristin Scott Thomas during the production of The English Patient.
“I did Kristin Scott Thomas’ head on a stick,” Schoonraad says. “You know the albatross on a stick [Monty Python sketch]? I just walked in, shouting, ‘Head on a stick!’ No one knew what was going on.”
This brief tale sums up John Schoonraad’s genuine enthusiasm for his remarkable body of work. He’ll casually mention working on something as jaw-dropping as Return Of The Jedi (“I worked on Jabba the Hutt’s skiff”), and then immediately go on to talk about the years he spent working with Jim Henson (there was, he said, “A smattering of Ninja Turtles”). He’ll rush into an anecdote about creating the decapitation effects for Highlander, before taking an abrupt left turn into a story about the young, up-and-coming artists he worked with on Clive Barker’s Nightbreed.
His stories are extraordinary, and made all the more so by the fact that we’re surrounded by examples of his 30 years’ experience. The plaster casts of famous faces – Vincent Price, Nicolas Cage, Arnold Schwarzenegger – line shelves of his Elstree Studios workshop, their expressions nonchalant. Props and concept models lie on desks or locked away in glass cabinets.
Full article with pics: http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/1272167/lifecaster_and_ special_effects_artist_john_ schoonraad_interview.html
Women’s Day: Celebrating Female Talent in the CG Industry
(3dartistonline.com)What was once a male-dominated industry has, over the years, seen balance restored as female talents from the world over have offered their incredible skills into the mix. The 3D Artist magazine team has seen a shift in the percentages of female attendees at CG events in London and abroad, particularly at the likes of the annual Siggraph conference, and frankly, we’re excited.
Female artists everywhere, we salute you!
Character Artist Sze Jones is a true master of her trade, possibly best known for her work at Blur Studio where, over a period of eight years, she created iconic female characters such as Lara Croft for ‘Tomb Raider Underworld’, Beatrice for ‘Dante Inferno‘, Dark Elf Sorceress for Warhammer, and so many more. We spoke to Sze in issue 27* to discover how traditional sculpting offers her creative freedom away from the screen.
Character Artist and Designer Julianna Kolakis is another first-class artist working in the film industry on features including ‘District 9′, ‘Sucker Punch’, ‘The Mummy – Tomb of the Emperor’, and many others. A woman of multiple talents, this VFS grad currently works freelance in art direction, illustration, sculpting and painting, character design, texture painting – and more!
Rebeca Puebla's Twisted Doll seriesRebeca Puebla is a character artist extraordinaire, known and loved for her beautiful Twisted Dolls character series of femme fatales. Rebeca exploded onto the CG scene in 2005 with her captivating character, ‘Sangyeng‘, which was fast picked up by all the top CG communities – not to mention software manufacturers! Having worked in the industry since 2002, Rebeca continues to inspire and conquer with each new creation.
Source with pics: http://www.3dartistonline.com/news/2012/03/womens-day- celebrating-female-talent-in- the-cg-industry/
Become A "Can Do" CG Artist - In Kuwait
(bayt.com) THE 99 is looking for a CG Generalist to be based in Kuwait. The CG Generalist should have 4-6 years of industry experience in animation and/or games (but not mandatory). The ideal candidate should be an artist who can animate, model and have proficient rigging/lighting skills. A multi-tasker with a great "can do" attitude is essential.
Apply today: http://www.bayt.com/en/job/?xid=1762242
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