Campaigning for the VFX Oscar - Thank You Michael Bay

(vfxsoldier.wordpress.com)   

                 Paramount Pictures and Michael Bay have been campaigning for Oscars – but not for themselves. They are campaigning for the VFX and Sound artists involved in the film:

    Roughly 3,000 people worked on thisTransformers. Some have been with me since 1995′s Bad Boys. The people I work with are animals. They’re passionate. It irks me that VFX and VFX movies aren’t considered art. It’s a different type of art, but it’s definitely art.

I remember having a conversation with a veteran VFX artist who worked on some of the best VFX films in the biz:

    Me: So which film was your most favorite to work on?

    Him: Armageddon

    Me: Armageddon? Seriously? That movie sucked!

    Him: Yeah but dailies with Michael Bay was a riot. It was so fun.

One colleague told me another story where a group of VFX artists were about to go into dailies with Michael Bay. Bay stops the group and assertively asks:

    Bay: Which one of you is the VFX Supervisor?

    VFX Supe: I am.

    Bay: Okay you stay out here, the rest of you come with me into the screening room.

What’s amazing is that Michael Bay is probably the biggest perceived egomaniac in Hollywood. Yet here he is humbly campaigning for all the artists and technicians who worked on the VFX and sound (which many of his nominees are union members).

I can’t help but wonder what Michael Bay would’ve done if Andy Serkis tried to take credit for the work of his VFX artists like he tried to do on Apes. We all know what happened to Megan Fox. Thank You Michael Bay.

VIDEO - Take a look:  http://vfxsoldier.wordpress.com/2012/02/02/thank-you-michael-bay/




"Pacific Rim" Production Supe Promoted to Exec Vice President for Legendary Entertainment

(hollywoodreporter.com)              Veteran production executive Ty Warren is the new Executive Vice President of Physical Production for Legendary Entertainment, Legendary President and Chief Creative Officer Jon Jashni announced today. Warren moves up from being the company’s Senior Vice President of Production, a position he has held since joining the company in 2011.

Among his responsibilities is supervising physical production of several Legendary projects including Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, Sergey Bodrov’s Seventh Son, starring Jeff Bridges and Julianne Moore, Noam Munro’s sequel to 300, Battle of Artemisia, Brian Helgeland’s 42, starring Harrison Ford, and Jonathan Liebesman’s follow-up to Clash of the Titans, Wrath of the Titans. He is also monitoring Legendary East’s first project, Ed Zwick’s film The Great Wall.

Warren’s previous experience includes a stint at Dreamworks Pictures, where he held the role of Senior Vice President of Production, and serving as Nominating Committee Chairman and AP Council Board Member for the Producers Guild of America. In a statement, Jashni indicated that he’s confident that Warren will bring this considerable experience to bear in his new position.

“Ty has brought to Legendary a breadth of experience at an integral time for the company,” said Jashni. “Given the increase in our autonomous production activity we will benefit greatly from his focus and leadership.”



"Short Circuit" Remake To Take 'Alvin and the Chipmunks' Franchise Approach

(Dimension Films)                 Matt Lieberman, a recent alumni of the Disney writers program, will write their upcoming remake of Short Circuit. As announced last summer, Tim Hill will direct.

“Dimension has had great success with the 'Spy Kids' family series which grossed over $500 million worldwide,” said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman of The Weinstein Company. “We are looking for 'Short Circuit' to be our next family franchise and are excited to be working with Matt Lieberman and Tim Hill, who has had great International success with 'Hop' and 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'."

David Foster, who produced the original, is producing with Ryan E. Heppe, John Hyde and Brian Manis.

Shooting is scheduled for the end of the year with a release in Summer 2013.




Beijing's Animation & Online Game Industry Earns 13 Billion Yuan in 2011

(english.peopledaily.com.cn)                     The total revenue of more than 300 animation and online game companies in Beijing reached 13 billion yuan in 2011, up 30 percent from the previous year.

The city's online game companies posted combined revenue of 12 billion yuan, and exported online games worth of nearly 1.3 billion yuan, ranking first in China.

Among all Beijing-based online game companies, Perfect World has delivered the best performance in overseas markets, with its overseas sales revenue for the first three quarters of 2011 standing at about 600 million yuan.

Beijing Kunlun Wanwei Technology Company expanded relatively late into international markets, but its browser games with rich Chinese characteristics such as The Three Kingdoms and Clash of Kingdoms have gained great popularity in Japan and South Korea. Beijing Kunlun even has the largest share in the South Korean browser game market.

When online game companies are actively expanding overseas through independently developed games, Beijing's animation companies have also gained wide acclaim for their originality and creativity.

At the end of last year, a total of 31 pieces of animation works submitted by the city's animation companies were short-listed for the first China Government Culture and Animation Art Awards, the highest prizes in China's animation industry, and won 10 major prizes.




VFX House Lloura Opens in Sydney

(mumbrella.com.au)             A new visual effects studio has launched in Sydney called Iloura.

The announcement:

    Iloura’s new purpose-built studio is now open in East Sydney to exclusively service agencies, production companies, broadcast and media clients.

    Local Sydney-sider Alastair Stephen has been appointed Executive Producer – Commercials and is leading a talented team of VFX artists, designers, colourists, and producers. Clients will have access to Head of 3D and CG Supervisor,Jonathan Dearing; Design Director, Finn Spencer; VFX Designer, Kent Smith; Colourists Marcus Timpson and Dwaine Hyde; and Senior Producer, Simone Clow.

    For nearly twenty years Iloura has provided advertising and broadcast clients with VFX, animation and design from its Melbourne studio. We’re delighted to be able to expand this offer to a Sydney base.

    Boffswana is also now operating from this studio and is part of Iloura. Boffswana provides leading edge immersive user experiences for brands and specialises in experiential, interactive and augmented reality solutions.

    Iloura and Boffswana, collaborate with clients to deliver award-winning and creative work in the field of experiential media, VFX, animation, design and colour grading.




Sci-Fi Thriller "Snow Piercer" Stays On Track

(Heat Vision)                    Award-winning The Help co-star Octavia Spencer has joined the cast of director Bong Joon-ho's sci-fi thriller Snow Piercer and will appear alongside Chris Evans, John Hurt and Tilda Swinton, as well as Korean actor Song Kang-ho (The Host).

Heat Vision says the film "is set in a future where, after a failed experiment to stop global warming, an Ice Age kills off all life on the planet except for the inhabitants of the Snow Piercer, a train that travels around the globe and is powered by a sacred perpetual-motion engine. A class system evolves on the train but a revolution brews."

Spencer will play a passenger on the train who joins the revolt to save her son. Joon-ho co-wrote the script for the film, produced by Park Chan-wook and Dooho Choi.

Kelly Masterson wrote the most recent draft for the project, based on the French graphic novel "Le Transperceneige."




VES Nominates 4 Students for Outstanding Visual Effects Award

(BUSINESS WIRE) -- Four students from The DAVE School (Digital Animation and Visual Effects) have been selected by the prestigious Visual Effects Society as nominees in the student category for the 10th Annual VES Awards Gala, a ceremony recognizing outstanding visual effects artistry in film, animation, television, commercials, special venues and video games.

Under the supervision of renowned VFX artist and director Lee Stringer, The DAVE School students Syrena Edmonds, Zack Heimbegner, Brian Mullen and Nathaniel Skinner spent months producing visual effects for the independent film "Renee The Movie,'' which is in post-production.

The DAVE School, located on the backlot of Universal Studios Florida in Orlando, is one of the most advanced 3D and visual effects training institutions serving the animation and film industries. Recent graduates' work can be seen in movies that include "Thor," "The Green Lantern" and "Captain America."

The 10th Annual VES Awards Gala in Los Angeles will take place Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2012. The students are among the six finalist teams nominated for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project.

Nominees were chosen by a panel of members from The Visual Effects Society, a nonprofit professional, honorary society dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects. VES is comprised of a diverse group of more than 2,300 members in 26 countries.

"Just to get a nomination from the society as you aspire to enter into the industry is a great motivator," said visual effects supervisor Lee Stringer. "When you think about it, only a handful of schools were nominated out of what is likely hundreds of student projects from around the world."

Stinger is a frequent guest lecturer at The DAVE School and a former instructor. His body of work in film and television includes "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," "Battlestar Galactica," "Firefly," "Captain Scarlet," "Star Trek: Voyager," "Tofu the Vegan Zombie" and "Lost in Space," among others. He spent several months last year supervising advanced students at The DAVE School in production work for "Renee the Movie."

"Renee the Movie" is inspired by the true story of a 19-year-old Florida woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey toward recovery.

"The students knew the effects they produced for 'Renee' had to fit into the main production of a multimillion-dollar film. They certainly accomplished that. Obviously, the industry peers felt the same way about the caliber of the visual effects they produced," Stringer said.

"I was particularly impressed because the students volunteered to do this project on top of their regular school load, which already is at the most advanced stage of Block 4 production just as you are preparing to graduate," Stringer added.

"This is the first time the school has submitted a project for consideration by the Visual Effects Society, so we are especially honored that the talents of the students have been recognized at this level," said Steve Warner, executive director of The DAVE School. "We knew from the day Lee came on board to supervise the production that the 'Renee' project would be a special one for The DAVE School."



‘The War Magician’ Fails To Materialize

David Fischer’s best-selling novel, The War Magician, is not having an easy journey to the screen. Tom Cruise bought the film rights setting it up at Paramount. He also intended to star, but then his deal with Paramount went the way of the Dodo and his option on the book ran out. Variety is now reporting Marc Forster was attached to direct the film, but has also decided to drop out

Fischer’s book is about “real-life British magician Jasper Maskelyne, who adapted the core principles of stage magic to World War II.”

I’m not familiar with this story or writer, is it worth a look? The premise certainly sounds promising. I’m sure the project will get off the ground eventually, it just needs the right team behind it.

What do you think of Forster’s films? I liked Monster’s Ball and Finding Neverland, but I thought Quantum of Solace was a mess. I’m cautiously optimistic about World War Z, but my optimism has more to do with Max Brooks brilliant book than Forster’s directing skills.




Award Winning 3D Animation "Movie Magic Piano" Comes To Nintendo Video

(PRWEB UK) 3 February 2012

Nintendo 3DS owners will soon be able to view free 3D content from the award winning film and animation production studio, BreakThru Films, when the first in a variety of clips from their upcoming animation, the enchanting Magic Piano, becomes available for free via Nintendo Video™ from 2nd February. Kirby and Star Wars fans will also be happy to know that they can watch, via Nintendo Video, a specially designed two part 3D Kirby TV episode and also a Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace 3D trailer both available from 2nd February.

The Magic Piano tells the story of Anna, a girl whose father has to leave their native Poland and look for work in London. Anna misses her father terribly and sets out to find him, closely followed by her annoying cousin Chip Chip. While trying to hide from her cousin in a garbage pile, the kids find a broken piano that magically transforms into a flying machine and they are whisked off on an adventure across Europe.

The beautiful short animation has recently been shortlisted to feature at the 2012 Oscars ceremony and Nintendo 3DS owners will be able to get a unique insight into the animation through these stunning short clips, like many Nintendo 3DS games that can be received via SpotPass.

Full article:              http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9153373.htm




Paramount Gives TV Oscar Push ‘Rango’

(deadline.com)                Paramount is trying hard in the animation catagory, where it is trying to gain a foothold on its own against other more established studios in the ‘toon biz. It has created a series of  15-second TV spots for its Animated Feature nominee Rango that amusingly and directly attempt to emphasize the ‘toon’s appeal to members of the acting, writing, directing and producing branches of the Academy — the specific targets of the spots. The first spot on acting began running during last Sunday’s SAG Awards, and they will continue through the voting period. Oscar ballots are due back Febraury 21. Rango represents the first Animated Feature nomination for Paramount (and ILM), although the studio also distributes two other nominees in the category, DreamWorks Animation’s Puss In Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2.

VIDEO - Take a look:   http://www.deadline.com/2012/02/transformers-to-get-big-tv-oscar-push-from-paramount-rango-also-targeting-voters/



‘John Carter’ Featurette: More Comedy, Less Sci-Fi Action

(screenrant.com)                  The comparatively threatening Martian creatures and provocative elements in author Edgar Rice Burrough’s original John Carter novels have been made somewhat “friendlier” in Walt Disney Picture’s upcoming film adaptation – be they the 12-foot tall native inhabitants of Mars, Carter’s “Martian dog” Woola, or even the thunderous White Apes which the hero battles in a death match.

Previously-released John Carter promos has been primarily focused on footage featuring lots of CGI spectacle and grand-scale sci-fi action. Today, we have a new featurette that offers an early taste of the film’s approach to humor (among other things).

Disney’s John Carter movie tells the story of its namesake (Taylor Kitsch), an ex-military captain who’s still in mourning over the loss of his family during the Civil War. After seeking refuge in a cave, Carter inadvertently finds himself transported to Mars, a civilized alien world whose inhabitants are currently engaged in their own internalized conflict. Carter joins forces with individuals such as the green-skinned Tars Tarkas (Willem Dafoe) and the humanoid Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins), coming to the realization that he alone can help save this troubled world from destroying itself.

It’s fair to say: John Carter looks a whole lot more like a traditional Disney live-action adventure, based on this new material. Not only is the humor presented here very all-ages friendly, but characters like Woola also seem all the more cartoonish and cutesy in motion (rather than in still images). There’s also something to be said about the visual of Carter bouncing around the Martian landscape, almost like a Looney Tunes character – put kindly, that element is harder to take seriously, when you see it in action.

Obviously, the logic behind “Disney-fying” the John Carter universe is to make it more accessible to moviegoers who have never heard of (much less read) Burrough’s source material. While that approach should make the $250 million production more of a marketable product, it’s also resulted in John Carter bearing all the stronger a resemblance to last year’s Disney-backed Mars Needs Moms – and that association is definitely one the Mouse House does NOT want the average moviegoer to make.

We will see how Disney’s John Carter gamble pays off when the film is released in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D theaters in the U.S. on March 9th, 2012.

VIDEO - Take a look:   http://screenrant.com/john-carter-featurette-sandy-149355/




SPFX Oscar Winner Howard Berger Answers Five Questions About 'The Grey'

(makeupmag.com)               In the new film The Grey, Liam Neeson's character, John Ottway, and several members of an oil rig crew struggle to survive mother nature and a pack of terrifying wolves when their airplane crashes in the frozen Alaskan wilderness. Tasked with bringing these wolves to life was none other than Howard Berger and his team from KNB EFX Group, Inc.

Berger recently answered five burning questions about his latest adventure, including whether he's any match for Liam Neeson:

1. What was the director's vision for the wolf designs? Did he want them stylized or exaggerated in any way?

Howard Berger: [The director] Joe Carnahan approached this film like JAWS. He wanted the baddest, biggest, meanest wolves ever and that is what we gave him.

2. How much lead time was your team given to create the various wolf puppets?

HB: Not much at all as we were hired in November and we shipped in January. We had a crew work through the Christmas holiday to get everything completed.

3. What were some challenges working with the puppets or applying make-up in such harsh conditions?

HB: The worst conditions I have ever worked in, in my life. I have never been so cold. I am cold just thinking about it now! It was very difficult to stand and walk in the snow let alone do make-ups, dress blood and puppeteer. We should all get badges that say, "We survived THE GREY!"

4. Were there any shots that were originally designed for CGI that you proved could be done practically?

HB: Joe wanted to shoot everything practical and then augment accordingly, which he did. We did everything he could think of to avoid CGI, only due to cost as it was a small budget. Gunnar Hansen was the CG Supervisor and a great guy who I thought did an excellent job on the CG wolves.

5. Liam Neeson vs. KNB wolf. Who wins?

HB: Liam will always win as he can kick my ass!




Robert Zemeckis in Talks to Adapt "Back to the Future" for Stage Musical

(playbill.com)                    Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis, who directed the 1985 feature film "Back to the Future," is currently in talks with "Future" film collaborators Bob Gale and Alan Silvestri to explore a musical adaptation of the film, according to Deadline.com.

"Back to the Future," which starred Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd, featured a screenplay co-written by Zemeckis and Gale. Silvestri composed music for the film.

Zemeckis’ film studio, ImageMovers, would be involved if the "Back to the Future" musical goes forward.

Zemeckis won the Academy Award in 1995 for his direction of "Forrest Gump." He was nominated, along with co-writer Gale, for the Best Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen award for "Back to the Future." Silvestri was nominated for Academy Awards for his work on "The Polar Express" and "Forrest Gump."

Zemeckis also directed "Back to the Future Part II" (1989) and "Back to the Future Part III" (1990).

Brad Bird Considering Taking Over Robert Zemeckis’s Abandoned Sea Monster Movie

(nymag.com)                  Director Brad Bird attends the "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" U.S. premiere at the Ziegfeld Theatre on December 19, 2011 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images) Brad Bird

Last November, it was revealed that director Robert Zemeckis had ended his flirtation with Brian Helgeland’s American history and monster mash-up Here There Be Monsters, which pitted American Revolutionary War hero John Paul Jones against various tentacled monsters of the deep, and little more was heard about the project. But now insiders tell Vulture that the project may have signs of life, as Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol director Brad Bird is meeting with Legendary brass about the project, which originated as an idea by company chairman Thomas Tull.

There’s no deal in place yet for Bird, but our interest is piqued by the story: The Helgeland-fashioned script had Jones wrongly stripped of his British naval commission and hired by a shipping magnate to investigate the disappearance of his merchant ships in the North Atlantic. Soon enough, Jones and his crew suspect that it's the handiwork of a sea monster and have to fight to survive it. Giant squid, call your agent!




Sci-Fi "Chronicle" Looks For $12m Open

(nasdaq.co)            In one of the most wide open weekends of the year, thrillers "Chronicle" and "The Grey" should battle drama "The Woman in Black" for the top box office slot, though a big weekend isn't expected from any of them. Also hitting theaters this weekend is limited release "Big Miracle," an inspirational family-oriented drama starring John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore. With the big action movies of the holiday season finally out of the top ten, we should end up with one of the slowest movie weekends of the entire year as studios hold their major releases for the spring and early summer.

Without a single recognizable face in the cast, Fox's "found footage" drama "Chronicle" is getting launched at roughly 2,800 theaters this weekend, looking to pick up where "The Devil Inside" left off just a few weeks back.

Extremely low-budget releases pretending to be either found footage or authentic documentaries have become very popular in recent years, particularly in the horror genre, leading the way for "Chronicle" to get a wide theatrical release.

Even though movies like "Chronicle" can appear gimmicky, they've also become very lucrative as of late and come with no real risk. "The Devil Inside" had an advantage because audiences are still very interested in exorcist movies, but positive online buzz and a PG-13 rating could turn into some box office success this weekend for "Chronicle." Normally "Chronicle" still wouldn't have a chance at landing atop the box office, but with "The Grey" heading into its second weekend and "The Woman in Black" having appeal only to a small audience, an $11 or $12 million opening for "Chronicle" could push it to number one.




The Making of 'Rango': Gore Verbinski's Risky Ride Into Animation

(hollywoodreporter.)         

       Johnny Depp and director Gore Verbinski have made $2.7 billion worth of Pirates of the Caribbean movies together, but that doesn't mean it was smooth sailing when, after their last pirate romp wrapped in 2007, Depp agreed to star as the eponymous chameleon in Rango, Verbinski's first animated feature. Two years later, Depp, normally preternaturally facile, found himself in a silly cowboy hat on a primitive Universal Studios soundstage, getting stuck one page into a tongue-twisting, mind-bending, multipage monologue by co-writer John Logan. "Johnny went off," recalls Ned Beatty, who voices the tortoise mayor of Dirt, the desert town that Rango rescues in the film. "He said, 'I can't DOOOOO this!' "

PHOTOS: 23 Awards Contenders Featuring Animals

Of course, Depp could do it -- Rango's rousing speech to the animal citizens of Dirt plays great. "Johnny Depp is the real-world chameleon," says Verbinski. "He's part lizard, and we caged him and poked him and prodded him and extracted the reptilian juice that is the lifeblood of the whole endeavor." Rango won top animation prizes from the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle and nominations from the Golden Globes, PGA and Critics' Choice Awards. Paramount is rereleasing the rave-reviewed film on Jan. 27 to spur its chances to capture this year's best animated feature Oscar, stronger now that potential rivals have failed to make the nominee list: The omission of The Adventures of Tintin, which beat Rango at the Globes, surprised many, and Cars 2's absence means Pixar's long Oscar-winning streak is over.

Helping Depp to connect with his inner chameleon was the least of the risks Verbinski took to make this major departure in animated film. The daredevil director created Rango with Industrial Light & Magic, which handled the effects for the Pirates films but had never worked on a full animated feature before. ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll was skeptical when Verbinski pitched the idea in August 2007, but he and ILM animation director Hal Hickel agreed to watch the first Rango story reel in 2008 to please their big client. "What intrigued me," says Knoll, "was when he said, 'There's Pixar and there's everybody who's imitating Pixar, doing me-too movies.' He didn't want to follow in their footsteps."

Full article:         http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rango-gore-verbinski-johnny-depp-286366




Effects Artists Team up to Launch Unique VFX Studio Co-Op

(btlnews.com)                VFX artists Vico Sharabani and Alex Frisch have teamed up to launch COPA (Co-Op of Artists), a global collective of high-end VFX artists working in the commercial and feature film industries.

COPA is based on a unique model – a virtual studio that is connected via hubs in strategic cities around the world. The new group is structured around COPA headquarters in LA and NY, anchored in NY by EP Yfat Neev, former Rhino and Gravity FX EP, and in LA by acting EP Steve Reiss, former Speedshape and Sea Level VFX EP.

“We are taking high-end VFX work in a never-before-seen model and an A-level team to build not just a company, but a community of the world’s best talent,” said Sharabani. “This is a new collaborative model that will upend the current landscape, allowing us to adapt to projects of any scope by taking the best talent in the world anywhere on the planet at any time.”

Working in a co-op structure, COPA artists will convene daily in a common cloud-based online workspace, eliminating constraints of time and distance. Following a motto of “virtual, but also local,” COPA’s model provides clients with face-to-face contact via unique online tools, as well as local spaces to meet and check on work. Each local office is equipped with meeting and viewing spaces, and will soon roll out proprietary technologies the studio is developing.

After a year of quietly tweaking this new model with projects for Lincoln and Crayola via McGarry Bowen, the studio is coming to life with the release of the music video “Turn me On” for David Guetta and Nicki Minaj, 150 shots for the feature film A Late Quartet, and a new P&G commercial for Leo Burnett directed by Dave Meyers from Radical Media.

Frisch, co-founder of Method Studios, has been working on this new business model for more than two years. “Meeting with Vico less than a year ago was the catalyst that ignited COPA and brought our common visions to life,” Frisch said.

Sharabani, founder of RhinoFX, is returning to the VFX fray after a year-long industry sabbatical, during which time he had his second child, got involved in the TED community, and dedicating time to nonprofit and environmental work.

“It’s like I met another me,” noted Frisch. “We both moved to the US in the late ’90s and started what turned out to be wildly successful VFX shops in 1998 and left them at around the same time in 2009. Now we’re both ready to re-imagine the future of VFX together.”

The studio’s global collaborative network includes COPA headquarters in Los Angeles and New-York, and partnerships with existing studios in Chicago, Tel -Aviv, Toronto, Serbia, London and Paris.




Aronofsky A-List Talent for "Noah"

(Deadline)               While no deal has been signed at this point, Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky is hoping to get Oscar-winning Australian actor Russell Crowe to play the title role in his reenvisioning of the classic bible tale in Noah, which is scheduled to start filming in the spring..

It also reports that he's hoping to get Liam Neeson, who is coming off his box office topping The Grey for another key role. Again, no deals have been made and nothing's been signed but after the success of Black Swan and with a studio like Paramount backing him, it seems like a fairly safe bet that Aronofsky will be able to get what he wants.



James Cameron Plans Move to NZ

(stuff.co.nz)                 James Cameron plans move to NZ Ten romances that men like too Vanity Fair picks leading ladies Film banned for blasphemy gets rating Big names miss out at SAGs Mulligan's raunchy new role Wannabe hobbits turned away A mega business model A heartfelt, cathartic journey Snow White rivalry is heating up

Hollywood movie mogul James Cameron is coming to live in Wairarapa - and he is bringing his family with him.

The director of blockbuster films Titanic and Avatar has purchased two large plots of land along Western Lake Rd in south Wairarapa, where he is expected to arrive and live later this year.

Records released today from the Overseas Investment Office show that James F Cameron, of Canada, was given consent in December to purchase two separate properties, one 817 hectares and the other nearly 250 hectares.

The purchase price is listed as confidential.

Owners of the two properties were staying tight-lipped about the sales, citing confidentially agreements.

Bill Shaw, who along with wife Annette owned Pounui farm on the hillside overlooking Lake Onoke, said he had been ''sworn to secrecy''.

''But that's probably just going to flame the rumours isn't it,'' he said.

He wouldn't confirm Cameron as the new owner.

''There's lots of famous people down here, just most of them are shepherds.''

Heather McCreary, who owned the smaller dairy farm block at the edge of the lake, would also not comment today.

Cameron is thought to be arriving later this year to begin work on a sequel to the box office hit Avatar, to be made with Weta Digital.

But the documents show that Cameron's New Zealand connection will be more than just a working one.

''James F Cameron and his family intend to reside indefinitely in New Zealand and are acquiring the property to reside on and operate as a working farm,'' it notes.

The two properties are located just minutes down the road from the exclusive  Wharekauhau Country Estate, a favourite of two other famous Wairarapa filmmakers, Sir Peter Jackson and wife, Fran Walsh.

The couple own an estate outside of Masterton.




LucasArts "Star War: The Old Republic" Becomes An Online Phenomenon

(BUSINESS WIRE)--Just six weeks after launching one of the most anticipated videogames of all time, BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:EA), is continuing to set new standards in online games with Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. Already the fastest growing subscription MMO ever, Star Wars: The Old Republic has sold over 2 million copies, with a thriving base of over 1.7 million active subscribers, as gamers around the world have immersed themselves in the story-driven, online Star Wars universe from BioWare and LucasArts. Helping drive The Old Republic’s early success has been the quality and reliability of the game’s service, with servers being available for more than 99.5% of the time outside of scheduled maintenance. BioWare has also delivered on the promise of continually adding new content by releasing Rise of the Rakghouls, which added new, higher level group content, less than 30 days after launch. The next game update, featuring even more content, new game systems and additional guild features, is scheduled to be released in Spring 2012.

    “Our entire team worked very hard over the holidays to deliver a smooth experience at launch, and the resulting response to the game from our fans and critics has been exceptionally gratifying.”

“We’re truly honored and humbled by the incredibly strong support from our players who are enjoying Star Wars: The Old Republic,” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of EA’s BioWare Label. “Our entire team worked very hard over the holidays to deliver a smooth experience at launch, and the resulting response to the game from our fans and critics has been exceptionally gratifying.”

Added Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Co-Founder of BioWare and General Manager of the BioWare MMO Business Unit: “But we’re not resting! We’re actively listening to our community for ongoing feedback to help us ensure the game and service continue to improve, and we’re working to deliver spectacular new high quality content on a regular cadence going forward.”

Player engagement for Star Wars: The Old Republic has not slowed since launch, as the community achieved the following incredible gameplay milestones in just over one month since launch:

    * Over 239 million in-game hours, or over 332,000 months and over 27,000 years of in-game time
    * Over 20 billion NPCs killed
    * Over 148 billion credits spent




Sophisticated SPFX Masterminded by Industrial Light & Magic To Launch "Transformers: The Ride-3D"

(superherohype.com)              Universal Studios Hollywood has just announced that they plan on airing a 30-second commercial for their upcoming motion-based thrill ride, "Transformers: The Ride-3D," set to debut at the theme park this May. Y

The evocative spot marks Universal Studios Hollywood's inaugural consumer awareness effort for its marketing campaign launching "Transformers: The Ride-3D." When NBC's Super Bowl game coverage once again transcends sports to captivate the nation, Universal Studios Hollywood's spot will capture consumer imagination as the movie-based theme park sets the stage for its epic new ride, envisioned to completely and uniquely revolutionize the next generation of immersive themed rides.

The spot will culminate with a call to action, challenging viewers to enlist at PrepareForBattle.com as N.E.S.T. volunteers within an elite AUTOBOT–human combat force. The PrepareForBattle.com website includes an interactive, online game in which fans and theme park enthusiasts will compete to rise up the military ranks by successfully completing missions involving exclusive videos, downloads and trivia. Players achieving the highest accumulated point totals will win prizes including original "Transformers" collectibles and a grand prize trip to experience "Transformers: The Ride–3D" at Universal Studios Hollywood.

Larry Kurzweil, President, Universal Studios Hollywood said, "We're very excited to introduce our new breakthrough advertising campaign for 'Transformers: The Ride-3D' during the coveted Super Bowl and to be a part of the edge-of-your-seat suspense surrounding these spots for millions of viewers. In just thirty, thrilling seconds, we'll be able capture how exhilarating this mega-attraction will be when it officially opens at Universal Studios Hollywood this May."

The thrill ride will tell a new "Transformers" story using original, photo-realistic 3D-HD media, sophisticated special effects masterminded by Industrial Light & Magic, and one of the most elaborate roaming flight simulator ride systems ever created.



Fluid but Uneven CGI Movie Based on the Popular Games Franchise

(list.co.uk)                This is actually the third movie based on the immensely popular fighting games, but Tekken: Blood Vengeance (Manga Entertainment) is the first fully computer animated version and was originally available as part of the Tekken Hybrid package. It looks great with smooth fluid CGI. The fight scenes are beautifully choreographed – particularly a three-way punch up between Jin, Kazuya and Heihachi – but for a film based on Tekken there just aren’t enough. Too much of the run time is filled with grade school espionage, focusing on Ling Xiaoyu and Alisa, before descending into mystic babble for the final apocalyptic showdown.

Certain scenes will prove baffling without at least a basic understanding of Tekken lore (continuity freaks will be pleased to know Blood Vengeance stays true to the official storyline and slots in between Tekken 5 and Tekken 6). If you are a massive fan of this fighting franchise you’ll find more to love but you might be disappointed at how few fan favourite characters are featured.




Special Effects: The Truth About the Amazing Opening Shot of War Horse’s Cavalry Charge

(blogs.equisearch.com)                   Could you hear me cheer earlier this week when the British BAFTA film award nominees were announced?

Some critical people who made me love War Horse were at the top of the list for individual awards: Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, production designers Rick Carter and Lee Sandales and the special visual effects crew of Ben Morris and Neil Corbould were nominated–along with the sound crew and composer John Williams, who wrote the score.

    There’s one special scene that they had to build.
    You won’t believe which scene!

We hear so much about Spielberg’s comments that the Devon landscape served as a character in the film, but so did the artificial landscape created by Carter and Sandales for the war scenes. There was no natural No Man’s Land for a location–they had to build it.

And there’s one special scene that they also had to build. You won’t believe which scene! When I read the article in The Telegraph, I was stunned. How could anyone create this much magic from an emtry field?

War Horse News gold logo (small)From an interview with actor Tom Hiddleston (Captain Nicholls): “The battle was shot at Stratfield Saye House in north Hampshire, the estate of the Duke of Wellington. ‘It was one of the most amazing days of my life,’ Hiddleston recalls. ‘One hundred and 20 horses waiting in line in a phalanx of military formation, and everything about the context was real except for the bullets.’

But The Telegraph’s Sally Williams corrected Hiddleston and, insodoing, spilled the beans. Or the wheat. Or whatever that waving field of grain would have yielded in harvest. Sally tells us:

“This isn’t strictly true, as in order to create the desired effect of men and horses streaming like ghosts from a field of reeds, plants were imported from another part of the country. ‘There was a marsh in the south of London still in bloom,’ Rick Carter, the production designer, has said. ‘We went there and paid a farmer to cut his whole field down, then we put the reeds in styrofoam’.”

But it didn’t stop there–there were rows like narrow paths through the reeds for the horses to follow.

How many horses were really in the grainfield scene? Here's the British cavalry charging through the open toward the German camp. (DreamWorks photo)

Then the task was passed to the geniuses at digital film effects consulting company Framestore, who literally multiplied the number of horses and riders following those paths. In a Below The Line interview with Framestore’s compositing supervisor Chris Zeh, the digital animator said,

“The sequence was supposed to show many dozens of British soldiers hiding in this field of reeds, but they had neither sufficient reeds nor soldiers to make it work. Over nearly 30 shots we filled the landscape with reeds – not just 2D but 3D – and soldiers. And we helped fill the air with seeds floating from the reeds.”

The more I learn about War Horse, the more amazed I am. And the more I want to see it all over again (again).



Pitch Video and Test Footage for ‘John Carter of Mars’

(slashfilm.com)            If the name Kerry Conran doesn’t sound familiar, that’s because he’s only made one movie: Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. For a directorial debut, though, talk about a massive undertaking. The film is still largely considered a failure but its innovative use of green screen and digital effects foreshadowed what would become the standard in filmmaking in the years that followed.

One of those films is the upcoming John Carter, Andrew Stanton’s hugely expensive and highly anticipated adaptation of the work of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Before Stanton took the helm, though, John Carter of Mars was a property many, many producers and directors tried to tackle. We’ve all heard about Jon Favreau and Robert Rodriguez but one name we forget was Conran, a natural choice thanks to his digital work, who was attached to the film around the time of Sky Captain.

His attachment was probably in large part to an extensive demo reel used pitch his vision. And wouldn’t you know it? It’s online. Watch it after the jump.

The video is up on the Looking Glass Films website and seems to first be uncovered by John Carter fan page Barsoomia.org. We got a tip from @DannyTRS.

Click on the image below to head to the video, which is in Quicktime and not embeddable. It blends concept art, digital characters, and live action components into a very effective, 5+ minute presentation.

Being as we’ve been bombarded with Stanton’s version of the film for so long now, I see a lot of what eventually ended up in his version in Conran’s work. The Martians are actually pretty impressive even in a very unfinished state and the scope of the film is certainly there. Granted, it looks like a 2004 version and we’re about to get a 2012 version but it’s incredibly cool to see what might have been.

VIDEO - Take a look:           http://www.slashfilm.com/kerry-conrans-pitch-video-test-footage-john-carter-mars/




CGI & Animatronic Wolves Not Enough For PETA

(observer.com)                     Liam Neeson’s wolfy action flick The Grey has PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) snarling and snapping at film producers. In a post published last Thursday in PETA’s official blog, blogger Michelle Sherrow first expressed anger that the filmmakers had not kept their word to PETA representatives:

    PETA met with a producer of The Grey and explained how animals used in movies often spend most of their time confined to chains or cages when they are not performing and may be beaten or deprived of food in order to force them to perform. The producers assured us that they would use only computer-generated imagery and animatronic wolves—but we’ve now learned that they reneged on their promise.

Calling The Grey‘s director Joe Carnahan “Joe Carnage,” Ms. Sherrow cited reports that Neeson and fellow cast members had eaten wolf meat to immerse themselves in the desperate situation portrayed in the film and compared The Grey‘s potential impact on wolves to the demonizing effects Steven Spielberg’s Jaws had on sharks in the late 1970s:

    The Grey portrays these intelligent, family-oriented animals the same way in which Jaws portrays sharks. The writers paint a pack of wolves living in the Alaskan wilderness as bloodthirsty monsters, intent on killing every survivor of a plane crash by tearing each person limb from limb.

Audiences are not running from The Grey. Nikki Finke reported Friday that it was projected to be “the No. 1 movie at the North American box office,” scoring a projected $17.6 million in box office receipts.

RoboCop Reboot Activates - Targets Summer Start

(The Hollywood Reporter)                     The RoboCop reboot is moving forward with director Jose Padilha and has just signed Nick Schenk (Gran Torino) to provide the screenplay. The Hollywood Reporter has the news, saying that MGM is tentatively targeting a summer start.

A reboot of the 1987 Paul Verhoeven film, RoboCop will again tell the story of a police officer who, after nearly being killed in the line of duty, is rebuilt as a crime-fighting cyborg. The original film spawned two sequels and multiple television series spinoffs.

"I have my take on it," Padilha told ComingSoon.net late last year, "And I can tell you this: In the first 'RoboCop' when Alex Murphy is shot, gunned down, then you see some hospitals and stuff and then you cut to him as RoboCop. My movie is between those two cuts. How do you make RoboCop? How do you slowly bring a guy to be a robot? How do you actually take humanity out of someone and how do you program a brain, so to speak, and how does that affect an individual?"



Who Is the 'Visual Effects' Alpha Male?

(awardscircuit.com)          

    And the Nominees Are:

“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2″
Oscar scene: The climactic battle between Harry and Voldemort
“Hugo”
Oscar scene: The train crash
“Real Steel”
Oscar scene: The final robot boxing match
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
Oscar scene: The apes rising
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
Oscar scene: The Decepticon wraps around a building

One of the more interesting categories out there for Oscar is Best Visual Effects. Many of the other technical categories are harder for the layman to comprehend and as such feel more exclusionary (Film Editing or Sound Mixing, for example), whereas this particular category is a lot simpler to wrap your head around. This year, we don’t especially have a lower key nominee as in years past (just look at Hereafter scoring a nod last year), so it’s pretty much going to be which film was the best feast for the eyes. Of the 5 nominees, it seems like a 3 horse race to me. Which 3 are they, you ask? Well, let’s dive right in and find out!

First a bit of history for everyone. The last dozen winners in this category have been Inception, Avatar, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, King Kong, Spider-Man 2, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, and Gladiator. There’s not a whole lot you can take from this, but I’d say that it shows a little bit of the taste that the voters have, though not entirely. I’ll come back to this at the end, but why don’t we take a look at the films up for a nomination this year?

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 is the first nominated film, and while I confess to never having seen it, there’s not denying that one thing that this franchise has done right is make it a visual treat. The men nominated for this work are Tim Burke, Greg Butler, John Richardson, and David Vickery. They could benefit from the Academy looking to give something to the franchise now that it’s complete, but I’d say that it’s the least likely of the most likely, if that makes any sense. In short, don’t count it out, but don’t bet on it either.

Hugo is the second nominated film, and the closest thing to a low key nominee we have this year. The integration of the effects to the overall story is the best of any flick in the hunt, but at the same time it lacks that “wow” factor that could be its Achilles’ heel. The nominated men for this movie are Ben Grossman, Alex Henning, Robert Legato, and Joss Williams. An improbably Hugo sweep would make this an easy call in favor of the film, but I think it’s going to come down to just how much voters were impressed by Martin Scorsese not calling attention to the effects themselves. It’s currently the #2 pick in my eyes.

Real Steel is the third nominated film, and easily the most surprising nominee in the field. I was quite surprised actually that it got nominated, especially with other contenders like The Tree of Life looking more likely for a nod. This isn’t to say that the effects aren’t good, just that the flick is an improbable nominee, and thusly is the long shot in the race. The gentlemen nominated for the film are Swen Gillberg, Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, and Danny Gordon Taylor. Honestly, I’d be shocked if this movie turned out to be the winner.

Andy Serkis becomes Cesar.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is the fourth nominated film, and the frontrunner if you ask me. It’s got the right combination of subtlety and opulence that voters seem to like. Just look at the acclaim that Andy Serkis got for his effects assisted performance in the flick. I think it’s a winning recipe. The guys looking to win the Oscar for their work on the flick are Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, and R. Christopher White. I expect them to be the winners when all is said and done, so bet on them if you’re so inclined. This is the alpha male of the group.

"Transformers" lost this award to "The Golden Compass"

Transformers: Dark of the Moon is the fifth and final nominated film, and it’s more or less an expected filler nominee. 2 of the 3 films in the franchise have gotten this citation, and its yet to win. I expect that to continue, though it could be argued that their effects were better this time around. The men who did this work on the flick are Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, Scott Farrar, and John Frazier. It’s not the least likely movie to win, but I’m all but ready to dismiss it, and that has nothing to do with my distaste for the franchise. It’s just never been quite “winner” quality to the Academy.

Essentially, the race is between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Hugo, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. The flick in the lead is Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but I look at Hugo as the possible spoiler. I’m not counting Potter out either, but that movie is a bit farther behind. I said that I’d get back to the history of the category, and here it is. Potter and Transformers are hurt by the fact that they’ve had previous installments of their franchises nominated without a win. It’s not a be all end all situation, but it’s not a help, that’s for sure. We’ll see what happens though, as this certainly isn’t a category that’s all wrapped up…not by any stretch.

Prediction: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Snubbed: Captain America: The First Avenger, Super 8, and The Tree of Life




Digital Domain Appoints New VP Of Feature VFX

(cgw.com)                   VENICE, CA — Digital Domain Productions (www.digitaldomain.com) has named David Lipman vice president of features visual effects production. The 30-year industry veteran has served as an executive at DreamWorks Animation, Framestore and USAnimation, and brings expertise in visual effects, animation, production and development.

He will be based in Digital Domain's Venice, CA, reporting to Jody Madden, who has been promoted to senior vice president of global studio operations.

Lipman will drive the features visual effects business, curating and guiding talent, and working closely with studios. He was managing partner at Framestore, where he founded the feature animation division, built the studio's animation pipeline and crew, and executive produced the company's inaugural project, The Tale of Desperaux.

He served as co-head of production at DreamWorks Animation for many years before moving to PDI/DreamWorks to become the co-executive producer on Shrek. He wrote and produced the stereoscopic attraction Shrek 4D for Universal Theme Parks and produced Shrek 2.

Prior to DreamWorks, Lipman served as executive in charge of production and supervising producer at Hanna Barbera. He was also vice president and executive producer for USAnimation, producing many television commercials and digital episodes of The Ren and Stimpy Show, Beavis & Butthead and The Simpsons.




‘Marvel’s The Avengers’ Film Will Be In IMAX 3D

(latino-review.com)             IMAX Corporation, Marvel Studios and The Walt Disney Studios today announced that the epic super hero adventure Marvel’s The Avengers will be digitally re-mastered into the immersive IMAX® 3D format and released in IMAX® digital theatres worldwide day-and-date on May 4, 2012.

Marvel’s The Avengers, based on the well-known Marvel comic book series, is written and directed by Joss Whedon and stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson.

Distributed by The Walt Disney Studios, Marvel’s The Avengers: An IMAX 3D Experience marks the third Marvel Studios film presented in IMAX, following the releases of Iron Man 2: The IMAX Experience in 2010 and Thor: An IMAX 3D Experience in 2011.




Burying the Lead - Dreamworks Animation to Make CGI/traditional Hybrid

(scottalanmendelson.blogspot.com)               The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Dreamworks has lined it the three main vocal cast members for a newly-announced upcoming animated film.  The picture, entitled Me and My Shadow, concerns the plight of a shadow (Bill Hader) who grows tired of being attached to human Stanley Grubb (Josh Gadd). To quote the piece, "When a crime in the shadow community puts both of their lives in danger, Stan is forced to take control of Stanley, thrusting both of them into an adventure featuring a shadowy villain, who intends to lead a rebellion to take over the human world."  Kate Hudson will play Grubb's would-be love interest and I'll do my best to roll my eyes at a female character once again being merely described as 'the love interest'.  It will be directed by Mark Dindal, who is best known for directing the best non-Pixar animated film of the 2000s, The Emperor's New Groove.  Anyway, Me and My Shadow comes out November 13th, 2013.  What is buried halfway down the article is this golden nugget, something that should make animation fans take notice of this project in a big way:

"The movie will mix up CG and traditional animation (the shadow world will be handrawn while the human world will be CG), which the studio hopes will be pioneering and create an experience not seen before." 

Yup, that's right.  Ten years after the costly Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (budget - $60 million, worldwide gross - $80 million) marked the end for 2D 'hand-drawn' animation at the House of Katzenberg, traditional animation will be getting somewhat of a reprieve.  As it is, I actually stumbled upon Sinbad late last year and watched it for the first time.  It's not so much a *bad* movie as it is a somewhat slight one, a relatively small-scale adventure film concerning only a few major characters and with only a couple fine second-act action sequences to merit a mild recommendation.  But watching it did remind me of the genuine pleasures of 'hand-drawn' animated films, the way that gravity seems to apply only enough to give the various acts of daring do an appropriate physical weight.  What is also reminded me of was the pre-Little Mermaid era, when Disney cartoons weren't expected to be world-conquering blockbusters, merely solid entertainment for family audiences.  Sinbad's primary vice (other than casting Brad Pitt in a role that's tailor-made for Kevin Kline) was arguably is status as 'Dreamworks's big 2003 cartoon', with the $60 million price-tag (ah, when THAT was considered a big budget cartoon!) that came with it.

I'm certainly no snob against CGI animation (what was my favorite film of the year again?), but I do wish there was a bigger place for hand-drawn alongside CGI in large-scale animated features.  Anyway, Me and My Shadow can bring traditional animation out of the dungeon where it's rested since Disney's 2004 toon Home On the Range, where not even the $267 million worldwide gross of The Princess and the Frog could free it, then Dreamworks will have done the medium a genuine service.




Star Wars Film-Restoration Exec Dies

(latimes.com)                  John D. Lowry, an entertainment technology innovator who founded Lowry Digital Images, the renowned movie restoration company in Burbank that worked its magic by returning film classics such as "Casablanca" and "Star Wars" to their pristine state for DVD release, has died. He was 79.

Lowry died Jan. 21 at his home in Camarillo, said his son David. The cause of death is unknown.

"John Lowry's passion for cinema and expertise in technology were essential in preserving the work of filmmakers for future generations to enjoy," George Lucas told The Times in a statement.

"He has rescued many movies from irreparable decay, making it possible to enjoy them forever as the artists envisioned, without the damage of time," Lucas said. "His legacy has ensured that filmmakers can preserve their legacies."

Full article:         http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-john-lowry-20120201,0,5063592.story




The Best CG Car Crashes

VIDEO - Take a look:     http://vfxjuice.blogspot.com/2012/01/best-cg-car-crashes.html



Pixar’s "Cloudbursting" Reignites the Debate: Art Versus Commerce

(cloudtweaks.com)                 Pioneer Pixar continues to push the envelope. The legendary animation studio recently announced their most serious entry to date into the cloud, with Renderman On Demand. The cloud-rooted rendering application was launched in collaboration with GreenButton, a respected cloud services company. Currently available on Microsoft Azure, and soon to be accessible via Linux later this year, Renderman On Demand is a seminal step forward in the integration of the cloud into both arts and entertainment.

Producing animation in 3D is a potentially highly lucrative enterprise for film studios; just last year, “Rio,” released in 3D, made nearly $500 million internationally for Blue Sky Studios and 20th Century Fox. Yet the creation — or rendering — of three-dimensional animation requires partnership between artists and designers at fever pitch. The inundation of needs to compose, edit, redraft, and share documents between a fleet of animators and designers inevitably results in a skyrocketing demand in computing requirements.

Obviously, Pixar and other houses of animation aren’t the only companies who need this ability to magnify computing ability on the spot. Industries of all stripes stand to benefit from this technology, known as “cloudbursting,” or the accessing of a software application that harnesses internal computing resources and converts them into a private cloud. With RenderMan, demands on animation teams that once took 20 days are now completed in 20 hours. That’s an enormous figure.

RenderMan On Demand might be the shiniest new application themed on cloudbursting for animators (and which could potentially be expanded to businesses in similarly needy sectors). Yet the conversation Pixar has launched in the release of this application has extended into a larger web of questions.

Can the cloud potentially monetize art? Will cloud computing instead fuel art in the future, by making it more affordable and faster? What is cloud computing’s input into the ongoing debate between art and commerce? Tom Foremski, of Silicon Valley Watcher, has compellingly concluded that cloud computing is fueling a new wave in the impact of digital arts. Individual animators with their own companies that lack the computing horsepower of titans like Pixar can now compete on an even playing field with those big boys thanks to the cloud.

Applications like Elastic Compute Cloud from Amazon are thus enabling smaller figures in the computer arts; EC2 basically offers users the processing capacity of hundreds of computers at once, with users able to dial up or down the precise amount of power needed at any given moment.

So critical has the cloud become to the animation / digital arts community that even educational programs, like the Arts Institute, are discussing its relevance for the next generation of artists.
As long as animators desire to create works of multicolored beauty in motion, and patrons exist to pay them for their services, the cloud will continue to influence and direct the progression of how such creativity takes place on their computers.




Dragon Age Anime Film Due in Spring 2012

(joystiq.com)                   Hey, remember the Dragon Age anime? Back in 2010, EA and Funimation announced plans for an original direct-to-video animated feature based on the franchise, to be released in 2011. Funimation has finally unveiled Dragon Age: Dawn of the Seeker, cleverly playing the delay off as an intentional Year of the Dragon placement.

You can see footage from the CG animated movie in the "Production Update" below. You'll be able to see the whole thing on DVD and Blu-Ray this spring.

VIDEO - Take a look:    http://www.joystiq.com/2012/01/31/dragon-age-anime-film-due-in-spring-2012/




Effects Whiz Still Creating Otherworldly Adventures

(nytimes.com)              WHEN the special-effects whiz and director Douglas Trumbull receives a special Oscar on Saturday — the Gordon E. Sawyer Award for filmmakers “whose technological contributions have brought credit to the industry" — it could be taken as a valedictory tribute, the cap on a career that began with Stanley Kubrick and “2001: A Space Odyssey” and includes a best-picture nominee this year, “The Tree of Life.” But Mr. Trumbull, 69, is hardly finished with his contributions.

At his home and studio in the Berkshires, where donkeys and goats frolic outside, mad experiments in cinema are taking place. Mr. Trumbull is working on a new production paradigms and trying to engage the industry in the same kind of technical and artistic adventure he had on his first feature.

“Kubrick was pushing into this new, nonverbal territory that took the audience on an adventure in space,” Mr. Trumbull said, recalling his debut, as a visual effects supervisor on “2001.” “It wasn’t about the normal cinematic dynamics of close-ups and over-the-shoulder shots and reversals and conflicts and plot. He was trying to go into another world of first-person experience. I said, ‘Sign me up.’ ”

But the brave new world Mr. Trumbull glimpsed was soon eclipsed by Hollywood’s embrace of the blockbuster, and the results, he said, are now damaging the industry. “If you spend 150 to 200 million on a movie and take all of that value and try to cram it through this narrow slot,” he said, referring to the standard movie-house experience of small and underlighted screens, “you’re throwing away most of the production value.”

Over breakfast in Greenwich Village last month he explained that “you could massively amp up the effect of these kinds of movies” — like the ones he’s known for, “Blade Runner,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” — with a few simple changes. Make them brighter and bigger and run them at higher frame rates, that is, the speed at which individual pictures, or frames, are flashed in front of you.

Since the silent era the industry standard has been 24 frames a second. Peter Jackson is shooting “The Hobbit” at 48; James Cameron may well make “Avatar 2” at 60. Mr. Trumbull is talking 120.

Because of what is known as “persistence of vision,” the human eye is fooled into interpreting the rapid projection of individual images as motion. Think of a simple flip book, which does the same thing, to much clumsier effect. But though you may not realize it, at 24 frames per second, the eye is being presented with darkness more than half the time. The faster the frame rate, the more lifelike the image.

“There are really no words for it in English,” he said of his development, “but it’s a window onto reality.”

This isn’t the first time Mr. Trumbull has experimented with frame rate. In the ’70s for Paramount he started the Future General Corporation to develop new film technologies, including Showscan, an Imax-like format that used 70-millimeter film projected at 60 frames a second. “Showscan was my favorite,” he said, “because it was regaining, and going beyond, what I’d done with Kubrick.”

The film critic Joe Morgenstern saw a Showscan demonstration in Los Angeles in the late ’70s and said: “I remember the smoothness and richness of it, almost a three-dimensionality. It’s not just difficult to remember, but also to articulate, because the frame rate really does change everything. It provides a heightened sense of dimensionality.”

“Trumbull,” Mr. Morgenstern added, “was preaching the gospel before Cameron ever thought of it.”

As Mr. Trumbull describes it, Showscan “allows you to break the fourth wall of cinema, to allow performers to relate one-on-one to an audience, and it’s very hard to explain that.”

Paramount hired him to make the first feature in Showscan, which became “Brainstorm,” a film known less for its technical achievements than for the death of Natalie Wood, the event that led to Mr. Trumbull’s departure from his native Los Angeles.

First, the studio, MGM, wanted to shut down production after Ms. Wood’s death (in a case that was recently reopened), and Mr. Trumbull fought to finish it. When it was finally released, the film wound up trapped in a Catch-22.

“The theaters said, ‘We love it, but we’re not going to put in projectors unless all the studios shoot that way,’ ” Mr. Trumbull recalled. “And the studios said, ‘We’re not going to make movies like this unless the theaters put the equipment in.’ ”

“So when I couldn’t get that to happen,” he added, “and then had this whole tragedy with Natalie Wood on ‘Brainstorm,’ I just said, ‘I’m out of here for a while.’ I moved to the Berkshires and set up shop.”

Full article:    http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/05/movies/awardsseason/douglas-trumbull-honored-for-technology-hes-still-creating.html



The Future of CGI w/ Michael Bay & Jon Favreau

VIDEO - Take a look:   http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/6ce41e448e/motion-capture-artists-paul-scheer-rob-huebel-with-jon-favreau-ray-liotta-michael-bay



The Origin of Tron

(tgdaily.com)                 Like with many great films, the stories behind the scenes can be just as entertaining as the movies themselves. 



The origins of Tron can actually be traced all the way back to the late 70's. Writer/director Steve Lisberger had his own animation studio, Lisberger Films, back in Boston. A graduate of the city's School of the Museum of Fine Arts, he was creating animation regularly for networks such as ABC and PBS, but kept his eyes on a much bigger prize.

"When you have an animation studio you try to create your Mickey Mouse," Lisberger says. "It's no secret that animation studios survive by creating characters who are their actors they own, and we were a team of people in Boston who wanted to create a character."

On Lisberger's team were Roger Allers, who went on to direct The Lion King, and John Norton. Norton came up with an idea of a warrior who was made of neon. They called him Tron, but they didn't have a setting for him. Then one night Lisberger went to visit his in-laws, and everyone was crouched around the TV, playing Pong.

"They kept referring to the games, 'play the game,' and since I had been working on a project called Animalympics, the idea of games to me meant more than that, it meant Olympic or gladiatorial games. Then I thought, 'Well, our warrior should be in a gladiatorial game setting.' From there the whole thing started to snowball." 

Ultimately Tron would be about human characters who are sucked into, and have to fight their way through, a computer animated video game world.

The origin of Tron Lisberger Films was originally going to make Tron themselves. They had just finished Animalympics, a spoof on the Olympic games with animated animal athletes (Billy Crystal, Gilda Radner and Harry Shearer provided the voices).

It was going to run in segments during the 1980 Olympics between athletic events, but when America boycotted the games, the project fell apart and Lisberger Films no longer had the financial means to make Tron in-house. They reportedly took Tron to Warner Brothers, MGM and Columbia, who all turned it down, before it wound up at Disney.
                     
Science fiction films that are heavily visual are often a tough sell. When George Lucas tried to set up Star Wars, he had a hard time drumming up any interest because it was completely unintelligible in treatment form. The Wachowski Brothers reportedly had to create extensive graphic novel style storyboards for The Matrix before Warner Brothers really got it. When Lisberger and company went out to sell Tron, they were ready.

"We had hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in the project when we went to Disney," he says. "We had it storyboarded, we had designs, we had budgets, we had staff, we had schedules, we had sample reels, I mean we had everything but money."

Tron had a strong ally in Tom Wilheit, then the head of Disney's film division, who Lisberger calls a visionary. "Tom believed Tron was going to establish Disney as a force beyond the Herbie movies. The powers that be at the studio really resented the film with all these young conjurers, and Wilheit was looked down upon by the old Disney guard. But he took a shot on something really crazy during the brief time he ran the studio.  He also was the one who was responsible for bringing Roger Rabbit into Disney."

Computer effects were being pitched to the major studios as far back as the 70s, but no one was interested. The CGI revolution was still far away and Disney hoped it would stay that way. 

"When we were making the movie at Disney, people used to hold up crosses when Tron walked through the halls," Lisberger recalls. "We were the undead.  We were making a film that was from the netherworld. They were just very afraid. This was the future and it was rolling down the most conservative linoleum hallways on the earth."

Disney was stuck in the past and just couldn't move with the times. Their last live action hit at the time was apparently The Love Bug. Lisberger recalled two geriatric Disney executives arguing about the dearth of good live action films at the studio. One said they should have made E.T., and the other shot back, "We made E.T., it was called The Cat From Outer Space!"

Lisberger had a hell of a time casting the film because Disney's rep was so bad that an agent only sent their actors there if The Love Boat was on hiatus. 

"Back then if you told people you were trying to cast a Disney movie back they'd just hung up on you," he says.  They just didn't want to know. Everybody was just fixated on: 'You can't work for Disney, no one works for that studio.'"

Yet the under-rated and always dependable Jeff Bridges clearly didn't care about the politics involved; he wanted to do the movie, pure and simple. "This sounds far out," he told Lisberg. And as we saw by the end result, indeed it was.

Source:                 http://www.tgdaily.com/games-and-entertainment-features/61149-the-origin-of-tron

Weta Ready for More Oscar Glory

(stuff.co.nz)             Weta Digital is up for more Oscar glory.

The ground-breaking New Zealand visual effects company has been nominated for an Academy Award for best visual effect for its work on the Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Senior visual effects supervisor, Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and New Zealander Daniel Barrett are all up for the award.

Barrett was the animation supervisor for The Planet of the Apes and this is his first academy award nomination.

"I know I'll have to put a tux on but beyond that I'm not sure what to expect, " said the 38-year-old.

"I'm looking forward to the whole experience and to bringing my wife."

Weta Digital will be battling some tough contenders. George Lucas' Industrial Light & Magic was honoured for its work on Transformers: Dark of the Moon, as was Warner Brothers for Tim Burke's stewardship of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2.

Also joining the field of five is Pixomondo's Rob Legato and his team for their efforts on Hugo, and Digital Domain's Erik Nash and his charges, who created the effects for Real Steel.

"I think we all stand an even chance," said Barrett.

"I've seen all the work on the other films and I think there is some stunning work. I think Apes looks good but the others also look good."

One of the big surprise omissions of the Academy Award announcement was The Adventures of Tintin was left out of all categories except for best musical score.

Steven Spielberg's rollicking adventure won both the Golden Globe and Producers Guild Award for animated feature and many expected it to be shoo-in for a nomination.

Some critics suggest the academy isn’t ready for motion capture performance, whether it be animation, as in Tintin or live-action, as in visual effects nominee Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which featured Andy Serkis as Caesar the chimp.

Barrett strongly believed Serkis' performance was a stand-out and that "animated" performances will gain more prominence in film.

"What you see with Caesar is it's Andy’s performance, I can’t see that being much different from anyone wearing prosthetic make-up.”

VIDEO - Take a look:   http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/6313229/Weta-ready-for-more-Oscar-glory




Superhero Comic  "The Weapon" Heads Into Big Screen Development

(SuperHeroHype)              

  Platinum Studios, Inc. announced today they are now developing a big screen adaptation of comic book series "The Weapon." Scott Rosenberg, CEO of Platinum Studios and producer of Cowboys & Aliens, will act as producer on the film.

"The Weapon" is about a martial arts enthusiast, Tommy Zhou, that has discovered a means to create solid objects from light -- and invented a superhero persona to promote it, The Weapon. Not believing the legends his grandfather told him as a child, Zhou's inventions unsuspectingly make him the target of a millennia-old assassin cult that's convinced he's unlocked the ancient mystical techniques of the Order of Wu-Shi-'The Way of the Weapon.'

"We believe 'The Weapon' will be an attractive project for both international film financers and Hollywood producers," says Scott Rosenberg. "This property is one of those with enormous franchise potential."

"The Weapon" is written by New York Times bestselling author Fred Van Lente. Van Lente is also the bestselling author of "Marvel Zombies," "Incredible Hercules" (with Greg Pak), "Odd Is On Our Side" (with Dean R. Koontz), as well as the "Cowboys & Aliens" graphic novel.




DreamWorks Financing Exhausted - Execs To Decide On Sustainability of Studio

(economictimes.indiatimes.com)                 Movie fans are fretting over where to peg "War Horse" and "The Help" in the Oscar pool. But Hollywood is pondering something else: What becomes of DreamWorks Studios, the boutique studio behind those films?

The 10 nominations between the two movies, including best picture for each, have made DreamWorks a strong contender for honors on Oscar night, February 26. The two dramas already lead the best picture pack at the box office, with "War Horse" passing "Moneyball" over the weekend, according to estimates, to become the second most popular nominee, behind "The Help," which had domestic ticket sales of about $170 million.

Behind the scenes, however, executives at DreamWorks and its partners are quietly opening discussions that in the next few months will determine its future and answer a broader question about the state of Hollywood: Can a faltering film industry sustain a company that insists on making ambitious, Oscar-caliber, studio-size films - but without the deep pockets of a Viacom, which owns Paramount Pictures, or a News Corp., the parent of 20th Century Fox?

Created four years ago by Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider in partnership with Reliance Entertainment, an Indian financier, DreamWorks was a successor to DreamWorks SKG. The earlier DreamWorks was an independent studio that was created amid much fanfare by three Hollywood heavyweights - Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen. Eventually they sold it to Paramount and briefly worked with the studio in what became a failed marriage. (The new DreamWorks is unrelated to the publicly held DreamWorks Animation.)

Over the years, small, independently financed companies - some with their own distribution mechanisms, others, like DreamWorks, without - have generated hits, only to disappear or be merged into larger corporations. Miramax Films was acquired by Disney after releasing "The Crying Game," a box-office success and best picture nominee; Disney has since sold the unit. Summit Entertainment was recently sold to Lions Gate; Summit investors saw the end of their blockbuster "Twilight" series as a prime moment to cash out. For smaller film companies, the hunger for capital is a perennial problem. Making a studio-level film can require an immediate investment of $100 million or more. But even the hits pay back their investors slowly, over a cycle that may last as long as 10 years, as movies are sold successively in theaters, on DVDs, to Internet streaming and cable television services and so on.

DreamWorks is now in the ticklish position of having nearly exhausted its first round of financing, which included $325 million in equity from Reliance, and a matching $325 million in lending from banks led by J. P. Morgan Securities. An original plan called for more from each, but the struggles of the national economy brought the investment up short. Now, DreamWorks is left to line up new financing at a time when movies are struggling. Attendance at North American movie theaters hit a 16-year low last year. DVD sales continue to drop. Although some emerging overseas markets are picking up steam, Europe and other important sales territories are uneven. And there are no indications of an immediate reversal of the trends.

So the question becomes whether, or to what extent, Reliance and allied lenders are prepared to back another round. Executives from Reliance and DreamWorks declined to discuss their plans. Over the weekend, however, they said in a joint email that they remained pleased with their partnership.

"Our relationship has always been structured to allow us to adapt to changing market conditions and to create the best chance for success for all parties involved," they said in a statement.Speaking on condition of anonymity to avoid conflict with executives of the companies, people familiar with the situation said talks about further financing will probably open in the next few weeks. The outcome will determine whether DreamWorks, which distributes its films under a long-term deal with Walt Disney Studios but has also worked with other partners, will be able to maintain its ambitious course. If not, it might have to proceed with a smaller slate of films or potentially less impressive projects, these people say. Whether DreamWorks would even be interested in making lower-risk, lower-profile movies, however, is far from clear.

DreamWorks began making movies in 2009 after raising only half of the hoped-for financing from Reliance and lenders. Despite a top-shelf pedigree - Spielberg is by far the best-selling movie director in history, and Snider oversaw hits like "Bruce Almighty" and "The Bourne Identity" while chairwoman of Universal Pictures - the company scratched for more than a year to assemble backing during a worldwide financial collapse in which the number of banks engaged in entertainment lending fell from more than 40 to fewer than a dozen. During that hunt for funds, Reliance and Anil Ambani, the chairman of its parent, stood by a commitment to invest in the venture, even as the terms of the involvement became less favorable. But Reliance put up less than a contemplated $550 million in equity, as it became impossible to raise $750 million in loans to go with it. The hoped-for $1.3 billion total would have seen DreamWorks through this Oscar season and perhaps into 2014.

Instead, the company's resources are nearly played out, even while the potential from its first round of films remains uncertain. "The Help," "War Horse," and, by a whisker, "Real Steel," appear poised to make money, once their full run is complete. But "Cowboys & Aliens" (released by Universal), "I Am Number Four," "Fright Night" and "Dinner for Schmucks" were soft at the box office, and either lost money or made too little to create a strong portfolio for investors.

Spielberg is currently finishing "Lincoln," partially financed by DreamWorks, with additional backing from Participant Media and Fox. Fox is co-financing another Spielberg film, the sci-fi thriller "Robopocalypse," which is set for release in July 2013 by Disney in the United States and by Fox abroad. (Spielberg's many television projects are financed separately from DreamWorks Studios.) Despite rumblings in Hollywood of friction between DreamWorks and Disney, their distribution partnership is solid, with roughly four years yet to run. "DreamWorks provides a diverse slate that's a key part of our release strategy, and we're pleased with the results so far," Rich Ross, Disney's movie chairman, said in an email. And DreamWorks has co-financing avenues to pursue. Fox, which has previously worked closely with Spielberg, appears ready to continue supporting individual projects. Participant, meanwhile, is eager to help pay for issues-oriented films like "The Help," which it backed in part. "We plan to continue to work together on at least one film per year," James G. Berk, Participant's chief executive, said in an email.




World War Z May Turn into a Trilogy

(tgdaily.com)                There is a lot of focus on film franchises in Hollywood lately.

Once seen as a way to make a quick buck on an inexpensive film (people will go see a sequel to a movie they loved, even if it’s terrible), this strategy has proven itself a great way to create a small branded media empire.

Lord of the Rings, Batman, and especially Harry Potter all show that if a studio retains the talent and budget for a hit movies through multiple "episodes," they can do more than just make a one-shot profit.

This is why we’re seeing so much push to adapt properties from which several films could be made. Twilight, Hunger Games, the new Star Trek: these are all an indirect result of the success of franchises.

It’s not particularly surprising, therefore to learn that World War Z, the upcoming Zombie apocalypse film starring Brad Pitt is being considered for such continuance. The film is based on a single novel, but has more than enough material to make several films from, or with a slight change of the ending could be made to continue indefinitely.

This news comes from a write-up in L.A. times about Brad Pitt’s current career and plans. The article says:

For Pitt, the big sci-fi thriller also represents his strongest bid to have a big film franchise of his own, which might be viewed as the missing piece of his career jigsaw puzzle. Forster and Paramount Pictures each view World War Z as a trilogy that would have the grounded, gun-metal realism of, say, Damon's Jason Bourne series tethered to the unsettling end-times vibe of AMC's The Walking Dead.

Of course, no one will want a sequel if the first film is terrible, but that’s yet to be seen, as World War Z is still in development. Shooting is slated to kick off later this year, with a tentative release date of December 2013. Maybe by then, we’ll all be done hearing about zombies.




Takashi Murakami on His New Live-Action Monster Movie

Takashi Murakami is famous for the fantastical, Anime-inspired creatures that populate his art, from the narcotically blissed-out flowers that have sprouted on collectors' walls around the world to the twin monsters that serve as mascots for his multimillion-dollar production company, Kaikai Kiki. Now, Murakami reveals that he is venturing into uncharted territory for a fine artist, attempting to bring these painterly creations to life through the magic of CGI — in a live-action monster movie, he says, "like 'Godzilla.'"

The comparison to that clunky cult 1954 film sells Murakami's directorial debut short. Using a cast of unknown actors and putting the film's sizable budget almost entirely into special effects, the artist has managed to create big-screen incarnations of his ravenous, curious creatures that maintain astonishing fidelity to their canvas versions. But like "Godzilla," which was born from the nuclear terror of Hiroshima and Nagasaki's aftermath, Murakami's film arises from a disaster: the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that rent his country asunder, killing thousands and displacing countless more (see Part 1 of our video interview with the artist, where he talks about his charity auction benefiting the earthquake victims).

Titled “Jellyfish Eyes,” the movie follows a young boy who after an earthquake has to move with his family to an "experimental city" where each child is paired with a small monster. The "angry feeling" of the children then gives these creatures great power, allowing them to grow from cuddly little companions to giant, omnivorous behemoths that tower over buildings and, in one especially gorgeous scene, tromp majestically through a misty forest. Havoc ensues.

"This is kind of for the kids," says Murakami, "so it looks really childish." The artist, however, has his sights set loftier than your average kids' entertainment. Looking back on the early shark-and-alien-driven films of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, Murakami notes that, at first, "movie industry people laughed at the effect, but now this is a major thing, this kind of sci-fi computer graphic stuff. And I think in the art world the same thing will be soon."

Murakami hopes to release his film later this year.

VIDEO - take a look:    http://artinfo.com/news/story/758284/video-takashi-murakami-on-his-new-live-action-monster-movie




Oh How Far We’ve Come - Computer Graphics from the 80s

(kotaku.com)               It's only been three decades, but it might as well have been three hundred. These Japan Computer Graphics Lab demo reels show just how far computer graphics have come in such a short span of time.

The graphics look dated, sure, but not bad. Many of them have more visual style than current "realistic" generation graphics. I quite like them.

There are two clips; one dates from 1984, and the other dates from 1985. In the link before, there is another clip from 1983, which is worth checking out, too.

Magical stuff.

VIDEO - Take a look    http://kotaku.com/5877452/look-how-far-weve-come-these-are-computer-graphics-from-the-1980s/gallery/1




Ray Harryhausen Kickstarter Project To Revive Anim History

(nohonoir.blogspot.com)                The FXRH Collection - All 4 issues of the now-classic Ray Harryhausen fanzine FXRH from the 1970s are going to be compiled into one complete book, supplemented by "making of" material, layout sketches, and correspondence detailing the evolution and creation of the magazine. All the trials and tribulations of small-press publishing will be combined with a detailed account of the thrill of meeting Ray Harryhausen for the first time in his London home in 1971 (long before his retirement, and before he started appearing at sci-fi conventions and other events), issue #4 being used by Columbia Pictures as a promotional tie-in to The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and many more sidebars and visual enhancements.

We're seeking financing through the Kickstarter program, an affiliate site of Amazon.com. Kickstarter is all or nothing: You can pledge any amount of $25.00 and up, but if we cannot secure at least $20,000 by February 14th to cover production costs, the project will not go ahead and you will not be charged. (Participation not limited to the U.S.-- friends from other countries are welcome to get involved.)
Read on for a bit more info, and then check it out on the Kickstarter page!

Sincerely,

Ernest Farino
Publisher

Kickstarter Page:   http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ernestfarino/special-edition-of-the-original-ray-harryhausen-ma




VFX & Game Pro Build App That Crosses 1 Million Users Mark

SiXiTS is a new-media production company and publisher of superior entertainment content for distribution through internet-enabled channels. The team is comprised of seasoned game, software, and media professionals who have held key positions at Disney’s ImageMovers Digital, Lucasfilm Animation, Industrial Light and Magic and Electronic Arts, and who have contributed to numerous high-profile film productions including Disney’s A Christmas Carol, the Star Wars prequels, and the Harry Potter and Jurassic Park series.

SiXiTS announces a milestone of their current Babies Everywhere franchise on mobile and Facebook platforms passing the one million user installs mark this week.

Since its release on Facebook last year as an alpha social game, SiXiTS has expanded the brand by introducing a series of mobile versions on iOS and Android platforms. This includes the Talking Babies Everywhere app, which has undergone numerous updates and improvements to allow users to interact with Maxwell the first character from Babies Everywhere.

SiXiTS has additional 3D Character apps available on iOS, including a Talking Skeleton and Happy Talking Penguin. With an increasing user install base exceeding 1 million overall which grows through cross promotion across all of the character apps, lead by the most popular Talking Babies Everywhere app.

“Babies Everywhere has been a great franchise to demonstrate SiXiTS capabilities across mobile, iOS and Facebook platforms.” commented Euan Macdonald CEO of SiXiTS, the app’s creator. “We continue to expand the Babies Everywhere experience on mobile and Facebook, including the introduction and extensive use of customizable 3D characters and environments on all platforms, that provide a persistent and continuous experience for the user. The technology used to produce these apps is then used across a broad range of other SiXiTS brands.”

Babies Everywhere and Talking Babies Everywhere are available for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch is available now on Facebook and in the iTunes App Store.



Stan Winston Studios To Provide VFX For Surya's Maatran

(supergoodmovies.com)             KV Anand is working hard to make his fourth venture Maatran a bigger one. The film is said to be science fiction with pump action thrills and actions.

Now the director has planned to make it bigger by roping in one of the legendary and Top most Visual effects from Hollywood. Stan Winston Studios are the one who worked for the epic films like Avatar, Jurassic Park series, Terminator Series, Aliens, Predator, End of Days, Iron Man, War of the Worlds and many more high budget movies of Hollywood.

But they left their mark in Tamil film industry with recent Superstar's blockbuster Enthiran the Robot. Now KV Anand has brought back the team for Surya's Maatran.

This is the first time that KV Anand has been doing a film based on Visual Effects and he wanted the best and as a former assitant of director Shankar surely he would make him proud adds sources.

But the name of Stan Winston Studios and Legacy Fx are known to be the same but they are split-ted into two banners recently.



Raleigh Michigan Studios to Default on $18 Million in Bonds By Wednesday

(hollywoodreporter.com)               The Michigan film commissioner is in L.A. this week to tout a new state-backed subsidy program to attract movie and TV productions, but it comes too late to stop the 10-month-old studio from missing its payments.

Raleigh Michigan Studios sent out a press release Monday touting a new state law passed in December that again provides some incentives to make movies and TV shows in the state as “great news” for the facility which has seven sound stages.

What it doesn’t say is that Raleigh’s state of the art studio outside Detroit, which opened only ten months ago, is almost certain to default as soon as Wednesday on $18 million in state issued bonds that were part of the financing for the $80 million complex.

That will force the Michigan state employee’s pension fund, which invested in the studio in 2009, to make a $630,000 payment immediately, and put them on the hook for potentially millions more in payments in the future.

Raleigh had made two previous payments in February and August of last year, but has not made required monthly escrow set-aside payments since October, according to an article that appeared in the Detroit News last month.

The impact of the default on the facility in Pontiac, Michigan is still unclear but it is not expected to affect other properties operated by Raleigh Studios – which bills itself as largest independent studio operator in the United States – located in Hollywood, Manhattan Beach, Playa Vista, Baton Rouge, Atlanta and  Budapest.

Michael Newport, VP, Marketing & Client Development, Raleigh Studios/Raleigh Film said in an email to The Hollywood Reporter that they can’t provide details on a potential default but remain hopeful: “This is a situation that is constantly developing and…conversations have been ongoing for some time regarding this.  Everyone wants to do what is best and something is being worked out. “

According to the press release the partners (investors) in Raleigh Michigan Studios are Raleigh Studios, the Nelson family, John Rakolta, The Taubman Group and William Morris Endeavor.

Besides the $18 million in bonds, the 360,000-sq.-foot production and office facility was also built with $3.8 million in Federal Infrastructure Recovery money, $15 million in Federal Market tax credits, $11.1 in Michigan Film Infrastructure tax credits and equity investment by the investors.

The last big movie in Michigan, which kept the Raleigh studios filled much of 2011, was Disney’s new version of Oz, which wrapped its work in the state at the end of December. The studio has been mostly empty since then. Disney, grandfathered under the old rules, got about $40 million in incentives from the state, and estimated that it spent about $105 million in Michigan.



DreamWorks Animation's CGI "Me and My Shadow" Casts Voice Talent

(The Hollywood Reporter)              First announced in late 2010, DreamWorks Animation's Me and My Shadow has just announced its voice cast. The Hollywood Reporter says that the mix of CGI and hand drawn animation will star Josh Gad ("The Book of Mormon"), Bill Hader (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Paul) and Kate Hudson (Almost Famous, Something Borrowed).

The film tells the story of Stan (Hader), an extremely frustrated shadow who yearns for a dynamic life, but happens to be stuck with Stanley Grubb (Gad), the world's most boring human. Finally pushed to the brink, Shadow Stan breaks the singular rule of the Shadow World – "They lead, we follow" – and takes control of Stanley!

Hudson will play a non-shadow love interest to the pair.

Written by Tom Astle and Matt Ember, Me and My Shadow is directed by Mark Dindal and will arrive in theaters on November 8, 2013.




John Carter Reveals New Concept Art

(It's Art Magazine)                Quite a few brand-new pieces of concept art for Walt Disney Pictures' John Carter are now online, courtesy of It's Art Magazine. Check a few of them out below, including early looks at the characters played by Mark Strong and Dominic West.

Take a look (low warning spoiler alert):     http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86454




Visual Effects History Quiz - 21 Questions In 30 Minutes

(proprofs.com)                  This quiz is to test you knowledge on the history of visual effects. There are multiple choice, fill in the blanks, true/false, and multi select questions.  Be sure to read the question.  Most questions have a logical answer.  You cannot cheat.  This is not an open book, open browser, or open  cel phone test.  If you are caught you will get a zero.  Don't do it. 

http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=visual-effects-history