1800 Spirited VFX Shots, CG Grave Robbers, & Smothered by CGI Chihuahuas...
Spirit Moves Orphanage To Complete 1800 VFX Shots
(weblogs.variety.com) A few things to catch up on that
were impossible to post about last week during a DSL line outage that
actually forced me to use dial-up for three days.
We recently spoke with "The Spirit" producer Deborah Del Prete, who
says a green-screen cut of the film has been completed and has
everyone very excited about the results. The production is now waiting
as more than 1,800 VFX shots are coming in from San Francisco-based
house The Orphanage. ... Expect to see some new footage from the film
at Comic-Con .
George Lucas Wants You to Vote
(starwarsblog.starwars.com) Hip hop stars Snoop Dogg, LL Cool J, Ciara, Egypt, Doug E. Fresh, Flo Rida, Russell Simmons, oh and filmmaker George Lucas, think you should register and vote in 2008.
VIDEO: George Lucas in Vote For It
Take a look: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpAOYskH1s8
CGI That Steals From the Dead
(thestar.com.my) A wave of proteserst, led by Chinese artist
Zhao Bandi and his supporters, forced several cinema operators to
postpone Kung Fu Panda showings by a day in parts of Chengdu in the
quake-hit Sichuan Province.
"The release of Kung Fu Panda in China is like stealing necklaces and
watches from the corpses of disaster victims."
He said Dreamworks Animation owner Spielberg was raking in money from
Chinese moviegoers even though he had snubbed China with his
withdrawal as artistic adviser for the opening ceremony of the Beijing
Olympic Summer Games.
Zhao said the movie had stolen China's national treasure and its
martial arts to make an old-fashioned encouragement piece to be sold
to the Chinese.
"We don't need Hollywood and such pirates to make us laugh!" said the
artist, who even met officials from the State Administration of Radio,
Film and Television in Beijing to express his disapproval of the film.
VFX Course With 100% Funding this Summer…
(escapestudios.com) We are thrilled to announce that the
Skillset Film Skills fund have awarded us a new grant as part of their
Structured New Entrants Training initiative. As a result of this
generosity we will be offering the fantastic opportunity of a 100%
funded course to 12 successful candidates totally committed to
developing a career in film visual effects.
Skillset Visual Effects will be held here at Escape Studios in London
and will commence on August 11th 2008. The course will run full-time
for 18 weeks, before concluding with a 4 week industry work placement
at a major London film facility. In addition to having their fees met,
participants on the course will be paid the minimum wage throughout
the duration of the course.
The 18 week tuition section of the course will teach you everything
you need to know in order to combine CG elements with live-action and
create professional visual effects shots. Participants on the course
will receive thorough training in the use of Maya to create realistic
looking 3D elements, before learning all of the camera-tracking,
lighting, texturing and 2D compositing techniques used professionally
in the visual effects industry. Students will then spend 4 weeks
putting their skills to use during a work placement with a film visual
effects department.
Source: http://www.escapestudios.com/en_GB/school/news/skillset-film-visual-effects.html
Warner Bros. is Hiding in Time
(Variety) Warner Bros. has picked up the Image Shadowline comic book series "Hiding in Time" for Dan Lin to produce, reports Variety.
Beau Thorne (upcoming Max Payne) will tackle the Christopher Long-created property, in which the Witness Protection Program uses time travel to relocate high-profile witnesses. When the program is compromised, a government scientist must travel back through the greatest moments in history to help a master thief rescue his old crew from the assassins sent back by their former employer.
Lin Pictures will produce the film, with Jon Silk, who brought the project into the company, serving as co-producer.
Lin is executive producing Terminator Salvation, the Robert Rodriguez-directed Shorts and the Ricky Gervais comedy This Side of the Truth. He's also producing Justice League for WB and Richard Kelly-directed Cameron Diaz thriller The Box.
VFX Showcased In New Universal Studios Hollywood Attraction
(vfxworld.com) Among the attraction's highlights currently
on display are numerous props and costumes featured in Guillermo del
Toro's HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY, affording fans an opportunity to
see these items first hand before audiences have seen them on the big
screen. THE UNIVERSAL EXPERIENCE will be updated regularly with
material from new movies and artifacts from the studio's vast
archives.
Within the designated behind-the-scenes section, sleight-of-sight
special effects include matte paintings used in the making of
EARTHQUAKE and in Alfred Hitchcock's THE BIRDS, as well as a selection
of models and miniatures used in the making of THE MUMMY, APOLLO 13,
JURASSIC PARK and BACK TO THE FUTURE. Guests will also have an
opportunity to see original set designs created for the Psycho HOUSE,
storyboard for JAWS and mechanical drawings of JAWS' Bruce the shark.
More: http://www.vfxworld.com/?sa=adv&code=3631a5a1&atype=news&id=23831
Life After "Wall-E": The Year Ahead in Animated Films
- "Space Chimps" (July 18)
The name says it all. Fox's animated adventure follows three NASA chimps (voiced by Cheryl Hines, Patrick Warburton, and "Saturday Night Live's" Andy Samberg) as they are sent into the great unknown to retrieve a wayward spacecraft and crash land on a mysterious planet.
Buzz: Despite its eminently lampoonable title (Chimps! In space!), the film features a solid comedy voice team and is being released in tandem with a kiddie-friendly game available for Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PS2.
- "Fly Me To The Moon" (Aug. 8)
Space travel will be a running theme this summer: "Moon" centers around three young flies who hitch a ride aboard 1969's historic Apollo 11 space flight (Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. even voices himself). Unlike "Space Chimps," "Moon" has the bonus of being presented in 3-D.
Buzz: Although "Moon" is less high-profile than many of the other summer animation flicks, it's being touted as a film designed and created in 3D for 3D release only. The inclusion of Mr. Aldrin could give the film some extra historical heft.
- "Igor" (Sept. 19)
Sick of being a lab assistant, Igor (voice of John Cusack) plots to win the land of Malaria's annual Evil Science Fair and become a full-fledged mad scientist. Though being released by the Weinstein Co., the film is actually the feature-length version of screenwriter Chris McKenna's seven-minute short "Igor: Unholy Frijoles" for the Exodus Film Group.
Buzz: The last time a studio made an animated film about a hunchback, it ended up grossing a respectable, but hardly spectacular $100 million.
- "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" (Nov. 7)
After crash-landing in Africa, Alex the Lion (voice of Ben Stiller), Marty the Zebra (Chris Rock), Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer), and the rest of the Central Park Zoo crew interact with species of their own kind in this sequel to DreamWorks' 2005 blockbuster hit.
Buzz: Despite grossing $194 million domestically, the first "Madagascar" was largely dismissed as fluff by the critics, and some film bloggers are already complaining that they find the new trailer slightly annoying. Presumably kids will be more focused on the fact that the crazy penguins are back.
- "Bolt" (Nov. 26)
John Travola lends his voice to Bolt, a canine TV star who is accidentally shipped to New York and must make his way back to his owner (voiced by Miley Cyrus) in Los Angeles. A mangy cat and a TV-obsessed hamster (still encased in his plastic ball) are the prerequisite cutesy pals in this "Incredible Journey"-lite trip.
Buzz: Disney-obsessed bloggers were not kind to the first publicity shot of the CGI "Bolt," but others say it's premature to judge.
- "The Tale Of Despereaux" (Dec. 19)
Based on Kate DiCamillo's Newbery Award-winning children's book, "Despereaux" is the story of a large-eared, and equally large-hearted mouse (voiced by Matthew Broderick) who scandalizes his family with his un-rodent-like behavior — including his love for the human princess Pea (Harry Potter's Emma Watson).
Buzz: Given Universal Pictures' slower start to the animation game, "Despereaux" is bound to be heavily scrutinized, but with its pedigreed story, starry cast (Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Kline also lend their voices), and holiday release date, the film has the makings of a hit for families.
WETA's Supercomputer Geekness
(theonering.net) WETA Digital has 4 new supercomputers in
the TOP500-List on top500.org (Rank 219 to 222). This is interesting
because they will perhaps render the 3d-animations for the Hobbit on
these computers.
Get Your SIGGRAPH On!
(animationmagazine.net) By all accounts, next month's
SIGGRAPH confab (held at the Los Angeles Convention Center and Nokia
Theater) is expected to offer some of most exciting CG animation and
vfx-related panels, screenings and hands-on exhibits in recent memory.
Don't forget to visit Animation Magazine at Booth No. 1138 at SIGGRAPH
to get your cool toon-related freebies and giveaways!
You can also raise your profile in the business by advertising in our
big, fat SIGGRAPH issue, which is our most widely read editions of the
year. Our ad reps are offering some amazing summer-sale rates for this
issue, so contact them before the ad deadline (July 23). They can be
reached at sales@animationmagazine.net. If you have editorial pitches
for the issue, send them to edit@animationmagazine.net (deadline July
14).
Source: http://www.animationmagazine.net/article/8548
Resident Evil 4 Moving Ahead?
(comingsoon.net) MTV caught up with Paul W.S. Anderson, who
says that a fourth "Resident Evil" movie is a possibility.
"I'm just starting to talk to Sony about it," Anderson said. "I don't
even know if anything will come of it, but there's a possibility it
might happen."
The first three installments made a combined $379 million worldwide
and performed really well on DVD.
`The Fly' Opera is Buzz of Paris Season
PARIS (AP) — Be afraid, be very afraid: David Cronenberg's 1986 horror
flick, "The Fly," has undergone a bizarre metamorphosis. It's now an
opera.
The new incarnation, with tenor Placido Domingo conducting a score by
Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore ("The Lord of the Rings"), isn't
as gory as the movie. Audiences will be spared close-ups of the title
character's fingernails falling off as he makes the transition from
mild-mannered scientist to giant insect.
Still, for an opera, it's pretty scary — even if there are touches of
dark humor. Giggles broke out among those invited to Monday's dress
rehearsal when a mezzo-soprano belted out the film's catchphrase: "Be
afraid. Be very afraid."
Cronenberg, who is directing the opera, wasn't sure what effect it would have.
"Someone's 6-year-old said, after seeing one of our rehearsals, that
she thought she would have to sleep with her parents for a while," he
told reporters. "So I guess it's working."
The opera will have its world premiere Wednesday at Paris' Theatre du
Chatelet and its U.S. premiere Sept. 7 at the Los Angeles Opera.
Shore, a childhood friend of Cronenberg's who also wrote the film's
original music, said he started picturing "The Fly" as an opera as
soon as the movie was released.
He said he sampled only two themes from his 1986 work.
"I love the characters," Shore said. "I wanted to write for a drama
that I was familiar with, and that I had a certain inside view of."
Reporters pressed Domingo on what attracted him to the story of
star-crossed lovers, one of whom learns to regurgitate digestive
fluids onto his food like houseflies do.
"Why not?" he said. "I couldn't resist."
The libretto by David Henry Hwang ("M. Butterfly") has all the
elements needed for good opera: a love story, a transformation,
tragedy and death, not to mention a large dose of melodrama.
The plot sticks to the same basic lines as the film, which starred
Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum. Reporter Veronica Quaife falls for
eccentric scientist Seth Brundle at a reception. He takes her home to
see his creation, a machine that can teleport objects from one place
to another.
One drunken night, Brundle climbs into the machine. It works
perfectly, with a catch: a housefly buzzed into the machine with him.
Overall, the opera has a very different feel. The setting has been
changed to 1950s America, which somehow seems more operatic than the
1980s.
As Brundle, bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch has the unenviable task of
performing arias in his birthday suit as he climbs in and out of the
teleport machine. (Mezzo-soprano Ruxandra Donose is Quaife.)
The retro set design is evocative of 1950s horror flicks. And there's
something thrilling about the old-school special effects —
terrifically gruesome costumes, a singing teleport machine and a giant
fly scaling an opera set.
"It is in some ways a translation of the movie to the stage,"
Cronenberg said. "But it's its own creature."
Star Wars: The Clone Wars Sneak at Celebration Japan
(comingsoon.net) When the three-day "Star Wars Celebration
Japan" opens at the Makuhari Messe center on July 19, attendees will
be some of the first Star Wars fans in the world to glimpse
never-before-seen, exclusive footage from the upcoming CG-animated
adventure Star Wars: The Clone Wars, created by Lucasfilm Animation.
In a special digital theater that seats nearly 2,000 fans, special
presentations will showcase brand-new footage from the animated
feature that can be seen only in theaters beginning Aug. 23 in Japan
and Aug. 15 in the United States and much of the rest of the world.
In addition, Star Wars: The Clone Wars director Dave Filoni will be a
special guest, bringing audiences fascinating new insight into the
development, creation and design of the first-ever Star Wars animated
movie.
In addition to a chance to meet Filoni and see scenes from the
upcoming movie, fans at "Star Wars Celebration Japan" will also get a
glimpse of an episode of the "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" television
series, which will begin airing this fall.
Famed Japanese animator Atsushi Takeuchi (Kôkaku kidôtai [Ghost in the
Shell], Sukai kurora [The Sky Crawlers]), who serves as a guest
director on an upcoming episode of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," will
join Filoni in a discussion of the singular design of the newest
addition to the Star Wars galaxy.
Pixar's "PRESTO" Available on iTunes
(CGtalk.com) Written and directed by Doug Sweetland, "Presto" is about an elegant
magician and his bunny, whose task, naturally, is to come out of a top
hat at the appropriate time. Download it today:
http://ax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/browserRedirect?url=itms%253A%252F%252Fax.phobos.apple.com.edgesuite.net%252FWebObjects%252FMZStore.woa%252Fwa%252FviewMovie%253Fid%253D282546512%2526s%253D143441
Fool Audiences: Become A Technical Sales Professional for VFX Community!
(2-popforums.com) Aguru Images, Inc.: Our revolutionary
technology, born from USC's Institute of Creative Technology and the
NYU Courant School, has already proven itself as the missing link for
photorealistic computer generated film and visual effects on projects
like Spiderman 2, Superman Returns, and others still filming today.
For digital doubles, Aguru's technology provides a 300x improvement in
resolution from today's industry standard, while also measuring the
detailed lighting properties of the skin's surface. We have clear
differentiation in the market, and the World's top studios regard us
as the next step in helping them to fool audiences with stunning
computer generated visual effects.
We are adding to the existing team in our West LA office and seek a
set of talented individuals who will contribute to the success of our
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Senior Technical Sales Professional – Los Angeles
This role requires a strong blend of technical, commercial and
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benefits of Aguru's technology, and to close sales of both services
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Minimum Required:
* Demonstrated sales results of services and/or capital equipment sales
* Engineering degree or equivalent
* Experience/contacts in the Film, Visual Effects or Computer
Gaming Industries
* Excellent communication skills in both written and spoken English
* A creative self starter
* The ability to view technology through the eyes of the world's
leading VFX customers in order to match our products with their needs.
Extra Credit for:
* Technical/commercial experience with Lighting, Shaders, or other
components of Computer Generated Imagery
* Existing VFX/Gaming industry professional selling software or hardware
* Experience with Autodesk Maya, 3DSMax, Mentalray, Renderman, etc.
Applicants must be US citizens or possess a valid work permit for
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Compensation consists of salary + bonus, and will both be commensurate
with experience and industry competitive. We are an early stage,
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As such, this ground floor opportunity offers its early contributors
the chance for significant reward on success.
If you believe you possess the talent and skills to help us help our
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CGI Gone Wrong: Don't See Beverly Hills Chihuahua
(rocketnumber09.blogspot.com) You will go insane trying to sit through Beverly Hills Chihuahua. You will lose your mind right then and there. Your grip on reality (which is obviously a bit shaky to begin with, seeing as you were willing to pay admission to a movie called Beverly Hills Chihuahua) will slip and everything you have ever known, loved, or cherished will be but a distant memory, smothered by CGI Chihuahuas. Beverly Hills Chihuahua will destroy you. Forever.
More: http://rocketnumber09.blogspot.com/2008/06/dont-see-beverly-hills-chihuahua.html
