2X Transformers, Narnia Made In Mexico, & All Nighters = Crap Visual Effects...

2X Bots for 'Transformers 2'?

(canmag.com)                Here is a brief update coming your way for the upcoming Transformers sequel. It would seem that the '2' in the film's working title means double.

Transformers 2 Means Double the Bots

Shia LaBeouf already told us that Transformers 2 will be massive.

"I know of a few things I have to work on for the next one," said LaBeouf. "I've seen pre-vizes of the action scenes and I just saw Michael yesterday. It's going to be bad-ass..."

How is it going to be "massive"? Well, according to Roberto Orci in a post he made here, there are going to be double the robots this time around.

I'd love and think we could almost barely manage ten on each side, with some front and center and others as more supporting.

While the idea of seeing so many giant bots go head to head sounds awesome, this many new characters could also distract from what was already a shallow story. How about double the story?

Source:  http://www.canmag.com/nw/11375-transformers-2-20-robots

Japanese Researchers Develop 'Real-Time' 3D Image Rendering System

(techon.nikkeibp.co.jp)            The prototype naked-eye 3D image
rendering system. On the left is the 3D display and on the right is
the camera array. 8 x 8 units of cameras are arrayed on a 700 x 700mm
board. The display can output 320 x 240 resolution images. The camera
array weighs about 10kg, excluding every component other than the 64
cameras, while the total system, including the camera-mounting board
and the rack, etc, weighs roughly 100kg, the group said. Although the
workstation cannot be seen in this photo, it was placed on the bottom
shelf of the rack under the 3D display.

A Japanese research group prototyped a system that renders 3D images
by using pictures taken by 64 cameras. It takes only 0.5 seconds for
the system to capture images and display a 3D image.

The group consists of researchers from Hitachi Ltd and associate
professor Takeshi Naemura of the Graduate School of Information
Science and Technology, the University of Tokyo.

The rendered images look three-dimensional to the naked eye. And the
operation is "almost real-time," the group said.

In addition, the prototype system has two more major features. One is
the capability to adjust displayed images and their 3D effect. The
other is the increased mobility of the system.

The prototyped 3D image display system used Hitachi's 3D display,
which enables viewers to see 3D images with the naked eye, and Tokyo
University's array of 64 cameras (8 units lengthways x 8 units
sideways). Hitachi had already prototyped the 3D display before. The
specifications of the display used are almost the same as the previous
model's, excluding the increased luminance, Hitachi said.

More:   http://techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/english/NEWS_EN/20080603/152800/

Ridley Scott is Returning to Sci-Fi

(comingsoon.net)                      Eclipse Magazine talked to Blade Runner and Alien director Ridley Scott, who says he's finally ready to go back to sci-fi:

I waited for a book for 20 years and I have got the book. I am not going to tell you what the book is but that film is going to probably be written within the next month. That will definitely be what I do next after Nottingham, the Robin Hood film that I am doing now in England.

Is "Nuke the Fridge" the New "Jump the Shark"?

(alternet.org)           The newest Indiana Jones movie Kingdom of the
Crystal Skull is generating a lot of derision for an early scene in
which Jones finds himself in a mock-up of a 1950s subdivision
populated with mannequins. He quickly realizes that this is a nuclear
test site, and as a countdown echoes over a loudspeaker he seeks the
only refuge he can: a refrigerator that turns out to be lined in lead.
The blast hurls the fridge what appears to be several kilometers
across the desert, where it crashes into the sizzling sand and tumbles
repeatedly before coming to a steaming stop in front of a (CGI)
gopher. Jones pushes the door open, and walks away with no apparent
injury, watching as an enormous mushroom cloud rolls into the sky.

The scene is admittedly spectacular, and in its sunny evocation of all
the requisite 50s suburban stereotypes in the shadow of a nuclear bomb
tower (a mannequin family is seen watching Howdy Doody), rather
creepy.

But Indy' survival of the nuclear blast has so strained the audience's
otherwise willing suspension of disbelief that it has already
generated a new buzz-phrase -- "Nuke the Fridge" as a successor to
"Jump the Shark" -- meaning, that moment when a film series has gotten
so ridiculous that it marks a new low in quality.

To show just how rapidly our culture can gorge on itself, the phrase
has, in two short weeks, taken on a life of its own.

Nuke the Fridge has its own website and FaceBook Page.

Visit the official Site & Buy the shirt:     http://www.nukingthefridge.com/

Emmerich Wants Russians for Sci-fi "2012"

(moviehole.net)                 Some character breakdowns for the upcoming Roland Emmerich epic "2012", starring John Cusack and Danny Glover, have emerged in my inbox.

Here's a look :

2012
Shoot Dates: August 5, 2008 (in Los Angeles, CA & Vancouver, Canada).
Breakdown-- Noah: 10-11. On the edge of eye-rolling adolescence. Smart, taking his parents' separation hard. MUST BE A GOOD SWIMMER.
Supporting Lead; Lilly: 7-8. Noah's sister. Loves her Dad, sweet, trusting.
Supporting Lead; Tamara: Mid-Late 20s, can be Russian, Spanish, or other. Yuri Karpov's young girlfriend, voluptuous and sexy (Yuri paid for her fake breasts). Very attached to her little dog;
Oleg & Alec: 12, Russian twins. DO NOT HAVE TO BE REAL TWINS. It would be great if they had Russian accents, but it's not absolutely required;
Sasha: 30's-Early 40's, Caucasian Male, hopefully Russian; however submit EASTERN BLOC actors that can at least do a Russian accent. He should be HANDSOME AND DASHING and a DAREDEVIL TYPE. He is Yuri's pilot. Good Supporting Role.

Ubisoft Reveals CG Feature Expansion

(gamasutra.com)           Ubisoft Reveals $1.2bn Warchest, Expansion
Plans Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has revealed that the French
publisher and developer has a amassed a warchest of funds worth €780
($1.2bn), in order to acquire new studios and companies to further
grow Ubisoft's business and move into other markets.

Speaking to French newspaper Les Echos (as translated by UK trade
paper MCV), Guillemot indicated that the company was looking to grow
its business through new acquisitions, despite claiming in an
interview with the same newspaper earlier in the year that the company
was seeking only new licenses to exploit.

Guillemot emphasized a need to quickly expand in order to remain
competitive, referencing the recent merger of Activision and Vivendi
Games and Electronic Arts' ongoing attempts to acquire Take-Two
Interactive.

No specific video game publishers or developers were named, although
Guillemot did confirm that the company was still looking to sign up
more licensed properties for future titles, while also still working
with external developers.

The company's recent expansions have included new studios in the
Ukraine, Casablanca and the acquisition of Gameloft's mobile phone
studio in India. The company also recently acquired the Tom Clancy
name and brand for use with video games and other media at an
estimated cost of $94 million.

As previously revealed the company will also speed up expansion of its
CGI movie production facilities, with the intention of creating movie
and TV shows relating to its most prominent game franchises.

No CG Cars.  No CG Environments.  Just F#!king Death Races.

Death Race 2000, Roger Corman's scandalous 1975 cult classic that
pitted a group of prisoners against the cruel world, unleashing them
on the populace with supped up racecars in a game of murder sport.
Now, thirty-three years later, director Paul W.S. Anderson is
attempting to walk in the shoes of his predecessor by mounting a
full-fledged Death Race 2000 rebirth

How challenging is it to create a car chase that is fresh? Something
that audiences haven't seen before?

Paul W.S. Anderson: It's really difficult. I haven't directed a movie
since Alien vs. Predator, which was four years ago. The reason is that
I've been working exclusively on this film as a director. Partly
because the pressure to come up with something original with cars is
immense. Also, we made the decision very early on to make a movie that
was entirely practical. I didn't want any CG cars. I didn't want any
CG environments. I wanted to go back to the old school way of making
car chases. Which is, you build the cars, they go really fast, you get
the best stuntmen in the world at the wheel, you mash them together,
and when they hit concrete blocks, they really hit concrete blocks and
they spin through the air. That's a much more difficult way to make a
movie. I think it's a much more satisfying way, because it's much more
visceral. What I'm trying to do is give the audience the kind of
visceral thrill I had when I came out of The Road Warrior, because it
was all real.

More:   http://www.movieweb.com/news/19/29019.php

Narnia's VFX:  Made In Mexico

(mexidata.info)           "Prince Caspian," a movie produced by Walt
Disney Pictures and Walden Media, was recently released worldwide,
opening in the number one position in 14 countries, including the U.S.
and Mexico.

Contemporary big-budget movies, with their legions of actors, artists,
technicians and other contributors, only a fraction of whom are seen
onscreen, are international collaborations.  "Prince Caspian" was no
exception.

"Prince Caspian" is a cinematic adaptation of the fantasy novel of the
same name by C.S. Lewis.  It's part of the seven-volume "Chronicles of
Narnia" series, about the imaginary land of Narnia, first published in
the 1950s. The books have sold more than 100 million copies and have
been translated into 41 languages, including Spanish.

In 2005, Disney and Walden brought "The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe" (the first of the Narnia series that Lewis wrote) to the big
screen, and now it's being followed by "Prince Caspian," which has
several Mexican contributions.

Some of these contributions are in the area of computer-generated
visual effects, produced at Studio C in Mexico City, under the
direction of Guatemalan-born Carlos Arguello.

The twenty Mexicans working at Studio C produced 40 visual effects for
"Prince Caspian." These effects are briefly seen onscreen, lasting
from 3-4 seconds apiece.

But the movie's most prominent effect produced at Studio C was the
"Hag," a totally digital character, quite grotesque and evil,
appearing about halfway through the film. Quite effectively done, it
managed to scare one of my children when we watched the movie!

While producing such effects, Studio C had to be in communication with
director Andrew Adamson in New Zealand, and a production director in
Britain, illustrating once again the globe-girdling nature of modern
film production.

This Just In:  All Nighters = Crap Visual Effects

(vfxhack.com)                  News flash from the no duh department. Sleep deprivation effects your ability to make sense of what you see. And that's not just anecdotal ladies and germs, it's from a study published in the Journal Of Neuroscience. Study author Dr. Michael Chee says,

Interestingly, the team found that a sleep-deprived brain can normally process simple visuals, like flashing checkerboards. But the 'higher visual areas' — those that are responsible for making sense of what we see — didn't function well

That means, the person at your facility that is always saying "Dude I was here sooo late last night. But hey, you gotta do what it takes." is actually doing a way worse job than the bright eyed and bushy tailed VFX artist who got a good nights sleep. Go figure.