ILM's Goldenboy, Avatar Loses 1D, Pixar Makes Coolaid For Disney...

ILM Team Wins Oscar For Best Visual Effects

(hollywoodreporter.com)                 For the team behind "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," winning the Oscar for best visual effects was a bit like reclaiming a treasure that had long been buried.

While the victory gave lead effects house Industrial Light + Magic its 13th Academy Award in the category, it also ended a 14-year dry spell for the company, which had not brought home an Oscar for VFX since 1994, when it earned a statuette for "Forrest Gump."

ILM visual effects supervisor John Knoll thanked producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski as he accepted the award, which he shared with Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall.

Before 1994, ILM dominated the category, with staffers earning Oscars in 1993 for "Jurassic Park," 1992 ("Death Becomes Her"), 1991 ("Terminator 2: Judgment Day"), 1989 ("The Abyss"), 1988 ("Who Framed Roger Rabbit"), 1987 ("Innerspace"), 1985 ("Cocoon") and 1984 ("Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom").

ILM also won visual effects Oscars for all three films in the first "Star Wars" trilogy as well for as the classics "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial."

In recent years, though, the category has become increasingly competitive with the emergence of such companies as Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks and Weta Digital.

But "Dead Man's Chest" wasn't only the biggest boxoffice hit of 2006, it also gave moviegoers a view of seafaring creatures unlike any they had ever seen.

Knoll said that the big step in "Dead Man's Chest" was the realistic performance of the CG Davy Jones and crew, which was accomplished using an ILM technique called iMoCap. It allowed the effects team to shoot and reproduce the actors' performances, used as the basis for the CG characters, on set during the actual shoot rather than separately on a motion-capture stage. Knoll also placed emphasis on digitally enhanced backgrounds, from the movie's Cannibal Island to the sea.

For Knoll, this was his fourth Oscar nomination. He also nominated as visual effects supervisor on "Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace" and "Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones" as well as "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl."

Knoll is working as visual effects supervisor on "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End," which Buena Vista Pictures has scheduled for release May 25. Also working on "At World's End" are fellow winners Hickel, Gibson and Hall.

"Dead Man's Chest" was the second Oscar nom for ILM animation supervisor Hickel, who was nominated alongside Knoll for "The Curse of the Black Pearl." Gibson has one previous win, for "Babe," and a third nomination for "The Curse of the Black Pearl."

"Dead Man's Chest" also brought a second Oscar for Hall, who was honored for "Gump." He also received nominations for "Mighty Joe Young" and "Backdraft."

Cameron's Avatar Gets 2D Release

(superheroflix.com)            According to Variety, the film, which is being shot entirely in 3-D, will be released both in 3-D and 2-D. Avatar is the first major pic Cameron has helmed since Titanic. It's based on a script he's been working on for more than a decade as he perfected the technology necessary to shoot the film.

The film stars Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana and Sigourney Weaver, and pits a band of humans in a battle against a distant indigenous population. The release date has been set for May 22, 2009.

ILM: No Time To Rest

(hollywoodreporter.com)          John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, winners for their visual effects work on "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," might have become Oscar holders, but it looks like they'll have no time to enjoy that state. Some of the group already have a meeting with the film's director, Gore Verbinski, today as they tackle a huge battle scene for the next film of the franchise, "At World's End." The quartet disclosed that the new movie will be bigger than what has come before -- and different: "We're not doing more of the same," Gibson said. "We're going to be doing a lot of invention for this one. We're doing 2,000 shots, which was the amount of shots of ('Pirates') one and two combined."

'Ghost Rider' Is Still On Fire

The Nicolas Cage adventure took in $19.7 million and held off a slew of newcomers, studio estimates from box office trackers Nielsen EDI show. The film has earned $78.7 million in 10 days, a sign it has moved beyond comic book fans and into the mainstream.

England Legend Gazza To Star In Own Sci-fi Blockbuster

(tribalfootball.com)                 Former Newcastle and Rangers star Paul Gascoigne is set to produce and star in his own sci-fi film!

Gazza will appear alongside Lois Winstone, daughter of actor Ray Winstone, in an action/horror movie called Final Run.

Billed as a cross between Blackhawk Down and Alien, Final Run is set in the near future, following a group of survivors after aliens have assimilated most of the human population. Gascoigne plays a man forced to decide between his own survival, and that of the human race.

A spokesman for the project said: "Paul Gascoigne, a lifelong genre fan, lends his considerable expertise as both producer and feature actor.

"As a part of the key creative team, Paul's input into the script and vision are invaluable."

It is hoped Final Run will be in cinemas in early 2008.

Source:    http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=29754

Why Pixar Won't Soon Go Union

(animationguildblog.blogspot.com)             Grizzled old union organizers (of which I am one) learn various rules as they work to drag non-union companies into the union fold. Here are three basic ones:

1) Abusive company management is an organizer's best friend.

2) A company won't get organized until company employees reach a "tipping point" and get fed up with the status quo.

3)Treating employees well enables a company to avoid unions.

A case in point is the Disney Company's non-union animation studio Pixar. The Emeryville facility has been around for a dozen years making animated features, and it's been "non-signator" from the first day of its existence to right this minute.

One reason for this is, it's in the Bay area, where very little cgi work is unionized. Another reason is Pixar management's style and philosophy.

The question I most often got from Disney animation employees when Disney absorbed Pixar was: "Is Pixar going union?"

At first I said, "I don't know." Then, as the merger dust settled and I got more information, I replied: "I don't think so. Not soon, anyway."

I pretty much feel the same way now. Pixar employees, I keep getting told, have lower rates of pay than its unionized Disney Feature counterparts in Burbank. This may or may not be true, but I haven't confirmed the information. And have no real way to confirm it. But pay won't be most Pixar employees' determining motivation for wanting to "go union." (At least, I don't think it will be.)

Pulling in the other direction will be the overall studio culture, that sense of fulfillment and well-being which comes from working on quality films (and here Pixar currently bats seven for seven). These things are intangibles that often trump mere moolah. And of course, there's the pride people have in working for Pixar because it's, well, Pixar.

So then, what would make Pixar slide over into the union column? Possibly changed perceptions. Maybe a different culture. If, for instance, management got more arbitrary and abusive. Or like, if the Pixar story department decided it would be better served by organizing under the WGAw, with all the residuals and other goodies that would flow from a WGAw contract. Then there might be a surge in that direction. (As President Bush says, sometimes money trumps other things. Even a pleasant studio environment.)

Like I say, there's always that elusive and ever-shifting "tipping point." Sometimes its hard for management or employees to know exactly where it is.

Making Money:  Sharing VFX On The Web

(10.mcadcafe.com)                 shareCG beta, a new web community for Computer Graphics, Visual Effects, and 3D Animation/Art professionals and hobbyists, officially went online today. shareCG is the first CG dedicated website to share its revenue with site contributors. Everything on shareCG -- including videos, animation, art galleries, tutorials, 3D models, software, plug-ins, scripts, and CG news -- is free, as well as site membership and the opportunity to profit.

You can visit shareCG now at http://www.sharecg.com, and register for membership at http://www.sharecg.com/register.php.

shareCG was founded on the principle that the very talented CG artists, professionals, and hobbyists who choose to share their work with the World Wide Web deserve to be compensated for their hard work and creativity. By sharing its advertising revenue with uploaders, shareCG provides the mechanism for the CG community to freely share their content with the world while providing a source of income. Payouts are made through Pay Pal at the beginning of every month. The first payout will occur April 1st, 2007 for revenue generated during March 2007.

Along with its novel revenue sharing program, shareCG offers a host of improved functionality for members and users alike. Built from the ground up using the latest Web 2.0 technology, shareCG is specifically designed to make sharing CG content simple, and allows quality content to rise to the top. shareCG is one of the first CG community sites to allow free hosting of unlimited animations, videos, and demo reels in streaming flash video.

With unique organizational tools and rapidly improving search algorithms, users are guaranteed to find exactly what they are looking for -- whether it be a tutorial on 3D animation or a student demo reel.

In the near future, shareCG will grow to include more advanced functionality, including job postings, a place for artists to have an online portfolio and personal web space, and a forum. The site is always open to recommendations, and would entertain any idea -- no matter how technically infeasible it may seem. (Please send any recommendations, comments, or bug reports, to Email Contact.)

shareCG.com is the latest addition to the Internet Business Systems, Inc. ( http://www.ibsystems.com) network of targeted Web portals.

Titanic Director Backs Jackson In Audit Spat
(stuff.co.nz)            Titanic director James Cameron has weighed in on the side of Peter Jackson in his stoush with a Hollywood studio over profits from The Lord of the Rings.

Cameron, who is filming part of his US$100 million-plus sci-fi movie Avatar in Wellington this year, has said New Line Cinema's reluctance to submit to an audit of Jackson's The Fellowship of the Ring is "bizarre".

In an interview in the March edition of Premiere magazine, Cameron says 20th Century Fox, which has backed his films for the past 20 years, "has always been very transparent financially. It's almost automatic that you do an audit".

Jackson filed a lawsuit in 2005 against New Line Cinema after it refused to submit to an audit of the first Lord of the Rings movie. Jackson asked for the audit to confirm his share of profits was correct.

New Line Cinema has cited the lawsuit as one reason it is looking for another film-maker to direct The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit.

Cameron said he understood the conflict. "I went through the same thing back in the early 90s. It's like these guys have had you under their thumb the whole time. You've proven yourself. And you feel like you just want to go out yourself and cut out the middleman who's always giving you stupid bonehead notes."






Happy Feet Delivers Animation Upset:  Races Past Pixar's Cars



It's Official: J.J. Abrams Directs Star Trek

(The Hollywood Reporter)          After months of speculation on the internet, it has been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter that J.J. Abrams, the creator of the hit ABC dramas "Lost" and "Alias," will indeed be directing the first movie in Paramount Pictures' relaunch of Gene Rodenberry's Star Trek movie franchise.

The 11th installment of the series will actually be a prequel to the original television series and the first movie, as it chronicles the first meeting of a young James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock at Starfleet Academy and their first space mission.

Although Abrams had been committed to produce the movie for a number of months, it was finally confirmed that he would also direct it. Look for more announcements in the next few months as he starts casting.





Pan Wins Three Oscars

Guillermo del Toro's Spanish-language fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth took home three Oscars on Feb. 25, making it the big winner among SF&F movies at the 79th Academy Awards ceremony broadcast live on ABC from Los Angeles. Pan, which was nominated for six awards, won for art direction, makeup and cinematography, but lost in the categories of original screenplay, score and foreign-language film.

I Am Legend Action At the Brooklyn Bridge

(gothamist.com)             Possibly to pre-empt freaked out phone calls to 911, the production folks from the Will Smith film I Am Legend have alerted not only residents and businesses downtown and near the Brooklyn Bridge, but the major papers to to tell everyone not to freak out if they see Black Hawk helicopters, tanks, military activity, hundreds if not thousands of people, and lots of lights near the Brooklyn Bridge. Because it's just filming, not an actual invasion of zombies looking for an Oscar. While it'll be a pain in the ass, we prefer this to the crappy fake NYC backlots in Hollywood. Then again, we pray there are no actual emergencies to tend to while filming is tying things up - like another mercaptan smell that needs to be investigated.

I Am Legend will be filming around the Brooklyn Bridge for the next week. Though the city's Department of Transportation says all should go well, when Newsday asked what the filming "will do to the already nightmarish traffic" and an NYPD official said, "Good luck."

Of course, many people are already familiar with chaos from I Am Legend filming around town, whether it's zombies or straw and apocalyptic detritus. Here are some of our favorite I Am Legend pictures: Top photograph of cab hanging over Grand Central overpass by marianne.oleary, a burnt out car by New York Daily Photo and the Garibaldi statue lit up by film by Bill Shatto.

Pics:  http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2007/01/23/get_ready_for_i.php





Disney Animation Gets Pixar-ization:   Catmull Thinks Radical Shift

(Variety.com)             Walking up the stairs of the Disney Animation Studios building, Ed Catmull talks about change.

"We took down as many walls as we could," he says, showing off a bright and open second floor -- a stark contrast to the narrow hallways and separate rooms on other floors.

Entering his modest office in a structure that only opened in 1994, he adds: "We are planning to build an entirely new building."

There's no hiding that the new president of Walt Disney Feature Animation thinks a radical shift is needed both physically and psychologically at the venerable toon unit, which has been struggling since the late '90s.

That attitude is exactly why Bob Iger brought on Catmull, a computer science Ph.D. who started Pixar as a division of LucasFilm in 1979 and led the company from the time Steve Jobs bought it in 1986 until its acquisition a year ago, when he acquired Pixar last year.

Together with chief creative officer John Lasseter, his much better known partner, Catmull is charged with reviving the biggest name in animation while simultaneously keeping up the creatively and commercially unblemished track record of Pixar, which the two continue to head under the combined rubric of WDFA.

It's a monumental task, but Disney CEO Iger bet $7.4 billion that Catmull and Lasseter can handle it when he decided to acquire Pixar last year.

"More than anything else, the impetus for the Pixar deal was getting two experienced leaders who can give a shot of adrenaline to Disney Animation," says studio topper Dick Cook. "You can't come close to calculating what that means in the long term for the company in terms of new characters, stories, and lands for films and parks and publishing and more."

Former Pixar CEO and current Disney board member Steve Jobs is also modestly involved, as he sits on a six-person animation oversight committee for the Mouse that also includes Catmull, Lasseter, Iger, Cook and chief financial officer Tom Staggs.

The hope is that the Pixar team will create and maintain properties to flow throughout Disney's many ventures, such as a "Finding Nemo" ride set to open this summer at Disneyland and a new "Cars" section on Disney.com.

But their top priority is reviving Disney Animation Studios. From new offices to new talent, a new development process, and an openness to the formerly shunned technique of hand-drawn toons, WDFA is in the midst of its biggest changes since the late '80s, when Jeffrey Katzenberg re-energized the then-ailing unit that was turning out only one film every four years.

The problem these days isn't quantity, but quality. In the past six years, WDFA released seven toons, only two of which made more than $100 million domestically and only one of which, 2002's "Lilo and Stitch," was also positively received by most critics and the animation community.

Disney artists felt that lack of success acutely, which is why morale was particularly low in 2005. But insiders say that feeling changed almost overnight when Catmull and Lasseter, two of the most respected figures in the industry, took over.

Disney animators use words like "euphoria" to describe what they felt at the time. Today, those feelings are more tempered, thanks to an unexpected round of cutbacks in December that saw Disney Animation lay off 160 employees, or about 20% of its staff.

"Everybody recognizes the fact that they're trying to change the culture down here for the better, but it's safe to say that the pixie dust that surrounded their arrival has pretty much disappeared," says one source close to Disney Animation.

Catmull says the layoffs weren't a result of corporate pressure, but his and Lasseter's decision to move Disney Animation from putting out one pic per year to one every 18 months.

"It took Pixar 10 years to get to one movie per year," Catmull notes. "We had to get things back in balance and then grow from there."

Such sentiments, while reasonable, underline why many in the animation community say Mouse House artists are struggling with an inferiority complex: Pixar kept its leadership, didn't experience any layoffs, and is putting out one pic per year.

In other words, the 72-year-old Disney Animation has to follow the example of its 20-year-old sibling.

That doesn't mean that the younger studio feels totally comfortable with its new relationship either. In the two years leading up to the acquisition, Catmull, Lasseter and then-CEO Steve Jobs were psyching their company up for a future without the studio that had distributed all their movies. Due largely to a dismal relationship with Michael Eisner, the three Pixar principals frequently bashed the Mouse at company-wide meetings.

"A lot of people felt betrayed when they all suddenly took jobs there," notes one source close to Pixar.

The two execs face a balancing act as they try to alleviate concerns and foster creativity in two places at once. To do that, they split time equally between Burbank and Emeryville and endeavor to keep the two studios unique and separate. They're keeping distinct names and while directors from DAS and Pixar sometimes give each other notes, animation work isn't shuffled back and forth between the two.

They're also giving each studio ownership of the characters they create. Lasseter recently said that the "greatest part of the merger" was that Disney abandoned its plans to make "Toy Story 3" and that Pixar is now making the film in-house.

Similarly, though they don't directly control the unit, Catmull and Lasseter clearly influenced the Mouse to stop direct-to-DVD unit DisneyToon from making sequels to animated theatrical features. It's now focused on spinoffs like "Tinkerbell" and a "Disney Fairies" pic.

But there's no denying that many of the changes being instituted at Disney Animation look very Pixar-esque.

Execs note repeatedly that they're trying to make the Mouse "a director-driven studio," a mantra that has served Pixar well with a braintrust of talented helmers that includes Lasseter, Brad Bird ("The Incredibles"), Pete Docter ("Monsters, Inc.") and Andrew Stanton ("Finding Nemo"). Catmull repeatedly states that the days of studio exec interference are over.

"It used to be that there were three levels of executives giving notes," he says of Disney Animation under its former prexy David Stainton. "Now John and the directors give notes to each other, but they're all suggestions and nothing is mandatory. We judge progress based on how well the team is working together."

First Disney toon to get at least some of that treatment is "Meet the Robinsons," which comes out next month. Though it was partway through production when Catmull and Lasseter came on, one of their first tasks was a six-hour notes session involving them, Stanton, and the film's director, Steve Anderson, last March that resulted in the pic being delayed by three months to allow for changes.

"At the time it felt like one of the hardest days of my entire life," says Anderson. "But what's amazing is that at the end, they put the control back in my hands and said it was up to me to figure out what I wanted to implement and how. John and Ed immediately stressed that the people responsible for the movie, whether it succeeds or fails, are the filmmakers."

Though the pic was too far along for radical restructuring, Anderson ended up making major changes to the villain, the Bowler Hat Guy, after the Pixar brain trust told the director that they didn't find the character menacing.

The next pic on Disney's slate, "American Dog," which will likely bow in late 2008, shows that even at a director-driven studio, filmmakers aren't sacrosanct. Helmer Chris Sanders, who also directed "Lilo and Stitch," recently left the studio over what insiders say were irresolvable creative differences with Lasseter on the pic's direction. Vet story artist Chris Williams is now directing.

Similarly, this summer's Pixar release "Ratatouille" is the first film from that studio to see a director ankle after years of development. Jan Pinkava, who was set to make his feature debut after winning an Oscar for Pixar short "Geri's Game," was replaced in 2005 by Bird.

Despite some tumult, Catmull and Lasseter are clearly believers in developing a brain trust of directors they charge with developing and overseeing projects at both studios. At Disney, they're not only relying on existing talent, but bringing on respected directors who left amid the studio's problems in the past year.

First to come back were Ron Clements and John Musker, the team who directed "The Little Mermaid," "Aladdin," "Hercules" and "Treasure Planet." They're developing "The Frog Princess," which has a very good shot at becoming the first hand-drawn project released by Disney under its new regime.

Catmull says there are other Disney vets he hopes to bring back soon.

Whatever combination of vets and new talent end up heading Disney's slate going forward, Catmull says his No. 1 goal, the one that will make him feel he made a difference in his new job, will be seeing them come together.

"Ultimately you are judged by your films," he grants, "but the only way I know to make sure you make good films is to create a healthy and vibrant community of filmmakers."

James Cameron Claims To Have Discovered The Tomb Of Jesus Christ

(cinematical.com)            This Sunday, director James Cameron and archaeologist Simcha Jacobovici will premiere a new documentary on the Discovery Channel entitled "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," which lays out evidence that a well-known holy relic called The Talpiot Tomb is in fact the crypt that once held the bones of Jesus Christ. The press release states that "scientific evidence, including DNA analysis conducted at one of the world's foremost molecular genetics laboratories, as well as studies by leading scholars, suggests a 2,000-year-old Jerusalem tomb could have once held the remains of Jesus of Nazareth and his family. The findings also suggest that Jesus and Mary Magdalene might have produced a son named Judah." The press release also noted that this could be "the greatest archaeological find in history," since it could satisfy many that, you know, there's no God.

Cameron, Jacobovici and others will hold a news conference at 11:00 a.m today to prepare the world for the documentary. The relics in question are ten coffins, unearthed by a construction crew in the early 1980s in a suburb of Jerusalem. Each of the coffins were preserved in a hidden cave that archaeologists estimate to be 2,000 years old. For the last twenty years, careful analysis has been done to decode the names on the caskets, and here are the names they finally came up with: Jesua, Joseph, Mary, Mary, Matthew, Jofa and Judah. Sounds like the right family tree to me.

Mitochondrial DNA tests have been done on the coffins thought to be that of Jesus and Mary Magdalene at Lakehead University's Paleo-DNA laboratory -- the tests showed that the two individuals had no maternal DNA linkage. Rumor has it that Cameron may actually display the coffins during today's news conference. I'm not going to tell you where in New York Cameron will be speaking, because I don't want you to turn up and assassinate him or anything, but just to comfort the fanatics out there, Cameron hasn't announced any plans to scoop Jesus's DNA off the coffin and resurrect him (again) or anything. So everyone please take this news in stride.

Source:   http://www.cinematical.com/

Pixar Is Inventing New Math

(blog.wired.com)            Tony DeRose, a resident computer nerd at Pixar, said today that much of their work while creating new films requires the creation of new math. The problem is that human skin, for example, goes through extreme deformations when it is being animated. Because of that the Pixar team needs to figure out new ways to represent complex geometry. Otherwise, a character's skin could fall apart, tear, or melt off their bodies when the images are rendered.

So, how's Pixar doing it? Well, I am the opposite of a mathematician. So, I can't really explain it to you (it's got something to do with wavelets and Fourier analysis). But here's what I can say: According to DeRose, Pixar is the first Hollywood studio equipped with it's very own in-house scientific research facility. Mathematicians and computer scientists there are figuring out new mathematical ways to solve problems in animation.

Their goal for integrating these new methods, says DeRose (who has a degree in Physics and a PhD in Computer Science) is that, "the science should not replace art. We don't want fully automatic techniques [for image creation], we just want to enhance the art. [New software] should be intuitive to the artist, not just the scientist."

What they're finding is that the interplay between academics and industry has been hugely successful. According to DeRose they now have more courage to explore scientific musings that would normally only have been possible in a university environment.