Weta Gears Up, Kerner Optical & Pete Kleinow Passes
M. Night Shyamalan Readies Own Avatar
(scifi.com) M. Night Shyamalan and Paramount are planning their own Avatar, a movie based on the popular Nickelodeon kids TV series, Variety reported.
The filmmaker has signed a three-picture deal with Paramount's MTV Films and Nick Movies to adapt the animated Avatar: The Last Airbender show for the big screen. He will write, direct and produce the potential kids franchise. The film version will be live action.
Nick TV's Avatar, which is set in an Asian-influenced fantasy world permeated by martial arts and magic, follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars who must put aside his irresponsible ways and stop the Fire Nation from enslaving the Water, Earth and Air nations.
Created by Michael DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, Avatar debuted on the Nicktoons lineup in February 2005. Aimed at 6- to 11-year-olds, the show has nabbed strong ratings, including outside its intended demo. It is among the top 10 animated series on all of TV among kids 6-11 and tweens 9-14.
Paramount confirmed the pact with Shyamalan just hours after Fox Filmed Entertainment announced it is green-lighting James Cameron's Avatar, which has nothing to do with the Airbender project.
VFX Artist Pete Kleinow Dies
(Reuters - IMDB) Visual effects artist and pedal steel guitarist Pete Kleinow has died from complications of Alzheimer's disease, associates said on Monday. He was 72.
Kleinow, who died on Saturday, had been living in a nursing facility in Petaluma, Calif., about 40 miles north of San Francisco.
The Flying Burrito Brothers, led by two former members of the Byrds, Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, formed in 1968 and won a cult following by playing soulful country music with a rock 'n' roll attitude.
Kleinow soon quit for lucrative session work on albums by the likes of John Lennon ("Mind Games"), Fleetwood Mac ("Heroes are Hard to Find") and Joni Mitchell ("Blue").
He later returned to his original calling as a visual effects artist in film and television. Before the Burritos, he had worked on NBC's "The Gumby Show." His later credits included the first two "Terminator" films, and he shared an Emmy for his work on the TV miniseries "The Winds of War."
Visual Effects - Filmography
- Holes (2003) (3d animation)
- Nemesis (1993) (go-motion animation) (as Peter Kleinow)
- Army of Darkness (1992) (stop motion supervisor) (as Peter Kleinow)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) (go animator: Fantasy II Film
Effects) (as Peter Kleinow)
- RoboCop 2 (1990) (stop-motion technician: robot monster crew) (as
Peter Kleinow)
- The Puppetoon Movie (1987) (stop-motion animation: prologue and
epilogue)
- The Return of the Living Dead (1985) (visual effects supervisor)
- Gremlins (1984) (creature crew)
- The Terminator (1984) (terminator stop motion: Fantasy II Film
Effects) (as Peter Kleinow)
- The Right Stuff (1983) (modelmaker: USFX) (as Peter Kleinow)
- Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) (special visual
effects supervisor: Fantasy II Film Effects) (as Peter Kleinow)
-"The Winds of War" (1983) (mini) TV Series (visual effects) (as Peter
Kleinow)
- Caveman (1981) (visual effects)
- "Land of the Lost" (1974) TV Series (stop-motion animator)
- Davey and Goliath" (1960) TV Series (animator)
Superhero Drama For Columbia
(Variety) Jason Bateman has been cast opposite Will Smith in the long-gestating superhero drama Tonight, He Comes. Charlize Theron remains in talks with Columbia Pictures also to star.
Director Peter Berg is set to shoot the movie this spring for a 2008 release. Akiva Goldsman, Michael Mann, James Lassiter and Smith are producing.
The storyline revolves around a hard-living, middle-aged superhero (Smith) facing an existential crisis and a disillusioned fan base. Bateman plays a public relations executive who revamps the superhero's image after being saved, even as the superhero woos the executive's wife.
The project has been in development for a decade, with Vincent Ngo writing the original script. Ngo's quirky take was ultimately refashioned by Vince Gilligan.
Weta Gets Working On $295M Sci-fi Avatar
Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron believes Wellington company Weta Digital will create the fantasy worlds he needs for his first big film since Titanic, a science fiction blockbuster which will begin shooting in April.
Cameron will film Avatar using a blend of live-action photography and new virtual "photorealistic" production techniques, for release in new digital 3D cinemas expected to be introduced in time for the $US200 million ($NZ294m) film's release in the winter of 2009.
It will require image-based "performance capture" techniques pioneered in New Zealand's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a virtual camera system, to create computer graphics which will be blended with live action in Wellington.
The film is expected to provide a welcome workload for Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, which spent a year on pre-production work for a $192 million computer-generated movie, Halo, only to have the project "postponed", reportedly after the Universal and Fox studios pulled out.
Now Weta's digital technology expertise will be used on a large cast of virtual creatures which mimic the emotions of human actors.
Earlier movies like the Lord of the Rings did so on a limited basis, but none had gone as far as Avatar would do to create an "entirely photorealistic world", Cameron told The New York Times.
"This film is a true hybrid – a full live-action shoot, with computer generated characters in computer generated and live environments. Ideally at the end of the day the audience has no idea which they're looking at."
Characters played by human actors, with tiny cameras on headsets recording their performances, will be inserted into a virtual world.
"With new tools, we can create a humanoid character that is anything we imagine it to be – beautiful, elegant, graceful, powerful – evocative of us, but still with an emotional connection."
The science fiction epic has been written by Cameron, about a soldier who is part of Earth's invasion of an alien planet but then joins the indigenous races' resistance fight after falling in love with a local inhabitant. He eventually leads the indigenous race in a battle for survival.
The lead actor will be a young Australian Sam Worthington, (Somersault and Dirty Deeds) and the female lead will be Zoe Saldana (Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl).
The film's new image-based process of facial performance capture will get all the subtle nuances of the actors' performances. The virtual camera system will allow Cameron to work intimately with the cast while seeing in realtime, as each scene evolves, the computer-generated worlds and characters. This allows Cameron to direct scenes with CG characters and environments exactly as he would on a live-action set.
The edited performances and scenes, incorporating Cameron's hands-on camera moves, will be turned over to Peter Jackson's Oscar-winning visual effects house Weta Digital, under the supervision of Joe Letteri (who won an Oscar for KING KONG).
Weta's artists will incorporate new intuitive CGI technologies to transform the environments and characters into photorealistic 3-D imagery that will transport the audience into the alien world rich with imaginative vistas, creatures and characters.
Letteri recently told VFXWORLD that Weta will be expanding the same Maya-based CityBot program for KING KONG's New York City for the fantasy environments. As for performance capture, Letteri added, "Rob has created an immersive system, which is necessary for AVATAR. Whereas our system was designed mostly to work with things that had been shot on set and to add motion capture into those. We're finding it very compatible, which allows us to keep a consistent workflow back and forth. We both use the Giant system for motion capture. The rest involves developing an infrastructure around that to support the film."
AVATAR is produced by Cameron and Jon Landau for Cameron's Lightstorm Ent. Principal photography will take place in and around Los Angeles, and in New Zealand. Live action will be shot using the proprietary FUSION digital 3-D camera system developed by Cameron and Vince Pace.
Fox Filmed Ent. produces, acquires and distributes motion pictures throughout the world. These motion pictures are produced or acquired by the following units of FFE: Twentieth Century Fox, Fox 2000 Pictures, Fox Searchlight Pictures, Fox Atomic and Twentieth Century Fox Animation.
New Games Studio Takes Aim at Industry 'Best Practices'
(biz.gamedaily.com) Industry veterans who have worked on such games as Madden, Halo 1 & 2, SOCOM, Star Wars Battlefront and more have come together to form Sniper Studios, a new independent developer that aims to foster "top notch game design and development technology within each level of the production pipeline."
GameDaily BIZ has gotten the first word on the formation of a new independent video game developer based out of Redwood City, California called Sniper Studios. Co-founded by industry veterans Matt McKnight (President and CEO) and Jeff Hasson (General Manager), and joined recently by Ted Fitzgerald (VP of Production & Business Development), the new design, development and production facility hopes to create new production and development opportunities with game publishers by putting game industry "best practices" into full effect.
All told, Sniper's talented staff has worked on more than 80 game launches combined, including several high-profile, multi-million selling properties. The company's producers, artists, designers and developers come from publishers such as Electronic Arts, Activision, Sega, 3DO and more.
Both McKnight and Hasson have considerable experience from Electronic Arts. McKnight worked at EA for over 11 years on titles such as Madden NFL, James Bond 007, TY the Tasmanian Tiger, and NCAA Football. Hasson worked alongside McKnight while at EA on games such as Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Oddworld, Knockout Kings, and The Simpsons. Fitzgerald brings with him 14 years of experience. He worked most recently at LucasArts on Star Wars Battlefront, but he too has much experience from EA, where he worked on titles like Knockout Kings, Madden and James Bond 007.
Transformers To Be "Greatest Movie To Ever Grace The Silver Screen"
(pensacolanewsjournal.com) My biggest questions of 2007
Will the live action Transformers movie destroy everything with its brilliance?
The '80s cartoon that refuses to die received new life recently when Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg signed on to bring the story of the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons into the live action world on July 4. I sympathize with the concerns of longtime fans wondering whether Bay's handling of the beloved franchise will be tantamount to sacrilege. But at the same time, I ask myself: How often do you get to see giant transforming robots blow stuff up at the theater?
The answer: Mark my words, "Transformers" will be the greatest movie to ever grace the silver screen. I don't believe I'm going out on a limb when I say this movie will win every Academy Award there is at the 2008 ceremony, including "Best Foreign Language Film."
I realize that "Transformers" is not a foreign language film, but it will be nominated in the category and win regardless, because it's just that awesome. Respected directors from Martin Scorsese to Peter Jackson will convene after seeing a screening of the movie and announce that they have thrown in the towel and retired from movie making. Realizing that making a better film than "Transformers" is a futile effort, a weeping Scorsese will ask, "What have I been doing with my life all these years?"
Scooby Doo Designer Dead At Age of 81
(IESB.net) Iwao
Takamoto, the animator who designed the cartoon canine Scooby-Doo
as well as characters on such shows as "The Flintstones" and "The
Jetsons," died on Monday after suffering a massive coronary, a
spokesman said. He was 81.
Sony Artists to Explore Animating Comicbook
Heroes
(vfxworld.com)
Top
artists from Sony Pictures Imageworks will discuss the challenges of
animating comicbook characters, show examples of their work and
demonstrate their personal techniques and solutions at the panel,
"Animating Comic Book Heroes," Jan. 10, 2007 at 12:00 pm during the CES
2007 show in Las Vegas. The session will be moderated by Sony Pictures
Digital Ent.'s Chris Marlowe at the Sony booth/Back Stage Theater at
the Las Vegas Convention Center
Scheduled to appear:
* Academy Award nominee Richard
Hoover, most recently vfx supervisor on
SUPERMAN RETURNS. Hoover's additional work at Imageworks includes vfx
supervision on DARKNESS FALLS and SEABISCUIT.
* Academy Award winner Kevin Mack
recently completed work as vfx
supervisor on the upcoming action/adventure, GHOST RIDER, based on the
popular comicbook, the film stars Nicolas Cage. Mack joined Imageworks
in 2002 to supervise the visual effects for Tim Burton's BIG FISH,
which went on to be nominated for a BAFTA Award for Achievement in
Visual Effects.
* Spencer Cook, animation director
at Sony Pictures Imageworks, is
working on the highly anticipated SPIDER-MAN 3, due in theaters in May
2007. Cook's other credits include animation supervisor on CURSED, THE
MATRIX RELOADED and THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS, as well as lead character
animator on SPIDER-MAN and HOLLOW MAN.
Arthur
Spawns CG Trilogy
(scifi.com) Luc Besson's fantasy film Arthur and the Invisibles is now envisioned as the first in a trilogy of films in the wake of its success in Europe, Variety reported.
Having passed the 65 million-Euro mark, with 5 million admissions in France, Arthur has now officially spawned two sequels, which are in the pipeline: Arthur and the Vengeance of Malthazar for 2009 and Arthur and the War of Two Worlds for 2010. Besson had previously said that Arthur would be his last film as a director.
The films are based on Besson's own children's book franchise.
Arthur stars Freddie Highmore as a boy who enters the world of tiny
creatures called Minimoys. Arthur opens in the United States on
Jan. 12.
Prince Caspian to be Filmed in Slovenia
(christiantoday.com) Parts of Prince Caspian, the sequel to the 2005 hit The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, will be filmed in the beautiful Soca River region, Slovenia’s POP TV channel has recently reported.
Although the filmmakers searched for locations all around Europe, the Soca River and its surroundings proved to be some of the most memorable. They decided to shoot part of the story in Slovenia following successful talks with the Bovec municipal council and officials.
Danijel Krivec, Mayor of Bovec said: "They fell in love with the landscape and the views of the river, and especially the colour of the Soca. It was these key points that attracted them.
"We’re still coordinating some details, but the procedures are underway so there shouldn’t be any obstacles."
Filming in the region will begin in May or June next year.
Disney and Walden are planning to do most of the post-production and special effects work in the UK, making up a large proportion of the movie’s budget, as they will be able to access tax credits worth 20 per cent of their UK expenditure.
Kerner Optical Strikes Development Deal For Groundbreaking 3D
(earthtimes.org) Southern California-based digital consumer electronics innovator SpectronIQ(TM) kicks off the new year with the announcement of a breakthrough agreement with Kerner Optical Research & Development (KORD) to develop 3D HD LCD home entertainment televisions. The synergistic collaboration between SpectronIQ (formerly known as Protron Digital) and KORD -- an entity launched in summer '06 that's an outgrowth of the former physical production unit of Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm Ltd. Company -- will put SpectronIQ's "Intelligent TVs" at the vanguard of the emergent 3D revolution in media and entertainment.
SpectronIQ and KORD's alliance formed after principals from both companies met for the first time in December at KORD headquarters in San Rafael, CA (at what was once ILM's top-secret campus). SpectronIQ founder/CEO Leo Chen said, "This is such an exciting opportunity, and we are thrilled it's come together so quickly. There's a huge amount of 3D content -- gaming, broadcasting and film -- that's rapidly becoming available. Our agreement with KORD is historical. Their unique 3D technology is amazing and very evolved, but they don't make televisions. We do, and we also bring our marketing and distribution expertise to the table."
Industry veteran Chen launched SpectronIQ in 2005 -- initially as Protron Digital, with the rebranding effective in late '06 -- and led it to immediate success. Chen has optimally leveraged both SpectronIQ's advantages as a small, independent company able to adapt to new trends and his super-sized relationships with Asia's largest manufacturers meet product demands. Noted for its large, sophisticated R&D team, SpectronIQ hit the ground running with extremely high quality products at an equally remarkable value-conscious price point, allowing a broad range of consumers to join the party. In its first year and a half, SpectronIQ wrote $300 million in business and sold more than 250,000 of its flat panel HD LCD-TVs alone. With expanded distribution, marketing and customer service systems in place, SpectronIQ is on target to increase those numbers by ten-fold in 2007 -- and that's without taking into account the 3D models they hope to have to market by year's end.
Kerner Optical CEO Mark Anderson -- a key player among the original George Lucas startup whiz kids -- and Chief of Disruptive Technology Yuska "Joe" Siuicki both experienced an immediate meeting of the minds with Chen and company. Anderson, who says that "3D is coming like a freight train," identified completely with SpectronIQ's methodology -- "They are entrepreneurial, living outside the box. They don't just talk about making intelligent TVs, they are doing it."
The tech minds at Kerner had been honing their proprietary end to end high definition stereoscopic 3D technology for close to 15 years -- and looking for a partner like SpectronIQ for almost as long. "They make an incredibly smart television at an affordable price," says Siuicki, "that does all the things we need it to do to install our software and hardware and enable the 3D." Siuicki adds, "what's happening now with 3D will have the same impact as when TV went from black & white to color, it's that radical a change." When this profound paradigm shift in how people view television connects with the masses, they'll be watching it on a Kerner 3D-enabled SpectronIQ HD LCD-TV.
Source: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,41985.shtml
