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"The Hobbit" Filming Pushed Back to Summer
(Movie
Reporter) German site MovieReporter.net talked to
Peter Jackson, who revealed that The Hobbit and its sequel will now
start filming mid-summer 2010 instead of the previously-reported March
start. Here's a translation of Jackson's quote, thanks to
TheOneRing.net:
We're currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we've received no green light from the studio yet.
We're guessing that green light won't come until MGM's future is
cleared up. We don't expect that this will affect the first film's
targeted release of December 2011 and second film's release of December
2012.
VFX Tweet: IM2's Visual Fx Coordinator Shifts to Thor
(comicbookmovie.com)
Another tweet from Iron Man 2's visual effects coordinator, Darrell
Hunt, reports that he'll be starting on Marvel's Thor very soon.
Here is the tweet:
Double duty. Starting with Thor at the end of December.
Robert Zemeckis Wants Motion-Capture to Get an Oscar
(worstpreviews.com) LaTercera sat down with director Robert Zemeckis (Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol) to talk about his love of motion-capture animation and the future of the technology.
"I'd say that the appropriate thing would be to create a new [Academy Awards] category," he said. "Like when Walt Disney made the first animated movie. He got a special award since no one had ever done that."
It's true that Disney's 1939 "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" received an honorary Oscar for innovation, but is motion-capture animation as big of a step forward in movie-making as regular animation was in 1939?
For some reason I think that even though Zemeckis has been perfecting the technology for years, the Academy will ignore that and give James Cameron's "Avatar" the Oscar for best motion-capture film.
"PREADATORS" Director Shuns CGI Effects
ComingSoon recently spoke with Predators director Nimrod Antal about his upcoming sequel to the classic 1987 action film, and his controversial decision to cast Adrien Brody as the leader of a bunch of bad-asses who fight the Predator aliens.
At
least as far as the visual effects are concerned, Antal seems to be on
the right track by opting for practical effects even though producer
and screenwriter Robert Rodriguez wants everything to be CG because
hey, ain't that neat. Antal also said that Predators will be an
R-rated film so at least there's nothing to worry about on that front.
For those who don't know, Antal is best known for his 2003 film
Kontroll and is currently doing press for his new film Armored, which
hits theaters on December 4th.
Alvarez & Raimi Plan Alien Invasion
(darkhorizons.com)
Uruguayan filmmaker Fede Alvarez has signed a million dollar deal to
make his directing debut on an alien invasion film for Ghost
House Pictures reports Variety.
Alvarez helmed "Panic Attack" ("Ataque de panic"), a sub-$500
five-minute short about an apocalyptic robot attack which became an online video hit and was linked on Kanye West's official blog.
He then pitched the alien invasion
idea to Sam Raimi who's Ghost House Pictures signed him up for a
holding deal. A high-end screenwriter is being hired to turn the idea
into a feature that if greenly, Alvarez will direct and Raimi will
produce.
Superman Movie on Hold Until 2013
(examiner.com) It looks like Superman won't return again until at least 2013, according to new reports. Variety and other news sources are reporting that the Superman property is on hold in development until the legal issues between Warner Bros. and the Siegel estate. Currently, as reported here earlier in the year, the heirs of Jerry Siegel, co-creator of Superman, have regained partial rights to the content of Action Comics #1, the first appearance of Superman in 1938. They are fighting for even more rights at this time, and of course Warner Bros. and DC Comics are contesting the decision.
In the meantime, Warner Bros. Studios, current holders of the movie rights to Superman, is taking new pitches for the property, but they are not expected to make any movement on the property until at least 2013, by which time they should know if they will be able to attempt another re-launch of the Superman property as a major franchise, or if the Siegels will try to sell the rights to another studio.
Hollywood insider Anne Thompson goes into further detail about the issues with Superman's movie rights, but it is worth noting that Warner Bros. is continuing to stall the production of a new Superman movie even though Hollywood golden boy JJ Abrams has been vocal with his desire to revamp the property, much in the way he did with Star Trek.
Best Makeup FX Oscar A Tough Category
(incontention.com) Without any doubt, one of the most difficult Oscar categories to predict is Best Makeup. Like Best Visual Effects, the final three nominees are chosen from a previously announced shortlist of seven.
Very frequently, films that would seem to be sure things fail to even make the bake-off. Even so, it is possible to gauge the general sort of films which are nominated, with considerable prosthetics and aging effects being among the most cited accomplishments in this category.
This branch is one that regularly seems willing nominate dreadful films, or to eschew insularity (which is not to say they don’t have their favorites, such as Greg Cannom and Rick Baker).
I think many of the films I spoke of in September remain firmly in the running, And perhaps leading the way is Neil Blomkamp’s “District 9.” While much of the work in this was CGI, the makeup was key, not only to the main character’s transformation but also to capturing the injuries of the characters in the slums of Johannesburg. The crew has not been nominated before, but I don’t think that will be a problem.
J.J. Abrams’s recent take on “Star Trek” also seems a good candidate. The film was a respected hit and the creation of Eric Bana’s villain Nero alone strikes me as the sort of work which this branch embraces. Not to mention all the other famous characters that show up. Again, the crew has not been cited by this branch before, but I don’t think that will be too great of an obstacle.
Of films already released, I can’t shake off the idea that Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell” could emerge as a surprise nominee. The work is the sort the branch embraces and Howard Berger is a past winner. Just a hunch.
The other film that has been out for months and could still score here is “Watchmen.” To say this is not an “Oscar film” is an understatement to put it mildly. But the makeup was still fantastic, and Greg Cannom is a major favorite.
Despite the fact that we are now 11 months through the year, there are still a handful of films that have yet to open and, in my opinion, could play a role here.
I certainly expect James Cameron’s “Avatar” to be a major player throughout the crafts categories. But I suspect excessive reliance on visual effects will ultimately do the film in here. Additionally, the makeup artists have yet to be recognized by the branch. Even so, I expect the film to be a visual treat, and if makeup does play a significant role, it could score here as well.
I’m not yet sure what to make of Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones.” Consensus on the film has not yet emerged but I think aging the characters and capturing the 1970s vibe and interesting nature of the characters could present makeup artists with a rich opportunity. Jackson’s famous WETA crew is responsible, which could be a big leg up.
The December film I am very curious to see is Terry Gilliam’s “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.” Fashioning an array of circus figures and a 1,000 year old title character certainly presented makeup artists with a daunting yet exciting task. Sarah Monzani has been out of the race for 27 years since winning this award for “Quest for Fire.” Perhaps it is time for a return?
I have a few doubts on some of the other films I mentioned last time. One of these is John Hillcoat’s “The Road,” which has received respectful reviews, but I don’t see it as a major player in this year’s awards season. And the makeup wasn’t showy enough to score here.
In a similar boat is Spike Jonze’s “Where the Wild Things Are.” While the film was undoubtedly innovative, at the end of the day, it was really costumes and visual effects that made the film work.
Also, though “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” probably shouldn’t be completely ruled out, I remain highly skeptical that it will manage to become the first film in the series to get a nomination here.
Furthermore, while “Nine” has yet to open, the word that has been trickling out so far leads me to believe that many crafts nominations are headed its way. Best Makeup, however, does not seem to be one of them. The work does not appear showy enough.
I’ll end with one film I forgot last time: Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds.” It’s looking increasingly likely to find a home in many categories. While I would not call Best Makeup the most likely place for it to score, the war wounds and character makeup nonetheless strike me as enough to at least put this in consideration.
This now marks the second time through nine of the 10 crafts fields. Next week Kris will run through the original songs in a dedicated column and soon after, our interview series will kick-off.
3D CGI "A Christmas Carol Box Office" Up 30%
(avclub.com) A Christmas Carol held at No. 5 for the second week in a row with $16 million, a 30-percent jump in receipts from last week.
The Fantastic Mr. Fox also made its de facto debut this weekend, opening in wide release at No. 9 with $7 million.
Fantastic Mr. Fox May Signal End of CGI Craze
(network.nationalpost.com) When the computer-generated, 3D animation train was chugging full steam ahead five years ago, filmmakers Wes Anderson and Henry Selick decided to hop off and walk in the other direction.
They partnered to form Revolution Studios and began developing a stop-motion adaptation of Roald Dahl's children's book Fantastic Mr. Fox, right before the economy sank. Unfortunately, Revolution went down with it, so Anderson moved the project to 20th Century Fox (an appropriately named studio, if there ever was one), while Selick, the director of Nightmare Before Christmas, went on to helm another stop-motion film called Coraline.
With both films receiving verbal standing ovations from critics and strong numbers at the box-office — Mr. Fox was released in Canada yesterday but pulled in almost $300,000 on four screens during its U.S. opening, making it the year's second-best limited debut — this might just signal the end of the CGI craze. And if you're of the mind that two is a coincidence but three is a trend, consider that yet another stop-motion film called Mary and Max premiered last week and was chosen as the opening night film at Sundance.
"It's kind of unprecedented to have so many major stop-motion features coming out at once," says Amid Amidi, co-editor of CartoonBrew.com, which tracks and critiques animation styles. "It's one of the oldest techniques -- it's been around more or less since the invention of animation itself — but right now, it's experiencing this mini-renaissance ... and it's kind of exciting to see the technique being revitalized with fresh blood and new ideas."
Back in 1995, CGI itself was pretty fresh. The release of Toy Story, Disney-Pixar's first entirely computer-generated feature film, saw major commercial success (as did its sequel), most of which was attributed to the shiny new technology. In reality, the story itself was pretty compelling, but no one really focused on that — and either way, according to most Hollywood pundits, stories can't be relied upon to bring people into theatres.
Instead, at least when it comes to animation, audiences come to see something visually new and innovative. When movie budgets began to soar in the late '90s, CGI developed a reputation in the industry as being both a novel and safe choice — a Wired magazine article claimed that films employing this technique consistently grossed around 20% more than any live-action movie.
And so, until now, this theory has prevailed.
"If you look at the top 20 animated features at the box office in the past decade, every single one has been CG except for The Simpsons," says Amidi, "so for years, regardless of any demand for hand-drawn stuff, there just hasn't been an opportunity for it to exist."
Part of the CG fervour, he adds, also has to do with a misconception that traditional animation techniques aren't progressive or original. But in truth, there's nothing old-fashioned at all about hand-drawn art.
"What happened in the '90s was that the studios got caught up in the fad and newness of CG," he says, "but I think now they're starting to realize that applying it to clichéd stories with dull characterizations doesn't guarantee box-office success anymore. Films like Waltz With Bashir and Ponyo are becoming huge hits while Astro Boy and Planet 51 — which were CG, 3D and had celebrity voiceovers — completely flopped."
At Teletoon Canada, manager of original productions Athena Georgaklis says she'll hesitate to invest money in anything 3D now unless it's an action-adventure, partly because it's too expensive but also because it's unreliable.
"We've recently seen a huge influx of 2D digital animation," she says, "especially with our TV series, because the format is less expensive and performs well across all the demographics, especially with comedies. Stop-motion or puppetry, however, can actually be a huge risk for the 8 to 12 set."
That said, when a renowned director such as Wes Anderson or Henry Selick latches onto the idea of stop-motion, it's probably worth the risk. Tom Rothman, president of Fox Filmed Entertainment, observed in the New Yorker earlier this month that "the trick is, from the business side, to try to be fiscally responsible so you can be creatively reckless."
This is precisely why Fantastic Mr. Fox is poised to do so well, and why Disney's upcoming The Princess and The Frog — which was shot in traditional 2D hand-drawn style for just US$70-million — should profit, too.
"Mark my words," says Amidi. "The [low-budget] animated feature will be the big thing of the next decade."
Award Winning SPFX & Make-Up Artist Steve Johnson Launches YouTube Channel
(originalprop.com) Emmy Award-winning special effects and make-up artist and designer Steve Johnson has today launched a new YouTube channel – stevejohnsonfx – and its first video broadcast. His personal message and vision for future efforts outlines a very exciting opportunity for fans of film and television to have access to some amazing material related to his work in Hollywood over the course of his 30-year career spanning more than 200 movies.
The first such video (“Steve’s Welcome Message”), published today, offers an exciting preview of what will follow:
As noted in the video, Mr. Johnson notes he has over 100,000 still photographs and 10,000 hours of behind-the-scenes footage, and wants to share his “treasure chest” of this archival material with the public, as a tribute to the art of make-up special effects and the artists behind them.
Anima to Co-Produce CGI Pic 'Gaturro'
(Variety.com) BUENOS AIRES -- Mexico's Anima Estudios has inked to co-produce animated feature "Gaturro," which is lead produced by Argentina's Illusion Studios and Toonz Animation India.
Anima will take minority equity in "Gaturro," about a cat TV star, and carry out post-production.
Anima's boarding of "Gaturro" advances a three CGI pic co-production alliance between Illusion and Anima, Latin America's foremost film/TV toon producers.
In production, "Gaturro" will bow theatrically in Argentina and India second half 2010. Pic will also have a digital 3-D version.
Anima and Illusion are now studying a second toon feature.
"'Gaturro' is the first step in a high-potential alliance," Gaston Cami, Illusion VP international sales and co-productions, said Wednesday during the first day of Buenos Aires' Expotoons animation fest. Another Illusion toon movie, "Boogie el aceitoso," a crime drama satire, screens in Competition at Expotoons.
"The Latin American market is highly appealing for potential European partners," Cami said.
"Our co-production agreement with Illusion Studios reinforces our strategy of an ever-growing production slate based on international world-class quality co-productions as well as the maturity and expansion of the Latin American animation industry," Anima prexy Fernando De Fuentes said.
At Expotoons, Illusion also announced that it is has inked with BKN Kids to co-produce the 40-seg animated series "Joshua Blake" for the U.K. and Spain.
Illusion will carry out animation on the skein.
Expotoons runs Nov. 25-28.
Director Robert Rodriguez Uses AMD Graphics For Special Effects
(bjorn3d.com) Troublemaker Studios Transforms Imagination into Reality on the Big Screen with AMD Technology
– Acclaimed director Robert Rodriguez uses AMD computing and graphics processors to create special effects and eye-definition characters, bringing the images in his mind’s eye to life –
AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced that Troublemaker Studios is using Six-Core AMD Opteron™ processors and ATI FirePro™ graphics accelerators to create animations and special effects for its films, including “Shorts”, now available on Blu-ray and DVD.
· AMD has a long history in the movie making industry, with Troublemaker Studios using its technology to push the envelope of digital moving making and special effects in several blockbuster films.
· Most recently, studio head, director, cinematographer and special effects supervisor – the one man show that is Robert Rodriguez -- used AMD technology to bring to life the “booger monster” in the children’s movie “Shorts”.
· Rodriguez has looked to AMD technology to create five of his movies, including “Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams”, “Spy Kids 3D: Game Over” and the triumph of special effects that is “Sin City”.
· Rodriguez’s next film, “Machete”, is currently in production employing AMD technology as the movie’s digital hardware backbone, and is expected to be released in 2010.
Quote Support
“Robert Rodriguez is a director whose artistic vision constantly drives the technology,” said Charlie Boswell, director of Digital Media and Entertainment at AMD. “Robert is an artist who uses technology almost like a performance instrument, playing it rather than working on it. This regimen demands the tech be fast, intuitive and allow the work to occur at the highest visual fidelity possible.”
Boswell continued: “By combining AMD’s superior ATI FirePro graphics solutions and our new Six-Core AMD Opteron processors, digital content creation customers like Rodriguez’s Troublemaker Studios can quickly create the scenarios and objects and render them in almost real-time. Not only can movies get created faster, but the creative minds at work are not stifled by the process – they’re free to create, change and innovate at the speed of thought.”
“When inspiration strikes, I have traditionally turned to pen and paper to quickly jot down my vision for a scene because in a matter of minutes the images I see in my head can become reality,” said Robert Rodriguez, Troublemaker Studios. “With the new AMD platforms, my team is given the freedom to quickly design and animate our concepts and designs. AMD’s complete platform solutions technology helps us to keep ahead of the artistic curve by allowing us to easily and quickly manipulate images or scenes without having to wait on the technology.”
Man Arrested for Abducting Animation Artist
PUNE: The sleuths from the crime branch on Wednesday arrested a criminal on police record for allegedly kidnapping an animation artist. The artist was kidnapped from Baner road on Monday and was released on Tuesday morning.
The police have identified the suspect as Gokul alias Dadya Ajinath More (30) of Sus road. Acting on a tip-off the police team led by inspector Suresh Kekane laid a trap near a petrol pump in Pune cantonment and nabbed the suspect.
Kekane told TOI that the complainant Rajkumar Girwale of Thergaon was working as an animation artist. Some time ago, his friend Nitin Awtade gave him a foreign currency note and asked him to make copies of it. He told Girwale that the cost of note was Rs 80 lakh. But, the note was misplaced by Girwale. "A few days later, Girwale bought a two-wheeler and a flat in Warje-Malwadi. Awtade suspected that Girwale made the purchases by selling the currency note, and sought the help of his friend More."
On Monday evening, More blocked Girwale's way near Baner and forced him into his car, Kekane said. "He took More to a secluded place near Sus and asked for the foreign currency note at revolver point. When Girwale told him that he did not have the note, More demanded Rs 50,000 from him. More asked Girwale to bring Rs 40,000 on Wednesday and the remaining amount after 10-15 days. More released Girwale at Baner on Tuesday morning."
Kekane added: "Girwale contacted deputy commissioner of police (crime) Anil Kumbhare. Our team laid a trap at Parihar chowk on Wednesday morning but More did not come. He contacted Girwale in the evening and asked him to come with money near a petrol pump in Pune cantonment."
"We nabbed More when he came to collect the money. He was earlier booked for extorting money and possessing illegal fire arms."
The investigation team consisted of assistant inspector Balasaheb Salve and constables Rajendra Surve, Sanjay Dalvi, Rajendra Sonawane and Vijay Sawant.
Well, my vacation is over - all ten days in a blink of an eye. This was the first vacation that I've taken since Evy was born and it was a bit of an eye opener. The biggest difference is that we couldn't simply drop everything - we had to maintain some kind of schedule and that kind of sucked. I was looking for that...vegetation period I've always had with vacations. But, no use crying over split milk - this is parenthood and I wanted it!
Tuesday we tried to go to Disneyland - but we were silly in thinking we were the only ones on vacation. The park was packed and we ended up leaving after three rides and a stroll around California Adventure. A big part was that I really wasn't feeling "it". I was initially excited to get out of the house just with Paul (we'd left Evy with my parents) but once we were going I didn't feel like talking much and I felt really "blah". Such a waste :( I also really missed Evy! Seeing so many cute cuddly kids at Disneyland while mine was at home was killing me. But the fact is that we can't ride hardly any rides unless we take someone with us, which we couldn't this time. Luckily, we got out of paying for parking because their credit card machine was down so I didn't feel that obligated to stay and make our $14 count. Unluckily, we hit traffic on the way home and after three hours of stop-and-go with our manual transmission we were pooped.
Thanksgiving went, in my opinion, REALLY well. My parents ended up coming as well, we all met at my sisters, and other than the kids making us start a little later than we'd like it was all amazing. Food was great, best candied yams I've had in awhile. I should have taken some with us, but I was so stuffed I had no eye for food as we were packing up the left overs.
My sister decorated for Christmas over the weekend and it's made me want to decorate as well. Last year we didn't decorate because we were moving ON Christmas Eve, and then Paul & I both got this really nasty stomach flu. The last time we did a live tree the mess was tremendous, so I think this year we're going to take a look at the artificial ones. However, if the price is too much then we'll probably do a live one and then take advantages of after Christmas sales in thought of NEXT year.
My Nook ships today!!!
While I complain about my job as much as the next person, in general I really don't mind it. It's easy, it's mindless, it's money. But the past week has really tested my patience with it. Not only customers (I hate dealing with the public though I've gotten used to dealing with their asshattery so it doesn't bother me as much anymore) but also coworkers.
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I don't know if I've mentioned this - but the Nook is taking gadget
prone readers by storm this Christmas. The pre-orders sold out within
the first two weeks and now if you pre-order you wont get it until the
first or second week in January. I ordered mine in time, and it'll
still be shipped on Monday.
However, now the Nook is selling well on eBay. There are 10+ bids on a
single Nook causing the once reasonable price of $260 to skyrocket -
and in some cases double. So I'm now wondering if I should play the
patient one and put my Nook on eBay - and let it pay for itself and
just get it AFTER the holidays. But I don't know if I can. I've been
waiting well over a month for this thing and that's a long time for
me. The last time I waited so long it was for a doll who had to be
cast and sanded.
Paul's telling me I don't have to sell it, but I know that he thinks
we'll just make the money back and so it's foolish NOT to sell it. But
I don't know, the bubble may burst after the devices are officially
shipped and people are able to get real reviews on the thing. Then
again...I bought it blindly, didn't I?
I'd ask for everyone's opinion, but to tell the truth I don't think
anyone will be able to make this decision but me...
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