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What the VFX “industry” needs now is…..

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It’s been over a year since the Visual Effects Society has issued their hopeful VES 2.0 letter to the industry. Many on the board of the VES have stated that there is action being taken by various subcommittees within the VES and that this is a difficult issue that needs a great deal of research and a strategic plan. I contend that the time to be effective is quickly slipping through our fingers.  I believe that given the structure of the VES, its charter as well as its management and its board of directors, make addressing the issues that the Visual Effects industry face, an impossibility.

Core Matte

I was thinking today. 

  • Core matte first. You always build from a good core. 
  • 3 mattes. Darks, Mids, Highs

Back to making [light] look like [light]. 

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Organized

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Its best to keep things tidy.

The Wrong Way

Nobody ever thinks its going to take that long or its going to be that difficult. Its the "what could go wrong" mentality.

We have a camera and all the set information we could possibly want

Most of the time you start doing look dev stuff early on. Most of this is done in a fashon that doesn't lend itself to being efficient. Its a look not a final shot.

The Value of Visual Effects

Scott Squires:

Almost all films coming out of Hollywood use visual effects to some extent and even many independent films have visual effects. Keep in mind that visual effects is not just for science fiction and fantasy films. They can be used extensively in period films and even in present day comedies. FIVE YEAR ENGAGEMENT used visual effects. WAR HORSE used visual effects extensively including some of the field shots, leaping horse, etc. FOREST GUMP showed an actor missing a leg.

I have been saying this for years. I challenge Hollywood to make a movie without us. Prove me wrong. Hollywood doesn't do it because it can't.

Alvy Ray Smith: RGGBA, the birth of compositing& the founding Of Pixar

Mike Seymour writing for fxguide

Dr Alvy Ray Smith helped or personally invented Paint as we know it, and the Alpha channel (the very idea of RGBA – and he picked the name Alpha). He directed the Genesis sequence in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan while at Lucasfilm, his first directing gig ever, and then followed it up with directed the first short The Adventures of André and Wally B. That film would become the prototype for the short film tradition that would follow until today in a company called Pixar, which Smith co-founded with Ed Catmull. Ed is a friend, who Alvy pushed to hire a young animator called John Lasseter. Smith sold technology to Disney, helped Steve Jobs invest half his fortune in Pixar ($50M), and then helped make him billions, finally coming to blows with Jobs over a white board. However, Jobs still invested in Smith’s next company which Smith would sell to Microsoft, making Jobs even more money. Along the way he worked at Xerox PARC at its height, inspired Photoshop, defended Adobe and lost to Quantel. It is a remarkable story.

I even sent this article to my dad. Thanks Mike for the access.