Blood & Chrome: a possible VFX future? →

By Mike Seymour:
Online there have been reports the whole 95 min final film cost only $2 million. This is not correct. “That is a myth I’d like to dispel,” says visual effects supervisor Gary Hutzel. “Originally when it first came out as a concept yeah someone said we’d like to do this for $2 million, but after a few weeks of talking about it that simply wasn’t enough to put together a proper crew. For that it would have to literally be shot in someone’s backyard,” he jokes. “That figure may have been where the studio started out but that was quickly not seen as an adequate budget.”

 

Big Year

I have been thinking about all the great work vfx artists have been turning out the year. When I say "artists" I mean just that. I'm not talking about the companies or supervisors. I'm talking about the artist now. It's fine that supers might have the last word but it's the artist that have to make that happen. It's all well and good that the sky needs to be purple but if us artist can't make it work it's for nothing.

This coming year lets show we are the movies. Lets step up and defend each others great work. Let us vote for each others work. Lets make them stand up and notice that Hollywood can't make any movie without us. Comedies need great looking car comps. Huge tent pole movies need Zombies. Non of this is shot practically. It's us match moving, adjusting color and timing. It's us that remove camera rigs and camera cars. It's us that help develop characters and animate them.

Visual effects as a whole needs to vote together. Studios are taking advantage of us being split on what to do. Some want a union. Some just want better pay. Some just want to see there families. We all want to do amazing work. Let's do that.

Roto and paint is just as important to the movies as huge stars that are on the screen.

Teach the juniors that are asking questions. Share. Do your work like your hair is on fire. I'm here because a group of artists showed me ropes and how this is done.

I love my job.

Happy New Year.

A hat tip to all of you who work weekends and stay late to make great stories come to life.

Kon-Tiki: water sims & digital sharks →

By Ian Failes:
Kon-Tiki tells the true story of explorer Thor Heyerdahl and his crew who crossed the Pacific Ocean on a balsa wood raft in 1947. Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg, the film was a Norwegian production with water sim and creature effects crafted by five Scandinavian VFX studios: Fido, Gimpville, Important Looking Pirates, Storm Studios and Blink Studios.

 

Pixar Animator Dreams Up a New Superhero — For Each Day of the Year | Wired Design | Wired.com

BYJOSEPH FLAHERTY:

The origin story is a critical part of any hero's development. Downing is no different. "I got into a rut, I wasn't drawing enough and a friend told me I was over-thinking things," says Downing. "I just needed to do something I was really into that wouldn't require too much thinking. I started thinking about designing superheroes and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. I threw the gauntlet down and decided to draw a super every day."

 

Source: http://www.wired.com/design/2012/12/365-su...

Tony Scott remembered by Keira Knightley →

Keira Knightley:

They say he held the record for the fastest speeding ticket in Los Angeles – 170mph on a motorbike along Pacific Coast highway. They say he totalled two Porsches along Sunset Strip. I don't know if any of that's true and I don't care. He was a man people liked to tell stories about.

 

Best nature pictures of 2012 - The Big Picture - Boston.com →

www.boston.com:

This is a compilation of images in which photographers have captured the beauty of our world, along with great moments among the living things we share this planet with. Most are from the reoccurring photo gallery The Natural World, in which photos of animals and our environment are selected from the many wire service photos moved throughout the year from all over the world. Many great photos of animals are taken in zoos, but this entry mostly shows creatures in their own habitat. -Leanne Burden Seidel(53 photos total)