John Knoll Promoted to Chief Creative Officer at ILM

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, Oscar, previs, Tech, Uncategorized, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Industrial Light & Magic’s veteran VFX supervisor, John Knoll, has been upped to chief creative officer, assuming a new creative role as the Disney-owned VFX powerhouse ramps up production on the rebooted Star Wars franchise with J.J. Abrams. Read more

The Academy Tackles Storytelling in the Digital Age

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Clips, Editing, Movies, Oscar, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Tech and storytelling converged during a fascinating series of discussions at the Academy on May 15 about Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, and Star Trek Into Darkness, hosted by screenwriter John August. Read more

SIGGRAPH Previews Production Sessions

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Education, Events, Festivals, Movies, Oscar, Shorts, stop-motion, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

The tech behind Pacific Rim, Frozen, Monsters University, and Oz the Great and Powerful will be on display at SIGGRAPH 2013. Held this year in Anaheim on July 21-25, the production sessions are part of the Computer Animation Festival. Read more

Ray Harryhausen Passes Away

Posted on May 7, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Animation, Below the Line, Clips, Movies, Oscar, Shorts, stop-motion, Tech, VFX | Leave a comment

Stop-motion and VFX pioneer Ray Harryhausen passed away Tuesday in London at the age of 92, according to an announcement on the official Facebook page of The Ray and Diana Harryhausen Foundation. The multi-award winner best-known for The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Jason and the Argonauts, The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, and Clash of the Titans, became a cultural legend and an inspiration to every filmmaker that has worked in animation and live-action VFX movies for the last half century, (including Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Tim Burton, Phil Tippett, Nick Park, and John Lasseter). Read more

Designer Becker Talks Silver Linings Playbook

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Below the Line, Blu-ray, Clips, Home Entertainment, Oscar, Production Design, Tech | Leave a comment

David O. Russell’s Oscar-winning Silver Linings Playbook arrived on Blu-ray this week from Anchor Bay looking its blue collar best and containing an intriguing alternate ending. Production designer Judy Becker discusses collaborating with Russell in creating the Italian-American Philly atmosphere. It’s Good Fellas meets It’s a Wonderful Life. Read more

The Academy Salutes Mattes and Environmental VFX

Posted on May 4, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Below the Line, Clips, Events, Music, Oscar, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

The Academy continued its informative “VFX Convergence” series last Tuesday at the Dunn Theater with “From Matte Paintings to Full Environments and Set Extensions,” which took us full circle from Méliès to Hugo and beyond. Read more

Celebrating Shane at TCM Classic Fest

Posted on April 27, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Below the Line, Cinematography, Movies, Oscar, Tech | Leave a comment

Come see the digitally restored Shane (in the proper aspect ratio) tonight at the Chinese as part of the TCM Classic Film Festival. Read more

Finding Dory to Swim Thanksgiving 2015

Posted on April 2, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, Oscar, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Pixar’s Finding Nemo sequel has finally been officially confirmed by Disney as Finding Dory (Nov. 25, 2015), in which the friendly-but-forgetful blue tang fish (voiced again by Ellen DeGeneres, who is more popular than ever with her acclaimed syndicated talk show) becomes the protagonist. Will this be her Memento? Read more

Tippett Announces Layoffs

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, Oscar, stop-motion, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | 1 Comment

In a further sign of the turbulent VFX times, 30-year-old Tippett Studio (Ted) has laid off 40% of its work force Friday, according to The Hollywood Reporter, with the possibility of more pink slips to come. Read more

Rhythm & Hues Wears Prana

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, Oscar, performance capture, previs, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

An affiliate of LA-based and Indian-owned Prana Studios (Disney’s upcoming Planes), 34×118 Holdings Inc., won the intense bidding war on Friday for Rhythm & Hues at a cost of $17 million, according to Variety. Backup bidder is Brave Vision (a Chinese company led China Lion’s largest shareholder Jiang Yanming). Prime Focus came in third.

Oscar