Getting More Immersed with Indiewire


  The Penske Media purchase of Indiewire has resulted in an expansion of my role as crafts and awards season contributor.  Beginning this week, I begin Emmy coverage of below-the-line contenders along with my usual Oscar season crafts reporting, working closely

Immersed in Blu-ray: Hitchcock and Bogart


The WB Archive Collection gets Hitch and Bogie on Blu-ray and they've never looked better for home viewing. In Kent Jones' indispensable doc, Hitchcock/Truffaut, he reminds us that Truffaut was on a mission to correct misconceptions about Hitch as a lightweight

Immersed in Books: Farber on Film


For the first time, the complete writings of film critic Manny Farber is available from Library of America, edited by Robert Polito (Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson). Manny Farber (1917-2008) was the first modernist film critic to write like a modernist.

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performance capture

Trailering The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Books, performance capture, previs, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Here’s the first teaser for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (Dec. 13), so feast your eyes on the initial glimpses of the dragon (voiced by the very busy Benedict Cumberbatch) and Evangeline Lilly’s elf, Tauriel. Read more

Man of Steel Set Visit: Making Superman Relevant Again

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

There’s no better metaphor for Man of Steel than the Faded Glory emblem on the side of the building behind Henry Cavill’s Superman. Zack Snyder’s existential reboot is all about returning the glory to DC’s legendary superhero (who turned 75 this year), and making him stand tall again beside Batman in the 21st century. In fact, I asked Snyder about it during a visit to the Smallville set two years ago in Plano, Illinois, outside of Chicago, where you could glimpse the wreckage of General Zod’s attack on Clark Kent’s hometown. Read more

Pacific Rim Offers Drift Space Featurette

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

We go deeper into “pilot to pilot connection” in a new “Drift Space” featurette from Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim (July 12). Read more

Zod Threatens Fate of Your Planet

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

There’s a new threat from General Zod in Man of Steel’s final “Fate of Your Planet” trailer. Read more

New Man of Steel Featurette

Posted on May 20, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Clips, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

A new Man of Steel (June 14) featurette explores Zack Snyder’s new post-9/11 vision of Superman. Read more

A Spiritual Man of Steel UK Spot

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Costume, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

The Christ metaphor is further accentuated in the latest UK TV spot for Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel (June 14). Read more

Real-Time Star Wars Demo Blows Away FMX

Posted on May 5, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, performance capture, previs, Tech, VES, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Kim Libreri, Lucasfilm’s chief strategic officer, played a reel showing mocap and real-time rendering of C-3P0, R2-D2, and stormtroopers in a desert setting that dazzled the FMX 2013 crowd two weeks ago in Stuttgart, reports fxguide. The way virtual production is evolving with VFX coming in earlier and previs becoming more integral, the new slogan is : “Fix it in pre.” 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

FMX 2013 Offers Iron Man 3 and Oblivion

Posted on April 21, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Events, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Shorts, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | 1 Comment

FMX 2013 is happening next week Tuesday through Friday in Stuttgart, Germany. Unfortunately, I’m unable to attend but the latest conference on nimation, effects, games, and transmedia will be touting Iron Man 3 (May 3) and Oblivion, among other new and upcoming treats. Read more

Trailering Third Man of Steel

Posted on April 17, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Movies, Music, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

After the eerie General Zod video warning comes the third and most emotional Man of Steel trailer: an existential journey to define the heart and soul of Kal-El/Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) and his role as outsider/savior. Read more

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