Postering Man of Steel at Comic-Con

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Below the Line, Books, Costume, Events, Movies, previs, Production Design, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

So what do you think of the Man of Steel poster released Saturday at Comic-Con? Not surprisingly, producer Christopher Nolan’s gritty DNA is present, linking it to next week’s release of The Dark Knight Rises.

Sure enough: director Zack Snyder confirmed in Hall H that this Superman is for a new generation that “can beat the snot out of some people.” A superhero that can deliver a sucker punch as well as take one.

Likewise, star Henry Cavill stated that he wanted to bring a modern version to the general public.

The footage reportedly screened revealed a more grounded tale of identity (will the world accept the Man of Steel) with a hand-held camera strategy. Read more

Cracking the Ice Age Success on its 10th Anniversary

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, previs, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

I speak with Ice Age: Continental Drift directors Steve Martino and Mike Thurmeier about the global success of Blue Sky’s animated franchise and what new wrinkles they’ve come up with for the fourth entry in my latest TOH/Indiewire column. Read more

Marc Webb Talks Amazing Spider-Man

Posted on July 6, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Below the Line, Clips, Movies, previs, Tech, Trailers, VFX | Leave a comment

Director Marc Webb discussed some of his Spidey changes in my latest TOH/Indiewire column. He acknowledged that “the sins of the father” was a compelling theme. “I kept on going back to the single moment where Peter Parker was left by his parents,” Webb suggests. “Realistically, anybody’s whose parents disappeared in a very urgent or chaotic manner when he was six or seven-years-old, that’s going to have a huge emotional impact. And that moment is more definitive than even the spider bite. It defined the character and the movie in a very specific way for me.” Read more

A Great and Powerful Oz Poster

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in Below the Line, Books, Movies, previs, VFX, Virtual Production | 2 Comments

Just so we don’t forget that Sam Raimi has moved on from Spider-Man, Disney has just released the poster art from Oz the Great and Powerful (March 8, 2013).

It’s beautifully iconic and evocative of both Baum and the masterful ’39 movie (Raimi’s all-time favorite). Produced by Joe Roth (Alice in Wonderland, Snow White and the Huntsman); exec produced by Grant Curtis, Philip Steuer, Palak Patel; scripted by Mitchell Kapner and David Lindsay-Abaire. Read more

Deschanel Talks Vampire Hunter

Posted on June 23, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Below the Line, Cinematography, Clips, Movies, previs, Tech, VFX | Leave a comment

The great cinematographer Caleb Deschanel talks about heightened reality and working digitally and in 3-D on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter in my latest TOH/Indiewire column. Read more

Prometheus VFX Art Director Leverages Cinema 4D

Posted on June 13, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Below the Line, Movies, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | 2 Comments

VFX art director Steven Messing utilized Maxon’s Cinema 4D to help define the mythical visual tone of Prometheus with 3D matte paintings, storyboards, set designs, costumes, creatures, landscapes, and spacecraft. Read more

Dissecting Prometheus

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Below the Line, Movies, previs, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

I analyze the polarizing Prometheus in my latest TOH/Indiewire column and speak with scribe Damon Lindelof, along with production VFX supervisor Richard Stammers (of MPC) and Weta Digital’ s Martin Hill. Read more

The Hobbit Videoblog #7

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Below the Line, Books, Clips, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

The practical world of effects and props and prosthetics gets its due in the seventh of eight Peter Jackson videoblogs about The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Dec. 14). Read more

Immersed in Blu-Ray: John Carter

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Blu-ray, Books, Clips, Movies, performance capture, previs, Production Design, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

The notorious John Carter gets a new lease on life on Blu-ray and DVD (Walt Disney Home Ent.). Andrew Stanton took a big financial and creative risk, but I, for one, took the leap of faith with him. Read more

Memorializing Lincoln as Vampire Hunter

Posted on May 29, 2012 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Below the Line, Books, Cinematography, Movies, previs, Production Design, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

In honor of Memorial Day, Fox has not only released a new greenband trailer for Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, but has also announced that Benjamin Walker, who portrays the 16th President in the upcoming summer thriller, will visit the sailors serving aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Naval aircraft carrier in June with fellow cast and crew members. Read more

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