Talking Before Trilogy with Editor Adair


What's fascinating about Richard Linklater's acclaimed Before trilogy is that it not only chronicles the fleeting romance between Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), but also captures a casual snapshot of the last three decades. I recently spoke with editor

John Knoll Promoted to Chief Creative Officer at ILM


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. It's a great move for

Pacific Rim Offers Drift Space Featurette


We go deeper into "pilot to pilot connection" in a new "Drift Space" featurette from Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim (July 12). One of the original ideas was coming up with the neurological bridge technology ("drift") connecting two pilots with the computer to

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Shorts

Immersed in Blu-ray: The Jazz Singer

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Blu-ray, Cinematography, Movies, Shorts, Sound, Tech | Leave a comment

With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it’s a great time to revisit the landmark Warner Bros. “talkie,”  The Jazz Singer (Warner Home Video), currently available on Blu-ray in a lavish three-disc set that also includes vintage shorts on two DVDs, the informative doc, The Dawn of Sound: How Movies Learned to Talk, and expert commentary from  Ron Hutchinson (co-founder of the Vitaphone Project) and Vince Giordano (Nighthawks orchestra leader);  sound designers Ben Burtt and Dane A. Davis; historians Leonard Maltin, Rudy Behlmer, and Scott Eyman; and restorer Robert Gitt. Read more

Watch Complete Adam and Dog Short

Posted on February 9, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Animation, Clips, Movies, Oscar, Shorts, Tech, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Minkyu Lee’s Oscar-nominated, hand-drawn short, Adam and Dog, is available online. Read more

Life of Pi, Brave Big VES Winners

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Events, Movies, performance capture, previs, Shorts, Tech, VES, VFX, Videogames, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Life of Pi clawed its way closer to VFX Oscar gold Tuesday night, powered by Rhythm & Hues and MPC, grabbing four prizes at the 11th annual VES Awards at the Beverly Hilton, including Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Feature; Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture (R&H’s CG Bengal tiger, Richard Parker); Outstanding FX and Simulation Animation in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture (MPC’s Storm of God); and Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture (Storm of God). Read more

Wreck-It Ralph Tops 40th Annies

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Annies, Clips, Shorts, stop-motion, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph, which many consider the Oscar frontrunner, took home the top prize for best animated feature at the 40th annual Annie Awards Saturday night at UCLA’s Royce Hall. Ralph won four additional Annies for directing (Rich Moore), writing (Phil Johnson and Jennifer Lee), music (Henry Jackman, Skrillex, Adam Young, Matthew Thiessen, Jamie Houston, Yasushi Akimoto), and voice acting (Alan Tudyk as the Ed Wynn-inspired King Candy). Disney also scored the best short prize with John Kahr’s innovative black and white hybrid, Paperman.

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A ‘Lean, Smart, and Agile’ FMX 2013

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Events, Festivals, Movies, previs, Shorts, stop-motion, Tech, Trailers, VFX, Videogames, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

FMX 2013  — Conference on Animation, Effects, Games, and Transmedia (April 23-26 in Stuttgart, Germany) has adopted the slogan “Lean, Smart, and Agile” and will feature smart technologies, adaptive approaches, and flexible strategies for the ongoing paradigm shift. Read more

Oscar-Nominated Shorts Screen Theatrically

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Movies, Shorts | Leave a comment

ShortsHD The Short Movie Channel and Magnolia Pictures will release The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2013 in more than 260 theaters across the U.S., Canada, and Europe beginning Feb. 1. This is the 8th year of the Oscar Nominated Short Film Theatrical Release. The announcement comes on the heels of last year’s record-breaking release, which was one of the top 50 grossing independent film releases in North America, earning more than $1,700,000 nationwide. Since its debut in 2005, the Oscar Nominated Short Films theatrical release program has grown 800%. Read more

Irish Furniture Short Takes Sundance Jury Prize

Posted on January 24, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in Animation, Clips, Festivals, Shorts, stop-motion | Leave a comment

Sundance Institute gave the jury prize for animated short to Irish Folk Furniture at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. The awards were presented Wednesday at a ceremony in Park City, Utah. Read more

SIGGRAPH 2013 Call for Submissions

Posted on January 20, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Education, Events, Music, performance capture, previs, Shorts, Tech, VFX, Videogames, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

SIGGRAPH 2013 is coming to Anaheim July 21-25 for its 40th year and is asking for your submissions. Read more

Animation Mentor Launches AMP Studio Pipeline

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Education, Music, Shorts, Tech, VFX, Virtual Production | Leave a comment

Animation Mentor is taking a more holistic approach to its venerable online school of animation and VFX with the creation of the AMP studio production pipeline along with the addition of a VFX curriculum and restructured animation program. After consulting with animation and VFX studios, it was decided to better train students in more of a hands-on, battle tested environment to better prepare them for professional careers. Read more

AMPAS Opens up Oscar Doc and Shorts Voting

Posted on January 15, 2013 by Bill Desowitz in 3-D, Animation, Events, Movies, Oscar, Shorts, Tech | Leave a comment

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now allowing the entire membership to vote for documentary and live-action and animated shorts (but not documentary shorts). Read more

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