I haven’t had time to watch this yet, but I am definitely looking forward to it! This popped up on the CTNX channel over at Vimeo, and it was also highlighted on the blogs of both Pixar animators Victor Navone and Carlos Baena.
Tools of the Trade of a Successful Animator Yesterday Today and Beyond from Creative Talent Network on Vimeo.
I stumbled upon this great PDF handbook of the various skill sets needed for work in the VFX field. It’s geared towards the UK, but it includes a great outline of the different areas of VFX work, including compositing, matte painting, matchmoving, creature effects, sculpture, and more.
Check it out here.
FXGuide posted a very informative article on the making of X-Men: First Class.
Between the impressive mutations of the main characters, breathtaking battles including an epic final sequence, X-Men: First Class contains 1000+ visual effects shots. Though all of the effects were created under one designer, John Dykstra, bringing the world of the mutants to life took a worldwide effort.
This article breaks down all of the contributions of the major effects studios involved: Rhythm & Hues, Cinesite, Luma Pictures, Digital Domain, MPC and Weta Digital. It’s not only a great technical analysis of how a film like X-Men: First Class comes together, but it gives readers a glimpse at the vast demands of an effects-heavy movie and just how many artists are assembled to bring it to life.
Thanks to my friend Kat Elliot for posting this to Facebook. And congrats to her boyfriend, Brian Gazdik of Digital Domain, for his work on the character of Shaw, played by Kevin Bacon.
Cartoon Brew posted this short video from Science Nation regarding the importance of believable physics in animated films. Anyone who has attempted even a simple bouncing ball has learned that there is way more to animation than meets the eye, and making what you’re creating believable to audiences is the number-one priority. But how do you approach the things animation can do that the real world can’t? Animation offers us the ability to bring our imaginations to life, but it’s up to the animators to make sure it looks real.
In this quick video, Science Nation explains how San Jose State University Physicist Alejandro Garcia has developed a workshop in physics for animators and artists. He is currently a consultant at DreamWorks Studio in Northern California.
Is 3D on its way out?
Personally, I’m not a huge fan of 3D films. I wear glasses and am prone to migraines, and I’ve found that sitting in a dark theater wearing sunglasses helps neither of these issues. Additionally, if I don’t sit smack in the middle of the theater, I start getting dizzy. My boyfriend is color blind, so 3D features look muddy. Now, that’s not to say I haven’t seen some amazingly successful animated films in 3D; when I worked at Blue Sky, our staff showing of Up was in 3D, which was amazing. I also saw Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs in 3D because I wasn’t paying attention to the different showtimes. It was also stunning. But, I’ve seen a lot of slapped-on-after-the-fact 3D that looked TERRIBLE.
Anywho, back to the news. The latest installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean (I still can’t spell Caribbean correctly on the first try) has been doing fairly well at the box office, but not in 3D. According to the Hollywood Reporter, 55-65% of a movie’s opening weekend box office comes from 3D screens. For Pirates, it was merely 47%. Not a ghastly drop, but significant enough to cause doubt in Real D stockholders – shares have dropped over 12% in recent weeks.
Most people believe that the desire to see movies in 2D is directly related to the cost of a 3D screening ticket. Movie News Online reports that Wall Street analyst Richard Greenfield calculates that theaters charge an average $14.85 for Pirates on IMAX 3d, $10.85 for non-IMAX 3D, and $7.60 for 2D. I myself paid $9.50 for the 2D version on opening night.
This past weekend, Kung Fu Panda 2 saw an equally disappointing 3D box office take. According to Cartoon Brew, only 45% of Panda’s audience shelled out the extra dough for the 3D version.
We may not be free of the 3D trend yet; apparently the 3D versions of both films are doing very well overseas, where the 3D technology is even more popular than it is stateside.
What do you think? When you head to the theater, do you steer clear of 3D showings or feel it’s worth the extra admission fees?