Twelve*2
In the past few days I have been informed that a short film and an animation that I have worked on have been accepted into a couple of Festivals which is incredibly exciting news!
Hex short film trailer from Simon Adams on Vimeo.
'Hex' has been accepted into A Night of Horror International Film Festival 2010 as well as being screened at the Australian Short Film Showcase in competition for “Audience Choice Award: Best Australian Short Film”. I worked on sound design for the film from May 2008 - February 2009, it was an incredible learning experience and an outstanding opportunity for someone who was still in uni (as I was).
'Andy B Rabbit' has been accepted into the Melbourne International Film Festival 2010. I worked on the graphic design elements for the film in October/November 2009 - it was a student collaboration between a number of students within the Animation & Special Effects Degree at CSU.
Exciting stuff!
Twelve*1
Stumbled upon this via a contact on Vimeo. A very interesting style, most definately check out the blog as well; http://www.brittdunse.de/Neuigkeiten.3.0.html. Although it's not in English there's alot to be taken from it. Some more stuff from them;
Twelve*0
I recent downloaded and finished the DLC for Assassin's Creed 2. The 2 missing memories were quite fun, although I feel as though the second was the poorer of the two. The Battle of Forli was quite enjoyable - offering nothing new in the way of gameplay, but the storyline was interesting and the added flying machine sequence was nice, albeit confusing. It was great to revisit the character of Caterina Sforza; who was left lacking in depth in the original game (obviously due to her planned inclusion in this DLC). The Battle of Forli was acceptable but not a 'battle' by any standards. I would have loved there to be at least twice as many combatants as there were - that would have nailed the battle feel. The 'to be continued' ending was fantastic! Leaving Ezio wounded by the mystery monk was a great ending to the memory.
I quite enjoyed running across the rooftops, but that is usual for me. The new springboard assisted leap was a fantastic addition in theory, but in reality it was awkward unless you knew where the boards were. There also appeared to be a certain lack of the opportunity to employ said technique - I do hope in further updates to the game will introduce these boards throughout the entire game.
I live in hope.
Eleven*8
"To enable the 3D programme to retain the highest quality throughout, a minimum of 90% must be native 3D footage," Sky states. "Where non-HD footage is utilised, it should sit within the editorial context of the programme. The 2D originated footage must be HD, be of segments not exceeding one minute, converted in a suitable manner to fit the 3D content and be of shots where there is minimal benefit from a true dual camera 3D acquisition."
Does this mean that the recent Alice in Wonderland adaptation by Tim Burton will never screen on SKY due to the fact that they film was filmed in 2D and post-processed for 3D? Who knows. I made the choice not to see Alice in Wonderland in 3D due to this fact - yes I am interested to see the difference between Alice 3D and Avatar 3D; one film being filmed specifically for 3D and the other processed after the thought. But for me I want to experience a film in the cinema the way that I feel it was meant to be viewed, with Avatar it was 3D at IMAX, Alice is 2D. Not being shot with stereoscopic camera's I feel that there may have been too much relying on the fact that they could figure out how it would look in 3D later on. Admittedly this is difficult to judge without having seen it in 3D, but the only parts of the film that I felt would benefit from 3D would have been those in the forest's of Wonderland.
I am hoping that 3D does not become a gimmick, which at the moment it is feeling like it is rapidly falling into this category. I can respect those filmmaker's who after seeing the success of Avatar decide that they do indeed want their film presented in 3D and make the effort to reshoot some of the film so that it will be as authentic 3D as is possible in the timeline (Clash of the Titans).
But to film in 2D with the intention of presenting in 3D from the beginning, but not wanting to handle the large camera's feels like a pretty weak excuse.
Eleven*7
The expression on Robert Downey Jr's face says all I need to say.
Very excited for Iron Man 2.
Eleven*6
Yes I understand that if I went down there in person that might increase my chances, but at the same time if a studio can't take the time to email you back what's stopping them from just throwing out your dvd and reel the instant the door closes behind you? I'm not saying that would happen, I guess I am just bitter at the moment. The job hunt wears you down, so I guess when it comes time when you finally get a job there will be alot of joy to be had.
Eleven*5
I discovered this short film 'Connected' a couple of days ago. It's very cool, quite niche - they have done alot with not very much at all. 3 actors, essentially 1 location in Denmark (w. some very nice matte painting & colour grading) and created something that I find really appealing. It also helps me on the road to creating my short film (currently writing the script). I am reassessing the base story - trying to think of EVERYTHING, so that I am not making too much work for myself for the next couple of years.
The film is set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland and is a story of survival in a wasteland and the greed that comes with desperate need to survive. It's eerie, full of the flaws of human kind and quite compelling. What is most interesting to me is what they achieved with their visual effects - they achieved the entire sense of the wasteland with some spectacular matte paintings, some colour grading and some particles around the place. This provides some food-for-thought for me in regards to the visual effects side of my own film, and very possibly the story. My film is in it's beginning; existing as a rough outline of the story - very susceptible to inevitable change. I just need to narrow down the key elements of my story and what I want to achieve with the film and go from there!
As for Connected, unfortunately it is not available for embedding, but here is a link to their site - which includes the production blog;
Eleven*4
Just a quick post about my thoughts on the winners of the 82nd Academy Awards yesterday;
Best Picture - The Hurt Locker
Not having seen the film it is hard to comment, but I will say it was far more deserving than Avatar. Many seemed to think that Avatar was deserving of a clean sweep of the Awards but I disagree - the film was groundbreaking, yes. But in terms of story it was not like it was something unlike many we have seen before (hate to say it), thus when compared to those like The Hurt Locker (based off what I know of the story) it did not carry the comparison well enough to win.
Best Director - Kathryn Bigelow
Once again, not having seen the film it is hard to comment but I feel as though it was really only between James Cameron and Bigelow - I don't think the others had too much of a chance. Cameron himself said that his ideal outcome for the nomination would be for Bigelow to take it home - he already has one; share the wealth.
Best Actor - Jeff Bridges
One nomination and win that I was very pleased to see. Bridges is a fantastic actor and his devotion to the job is obvious. His heartfelt speech revealed that the award was more for his parents than himself because they 'loved show business' and it obviously meant the world to him to win.
Best Actress - Sandra Bullock
I don't know what to say about this one. It comes down to personal prejudice - I don't like Sandra Bullock. I think she has done some truly rubbish films, but obviously this one must be spectacular.
Best Supporting Actor - Christoph Waltz
Waltz stood out in what was an otherwise dull film for the most part. The thing that irritated me about Inglorious Basterds was it started on a weak point, Waltz's perfomance nearly pulled it through but overall the film was poorly paced and took a good 20 minutes to really start - by which point I was already over it.
Best Supporting Actress - Mo'Nique
Not sure about shortening your name to fit in with the likes of J'Lo, but from what I can tell it was a deserved award. I will investigate this Precious movie at a later date and write something a little more detailed than I can now (not having seen the film).
Best Animated Feature - Up
It was an easy pick really; it was the first Pixar film for me that film more like a film than an animation - which is obvious by its nomination in the Best Picture Category as well. The thing I worry about with Pixar (after winning the Oscar 2 years running) is that Toy Story 3 is going to take them backwards. Wall-e leapt forward for emotional response and Up leapt even more so with its human characters - but is Toy Story 3 going to take Pixar 2 steps back? Possibly.
Best Animated Short - Logorama
I wasn't really a fan of Logorama because of the nature of its topic. Commenting about mass media, monolithic corporations etc is something that has never struck an emotional response from me - it's obvious to everyone, why bother plastering a message all over something that would otherwise been enjoyable (or simply not existed). I would have preferred to see The Lady and the Reaper win.
Best Live Action Short - The New Tenants
Haven't seen any in the category.... Can't really pass judgement at all.
Best Documentary Short - Music by Prudence
The lady who pulled a Kanye West and ruined the acceptance speech was actually the producer on the film and has had a falling out with the director, including a lawsuit! She has not not been invited to any events involving the film apparently and decided that this was the moment to make a statement. I understand there are two sides to every story, but an event like that is absolutely no place to make a petty statement like that. I was absolutely disgusted - though Roger Ross Williams took it well and kept smiling, despite the shock and outrage he must be feeling.
Best Visual Effects - Avatar
An absolute no-brainer, one which I don't need to speak about much. Though I do think that the other 2 films nominated were also very deserving. District 9's achievement was not too disimilar to Avatar's, just on a far smaller scale. Star Trek unfortunately never stood a chance; being a product of ILM and spaceships - it was nice to get an empty nomination. Star Trek out did itself in this respect because compared to Star Wars Episode 3 (4 years prior) it excelled in both quality and animation of all space related nonsense - which people thought ILM had peaked with Ep3.
Best Art Direction - Avatar
I had hoped that someone other than Avatar would win, but that was a fool's dream that even I did not believe in.
Best Cinematography - Avatar
Obvious.
Best Film Editing - The Hurt Locker
I honestly thought that District had a real look in for this category.
Best Costume Design - Young Victoria
It is a terribly hard category to pick because it's all very similar - all very elaborate. I'm so sick of Victorian-era films winning this category although I thought Sandy Powell made a good point in her acceptance speech - those designers working on the low budget contemporary films do just as good a job - but they're never going to win.
Best Makeup - Star Trek
The stand out in the category, the other nominees really didn't do very much at all - let alone anything groundbreaking. Although I think in their showcase they could have shown a little less of Spock's ears - I understand that it's Star Trek, but come on. There was better things to show.
Best Sound Editing/Best Sound Mixing - The Hurt Locker
Need to see this movie. =p
Best Original Song - The Weary Kind (Crazy Heart)
Best Original Score - Michael Giacchino (Up)
Outstanding. Giacchino is very talented, I've been a fan of him ever since I discovered him in 2004 - first with Lost and then The Incredibles. The most appealing thing about his work is that it isn't all the same i.e. John Williams. He comes up with a unique theme AND score for a piece as opposed to Williams who comes up with a fantastic theme and then the rest is much the same.
On another note, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were not the hosts I were hoping for. Neil Patrick Harris' performance was an obvious ploy to play off the success of Hugh Jackman's perfomance last year as host - Channel 9's telecast of his performance was AWFUL - the music completely drowned out his voice so who knows what he was singing about?
And George Clooney looked absolutely miserable and unwilling to play along with Alec and Steve's banter - and all throughout the night he looked almost angry to be there, point at the camera at one point - attempting to direct the cameraman's attention off him and back on stage. Sorry George but there's several cameras covering the stage, several covering the audience. Should have stayed home perhaps.
Eleven*3
The Lady and The Reaper - one of the short animated Oscar nominee's.
Very cool story about dealing with death - the creator was inspired by the passing away of his own grandmother and what an outlet this animation must have been for his emotions.
Eleven*2
The latest from Zack Snyder and Animal Logic!
It's looking quite beautiful I must say, and with so many Australian actors *obviously. A few of the voices are very old school Aussie animation - really made me think of watching Blinky Bill growing up!
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