Special Effects from Down Under: A Growing Proposition
While you might not realize it, you've probably already seen some of Australia's top effects houses in action. Stephen Lynch explains.
Tagged With: Effects
AurenyA Creates Cinema Title Piece For Bruce Willis’ New Production Studio
Character and visual effects company AurenyA, in association with Fusion Media Group, is creating the cinema title piece for Bruce Willis new production studio, Cheyenne Enterprises LLC. The nearly completed piece has grown to over 150 layers of visual effects, creating a hyper-realistic final product. Using Alias|Wavefronts Maya 3.0, visual effects supervisor Eric Tang and technical director Ron Miller used AurenyAs proprietary character animation software technology, Gesture, in order to model and animate characters with enhanced efficiency and precision.
Rhinoceros Creates New Spot For Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield
Visual effects studio Rhinoceros Effects has recently finished a new spot for health insurance group Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield and agency Gotham Inc. Titled Beacon, the spot combines photo-realistic CG with live-action camera moves. The Beacon butterflies that star in the spot required deep work in CG, but shooting the live materials was also very important, said director Harry Dorrington. We shot the room using very slow moves, as well as capturing light sources and background textures.
Look! Effects Creates Signature Driver Vision Effect For Driven
Hollywoods Look! Effects has announced their work creating one of the signature effects for Renny Harlins film, DRIVEN, starring Sylvester Stallone. The visual, which recurs throughout the film, was part of a large package of effects created for the film by the digital boutique. Look! Effects' visual effects team worked directly with Harlin and visual effects supervisor Brian Jennings in developing the look of what became known as the Driver Vision effect.
Side Effects Software Announces Free Houdini Training
Santa Monicas Side Effects Software has announced new dates for free Houdini introductory workshops and training in Santa Monica, San Francisco and Toronto. In these sessions, artists will be exposed to the power of Houdini, the award-winning 3D animation software package used in such recent blockbusters as Dr. Seuss' HOW THE GRINCH STOLE CHRISTMAS, X-MEN, HOLLOW MAN and THE MATRIX. This class includes an introduction to the object, SOP (surface operator), material, composite and output editors.
VEAF: Vancouver Effects & Animation Festival - Digital Media Trade Show
April 2002. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Entry Deadline: December 1, 2000
VEAF Announces Awards
The 2001 Vancouver Effects & Animation Festival, held April 4-6, has announced its winners in animation, effects, video games/Internet and student films. RING OF FIRE, FOR THE BIRDS, BOB & MARGARET and CASPER all took home prizes. Find the complete and extensive list of winners at:
Pokemon 3 Manages Fourth Place Debut While Spy Kids Comes In First Again
POKEMON 3, the third feature installment of the POKEMON trilogy, debuted in fourth place at the box office this weekend, taking in $9.18 million. SPY KIDS, Robert Rodriguez new espionage yarn, with primary visual effects by Hybride Technologies, captured first place for the second week in a row, grossing $17.8 million, with $49 million accumulated thus far. ENEMY AT THE GATES fell from sixth to seventh, grossing $3.45 million.
Sea Level Lands Inferno Artist Azzis
Inferno artist Jean-Luc Azzis has recently joined Sea Level, a digital effects boutique specializing in visuals for high-end television commercials. His first project with the company involves compositing and visual effects services for a Jeep spot titled, "Red Light, Green Light" out of PentaMark Worldwide, Detroit, and directed by Headquarters' David Cornell. While previously freelancing at Method Studios, Azzis' credits included a series of spots promoting Intel's Pentium III chip featuring performance artists Blue Man Group.
Look! Effects Creates 3D Intergalactic Journey For Indie Feature
Look! Effects, a Hollywood, California digital effects and 3Danimation company, has completed a 5-minute 3D computer animationsequence for Metaphor Films and Gotham Entertainment's independentfeature FIRST WATCH. Featuring detailed models of planets, stars,their surfaces and movements that were based on some of the latestastronomical imaging and scientific data available, the sequenceconsists of a single, extended pull back where the camera lifts outof an aerial view of the Earth, travels through the Solar System,
And The Oscar Goes To...
On March 25, 2001 in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winners for this year's Oscars. Taking home the prize for outstanding animated short was Michael Dudok de Wit's lyrically elegant FATHER & DAUGHTER. The big winner for the evening was the visual effects epic GLADIATOR, which received five Oscars for best picture, best actor Russell Crowe, best visual effects, best costume design and best sound. Oscar was also kind to the other big visual effects film of the year CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
Oscar Winners Any Father Would Be Proud Of
On March 25, 2001 in Los Angeles, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the winners for this year's Oscars. Taking home the prize for outstanding animated short was Michael Dudok de Wit's lyrically elegant FATHER & DAUGHTER. The big winner for the evening was the visual effects epic GLADIATOR, which received five Oscars for best picture, best actor Russell Crowe, best visual effects, best costume design and best sound. Oscar was also kind to the other big visual effects film of the year CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
SOMERsault Tames Busch Gardens/Sea World Spot
Chicago-based SOMERsault has recently completed a 30-second spot for Busch Gardens/Sea World. In the spot, the word "fun" is spelled out in a zebra's stripes and a group of dolphins swim into place to spell out the word "card." Using inferno*, SOMERsaults senior effects artist, John Montgomery duplicated footage of two dolphins into twelve dolphins, then rotated, warped and animated the dolphins into position. Additional shading and water effects were added to smooth out the appearance.
It's All In The Mix For Black Logic & Twix
Black Logic was worked into the mix for a new musical two-spot campaign for Twix. In "Remote Control," two skateboarders flip channels on the TV moving from teen pop band Dream to polka performers then finally to rapper Lil' Bow Wow. The backgrounds are elaborately animated scenes of caramel, chocolate and cookie. "Our task was to integrate live-action and tabletop footage with our CG elements into a seamless world," said lead visual effects artist Patrick Ferguson.
Cinesite Names New Executive Producer Of Visual Effects
Scott Dougherty has been appointed executive producer of visual effects for Cinesite, Inc. Dougherty will be responsible for managing the creative and technological resources needed to complete visual effects projects. After freelancing as an art department assistant and production manager, Dougherty joined Cinesite in 1993 and has played various roles including visual effects coordinator, associate producer and producer. His filmography includes RED PLANET, AIR FORCE ONE, DEEP BLUE SEA, PRACTICAL MAGIC, SPACE JAM, OUTBREAK and dozens of other projects.
Editor's Notebook: What good is technology?
What good is technology?
The Technology Circle
Over the past five years the changes in special effects technology for film and television have been monumental, causing large shifts and new issues for production companies and the software/hardware companies that service them. Bruce Manning outlines the issues and then sits down with Richard Taylor to discuss. Includes an image gallery from industry veteran Richard Taylor!
Black Logic Takes Five For Nasdaq
Black Logic has wrapped on a new five spot campaign for the Nasdaq Stock Exchange: "Qualcomm" uses the modem port on a laptop computer as the entrance to a visual world of digital communications; "Immunex" uses transparent CG human forms and brightly colored double helixes to introduce the world of advanced immunology; "Amazon" portrays that company's familiar Website interface to show how it created online commerce; "Biogen" opens with a group photo of the scientists who broke the human genetic code; and "Yahoo" develops the company's groundbreaking search engines, as a road map through a maz
Adobe Takes After Effects To Another Dimension With 5.0
This week, Adobe has been teasing us with a taster of what's to come in their long-awaited upgrade to their compositing software After Effects. In order to compete with other packages on the market (namely Discreet combustion), Adobe has broken After Effects into two packages - a Standard version and a Production Bundle.
Australian Effects & Animation Festival
Begins: February 26, 2001
The Australian Effects & Animation Festival is dedicated to the arts and creation of visual effects and animation. Australian visual effects guru Karen Ansel will be honored during the event. She has worked on such films as NUTTY PROFESSOR II: THE KLUMPS, FLUBBER, WHAT DREAMS MAY COME and THE MASK. The annual AEAF Awards night will occur on Tuesday, February 27 where industry professionals will be awarded for excellence in their fields. For the first time ever, the AEAF 2001 Flash Animation Festival will highlight the best in animation created in Flash.
Discreet Combustion Reviewed
We take a look at Discreet's 2D/3D paint and compositing solution - combustion. Can it live up to the hype? We find out...
Hannibal Takes Third Helping At The US Box Office
With new competition very weak, HANNIBAL took a third helping at the U.S. box office, grossing another US$15.77 million. The hog-wild thriller, with primary visual effects by Mill Film, has gobbled up $128.5 million to date. 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND made its opening nod in third. The high-octane crime caper, with primary visual effects by Rainmaker Digital Pictures, snatched $7.16 million. After early reports had it placing third, Disney's RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT actually finished forth, rescuing an additional $6.93 million. The saving summer vacation adventure has accumulated $22.7 million.
Spontaneous Combustion Makes A Splash With Pepperidge Farms Goldfish
Spontaneous Combustion helped bite off the heads of Pepperidge Farms' Goldfish for a new ad campaign. Filmed by New York-based Chelsea Pictures, the campaign consists of one 30-second, a 20-second with a 10-second endtag, and a 15-second ad. The spot begins with CG goldfish swimming and diving through a page of sheet music. As the fish start to swim throughout the room, live-action footage of kids and mothers munching on goldfish fill the scene.
Hannibal Claims U.S. Holiday Box Office
Gobbling up tickets over the President's Day weekend, HANNIBAL remained the toast of the U.S. box office, grossing US$30 million. In merely ten-days at theaters, the cannibalistic caper, with primary visual effects by Mill Film, has scoffed down an amazing $103.9 million. Disney's TV series turned feature, RECESS: SCHOOL'S OUT placed third in its debut, freezing up $10.8 million. In turn, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON slipped to fifth, with a gross of $8.77 million.
Digital Film Tools Releases Composite Suite 1.5
Digital Film Tools has released Composite Suite 1.5, a comprehensive set of special effects plug-ins for Avid Editing Systems and Adobe After Effects. Composite Suite includes 14 effects plug-ins that were until recently, only available in-house at Digital FilmWorks. It features selective color correction, matte generation, natural lighting effects, as well as specialized tools for combining imagery such as fire, smoke and explosions.
