While promoting the 10th anniversary of THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION, director/writer Frank Darabont has said that he will direct screen adaptations of Stephen Kings MIST and Ray Bradburys FAHRENHEIT 451, reports SCI FI WIRE.
BOXX Technologies has entered an agreement with Avid to offer Softimage|XSI Foundation and Essentials software as an optional upgrade for it series of award-winning workstations.
European visual effects society eDIT | VES, whose upcoming festival runs in Frankfurt, Germany from Sept. 26 28, 2004, will award the legendary filmmaker Stanley Kubrick the Festival Honors. Kubrick pushed the boundaries of special effects with his masterpiece 2001: A SPACE ODDESSY. The award will be handed out on Sept. 26 at the opening gala of eDIT | VES 2004. The posthumous award will be accepted by Kubricks wife Christiane. More information can be found at www.edit-ves.com.
On their initial release date Sept. 21, the STAR WARS Trilogy DVD set and LucasArts STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT videogame netted $115 million worldwide, reports VARIETY. 20th Century Fox Home Ent. did not break out the two releases, but said that 90% of the revenues came from the DVDs and a good percentage of that came from the U.S. alone. Fox and LucasFilms split home entertainment money on the original STAR WARS, but the studio only gets a distribution fee for EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI.
While Kerry Conran tells VFXWORLD about the challenges and pleasures of pulling off his immensely ambitious debut, SKY CAPTAIN AND THE WORLD OF TOMORROW, visual effects supervisor Gianluca Dentici takes us on a journey to Italy to discover some of the challenges and pleasures of working in his burgeoning vfx industry.
Luxology Llc. announced the immediate availability of modo, its powerful new subdivision surface and polygonal modeling platform. Combining a realtime subdivision surface modeling engine with a user-centric, highly customizable interface that includes hundreds of production-oriented tools, modo is one of the fastest and most advanced 3D modeling systems currently available. To purchase modo and obtain immediate access via download visit Luxology's online store at www.luxology.com/store/.
Venice, California-based Exodus Film Group has tapped three-time Oscar-winning visual effects wizard Jim Rygiel to direct the feature film, BUNYAN AND BABE, reports HOLLYWOOD REPORTER. Based on the Paul Bunyan legend, the family film follows Paul Bunyan and a group of kids as they attempt to save Bunyans pet ox Babe from an evil circus owner. Eddie Griffin will provide the voice of Babe the Blue Ox. The script was written by Michael A. Nickles (THIS IS NOT A FILM) and Julia A. Wall. Exodus' animation team, ElectroAge, will be handling the CG work.
Finally, the wait is over for the original STAR WARS trilogy on DVD, as the impressive four-disc set arrives in stores Sept. 21 (Fox Home Ent., $69.98). Purists, of course, have been up in arms for two years after George Lucas revealed that he had no intention of making the theatrical versions of A NEW HOPE, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and RETURN OF THE JEDI available on DVD.
TYRO screenwriter Ali Russell has launched feature production banner Elysium Ent. with a pair of comicbook-based projects -- THE 10TH MUSE and an untitled Rob Liefeld film, reports VARIETY. Brooklyn Weaver of Energy Ent. will sheperd the new company. Weaver discovered 21-year-old Russell at the UCLA screenwriting program.
Weaver optioned MUSE for low-six figures and Russell is set to write and produce the film. Based on the comic by Darren Davis, the story follows the adventures of modern-day daughter of the Greek God Zeus.
Bob Scarabelli, Rainmaker Income Fund president/ceo, has passed away from natural causes. Scarabelli worked for Rainmaker for the past 25 years, growing it into one of North America's leading post-production facilities.
A group of Korean researchers from a local university have developed a new kind of high-quality MoCap technology that is so simple to use that they believe this will allow Koreans to compete internationally in vfx, reported THE CHOSUN ILBO.
Side Effects Software announced the release of Houdini 7, the formal launch of Houdini Escape, third party rendering support for Houdini Escape, a scripting product for rendering and free access to the Houdini Developers Kit for all Houdini customers, including Houdini Apprentice users.
NVIDIA Corp. unveiled the GoForce 3D 4500, the world's first 3D wireless media processor. The NVIDIA GoForce 3D 4500 WMP enables a whole new level of interactive content not previously possible on cell phones, PDAs or other handheld devices. For the first time, mobile content developers can harness a powerful 3D medium to create rich, dynamic, lifelike worlds and characters.
According to TrendWatch, studio owners allocate nearly one-fourth of their new capabilities budget for software apps and add-ons.
Rushes was called upon by AMVBBDO to illustrate the search for "Sheba," the ultimate luxury food for cats. Produced by Lindsay Hughes and directed by Graham Fink, MAZE is a fantasy quest through a beautiful world, with a cat leading its owner to its favorite food.
For the first time, the Visual Effects Society (VES) will be offering online voting in preparation of its third annual VES Awards ceremony, to be held in Los Angeles at the Palladium on Feb. 16, 2005.
Meanwhile, the VES has offered several tips and reminders:
Avid Technology Inc. announced the worldwide availability of Avid Studio Tools, a fully integrated software package designed exclusively for customers using Media Composer Adrenaline, NewsCutter Adrenaline FX, and NewsCutter XP systems.
The Video Lab Johannesburg has two announcements: not only has renowned international colorist Catherine Pantazopoulos joined the group, but they have secured the latest in grading wizardry: Discreets lustre 2.5, the only one in South Africa.
Joining luminaries such as Pixar Animation Studios and Sony Pictures Imageworks, The Video Lab plans to have the lustre up and running by mid-October in a custom, designed, world-class grading room.
European visual effects society eDIT | VES, whose upcoming festival runs in Frankfurt, Germany from Sept. 26 28, 2004, will award Academy Award winner Vilmos Zsigmond (THE DEER HUNTER, HEAVEN'S GATE, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND), aka Master of Light, the Festival Honors. The award will be handed out on Sept. 26 at the opening gala of eDIT | VES 2004. Zsigmond will discuss "The Art of Cinematography" during the festival on Sept. 27 at 7:00 pm. More information can be found at www.edit-ves.com.
Lions rule the animal kingdom in the recent DVD release, PRIDE (BBC Video, $14.98), boasting character effects and animation by Jim Hensons Creature Shop.
First THE ANIMATRIX, then VAN HELSING and THE CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK and now ALIAS they all boast animated DVD shorts to bolster their live action siblings.
Gnomon School of Visual Effects and Pixologic will be hosting the first official Pixologic ZBrush User Group meeting, Sept. 30, 2004, at 6:00 pm at Gnomon (1015 N. Cahuenga Bl. Hollywood, CA 90038).
* Bay Raitt (Creature Facial Lead for Gollum and co-founder of Box Rocket) will discuss the strengths of ZBrush and its use in various production pipelines, i.e. Weta Digital, Valve Software.
iHollywood Forum Inc. announced its lineup of entertainment industry luminaries at "The Digital Studio," a summit and showcase focusing on digital technology and how it is transforming the film and TV industry. The third annual summit takes place as part of the American Film Market, (AFM) on Nov. 2, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Monica Laemmle Theatre, 1332 2nd Street, Santa Monica, CA.
Industry headliners include:
Independence Day 2005 is shaping up at a toe-to-toe battle between Foxs tentpole FANTASTIC FOUR and Paramount and DreamWorks event movie of the decade WAR OF THE WORLDS. The Marvel Comics adaptation from 20th Century Fox was first to stake a claim on the lucrative holiday weekend by taking a release date of July 1. However, the Steven Spielberg-directed, Tom Cruise-starring alien invasion flick has now set its sights on June 29. With Spielberg stating that his H.G.
Los Angeles visual effects and design company A52 earned an Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Design on HBO's CARNIVÀLE series. The award was presented during the 2003-2004 Creative Arts Primetime Emmys segment of the 56th Annual Emmy Awards presentation at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sept. 12.
A52s work on this project also earned the PROMAX Gold Award in the category of Non-Promotional Animation earlier this year.
