Spy Films is at it again, this time they worked with Digital Domain for Sony to create a beautiful spot called, “Two Worlds”.
It might also remind you though of their previous short film called, “Nuit Blanche”. I only say this because it’s basically copied shot for shot. Just in color.
If it ain’t broke don’t fix it I guess!
Nuit Blanche
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Making of “Two Worlds”
The premiere weekend of the new Looney Tunes short, “Coyote Falls” in theaters has come and gone. And it’s left in it’s wake some really stellar reviews from critics and audiences a like! Now I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. I am SO PROUD to have been apart of this creative team. The whole experience has just been a dream come true for everyone involved, so I wanted to give you all a consolidated list of all the reviews I’ve collected so far. The fruits of all the hard work everyone put in to make these as great as they are.
Now all that’s left to do is wait for the world to see the next two shorts. Which I’m so excited for, because each one is seriously better than the last!
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The Washington Post
The best part of “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore” happens before this derivative family film even begins. It’s the Looney Tunes animated short, “Coyote Falls,” that precedes the movie.
The 6-year-old next to me, like nearly every child in the theater, shrieked in delight and gasped in wonder as Wile E. Coyote was smashed, flattened, run over and blown up in an enormous fireball. (All in 3-D!) For kids raised on the nonviolent, chipper children’s entertainment of Nickelodeon and PBS Kids, the first Road Runner cartoon they’ve ever seen delivers genuine entertainment catharsis.
Tampa Bay Times
The sole reason to buy tickets — 3-D or otherwise — to Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore has absolutely nothing to do with the movie, which belongs in a pooper-scooper.
It’s a preceding, too-short subject that almost makes the investment worthwhile, starring Looney Tunes legends Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote in richer colors and more eye-popping depth than ever. Coyote Falls needs only those cartoon icons, a bungee cord, a bridge and heavy traffic on a desert highway to muster more enjoyment than the main event never matches.
Coyote Falls seems like a trial run for a possible Looney Tunes revival, retrofitted for the 3-D generation. That makes more sense in theory and now execution than most childhood retreads do in any format. The late animation genius Chuck Jones would be proud.
Box Office Magazine
In fact, Kitty Galore’s best laughs occur during the Looney Tunes pre-show cartoon Coyote Falls. Its 3D is fast and furious and the slapstick is clever. The cartoon short has everything Kitty Galore desperately needs. Too bad the Looney Tunes writers didn’t help out with the feature presentation.
Boston.com
Very much the best part of “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore’’ is the new “Road Runner’’ cartoon that precedes it. It’s in 3-D, of course, and Wile E. Coyote and his eternal avian nemesis have been rendered in fleshed-out, “realistic’’ shadings. I prefer the flat pop colors of yesteryear, but in all other respects, the short’s a scream: fast, funny, impeccably timed, and as brutally obedient to the laws of Looney Tunes physics as ever.
The National Post
In fact, the only thing that got the kids riled up was a new Road Runner short that preceded the feature. Although it lasted only five minutes, the dialogue-free, gleefully wacky toon scored more laughs than any wise-cracking pooch, no matter how famous the voice actor. Out of the mouths of babes indeed.
Using wonderful special effects and combining the upbeat music, Patrick has made a wonderful nostalgic video that features the old style and pixel look into a realistic suburban city with the Pixels taking over. With so much color, sound and things happening at the same time, I really could not attempt to explain what is going on and just urge you to press play and really soak in this amazing creation.
The cool concept aside, this short has some really superb lighting and compositing going on. And I really love the marriage between the 8bit modeling style, and the really high res particle simulations. The shot of the Tetris blocks collapsing the building? Fantastic.
I would love to see a making of!
Please, Patrick…pleaseeeee?
I’ve got a great award winning short film for you all today called “Nuit Blanche”. It comes to us by way of Spy Films, and was directed by Arev Manoukian. After seeing the video below, I doubt you’ll be surprised to find out that Spy Films is the directing troupe that Neill Blomkamp calls home as well.
It’s not easy to make 0′s and 1′s emotionally moving, but that’s exactly what the VFX artists have done here. Really impressive work.
You’ve probably never heard of Houston native Steve Johnson, but I know you’ve heard of his work. Predator, The Abyss, Ghostbusters, Spider-Man 2, Where the Wild Things Are, and so on and so on. The point is that he’s had a very long and successful career in practical make-up fx. Now he’s nearing retirement but instead of writing his memoirs or shopping for a comfy rocking chair, he’s decided to start up a new channel on YouTube to share with the world a ton of never before seen behind the scenes footage of the films he worked the last 30+ years on. The coolest thing though is that he’s also bringing back the artists responsible for the work his shop did on those films to talk about it themselves!
I’m so glad to see such a seasoned and talented artist pulling back the curtain, and I want all of you who read this blog to go to his channel and subscribe to his videos. Let’s keep this ball of transparency rolling and hopefully encourage more of the greats to follow in Steve’s footsteps!
LINK: Steve Johnson FX (YouTube)
Take a behind the scenes look at some of your favorite movies with the people who actually MADE them! Hosted by Hollywood special effects legend Steve Johnson, the effects artist behind Ghostbusters, Big Trouble in Little China, The Abyss, Blade II, Species, Spiderman II, Where the Wild Things Are, and hundreds more!
All the footage you see here was shot in Steve’s own studio, with his cameras, his crew and on his dime.
For those of you who couldn’t make it to this years Siggraph Computer Animation Festival, I’ve got some good news for you. Lucas Martell’s animated film, “Pigeon: Impossible”, has finally been released for all to see on YouTube!
It’s a really charming short, expertly done, and is honestly just as good as anything Pixar has to offer. Big words I know, but watch the video below and I think you’ll agree. Especially when you get to the credits and realize only a handful of artists we responsible for creating it! Also, if you haven’t already, check out his video podcast series he did awhile back too. He takes you step by step from story development, to animation, to rendering, to final edit. I’ve featured it on this blog before, but I’ve relinked it below the featured video just in case you all want to check it out again! Just like “Pigeon: Impossible”, it’s a really high quality series and I think we can all learn a lot from it.
Great work Lucas! I really loved it.
The Short
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The Vlog
OMG…never before seen Ghostbusters II Behind the Scenes footage!
Motherboard.tv went to London to sit down with director, Spike Jonze, and talk about how they brought the monster-beings of “Where the Wild Things Are” to life. There’s also some great studio footage they took at MPC where they spoke to some of their artists. My favorite part though is when the host asks, in a very dead pan voice, “What’s Compositing?”. I guess that’s a good sign he didn’t know what compositing was though, because we’re supposed to stay hidden. Kinda like a Milford Man.
“No matter what era you are in, technology will only be as good as the idea supporting it.” – Spike Jonze
So is the new “Avatar” trailer less “Ferngully” and more “Terminator 2″? Is all the hype surrounding this film actually based on something real and exciting? I’m starting to get the feeling that it actually is. But decide for yourself and watch the official full trailer below for James (Don’t Call Me Jimmy) Cameron’s newest blockbuster.
And remember, everything you’re seeing that’s out in the jungles of Pandora is completely 100% CG. The only reason I’m reminding you is because you’ll quickly forget. I know I did.
UPDATE: Switched video sources to a higher quality Yahoo trailer…this ones in English! Added a link to the official Flickr gallery that has a ton of new stills from the film. And also a link to the official website that’s now up and running. Be sure to have some headphones, because it has some pretty sweet background music from the film!
LINK: ‘Avatar’ Official Website
Avatar Trailer
Let me start with saying that I’m going to withhold judgement on the actual movie until it comes out on November 13th. Which yes, that is Friday the 13th, and yes it’s ok to roll your eyes now. But no matter how good or bad the film ends up being, I think we can safely say now that the VFX work done on the new Roland Emmerich film, “2012” is EXTREMELY impressive. So because of that fact, and the fact that this is a Visual Effects blog, I wanted to post a few videos released by the production that briefly talks about the effects created for the destruction of LA (earthquake) and Washington D.C (tidal wave). First up though, my impressions…
The videos that were put on YouTube give you that classic ankle deep explanation of how everything was done. And are the type that I grew up watching and loving. Full of quick clips, sound bites, and the usual talking head interviews with the Producers, Supervisors, and Director talking about how great the film is. Pretty typical honestly when you get down to it. But what I was very surprised with was when I heard Mr. Emmerich say, and I quote, “I was really nervous about that (the visual effects), because there you hand your destiny pretty much over to some visual effect people.”
Think about that for a second. Let it sink in. The man who directed “The Day After Tomorrow”, “Independence Day”, and “Stargate” was worried that the overall quality of visual effects being done for his film might not be good enough. Which if so, would be the sole factor on whether or not his film was going to be any good. Not the Writing, not the Acting. Not even the Directing! But the Visual Effects. Says a lot doesn’t it? I think so. That’s his freakin’ bread and butter!
Anyways, marinate on those words while you watch the videos below. And try to decide if they spark the urge to shell out $10 at your local cineplex when “2012” debuts on Friday (*sigh*) the 13th.
Tidal Waves
Destruction of LA
Practical Effects
