“Voyage à la Lune”

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Today’s the anniversary of George Méliès “A Trip to the Moon”, otherwise known as the father of modern VFX.

Though I’m sure this isn’t entirely the case, since a lot of other lesser known film makers were experimenting in France with similar techniques as Méliès at the time, “A Trip to the Moon” is undoubtedly the most well known and successful. And as such, the symbol of a rocket in the eye of the moon holds a special place in the visual effects community. Most literally in the Visual Effects Society awards logo…

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So to celebrate, check out the YouTube video below!

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ridley’s ‘dangerous days’

I put together a little treat for all you awesome readers out there today. It’s a YouTube Playlist of the Blade Runner documentary ‘Dangerous Days’!

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‘Blade Runner’ is still one of my all time favorite films. And it really was like they say in the documentary, “the last great analogue science fiction movie.” Even in the countless re-cuts and re-releases that followed it’s original release, there aren’t any digital visual effects to speak of. You can just smell the visual effects, you know? Every frame has life to it. And that’s something sorely lacking in 90% of visual effects heavy films today in my opinion.

There is hope though that we might just see a resurgence of this type of film making though. Just look at Duncan Jones’s “Moon”. Real models combined with modern day matte painting and compositing techniques. It gave that film a look that was all together new, but also familiar. Bringing you back 20 years and reminding you of all the great science fictions films of the 60′s, 70′s, and early 80′s.

“Moon” has a visual strength that was obviously learned from giants like Douglas Trumbull, Special Photographic Effects Supe on “Blade Runner”…as well as a little film called “2001: A Space Odyssey”. So enjoy the following featurette, and hopefully gleen some lessons from the greats for yourself.

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Now if you’re a VFX artist out there who doesn’t already own this film three times over, well honestly I’m shocked. But have no fear! There’s still time to redeem yourself. Follow the links below to add this MUST HAVE film to your collection! Whether it’s the Blu-ray or the DVD version, both have the ‘Dangerous Days’ documentary included as well. Plus remember…if you’re a working VFX artist out there, buying movies suddenly becomes research! And that my friend, is a tax write off!

LINK: Blade Runner (Five-Disc Complete Collector’s Edition) [Blu-ray] $22.99

LINK: Blade Runner (Four-Disc Collector’s Edition) [DVD] $27.99

tron legacy

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Fall out from Comic Con is starting to spill out into the ether, and a few gems are floating to the top. One of which, is the new trailer for “Tron Legacy”! Aka “Tron 2″, aka “Tr2n”, aka “Tron 2.0″. But whatever you want to call it, one thing is for sure…we’ve come a long way in CG from plotting light cycles on graph paper!

Directed by Joseph Kosinski, the man behind the upcoming “Logan’s Run” remake and also Speedshape’s own “Blackbird” Saab spot, (small world huh?) “Tron Legacy” will be released in both Disney Digital 3D and IMAX 3D as well. Pretty cool.

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The teaser doesn’t reveal much about what the story is actually going to be about. But we can glean a little more from the official plot that Disney released on the heels of the new trailer…

TRON is a 3D high-tech adventure set in a digital world that’s unlike anything ever captured on the big screen. Sam Flynn (GARRETT HEDLUND), the tech-savvy 27-year-old son of Kevin Flynn (JEFF BRIDGES), looks into his father’s disappearance and finds himself pulled into the same world of fierce programs and gladiatorial games where his father has been living for 25 years. Along with Kevin’s loyal confidant (OLIVIA WILDE), father and son embark on a life-and-death journey across a visually-stunning cyber universe that has become far more advanced and exceedingly dangerous.

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The concept art being thrown around looks pretty stunning as well…

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The original “Tron” is something of a legend. An exciting experiment and a vision so far ahead of it’s time…that it flopped horribly. But at the same time introduced an entire world to a strange thing called “Computer Graphics”. Laying the groundwork for all the eye candy that modern audiences enjoy.

Now anyone who knows me personally knows that I am not a fan of remakes, re-imaginings, really anything with the word “re” in it. But what has me the most excited about this film is the promise that time has been very kind to the old Master Control Program. And that this new film finally has the technology and the visual storytelling language to redeem the original film’s epic vision.

Let me know what YOU think in the comments section below!

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LINK: Joseph Kosinski

LINK: Tron Legacy

droidMAKER

Michael Rubin has put up his book “droidMAKER” as a free download over at his blog! It’s unclear how long he’ll be offering this book on his site for free, so do yourself a favor and download the book by following the link below!

LINK: droidMAKER

The inside story of George Lucas, his intensely private company, and their work to revolutionize filmmaking. In the process, they made computer history. Discover the birth of Pixar, digital video editing, videogame avitars, THX sound, and a host of other icons of the media age. Lucas played a central role in the universe of entertainment technologies we see everyday.