vfx bakeoff and cloverfield
Just a quick link and a post today.
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Head on over to VFX World for an article on the annual VFX Bakeoff that the Academy held on Wednesday. It’s a good way to start off the new year by looking back at all the great work that was done in 2007.
Each year at this time, we get to do what we love: talk about, revel in and celebrate last year’s coolest visual effects films and the ridiculously talented folks who made them. This year, though, things are a bit different. The mood of the industry is a bit subdued, certainly, as the WGA strike is in its 11th week now, and, as of this writing, only the Spirit Awards is confirmed to air. Despite those conflicts, however, exciting changes are already changing this fascinating voting process.
But I have to say…I think 2008 is going to be a better year for movies. Indiana Jones 4, Star Trek, Cloverfield…the list goes on and on. And they all remind me of the big vfx flicks I grew up watching. Last year we really only had Pirates 3, Spider-man 3 and Transformers. Visually stunning, but not that great of movies.
So we’ll see what happens in the next 12 months, but I’m excited man!
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By the way…’Cloverfield’…was amazing! It’s by far one of my favorite movies in a really long time. It completely reinvented the whole monster genre, was surprisingly very touching, and just an over all great flick. Some people have been complaining about the hand-held style of the camera. But they just didn’t seem to get it and only focused on it made them ‘feel sick’. All I could think was that this was the most bad-ass found footage of all time, and how hard this must have been to matchmove! All the pulled focus, changing focal lengths, and sheer madness of the camera motion. My hat goes off to the tracking departments over at Tippett Studios and D-Neg that tackled this, because it was REALLY well done.
And another tip of the hat to Neville Page who designed the main monster. Though you never really saw it in all it’s glory, it was both original, plausible, and terrifying. He’s now working on ‘The Watchmen’, ‘Star Trek XI’, ‘The Hulk’, and ‘Avatar’. I can’t wait to see what work he does next. Check out his blog.
The ‘mini-monsters’ however…well, how can I put this. I guess all I can say is that it was VERY clear that Tippett Studios was responsible for the creature/parasites. Because the parasite design looked just like a scaled down version of the Arachnids in ‘Starship Troopers’.
I was disappointed with that, and thought it took away from all the other really great work that Tippett Studios did. But there’s really nothing I didn’t like about the work Double Negative did. They were responsible for all the building destruction scenes, capsized tankers, Statue of Liberty, and Brooklyn Bridge shots. It was top-notch from start to finish. So good work Double Negative! And good work Tippett! Two world class studios.I have to say though, for people living in New York I really wonder how it would feel to see your ENTIRE city getting destroyed. Very surreal I would imagine.
Alright, enjoy your Sunday everyone! I’ve got an appointment with my couch and the TiVo. God I can’t wait for summer to get here. I’m starting to get cabin fever.
