Review: AVATAR

Coming out of the theater after watching Avatar, I found nothing to complain about. It is not just Cameron’s mastery over technology that makes Avatar great; it is his ability to use technology as a vehicle for great storytelling. Avatar could not have been told without the technology employed and the technology could not have found a better story to makes its debut. Here is why:

Review: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Ok, so here's the thing. This is easily my favorite version of the story I've ever seen. It's really, really good.

But I'm just so sick of this story!

Siggraph 2008 - New Information Revealed!

Another Siggraph has come and gone. For those who do not know, Siggraph is a convetion devoted to Film Technology, Animation, Special Effects, and other Film Media. This year it was held in Los Angeles, at the LA Convention Center. Many studios and effects houses were in attendance, including, Laika, LucasArts, Walt Disney Feature Animation, PIXAR, Image Movers Digital, Blue Sky, Autodesk, and many many more. Each had its own booth full of displays and demos, ready to show to the masses and line up some incredible stuff for the coming year.

Motion Capture technology is moving away from the little suits with balls on them, to suits with bend-proof metal straps that allow the user to capture motion to a computer with absolutely no cameras, and easily trackable data.




Robert Zemekis' "A Christmas Carol" looks absolutely fantastic. Many of the sets are more epic than Beowulf, and the graphics are even more astounding. Jim Carrey plays Ebenezer Scrooge, a crotchety old man who hate everything except money, as well as plays the three ghosts that help him change his life for the better. As more images are released, they will be posted here.



3D Stereoscopic projectors are the future of film. Or so I was told. Or so I was shown. Starting next year, 99% of animated films are going to be created in Stereoscopic 3d, meaning it will feel like you are in the movie. With a pair of open/close 3D glasses, films will take you into an immersive world where you are a player and not just a critic. It seems that this will soon roll over to normal film and then (hopefully the industry says) to home viewing, where you pop in a game to your PS4 or Blue Ray player and instantly are a part of what before you could only see. The projectors I was shown were dual-HD meaning that you can see HD in each eye and through each lens. Also, the 3d creates itself in a way that it does not require someone to throw something at the camera to show you the effect. With a projector like this, and a set of surround sound speakers, I think this may be the coolest idea for gaming and film viewing ever... at least, so far.

Disney had lots of people demoing drawing and showed many clips from Bolt, which has already been covered by this Blog. Russ Edwards (animator) came in and animated a scene for the upcoming "Princess and the Frog" (see previous post) and then Andreas Deja (animator), dropped by to draw some pictures, give a history lesson of his life, and sketch out the Character of "Mama Odie" who he is animating for "Princess and The Frog". Very exciting stuff indeed.

Andreas Deja draws a frame of 'Mama Odie' from the upcoming Disney flick "The Princess and the Frog". Read more about "The Princess and the Frog" in the previous devoted post.


Siggraph 2009 will be held in New Orleans. See You There!

Lets Talk About Motion Capture

Lets talk about motion capture animation for a minute. I remember beating 'Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time" and seeing credits for the motion capture team. I was amazed that people could capture motion and translate it digitally, and now as video game and film technology progresses, it is amazing to see all the things that can be done with motion capture animation.

Animation has always been a form of motion capture. Great animators from all over the world, Including Walt Disney Studios, hire actors and performers to come preform many actions live in a studio, so they can 'capture' the motion with their eyes and translate it to hand-drawn animation correctly. Many animated movies, especially those from Don Bluth studio, rotoscope which is a form of Motion Capture, where an action is filmed, and literally traced over with a pencil to become the finished animation. Rotoscoping is often frowned upon in most creative circles, because it is seen that the artist is not good enough to do the animation him/herself. PIXARr uses no motion capture (as told humorously in the end credits of Ratatouille)




Rotoscoping turned 3d is called motion capture. It is taking the action that is recorded and using it to become your final project. Using light reflections and an infrared camera, actors movements are recorded and translated into animation. Robert Zemekis is a large supporter of this, creating such fully mo-cap movies such as "Polar Express" and "Beowulf". Often time, people ask why the movies were not made with real actors in live action, but Mo-cap offers things that are impossible in real life, such as sweeping cameras and closeups in fights, and magical characters, such as Gollum (Andy Serkis) in Lord of the Rings, and Grawp in Harry Potter 5.



What are your opinions on Motion Capture? I think that in live action films it is amazing for effects and makes stunts safer for everyone, but stunt people are against it saying that they are being put out of jobs. What are your opinions? More on this to follow.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol. The story everyone knows. One would think perhaps that the tale Dickens created many years ago would be long forgotten, but no. Today it is still the most popular story waiting to be lampooned by every television show, children's cartoon, and waiting to be remade almost on a yearly basis by major motion picture movie studios. From 2008 (this year) all the way to 2010 you can count on seeing a version of this classic tale in a theater near you.

Lets go in order of release date:

"An American Tale" 2008 Empower Pictures Directed By: David Zucker

Ah, the Zuckers, creators and writers of "Airplane!" "Naked Gun" "Superhero Movie" as well as many others. Naturally, you can expect a good laugh from this upcoming version of the classic Christmas story. Starring Zucker regular Leslie Nielsen, many other comedy stars like Kelsey Grammer, Kevin Farley, John Voight, and Dennis Hopper.

You can expect many renamed characters, out of context gags, at least one "Surely, and don't call me Shirley joke." I'll put my money on this to take #1 in the box office as far as Christmas themed movies are concerned. When a trailer comes out, I'll post it.


On to 2009:

"A Christmas Carol" 2009 ImageMovers Directed By: Robert Zemeckis

Zemekis used to make movies that were heartfelt and warming, and he used to use... um... actors but ever since he moved into 100% motion captured animated films that are supposed to look real he has gone down hill. People may say "Zemekis, why don't you make films with actors anymore? Forest Gump and Back to the Future were amazing." Truthfully, I think the reason he makes films with mo-cap now is because of the fact that he can now control the actors to new levels to get exactly what he wants in his films. Eitherway, Zemekis has a way with Christmas themed films, so this should be the perfect medicine for surviving 2009.

This film stars Jim Carrey, Gary Oldman, Robin Wright Penn, Colin Firth, Michael J Fox, Carey Elwes, and Christopher Lloyd. Least to say, it is an amazing cast, and seeing Michael J fox again will be nice. You can bet Tom Hanks was wanted for Scrooge, but noone can hold a candle to Jim Carrey. This film is a certain hit. When a trailer is available I will post it here.

On to 2010:

"A Christmas Carol" 2010 Directed By: Lasse Hallström

Nothing is known about this movie right now except for the fact that its director also made "Cider House Rules", "Chocolat", and "Cassanova." It hardly seems like his thing to make this film, but hey, to each his own. As I find out more about this film, I will certainly post the information here. I guess I'll post the trailer too, but thats like 2 years from now. In the meantime enjoy the three others and try not to get sick of the premise, because I can bet you'll be seeing many more adaptations of it in your lifetime.


Why do people keep adapting this story, you'd think someone would get sick of it. I guess people have and they won't see these four films, but hey at least its not the general public. Well enjoy watching all your summer blockbusters and hold your breath for these next three winter releases.

As Tiny Tim would say... "God Bless Us, Everyone."


Merry [Early] Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!