“Dense” is a word that's often used to characterize a film’s sound. But when it’s coupled with certain other adjectives, such as “piercing,” “jangling” and “shrill,” that indicates something more unusual. That may be an apt description for the aural setting of American Gangster, director Ridley Scott’s vivid retelling of the tale of Frank Lucas, the African-American hood who challenged the Mafia for dominance in the heroin trade in New York in the 1970s. ... »
When writer/director James Gray started showing his new film, We Own the Night, to friends, they wanted to know how he got stuntpeople to agree to shoot a complex car-chase sequence in the pouring rain.... »
If you’ve seen Live Free or Die Hard — or even if you’ve just seen the trailers, which emphasize the film’s trademark outlandish action sequences — you may think of the various stunts, including the “money shot” involving a car tumbling through the air and smashing into the hoods of two more cars traveling on the ground, as a veritable CG-fest. But you’d be wrong.... »
Mid-way through the animated mockumentary Surf’s Up, one of the penguins faces the camera and asks an invisible camera crew if they’re hungry. We hear a voice answer, “Uh, yeah.” ... »
The post-production gurus behind Next say it's the first studio feature to be edited entirely in HD using Avid's DNxHD codec — and they figure it represents the latest forward leap in post workflow. ... »
“I’ve heard stories,” said Jeff Roth, VP of Post at Focus Features, “about DPs sitting in a little black tent getting the look of the movie instead of actually shooting the movie.”... »
When Walt Disney Pictures released its animated feature Chicken Little in 2005, 84 theaters could project the stereo 3D version. Now, more than 600 theaters can show Disney’s latest animated feature, Meet the Robinsons, in stereo 3D.... »
Rainmaker’s Visual Effects Supervisor Mark Breakspear led the 150-person team that filled 3D stadiums with digital crowds and gave the four main actors Olympic-class skating moves — or rather, convinced the audience these skaters, not their stunt doubles, could perform an Olympian’s triple salchows, double axels, spins, lifts, and spirals.... »
Film & Video asked visual effects producer Arin Finger and creature supervisor Corey Rosen about working with the Korean production team, the creature’s complicated rigging system, and how The Orphanage’s VFX knowhow helped the production keep its CG budget under control.... »
Delhomme says he took pains to let London look like London, and not like some stylish cinematographer's idea of what a big city at night should be.... »
