How much work can a clothing commercial be? A lot, especially if your mandate is to recreate the look and feel of an elaborate pop-up book as a backdrop for clothing models wandering through a catalog. The VFX crew at Zoic Studios found that out as they tackled a series of spots for Sears that involved real people living in a quaint fantasy world apparently made entirely of cardboard cut-outs folded and hinged into the pages of a Sears Book.... »
here some people see a digital still camera, Eric Hanson sees the building block for an insanely detailed panorama that, with the right kind of VFX knowhow, can be turned into a compelling backdrop or a 3D scene background for visual effects artists.... »
The effects in Stardust might not push the state of the art, but clever techniques made it possible to create an 800-shot well-designed fantasy film that holds its own, even with a less-than-magical budget.... »
Veteran VFX Supervisor Scott Farrar of ILM (center) with ILM's Russell Early (left) and Transformers D.P. Mitch Amundsen on set in Detroit. Farrar says Transformers is the film where CG robots became more "real" than anything that could be physically built.... »
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.” ... »
Peter Parker picked a peck of trouble this time. It could have meant trouble, too, for the team at Sony Pictures Imageworks, which handled the bulk of the effects. ... »
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.... »
