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Article
by Joe Fordham
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Founded
in 1997, the Visual Effects Society today includes approximately
900 members worldwide and is comprised of professionals
from a broad range of visual effects and physical effects
disciplines. The diversity was reflected in the categories
listed in the second annual VES awards -- a sellout, black-tie
extravaganza held at the Hollywood Palladium on February
18.
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The
ceremony recognized achievements ranging from 'outstanding visual
effects photography in a motion picture,' to 'outstanding models
and miniatures in a televised program, music video or commercial,'
to the big kahuna 'outstanding visual effects in a visual-effects-driven
motion picture.'
Filmmaker
George Lucas was guest of honor for the evening, recipient of
the VES lifetime achievement award. Fellow cinematic trailblazer
James Cameron presented Lucas with the award and recalled the
transformative experience of watching Star Wars in a packed
theater in 1977. "Technology had finally caught up with imagination,"
said Cameron. "George pushed the state of the art to rise
to the needs of his imagination… The number of filmmakers
who were inspired by George's example are legion, and many of
the most imaginative films being made today are a result of the
inspirational fallout of Star Wars." Cameron noted
the impact continues to reverberate in the development of digital
imaging at Industrial Light & Magic and in Lucas' other movie-making
resources -- high-definition cameras, nonlinear editing software
and the THX sound system -- all of which have helped change the
face of modern filmmaking.
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Lucas
accepted the award -- a hefty gold-metallic moon, sculpted
by effects artist Mike McCracken, resembling the lunar landing
in Georges Méliès' 1903 A Trip to the Moon
-- and after a standing ovation replied, "Finally an
award for Howard the Duck!" Lucas thanked his
peers, then noted that the VES awards marked a maturing
process for visual effects. "You are taking your place
as an essential part of the cinematic process. Art is made
out of two very uniquely human qualities: the ability to
create technology and the ability to use that technology
to transfer emotion to other human beings… You are
on the forefront of that process in the most technological
of all the art forms, which is cinema. It is, I think, the
art form of the 21st Century. I'm proud to be a part of
this process and I'm proud to be here with everybody. Thank
you very much. I really appreciate this. It means a lot."
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Lucas'
achievements were also recognized in comedy video clips, including
Rhythm and Hues' animated Scooby Doo who held forth on the Lucas
legacy; and Flash Filmworks' perfectly realized It's a Wonderful
Life lampoon, starring Lucas as George Bailey, composited
in a black-and-white embrace with Yoda and Jar Jar Binks. In a
videotaped message, filmmaker Steven Spielberg hailed Lucas, his
friend and collaborator of many years, as "the greatest innovator
in visual arts and visual effects." A rake of celebrated
effects artisans took to the stage in person -- Richard Edlund,
Ken Ralston, Rob Legato, Phil Tippett, Michael Lantieri, Harrison
Ellenshaw, Mark Stetson and Jim Rygiel, distributing awards.
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The
Lord of the Rings visual effects team joined Rygiel
at the podium, accepting three trophies for The Return
of the King -- which won awards for visual effects in
a visual-effects-driven picture, character animation in
a live-action motion picture and models in a motion picture.
The Matrix Reloaded won 'outstanding visual effects
photography in a motion picture' for its virtual human technology,
seen in Keanu Reeves' burly brawl against 300 Hugo Weavings;
and 'best single visual effect of the year in any medium'
for the sequel's bullet-time tractor-trailer crash. Visual
effects supervisor John Gaeta accepted the awards accompanied
by ESC Entertainment technology supervisor George Borshukov,
who quipped, "I thought The Matrix was not supposed
to win anything," in reference to the films' absence
from Academy Award short lists.
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Visual
effects supervisor Jeffrey Okun and team accepted the award for
'outstanding supporting visual effects in a motion picture' for
The Last Samurai. Pixar Animation Studio won 'outstanding
character animation in a motion picture' for Finding Nemo.
ILM won two awards for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse
of the Black Pearl -- 'outstanding matte painting in a motion
picture,' presented for a 1,000-frame pullback across a 2D and
3D matte painted environment, revealing a pirate ship lurking
in fog; and 'outstanding special effects in service to visual
effects in a motion picture,' for a 1/4-scale galleon explosion,
masterminded by pyrotechnician Geoff Heron and team. Master
and Commander: The Far Side of the World won 'outstanding
compositing in a motion picture,' accepted by Asylum Effects artist
Philip Brennan, who wore his family tartan kilt.
Television
awards were presented to Smallville, Buffy the Vampire Slayer,
Battlestar Galactica, Helen of Troy and the HBO series Carnivale
-- Zoic Studios receiving three awards for Buffy and Galactica;
Entity FX winning two for Smallville. Music video of the
evening featured rapper Missy Elliot astride the Empire State
Building à la Kong, singing "Pass That Dutch,"
with effects by Radium; while Framestore CFC scooped 'outstanding
visual effects for a commercial,' for a startling Johnnie Walker
spot, "Fish," in which a squad of human swimmers leap
and dive like a pod of dolphins.
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"These
are the leaders in the future of entertainment storytelling,"
proclaimed VES founding executive director Tom Atkin, who
presided over the ceremony, bringing a triumphant conclusion
to his seven year tenure as head of the society. "I'm
very excited the society has become such a large organization.
I will continue to be involved; but, for me personally,
if I can leave it as the world's biggest, coolest organization
of visual effects, I've done my job."
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Pixar:
In the wake of the Disney-Pixar split, MGM vice chairman
and chief operating officer Chris McGurk stated last Wednesday
that MGM is interested in a distribution partnership with
Pixar Animation Studio. Who isn't? On Thursday, Sony Pictures
Animation expressed interest in purchasing Pixar. Animation
World Network reports that SPA currently has its own CG-animated
feature film in the works: In the Bleachers, a
comedy about a grizzly bear (voiced by Martin Lawrence)
and a deer (voiced by Ashton Kutcher) stranded in the
woods during hunting season. Other projects are listed
as in development, including a ChubbChubbs movie.
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The
Amityville Horror: After countless sequels to this
dreary 1970s horror film -- well, okay, there are eight
of them -- Variety reports MGM has commissioned
screenwriter Scott Kosar to do for that franchise what
he did recently for The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,
writing a remake of the film for producer Michael Bay,
MGM and Dimension Films. No director has been assigned
yet, but production is expected to begin in May or June.
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Star
Wars - Episode 3: Click
here to visit the official Star Wars website
for your latest dose of production news on the upcoming
third prequel in the Star Wars saga. The news item
includes video illustrating the use of a video link between
production in Australia and Skywalker Ranch in California,
with glimpses of production designs, sets, creatures,
wardrobe, makeup and props. George Lucas is also pictured
delivering his first draft screenplay. The website promises
future installments.
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The
Thing 2: AICN expands on a recent SFX magazine
report that filmmaker John Carpenter will be making a
sequel to his warm and fuzzy 1982 arctic horror film,
stating that Carpenter is reportedly a fan of the Dark
Horse Comic sequel, set on a nuclear submarine. The report
then concludes with a statement, reportedly from the horse's
mouth, that Carpenter is in no way attached to direct
any sequel, although Universal is interested in developing
a Thing-related miniseries with the SciFi Channel
-- without Carpenter's involvement.
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THX
1138: DavisDVD.com reports that later this year, Warner
Home Video will release a special edition disc of George
Lucas' 1971 debut feature film. The release will be entitled
THX 1138: The George Lucas Director's Cut and will
feature a computer generated Jabba the Hutt in the detention
zone scenes and an ewok celebration on the surface of
the planet at the end of the film. (Had you going there,
didn't I?) Actually, the disc will contain Lucas' 1967
USC student film, Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB,
which inspired the feature film, an interview with Lucas
and Francis Ford Coppola discussing the history of THX,
and interviews with USC professors discussing Lucas' life
as a student filmmaker.
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The
Green Hornet: Variety reports that filmmaker
Kevin Smith will write and direct his first full-fledged
superhero film with this Miramax Films, Dark Horse Entertainment
production. The story is based on characters created by
Fran Striker and George Trendle for a 1936 radio series
about a billionaire playboy turned crime-fighter and his
kung-fu-fighting chauffeur, Kato. Despite a lifelong love
of the comic book genre, Smith explained why he has resisted
shooting a superhero adaptation until now: "I always
said I'd never do one, based on my limited experience
writing on Superman and having to answer to the
studio, the producer, the comics company and eventually
a director. Then there's a fandom that gets up in arms
if you even try to stray from their character. Here, there
is simplicity in the character and the situation. Equally
important, the only person I have to answer to is Harvey
[Weinstein], with whom I've made four movies. This is
the only circumstance that led me to take on a comic book
movie, and something so big." Smith has not yet begun
casting, but he is reportedly interested in George Clooney
and Jet Li, who were linked to the project in an earlier
development at Universal. Yahoo Movies indicates Miramax's
Hornet is scheduled for release in the summer of
2005.
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Starship
Troopers 2: Jim Bloom at Tippett Studios has clarified
that Phil Tippett's directorial debut, Starship Troopers
2: Hero of the Federation, will have its television
premiere April 24, at 10 p.m. on the Starz cable network
Action Channel as part of the Super Pack, Saturday Action
Zone; with an encore showing at 10 p.m. Wednesday, April
28. The DVD will be available June 8 in the U.S., following
its April 19 release in Europe, the Middle East and Japan.
Click
here to browse Tippett Studio's website for further
details.
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Ghosts
of Vesuvius: Variety has announced that 20th
Century Fox and James Cameron's Lightstorm Entertainment
have optioned the rights to this upcoming Harper Collins
publication by Charles Pellegrino about the volcanic eruption
of Mount Vesuvius that obliterated Pompeii in 79 A.D.
Cameron will produce the film with John Landau and Rae
Sanchini, and Variety suggests that the filmmakers
will be crafting a fictional story from Pellegrino's nonfiction
material -- but that this is not the big-scale, effects-laden
3D feature film that Cameron has been promising.
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Shrek
2: Click here
to visit Mr. and Mrs. Shrek and friends at Dreamworks'
official website, where you may play the new trailer,
after clicking a couple of rickety wooden signs. Donkey,
Gingerbread Man and Pinocchio are back, Fiona's royal
family and a peeved rival suitor are revealed, and Antonio
Banderas joins the comical cast as a very fey Puss-in-Boots.
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The
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe:
The New Zealand Film and Television website reports
that director Andrew Adamson starts preproduction of his
C.S. Lewis Narnia fantasy film this month, and
will begin shooting in July, scheduled to wrap in December
for a 2005 release. The Laughing Place, a Disney news
website, has meanwhile reported that Disney Consumer Products
chairman Andy Mooney, speaking at a recent corporate event
in Florida, stated that Disney will be distributing the
film.
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Curious
George: Variety reports Universal Pictures
and Imagine Entertainment are producing a film of the
children's classic, written in 1941 by H.A. Rey and Margret
Rey, about an inquisitive little ape and his yellow-hatted
human guardian. The project is currently one year into
production as a traditionally animated film, with 75 animators
installed at Universal City and a budget reportedly set
at $40 million. Imagine co-topper Ron Howard has indicated
that the style will be retro and the humor will be edgy,
rather than politically correct, with Will Ferrell providing
the voice for the Man in the Yellow Hat. The screenplay
is by Karey Kilpatrick, Joe Stillman, Michael McCullers,
Daniel Gerson and Rob Baird; Jun Falkenstein is directing
for a November 2005 release.
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