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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 19:24 |
Cameron's Fantastic Voyage script is done, who will direct?
James Cameron said that the script for his proposed remake of the classic 1960s medical sci-fi movie Fantastic Voyage is done and he is now looking for someone to direct.
"Fantastic Voyage, we're looking for a director," Cameron said in a group interview Sunday in Century City, Calif., at the Visual Effects Society Awards. "Haven't set one yet." (Writers who have had a hand in drafting the script include Shane Salerno and Cormac and Marianne Wibberley.)
Cameron will produce the new Fantastic Voyage, based on the 1966 sci-fi movie that starred Raquel Welch, about a team of scientists in a miniaturized submarine who navigate a human body to zap an inoperable blood clot.
Cameron said that he has updated the original, thanks to new medical information available. "Look, medical imaging has come an awful long way since the '60s, when the first film was made," Cameron said. "So we can do some pretty amazing stuff."
As for his future projects, Cameron remained coy. They include Battle Angel Alita, a futuristic samurai movie and a sequel to Avatar. "Oh, look, I love science fiction," Cameron said. "I've got a number of science fiction projects."
Then there's still the home video release of Avatar to work on. When it's finally finished raking in the dough in theaters, Cameron hopes the full 3-D version will be available on Blu-ray. "For Avatar, it'll be coming to the home in 3-D for anyone that buys a 3-D-enabled monitor, which are on the market now," Cameron said. "Samsung's got it right now, and the other big companies are coming out over the next few months."
The home-video release is planned for November. "Well, we're talking about it," he said of a 3-D home version. "We haven't made any final decisions yet, but we've certainly seen what the Avatar Blu-ray 3-D looks like on these new monitors. You want to buy a big one."
Cameron won the VES Lifetime Achievement Award. The VES Awards airs March 5 at 10 p.m. on Reelz Channel.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 17:08 |
Andy Serkis Opposes special 'Performance Capture' Oscar
We may think Oscars to be the ideal award ceremony but the ‘Lord of the Rings’ star Andy Serkis has found faults with it. She has revealed that he does not believe there should be a separate Oscar category for “performance capture” actors.
Serkis, is of the view that the increasing use of the film making tool had sparked an “interesting debate”.
Performance capture is when an actor’s movements are translated into CGI. But it reignited the debate on whether they are able to compete on a level playing field during awards season.
“It’s a very interesting debate. The industry is going to be using performance capture more and more in films. Personally I’ve never believed there should be a separate category because the essence of the performance is pure acting,” says Serkis.
Serkis holds the right to speak on this performance capture debate as he is an expert in the field, having played Gollum and King Kong via a performance capture suit.
He urges the people voting to thinks whether the performance is a genuinely acting or not.
“I don’t really think there should a special acting in a digital realm award or anything. From an acting standpoint, it’s the same,” he added.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 16:53 |
L.A. Noire's mocap system claims to set new bar for 3D performance
Depth Analysis, a Sydney-based technology company, announces today the development of MotionScan – a revolutionary new system poised to forever change the face of high definition 3D motion-capture and actor performances in the Video Game and Motion Picture industries.
MotionScan is the groundbreaking 3D motion-capture system powering Rockstar Games’ uniquely styled detective game ‘L.A. NOIRE’, developed by Team Bondi. MotionScan not only streamlines post-production processing time and therefore budgets as compared to traditional methods, but also promises a radical impact on the quality of performances they expect to be able to deliver in their game and movie franchises.
“Traditional motion capture could never bring to life the subtle nuances of the chaotic criminal underworld of ‘L.A. Noire’ in the same way as MotionScan,” said Brendan McNamara, Founder & Director of Team Bondi. “MotionScan allows me to immerse audiences in the most minute details of L.A. Noire’s interactive experience, where the emotional performances of the actors allow the story to unfold in a brand new way. Through this revolutionary technology, we’re able to deliver audiences a truly unique and revolutionary game.”
Oliver Bao, Head of Research at Depth Analysis said, “2010 continues the trend of high production values in both triple-A video games and blockbuster movie releases. Audiences now expect detailed CGI actors and realistic performances that pop onscreen with any game or VFX movie they see, and we developed MotionScan technology with this in mind. We have focused on making high fidelity performance capture of actors for games and films affordable, accessible and easy. The end results are cinematic, interactive, and engaging performances like you’ve never seen before.”
Unlike anything currently in the market, MotionScan uses 32 High Definition cameras to capture true-to-life three-dimensional performances at up to 30 frames per second. Capable of capturing up to 50 minutes of final footage and processing up to 20 minutes of facial animation automatically per day, the technology revolutionizes traditional motion-capture and post-production animation. MotionScan records every emotional detail, mannerism, and facial nuance accurately frame by frame as 3D models. No markers or phosphorescent paint needs to be applied to the actors at the time of recording, and no manpower is required to clean up data and animate the finer details by hand after the shoot. For directors and cinematographers, an additional advantage of MotionScan is the ability to view an actor’s performance from any angle and re-light in any way from one take without the need for multiple camera and lighting setups that quickly drain production time and budgets. Depth Analysis hopes to redefine audience expectations of what is possible in a video game, at the cinema and at home by opening up new possibilities to established and future film and game studios.
Read more: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/groundbreaking-new-motionscan-technology-set-to-redefine-3d-cgi-performances
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 16:51 |
“Avatar”, just getting started?
By Matt Galo
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past six months, you have undoubtedly heard of James Cameron’s new film “Avatar”. It is an epic of a film and has already made over $2 billion worldwide. Now, why should you care about it? Why should I care about it, being a film student?
“Avatar” has brought about a change in the film industry that hasn’t been seen in a long time. It stormed into theaters with a new technology in tow. Some people may ask, “What are you talking about? What was so great about ‘Avatar’?” To that, I respond, “You know the blue people in the movie were totally fake, right? They weren’t people in costumes.” My grandparents would certainly be surprised.
So what was so amazing about the technology, anyway? Was it just really great computer generated imagery (CGIs)? No, well yes, but that’s not the whole story. “Avatar” was shot in 3D on IMAX film using a specially made camera that had never, ever been used to make a film before. James Cameron actually invented a camera to shoot his epic that was 10 years in the making. Think about that. He created a camera just so he could shoot the film the way he wanted. Cameron has said that he wanted to film “Avatar” years ago, but the technology just wasn’t there. Well, Cameron has been patient and finally his vision was fully realized on the big screen. Now, let’s talk more about that technology, shall we?
The way the Navi people in “Avatar” were created was not much different from any other film that uses “motion-capture” or “mocap” technology. Videogames, films and animated films all use this technology to bring the movements of actors to a computer screen. I’m sure you’ve seen the behind-the-scenes pictures from some film where the actor is wearing a black leotard with dots all over it. That’s a mocap suit that allows a special camera to capture the actor’s movements, which then transmits them to a computer. Films like “A Christmas Carol” and “The Polar Express” used this technology, as did big-budget action flicks like “The Lord of the Rings.”
Now, what makes “Avatar” so different from these other films? Well, Mr. Cameron invented a camera that allows the actors to see themselves as they would in the finished film. Instead of having to imagine standing on the branch of a giant tree on Pandora, they can ask Cameron to show them what it looks like. He turns a monitor and instantly they see themselves as a Navi overlooking a beautiful landscape. It really is brilliant technology that is going to end up being used in many movies to come.
The uses for this technology do not end with just films. Videogames could benefit from it, as well as television. James Cameron is going to be making a lot of money licensing his camera to different parties. This camera is partially what made “Avatar” such a huge achievement in filmmaking.
Another large aspect of the technology used was the actual CGI to make the blue aliens and the lush landscape of the planet of Pandora. The majority of “Avatar” was CGI. The humans and some of the sets were real, but that’s about it. To me, that is a stellar achievement, considering Cameron visualized and created all of that film in his head. Most of the visuals in the film do not exist! It really is a triumph of technology and the human imagination.
If you haven’t seen “Avatar” yet, please do your eyes a favor and go! Get to the nearest IMAX or 3D theater and see the film as it was meant to be seen, because even Blu-Ray will not be able to reproduce the beauty of “Avatar” on the big screen. And while you’re munching on some popcorn, watching 10-foot Navi aliens run around, try to think about the impact this movie is having on the film industry.
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Wednesday, 03 March 2010 16:39 |
Motion capture's technical glitch
Master contract doesn't cover performers
The technical wizardry that brings characters in blockbusters like "Avatar" and the new "Alice in Wonderland" to life has brought a new source of labor dispute to Hollywood: Are these genuine acting performances, or something else altogether?
At issue is what is called "performance capture," aka "motion capture" or simply "mocap" in common lingo, in which non-star actors wear bodysuits that track their every movement digitally so that fantastical, otherworldly character features can be overlaid onscreen.
The technology has been deployed in an array of movies, ranging from "Titanic" back in 1997 to, more recently, "The Polar Express," "300," "Beowulf" and "A Christmas Carol," and its proliferation has raised enough concern from the Screen Actors Guild that it formed a national Performance Capture Committee to address the "unique concerns and experiences of members who render performances that are recorded using 'performance capture' technology across all media, and to advise the guild on all matters pertaining to work in this rapidly growing area."
Woody Schultz, who did such work in "Avatar," "Beowulf," "The Adventures of Tintin" and "The Polar Express," was appointed chairman of the panel on Feb. 22.
Schultz, who played a technician, an avatar and several Na'vi roles in "Avatar," is a strong advocate of getting the word out that even though the work's done differently, it's still acting.
"One of the goals for the committee will be to eradicate some myths surrounding performance capture; the idea that this technology will somehow replace actors couldn't be further from the truth," says Schultz. "In fact, it not only preserves every nuance of the rich and complex character an actor creates, it is completely reliant on that performance to drive the process"
But the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers doesn't recognize such work as being covered by the guild's master contract, meaning that employers get to call the shots regarding the terms and conditions for thesps who do performance capture work.
When SAG has raised the performance-capture issue in past contract negotiations -- the first time a dozen years ago around the time when James Cameron was touting the small bits of digital thesping in "Titanic" -- companies have responded during negotiations by asserting that mocap is a "non-mandatory" subject of bargaining and not open to negotiation.
SAG has jurisdiction over actors in most major films, but thesps have expressed concerns in recent years over the dearth of specific language in the master contract over how motion-capture performances are covered, such as whether the stunt, background or dance provisions apply.
And hammering out specifics in the SAG master contract, so that there's consistency in how actors are employed, would probably go a long way toward making it clear to both sides -- actors and employers -- that the performance-capture work is definitively acting and not just a computer creation.
Though the number of thesps working in mocap is still relatively small, the AMPTP is loath to make a concession on any area of jurisdiction, because it sets a precedent that is generally irreversible. That scenario played out during the WGA strike of 2007-08 when writers kept demands for jurisdiction over animation and reality on the table for nearly three months before relenting a few weeks before the strike ended.
SAG is scheduled to launch seven weeks of negotiations on its feature-primetime contract with the AMPTP on Oct. 1. That means the guild's mandated "wages and working conditions" process will likely begin in the late spring or early summer.
SAG and the AMPTP didn't respond to questions about whether performance capture will be part of the upcoming negotiations. For now, SAG execs are insisting that the new committee has been established as a response to the burgeoning amount of work along with the need to remind Hollywood that SAG actors are acting.
"The performance capture committee gives us a great opportunity to hear from members about this important and growing area of work and to educate and inform them as well," says Ray Rodriguez, SAG's deputy national exec director for contracts. "It's also a chance to reinforce the fact that actors bring an intrinsic and recognizable value to all productions."
SAG began working on the performance capture area a dozen years ago, when it first told the Alliance of Motion Pictures & Television Producers the work should be covered by SAG's master contract. The AMPTP disagreed.
That led to SAG's new technologies committee issuing an almost prescient report in 1999, which, according to an issue of the SAG Actor magazine from that year, asserted that "performance capture can be a continuing source of potential employment for guild members, and SAG should fully establish itself in this area as the field grows and develops."
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Friday, 26 February 2010 21:37 |
watch the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFPNcWN7QnM&feature=player_embedded
NASA can put humanoids on the Moon in just 1000 days. They would be controlled by scientists on Earth using motion capture suits, giving them the feeling of being on the lunar surface. I'd pay to use one.
Imagine sending every scientist to the Moon
Back in the Lunar exploration days, scientists had to tell astronauts what to do up there, and how to identify interesting things during the limited time they had. For Apollo 15, the first mission that carried the Lunar Rover, astronauts were trained in field work by Caltech geologist Leon Silver.
That helped them to move faster and look at the ground with a critical science eye, knowing what they were looking for. The result: Their findings and samples were a lot more valuable to scientist back on Earth, confirming theories that weren't confirmed till then.
Now imagine these NASA C-3POs roaming our satellite, controlled by all kind of scientists using telepresence suits down here, all looking for interesting things using high definition visors, and able to move just like they would move on planet Earth. It won't work for Mars, but with a communication delay of only three seconds, it will work beautifully on the Moon.
A realistic scenario
The 1000-day mark is quite plausible, since the mission would be a lot simpler than a human-based one. It will also be quite cheaper than the real thing. First, you don't have to care about life support systems, which will make spacecraft manufacturing a lot less complex. The whole system would also weight a lot less, reducing the need for the development of a huge rocket, and again reducing the costs.
What about the human factor I'm always defending? Well, we know that, sadly, we're not going to get astronauts anywhere any time soon, so this is definitely the best alternative. It won't be as inspiring as humans going back to the Moon or establishing a semi-permanent colony, but it could have an extremely positive effect on science.
Whoever did this at NASA should put together an actual budget as soon as possible. And while you are at it, make it possible for regular people to use one, maybe at the Johnson Space Center or some selected museums through the world. That will definitely inspire people.
Send an email to Jesus Diaz, the author of this post, at jesus@gizmodo.com
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 "Photo: Photo courtesy of www.joshsundquist.com")
