Hasta La Motion!

The question ‘Whose side are you on – Team Cap or Team Iron Man?’ has been floating around past many weeks and to choose a side was like having to choose between the air or the water. Both the characters have delivered some brilliant performances in their previous outings and each has a strong fan following. And it seems like the question will always be unanswered. Captain America: Civil War has so far been the best superhero movie in the history of cinema. It is a strong statement but it has the perfect amalgamation of story, action sequences, character unveiling and plot development.

Seems like Marvel knows exactly what the fans want from its movies and have managed to showcase that superhero movies don’t need aliens or masked villains or a CGI monster to make fans go gaga over it. A fight between two superheroes who have their own personal justified reasons to be against one another came as a breather to one and all. There couldn’t have been any better way for Marvel to kick off their Phase Three.

The biggest question that have been looming around since the announcement of the complete cast was whether Marvel will be able to give justice to the 12 superheroes that are going to be fighting off against one another in the movie. And it seems like justice has been served and how! Each character stands its own ground and none of the scenes seem out of place. With crisp screenwriting and a clear vision, the Russo brothers have delivered what everyone have been longing for, a complete comic book to screen movie.

The movie unfurls with the waking of Winter Soldier back in 1991 who’s out on an assassination mission. Flash forward to present day where we see guilt ridden Tony Stark remembering the day when his parents met with an accident and what could have been his last words to them. While Stark is giving speech to students, on the other hand the Avengers team led by Captain America are on an assignment to stop Crossbones from stealing a biological weapon from a lab in Lagos. The fight results in devastating a nearby building, killing a number of Wakandan humanitarian workers. This incident coupled with the earlier events seemed enough for UN Secretary to come up with Sokovia Accords that’s been signed by 113 countries, that will help them control and keep a check on the Avengers.

Guilt ridden Stark signs the Accords, whereas a bad experience in the past makes Rogers decide the opposite. That’s when the two superheroes decide to go on separate paths and everything goes for a whirlwind resulting in the epic face-off we all have been waiting for. 12 superheroes pitted against one another at the airport. Rogers and Bucky successfully manage to flee away from the scene and proceed to Siberia to stop Zemo from unleashing the other Winter Soldiers. And that’s where the final battle against Bucky along with Captain America and Iron Man takes place (though my hands are itching to reveal the secret, I won’t).

The movie is filled with action packed and emotional sequences. Couple of scenes that one should watch out for are: Winter Soldier’s 1991 mission, younger Stark’s interaction with his parents, T’Challa and Winter Soldier’s chase scene, the fleeting romance between Wanda and Vision, the airport face-off, Sharon Carter’s (Emily VanCamp) soft corner for Rogers and certainly Zemo’s tête-à-tête with our superheroes at Siberia.

Marvel is known to deliver some amazing visuals and in Civil War too, it left no stones unturned. Various VFX studios have worked on this film namely Industrial Light & Magic, Method Studios, Rise FX, Trixter, Double Negative, Luma Pictures, Lola VFX, Cantina Creative, Animal Logic and The Third Floor. The entire VFX team with the guidance of the production VFX supervisor, Dan DeLeeuw and ILM, VFX supervisor Russell Earl, managed to accomplish what every director wishes for; a film that’s VFX heavy without the audience pointing out the VFX blunders.

Few VFX heavy scenes that deserve applause are Scarlet Witch wielding her power, Vision phasing through objects and humans, Ant-Man’s magnitude changing portions, the airport battle and one major sequence – the revealing of the detainment centre. The water has been rendered properly and nowhere does it look fake. Kudos to the VFX team!

Throughout the movie, the entire cast managed to deliver an incredible performance, leaving an unforgettable mark on the viewers. Stark’s and Rogers’ fight didn’t seem like an unwanted one as both had their set of perfect reasons of being against one another. And till the end it was difficult to decide whose side am I on (Captain America). However, I would like to discuss particularly about the newest editions in the MCU: Black Panther and Spider-Man.

Chadwick Boseman’s performance as the stealthy, agile, athletic cat with costume made up of vibranium – Black Panther, assured us that bringing Black Panther in MCU was a good move. He managed to strike a balance between his inner conflicts and rage, and be calm enough to take the right decision. An aura of mysticism always prevailed and we cannot wait to witness what more will he bring on screen in his solo movie.

And completely opposite to him is the young Spider-Man who lives with his pretty aunt May Parker. Forget about all the previous Spider-Man movies you have ever watched as this web crawler is nothing like those ones. He’s this adolescent kid who’s excited about his fight against and along with the divided Avengers team. Though a little chit chatty, he manages to impress the 11 other superheroes and also the viewers with his stellar performance. Holland and Marvel have a lot riding on their shoulder with Spider-Man: Homecoming upon their sleeves.

The Russo brothers have managed to give spotlight to each and every character even if they were a part of the film for a brief time. And this wouldn’t have been possible without Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely screenplay as every character’s dialogues and involvement were well scripted and timed. Not a single character lost its essence and had justification for being on whoever’s side they were on. Seems like Stan Lee and Kevin Feige’s combination is working in the favour of Marvel and Walt Disney Studios and I can definitely say that the film is bound to break many box-office records!

Final verdict: The film deserves to be seen on the big screens so don’t think twice before going for it and all the superhero buffs should definitely watch it. (Psst… Wait for the special Stan Lee cameo and two post credit scenes.)

The post Captain America: Civil War Review – 12 superheroes, 2 battles and still the question prevails, ‘Whose side are you on?’ appeared first on AnimationXpress.

DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc., (DWA) reported 14.4 per cent year-over-year (y-o-y) growth in revenue for the quarter ended 31 March 2016 (Q-16, current quarter). The company reported revenue of $190.44 million in Q1-16 as compared to $106.17 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Further, it reported net income attributable to DWA of $13.84 million in the current quarter as compared to a loss of $54.78 million in Q1-15. The growth in revenue was driven by performance in the Television Series and Specials, Consumer Products and New Media segments .

“I am happy to report another strong quarter of financial results, which I believe reflect continued execution on our strategy of transitioning DreamWorks Animation into a global family entertainment company,” said DWA CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, “I’m excited to be passing the baton to Comcast, as I know they will continue to build on the foundation we’ve established over the past 22 years.”

On April 28, 2016 NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast Corporation, announced the acquisition of DreamWorks Animation. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2016, subject to receipt of regulatory approvals in the U.S. and abroad, as well as the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions. Following the completion of the transaction, DreamWorks Animation CEO and co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg will become chairman of DreamWorks New Media, which will be comprised of the company’s ownership interests in Awesomeness TV and NOVA.  Katzenberg will also serve as a consultant to NBCUniversal.

Note: Beginning in the quarter ended 31 March 2016, DWA says that it has changed the method by which intellectual property costs are charged to the Consumer Products segment to provide better comparability to peers and to be similar to the method used in the Television Series and Specials segment while minimizing segment volatility. As a result, the Consumer Products segment no longer bears amortization of capitalized production costs for the use of Film and TV segment intellectual property. Instead, the Consumer Products segment is charged a royalty fee which will compensate the originating segment for the use of intellectual property. There is no change to DWA’s consolidated financials, as DWA’s ultimate revenues and the amortization of capitalized production costs remain unchanged. This methodology impacts segment reporting only. All prior-year period figures have been updated to reflect this new methodology.

Segment numbers

Feature Films segment

Feature Films segment’s revenues for Q1-16 declined 26.7 percent to $94.3 million, compared to $128.7 million in Q1-15. Revenues in the  current quarter were favourably impacted by the worldwide pay television distribution of How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Mr. Peabody and Sherman, higher home entertainment sales and recoveries of $6.3 million from previously established home entertainment reserves related to sales through DWA’s former primary theatrical distributor. Segment gross profit for Q1-16 of $26.1 million was 31.5 percent lower compared to $38.1 million in the prior-year period.

Television Series and Specials segment

Revenues for Q1-16 from the Television Series and Specials segment more than tripled (3.14 times) to $57.0 million, compared to $18.1 million during the corresponding prior-year period. DWA says that the increase in revenues was attributable to a significantly higher number of episodes delivered under its episodic content licensing arrangements. Segment gross profit in the current quarter increased six-fold to $21.1 million from $3.5 million in Q1-15. The increase was primarily driven by higher revenues and lower marketing expenses, says DWA.

Consumer Products segment

Revenues from DWA’s Consumer Products segment increased 50 percent y-o-y in Q1-16 to $21.4 million, compared to $14.3 million in the same period last year. DWA says that the increase was primarily due to revenues earned from location-based entertainment initiatives during the current quarter. Revenue for both the current and prior year quarters also included contributions from merchandise licensing arrangements. Segment gross profit increased 60 per cent y-o-y to $15.0 million in the current quarter from $9.4 million in the prior-year period.

New Media segment

Revenues from DWA’s New Media segment more than tripled  (3.3 times) in Q1-16 to $15.2 million compared to $4.6 million during Q1-15. This increase was primarily attributable to revenue generated from licensing and distribution of content and to a lesser extent, brand sponsorship and talent management arrangements says DWA. Segment gross profit for Q1-16 also more than tripled (3.1 times) to $6.5 million from $2.1 million in the prior-year period, primarily due to higher revenues.

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A Parliamentary Committee has called for expediting the implementation of the project for setting up the National Centre of Excellence for providing trained manpower in the animation, gaming and visual effects sector considering the significance of this techno advanced skill.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee for Information Technology which examines issues relating to Information and Broadcasting noted that Rs 2.6 millions had been spent out of Rs 3 millions made available in Revised Estimates 2015-16 for setting up the Centre.

Though an outlay of Rs 0.57 billions has been given under the 12th Plan for this special project, the Committee was informed that there has been a delay in implementation of this Project and consequent underutilisation of funds due to the requirement for consultation with different stakeholders and the need for reviewing the Detailed Project Report (DPR).

Calling for optimally utilising the enhanced budget allocation, the Committee which has members of both houses noted that the Budget Estimates 2016-17 showed an allocation of Rs 50.9 millions for this special project.

It also noted that Centre is to be operated under Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode, which is part of the Budget announcement during 2014-15. The DPR has been prepared by the Media and Entertainment Skills Council and ‘in-principle’ approval of NITI Aayog has been obtained.

With regard to the PPP Model operating under the scheme, the Ministry said the proposed project envisages creation of necessary infrastructure, meeting the pre-operation expenditure as well as meeting certain operational expenditure by the Government.

However, the responsibility of the private operator is to meet the operational expenditure and the expenditure towards upkeep and maintenance of the infrastructure.

PPP model has helped in funding for creation of infrastructure and it is proposed that this Centre will provide world class education in the field of animation, gaming and visual effects at affordable costs.

The Committee noted that the setting up of the National Centre will lay the foundation of providing career opportunities to young students having interest in learning animation, gaming and visual effects. Maturing of this sector has potential in providing high-end entertainment business opportunities in the country.

(It is learnt that the Maharashtra government has offered land for this Centre in the Film City at Goregaon, although the final decision has not been conveyed finally.)

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Red Cross Flanders is marking International Red Cross Day, May 8, with “Red Cross History Lesson”, an animated film contrasting the impact of war-related symbols with the life-saving symbolism of the red cross. The Basque Cross, (lauburu) is associated with a death toll of 1229. The Maltese Cross, also known as the Amalfi cross, is the cross symbol associated with the Knights Hospitaller. Constantine’s cross, the labarum, incorporating the Chi Ro (Christus Rex) symbol, was associated with his successful military campaigns and a death toll of 110,000. The Iron Cross, associated with the Kingdom of Prussia and German Empire, is connected with the 16.5 million death toll of World War I. The Latin Cross, is connected with a death toll of 17 million. The Nazi swastika, also known as the hakenkreuz (hooked cross), is associated with the 60.5 million death toll from World War II. The Red Cross, is associated with the 45.52 million people saved since 1863.

Red Cross History Lesson Credits

The Red Cross History Lesson campaign was developed at Duval Guillaume​, Antwerp, by executive creative director Koenraad Lefever, creative team Nik Sluijs, Jasper Declercq, Joey Boeters, account director Patrick Clymans, account manager Jet Vervenne

The film was produced by designer Laurent Lejeune and animator Bart Callaerts. Sound was designed at Amp.Amsterdam.

A sheep in the herd is getting fed up with the sheep life. When he eats a glowing piece of grass he mutates and decides to go to outer space to make a plan of world domination! By: UBERcut & Animate The World