Sep
24
Wolf pack wonderment
Posted in: Animation
For Storks, Sony Pictures Imageworks had some fun scenes to make including those involving the shape-shifting wolf pack. I wrote about the work for Cartoon Brew.
Sep
24
Turner India’s licensing and merchandising arm is aiming for a strong double digit growth this year as it expands into new South Asian markets of Sri Lanka and Nepal in partnership with FMCG brands like Perfetti, Heinz, Unilever, Parle, Mondelez, United Biscuits and Kellogg’s.
As part of its expansion plans, CNE will seek more collaboration with players from retail, e-commerce and FMCG sectors to increase its footprint, and strengthen its leadership position in the market. In line with this strategy, CNE has also partnered with Myntra and Future Group. Besides the re-launch of the ever popular global franchise ‘The Powerpuff Girl’s, CNE will also be focusing on a strong roster of DC movies from Warner Bros. that include Wonder Woman, Justice League, Aqua Man and Flash.
All this and a preview to plans for 2017 were unveiled at the Cartoon Network Enterprises roadshow on 20 September in Mumbai with over 200 trade partners attending this showcase of Cartoon Network and Warner Bros. extensive portfolio of current and future IPs, TV shows and movies.
“The licensing and merchandise segment has evolved over the years and is currently witnessing a strong upswing due to ecommerce explosion in South Asia. We are looking at driving strategic partnerships across various categories in the coming months and providing different touch points for our fans to experience our brand. This roadshow provides an ideal platform for us to connect with our current and potential clients to showcase our portfolio and significant range of products,” said Turner India, managing director, Siddharth Jain.
A brand new series of Ben 10 will also be launching as part of an international premiere on Cartoon Network in October and an extensive new product catalogue will be announced soon after.
The post Cartoon Network unveils plans for consumer products and licensing business appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Sep
24
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. introduced the Ghost Rider in this season and tried to keep the character in sync with reality. The comics world has tried several innovations on the Ghost Rider but the general elements have always been the same- the fire and blazing skull.
Visual effects supervisor, Mark Kolpack explains the design elements that went into creating a new look for the classic Marvel anti-hero. From conception, filming to finished effect on the new Ghost Rider, Kolpack explains the mo-cap creation of the actor Gabriel Luna.
It features actor Gabriel Luna in a motion-capture hood with lights to simulate a flaming glow on his leather jacket. A makeshift hood adorned with LED lights was used to give the glow effect. These lights are designed to adjust to different colour temperatures, allowing the yellow hues to better correspond with lighting of actual fire.
The sequence when the actor’s face transforms into the skull of fire has been crafted neatly showing the burning of the flesh and the flames of fire emerging steadily.
Kolpack and the team wanted to create a unique Ghost Rider that audiences could emotionally connect to. Therefore they minutely worked on every detail to keep the effects as close to reality as possible.
The post Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘Ghost Rider’ created using fiery VFX appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Sep
24
The details of the DLC and season pass for the upcoming WWE 2K17 has just been unveiled and it has a lot to offer.
Firstly, as usual, there will be a season pass which will allow players to purchase an additional assortment of content. The season pass will cost $29.99 however, each of the components of the bundle can be purchased individually. As opposed to the former editions, the content will now reportedly be available immediately and not on a monthly rollout basis.
Here’s the list of content and pricing listed on WWE 2K’s site:
Accelerator
Players will gain access to all unlockable content available at launch in the game’s VC Purchasable section (excluding downloadable content);
Players can also decide the overall rankings and attribute levels for all playable characters throughout the life of the product;
The Accelerator will be available for $4.99.
Future Stars Pack
Playable WWE and NXT Superstars: Austin Aries, Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows, Mojo Rawley and Tye Dillinger;
The Future Stars Pack will be available for $8.99.
Hall of Fame Showcase
Playable matches include:
Cactus Jack and Diamond Dallas Page vs. The Fabulous Freebirds (Jimmy Garvin and Michael “PS” Hayes) (WCW Saturday Night 1992);
The Fabulous Freebirds (Buddy Roberts and Michael “PS” Hayes) vs. Kerry and Kevin Von Erich (WCCW 1986);
Ivory vs. Jacqueline (SmackDown 2000);
Sting (gold and black tights) vs. Ric Flair (Clash of Champions 1988);
Sting (n.W.o. Wolfpac ring gear) vs. Bret Hart (WCW Halloween Havoc 1998);
Papa Shango vs. The Godfather (Dream Match);
Big Boss Man (with Albert) vs. The Big Show (Armageddon 1999);
The Hall of Fame Showcase will be available for $9.99.
Legends Pack
Playable WWE Legends: Brutus “The Barber” Beefcake, Eddie Guerrero, Greg “The Hammer” Valentine, Sycho Sid and Tatanka;
The Legends Pack will be available for $8.99.
MyPlayer Kick Start (PS4 and Xbox One Exclusive)
Players will gain access to unlock and boost created Superstar ratings and attributes made available at launch as part of the game’s MyCareer mode;
Players can also unlock all clothing made available at launch that provides attribute boosts in MyCareer;
MyPlayer Kick Start will be available for $9.99.
New Moves Pack
Explore a wide variety of new in-game moves, including the Swingout Neckbreaker (made popular by current WWE Raw Women’s Champion Charlotte); the Elbro Drop (made popular by WWE Superstar Zack Ryder); the Face Wash Combo (made popular by NXT Superstar Samoa Joe; and the TJP Clutch made popular by current WWE Cruiserweight Champion T.J. Perkins);
The New Moves Pack will be available for $3.99.
NXT Enhancement Pack (PS4 and Xbox One Exclusive)
Playable NXT Superstars: Apollo Crews, Nia Jax and Shinsuke Nakamura;
Players will earn a 50 per cent boost in points while competing at NXT during MyCareer;
The NXT Enhancement Pack will be available for $9.99.
NXT Legacy Pack (PS3 and Xbox 360 Exclusive)
Playable NXT Superstars: Apollo Crews, Nia Jax and Shinsuke Nakamura;
The NXT Legacy Pack will be available for $4.99.
WWE 2K17 Season Pass
Players may purchase select WWE 2K17 downloadable content at a reduced price point through the game’s Season Pass. For $29.99, a savings of more than 15 per cent versus individual content purchases, players will receive the following items as they become available:
Accelerator; Future Stars Pack; Hall of Fame Showcase; Legends Pack and New Moves Pack.
WWE 2K17 Digital Deluxe Editions
PS4 and Xbox One ($89.99) – available for pre-order now:
Copy of WWE 2K17;
WWE 2K17 Season Pass;
WWE 2K17 MyPlayer Kick Start;
WWE 2K16 MyPlayer Kick Start (available immediately with pre-order purchase);
Goldberg Pack (access to two playable Bill Goldberg characters, as well as playable WCW Monday Nitro and Halloween Havoc arenas);
Theme (PS4 only; available immediately with pre-order purchase).
PS3 ($79.99) – available beginning 11 October, 2016:
Copy of WWE 2K17;
WWE 2K17 Season Pass;
NXT Legacy Pack.
The post WWE 2K17 new season pass and DLC details revealed appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Sep
24
Rotomaker India Pvt Ltd
Posted in: Animation
Rotomaker India Pvt Ltd (Hyderabad) invites you to be a part of our Team. Interested candidates can apply for the below open vacancies
VFX Roto Artist: Min 3 to 5 year’s exp in international feature film.
VFX Paint Artist: Min 3 to 5 year’s exp in international feature film.
VFX Comp Artist: Min 3 to 5 year’s exp in international feature film.
Matte Extraction Artist: Min 2 to 4 year’s exp in international feature film and Commercials.
Matchmove Artist: Min 2 to 4 year’s exp in international feature film and Commercials.
Sr.IT Support Engineers: Min 2 to 3 years exp in server maintenance and Firewall.
Interested Candidates can send your resumes to jobs@rotomaker.com
The post Rotomaker India Pvt Ltd appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Sep
24
The recent Star Wars: The Force Awakens garnered a huge amount in revenues and set quite a benchmark for the upcoming movies of the franchise. The upcoming trilogy of Star Wars movies will come to an end in 2019 but it seems that Disney is already gearing up for more content.
At Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference in New York, Disney CEO Bob Iger gave away some small anecdotes which might bring a smile to the fans of Star Wars. Iger revealed that they have plans to continue working with the franchise post 2020.
So going by that equation, the upcoming ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ and ‘Episode VIII’ would just be the beginning of an absolutely new series of movies from the Star Wars realm.
Rogue One would be coming this year in December and Episode VIII in the December of next year and possibly a Han Solo spinoff featuring Alden Ehrenreich in 2018 and Episode IX a year after that. Iger further revealed that he has already got a pitch from director Colin Trevorrow, on how Episode IX would go about. The CEO also teased that a writer is already on works for a Star Wars movie for 2020, however nothing else about the movie is known yet.
Here’s more of what he said during the conference, “I had a meeting yesterday with Kathy Kennedy and we mapped out—well, we reviewed—the ‘Star Wars’ plans that we have till 2020.” He further added, “We have movies in development for ‘Star Wars’ till then, and we started talking about what we’re going to do in 2021 and beyond.”
So, she’s not just making a ‘Star Wars’ movie, she’s making a ‘Star Wars universe’ of sorts.
The post Disney CEO teases about creating ‘Star Wars’ movies for 2020 and beyond appeared first on AnimationXpress.
Sep
24
Qualcomm Snapdragon Lifeline
Posted in: AnimationQualcomm’s short film, Lifeline, has won the Entertainment Grand Prix at the Spikes Asia 2016 awards held in Singapore. The 30 minute Qualcomm Snapdragon Lifeline film is a product demo disguised as a psychological thriller. Kai, a young Chinese man who is the heir to a pharmaceutical fortune, wakes up in Shanghai one morning to discover that his true love, an American woman named Emma, has vanished without a trace. Confused and distraught Kai fears she has left him until he receives a mysterious package containing Emma’s phone. Over the subsequent 30 minutes Kai must use Emma’s phone (and many of its differentiated features) to figure out what has happened to Emma, who she really is and get to the bottom of both their relationship and her disappearance. Along the way he will be forced to question his beliefs, his family and his love for Emma.
Written by Academy Award winner Armando Bo (Birdman) and starring A – List talent from both the US (Olivia Munn) and China (Wang Leehom and Joan Chen), the film was shot on location in Shanghai and played out in both Mandarin and English. The film was launched online at lifelinefilm.com, on iQiyi in China and on Hulu, YouTube and Facebook in the U.S. The film’s talent, and their massive social followings, were used to drive traffic to the film using a range of trailers, posts, and gifs in both languages. Upon finishing the film, people were invited to watch an accompanying documentary called “Inside Lifeline” featuring talent from the film and product experts, who explained the role technology played in driving the story forward.
Qualcomm Snapdragon Lifeline Credits
The Qualcomm Snapdragon Lifeline campaign was developed at Ogilvy New York by chief creative officer Teddy Lynn, group creative directors Aaron Mosher and David Yankelewitz, creative directors Bastian Baumann and Chris Rowson, senior art directors Andrew Miller and Lauren Van Aswegen, copywriters Peter Nordstrom, Dan Winikur and Tim Stiefler, producers Matt Bonin, Karl Westman, Nicole Severi and Sebastian Aresco, content and social president Mark Himmelsbach, executive group directors Adam Puchalsky and Lee Sheng, account team Brian Lee, Alexandra Andrial, Vanessa Luo, Zora Liao, Faith Stonner and Zoey D, media team Kim Kozma, Sarah Greenfield, Alice Wei, Michael Bruckstein, Mandana Mellano at Neo@Ogilvy Beijing and New York.
Filming was shot by director/screenwriter Armando Bo via Anonymous Content, Los Angeles, and April Harvest Productions, Shanghai, with executive producers Steve Golin and Eric Stern, producer Vincenzo Landay, screenwriters Lucas Bucci and Mariana Levy.
Editor was Paul Martinez at Arcade Edit with executive producer Kristen Thon-Webb.
Post production was done at Timber by creative director Kevin Lao and senior producer Lauren Loftus, and H&O Productions, New York, by Joshua Teicher and Nikki Draak.
Music was by composers Danny Bensi and Saunder Juriaans at Pulse Music.
PR was handled at Ogilvy New York, Di Gennaro New York and Burson Marsteller Beijing.
Sep
23
Planet Unknown
Posted in: Animation
At the end of 21st century, mankind were facing global resource depletion. Space Rovers were sent out to find potential inhabitable planets. Credits: Written & Directed by – Shawn Wang Modelling, Texturing, Animation, Compositing & Editing – Shawn Wang Music & Sound Design by – Echoic Audio Composer – Sam Foster Sound Design by – Tom Gilbert & David Johnston Special Thanks to – Evolutions Re-recording Mixer – Will Norie Faculty Producer – Xinyuan Huang Faculty Adviser – Yucheng Huang Special Thanks to System Advisers – Horizon Bian / Sicong Wang / Jiawei Cao Festivals: 01. Burbank International Film Festival – Best Animated Short 02. Korea Independent Animation Festival – Official Selection 03. Imaginaria Film Festival – Official Selection 04. LA Shorts Fest – Official Selection 05. Oaxaca Film Festival – Official Selection 06, Los Angeles CineFest – Official Selection 07. Lisbon International Film Festival – Official Selection 08. China Animation & Comic Competition Golden Dragon Award – Official Selection Links: Official Website: www.PlanetUnknownFilm.com Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/PlanetUnknownFilm IMDb: imdb.com/title/tt5850826 /* I had been working full time on Planet Unknown from July 2015 to June 2016. It was a passion project as well as my graduation thesis film at Communication University of China. This 11-month journey was very challenging, but it was a perfect learning opportunity as well. The idea started back in 2014 when Interstellar was released. I was deeply impressed by the movie and was inspired by the two robots TARS and CASE. The idea of intellectual robots exploring space developed from there. Other inspirations include Pixar movies like WALL-E and Toy Story, as well as CHAPPiE, NASA documentaries about Mars Rover Curiosity, and short films by individuals like Alex Roman’s The Third & The Seventh, Richard Mans’ Abiogenesis, Erik Wernquist’s Wanderers, Alf Lovvold’s Dawn of the Stuff, and so many more. Echoic Audio, one of the UK’s leading music & sound design studios, joined this adventure with epic cinematic score and detailed sound design which catapulted the film to a new level that I had never imagined. This project pushed me to do what I never thought I could do. However, it also keeps punching me in the face and shows me how limited my skills are. There are still tons of problems in the making that I can’t figure out even now. Thanks to everyone for the support along the way. The new adventure begins… */
Sep
23
This newly declassified video footage from the head-up-display of a U.S. Air Force Arizona Air National Guard F-16 records the dramatic moment when its unconscious pilot is saved from certain death by the aircraft’s Automatic Ground Collision Avoidance System.
Read more about the “save”: http://aviationweek.com/technology/auto-gcas-saves-unconscious-f-16-pilot-declassified-usaf-footage
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