Hasta La Motion!

Disney’s much awaited Mulan’s cast attended the world premiere of the film in Hollywood last night. Renowned actress Liu Yifei, who plays Mulan, came dressed as a spectacularly beautiful Disney princess, wearing a strapless Elie Saab gown with an enormous train.  

Guests arrived dressed in their finest warrior after dark ensembles — think strong silhouettes and shimmering gold trains. The film’s lead actress Yifei wore a glittering princess-worthy gown from Elie Saab’s 2019 Haute Couture range, while Ming-Na Wen, the lead in the 1998 animated hit, wore a strapless floral Mark Zunino dress.  Signer Christina Aguilera who has sung for the film too was present in a pink glam avatar.

Christina Aguilera

Mulan‘s director Niki Caro spoke on just how much prep Yifei did to prepare to play Mulan. “I was determined that whoever played Mulan was not going to be fragile and feminine,” Caro told the outlet. “She had to pass as a man in a man’s army.” Yifei went through a 90-minute physical assessment during her audition that included extreme cardio and weight exercises. Yifei went on to train three months for her role, where she plays a woman posing as a male soldier.

Acclaimed filmmaker Caro brings the epic tale of China’s legendary warrior to life in Disney’s Mulan, in which a fearless young woman risks everything out of love for her family and her country to become one of the greatest warriors China has ever known. When the Emperor of China issues a decree that one man per family must serve in the Imperial Army to defend the country from Northern invaders, Hua Mulan, the eldest daughter of an honored warrior, steps in to take the place of her ailing father. Masquerading as a man, Hua Jun, she is tested every step of the way and must harness her inner-strength and embrace her true potential. It is an epic journey that will transform her into an honored warrior and earn her the respect of a grateful nation and a proud father. 

Yifei Liu

Mulan which releases on 27 March features international cast that includes: Yifei Liu as Mulan; Donnie Yen as Commander Tung; Tzi Ma as Zhou, Jason Scott Lee as Böri Khan; Yoson An as Honghui; Ron Yuan as Sergeant Qiang; with Gong Li as Xianniang and Jet Li as the Emperor.

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Tamil star Arya’s new film Teddy, directed by Shakti Soundarajan, is in the news for a special reason. Teddy becomes the first Tamil film to use an Indian company to design a special animated character.

It also becomes the second Tamil film to use motion-capture technology, to bring to life a teddy bear.

In an interview, Soundarajan said: “Unlike the Rajinikanth’s Kochadaiiyaan, ours isn’t an animated movie. The technology has been used only for one particular character. We roped in an artist to bring the special character, which will appear for 80 minutes, live on screen.” His previous film Tik Tik Tik, a space-based theme, was also heavy on animation.

Motion capture or mo-cap refers to the process of recording movements of objects or people. The specialists place sensors all over an actor. The sensor then tracks their movements, allowing them to be mapped on a computer screen in real time. Animators then create a virtual set for the movement to take place in. Director Shankar first used a form of mo-cap and 3D holograph for the song Kannodu Kanbathellam in Jeans (1998).

A few weeks ago, the makers released the song En iniya thanimaye from the film, which is a one-of-its-kind 3D lyrical video. The viral song has music composed by Imaan, lyrics by Madhan Karky and has been sung by Sid Sriram. Set to be released summer 2020, the film features real-life couple Sayyeshaa and Arya.

Meanwhile, Arya is preparing for director Pa Ranjith’s next film. It is speculated that he will play the role of a boxer who hails from north Chennai. He even shared a video of his chiseled body. He posted a video of his workout on Twitter stating: “Ranjith sir, all set! My love for sports coming alive on screen All set to face the boxers in the ring with @beemji sir for our next. It’s the most challenging film of my career. Loving the experience. #Ranjith sir is just phenomenal.”

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Its indeed notable that VFX-rich movies that India has worked upon have become forces to reckon on both technical and storytelling fronts. For its VFX prowess, Zero has emerged as a case study by itself, becoming the first major motion picture to portray SRK as a dwarf for the entire duration.

redchillies.vfx’s groundbreaking work on the movie Zero was praised by a popular youtube channel Corridor Crew hosted by VFX experts who had expressed astonishment and curiosity with regards to the techniques deployed to shrink Superstar SRK into a dwarf.

In their review, they entreated their subscribers for insights as to how redchillies.vfx achieved this feat of shortening the height and making it interact with other bodies so photorealistically.

In a bid to lay curiosities at rest, redchillies.vfx, on their twitter account, shared the entire VFX breakdown of the movie Zero, addressing their tweet to corridor crew.

Superstar SRK also retweeted the same and shared, “They say don’t let success go to ur head or failure go to ur heart. When I see this my heart fills with pride happiness and a sense of satisfaction that the @vfx_redchillies is at the forefront of technical changes in Indian films. Awesome effort! Love u.”

https://t.co/6YLt2FZLIE They say don’t let success go to ur head or failure go to ur heart. When I see this my heart fills with pride happiness and a sense of satisfaction that the @vfx_redchillies is at the forefront of technical changes in Indian films. Awesome effort! Love u

— Shah Rukh Khan (@iamsrk) March 10, 2020

AnimationXpress had published an exclusive interview of the VFX supervisors in the past. Here’s the link.

We are proud that the application of VFX technology in India has set such a benchmark, making waves of global proportions.

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Netflix has just signed a deal with Tina Fey and Robert Carlock, the creative team behind 30 Rock and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, for 20 episodes of a new animated comedy series, Mulligan. The new show is created, and executive produced by Schmidt writer and executive producer Sam Means, along with Carlock.

Tina Fey and Robert Carlock

Fey and Eric Gurian will executive produce through Fey’s Little Stranger; David Miner, Scott Greenberg, and Joel Kuwahara will also executive produce. Universal Television, division of NBCUniversal Content Studios, produces in association with Little Stranger, Bevel Gears, 3 Arts Entertainment and Bento Box Entertainment.

In the show, after an alien attack destroys the earth, what remains of humanity has the chance to start society over from scratch. But can we get it right this time? And does anyone know how to, like, farm?

Fey and Carlock are currently writing and executive producing NBC’s untitled L.A. Mayor comedy series starring Ted Danson, Holly Hunter and Bobby Moynihan. The duo also are executive producing Girls5Eva, a comedy series for NBCU’s upcoming streaming platform Peacock.

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With the schools closed and the children at home all day, the public television service has decided to go to families and schools with a new programming that touches all the channels. As the Italian government is working hard to control the spread of coronavirus by implementing struct measures, the nation’s public broadcaster Rai is increasing its kids’ content offerings to keep young Italians entertained and educated.

Italy will be closing all schools — from kindergartens to universities. The order had initially covered most of Northern Italy, but was extended to the entire country on Monday night.

Rai Ragazzi announced that a new children’s slot has been opened on generalist channel Rai2, playing in-house productions and co-produced series, while young audience TV channels Rai Yoyo (preschool) and Rai Gulp (kids) are expanding their program slates with educational content, including animated series and shows on art, music, history and science. Social media outlets used by Rai channels will provide children with correct information, as well as helping them to manage anxiety and stress.

Rai channels aim to provide a balanced content slate offering factual information and addressing educational needs with entertainment for some 10 million minors all over Italy, through this initiative.

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