The phrase ‘put your money where your mouth is’, is rarely put into practice. However, over the last few years, website kickstarter.com has bucked the trend by allowing generous and creative types to come together and put their money into projects that they genuinely believe in.
Bad Robot & Valve - Oh yes!
My goodness, it’s only January but for games and scifi fans dare I say it, Christmas is coming early.
Flying Sorcery
You may remember this fake UFO clip made famous last year - naturally everyone quickly branded it a fake which it clearly was/is.
Break out of the Box with VFX!
I really like how Michael Rigley has used 3D in a very creative, non-conventional visual effects project for his thesis.
Photoshop goes (even more) 3D
Fans of 3D and users of Photoshop will be delighted this week, with the announcement that 'Photoshop CS6 Extended' is on the market, it allows you to create 3D shape text using extrusions as a 3D layer... "similar to CS4 Extended" I hear you say! But alas, according to this write up, we are told that this works far more 'natively', with 'the usability you’d expect from an integrated Adobe toolset'.
Animation Ireland
And how has this happened? Well a decade of tax breaks and investment basically. Tax breaks to aid production costs and funding for development prior to production from various sources. Very interesting given the impending tax breaks around the corner in the UK. Could this be a new dawn in film and broadcast for us here?
I was amazed by how many companies are turning out real quality work in Ireland. The tax breaks have not affected the passion for excellence. In fact I would say it has merely fuelled it - the companies are competing against eachother to produce the best work. And as the industry steadily grows there are now whispers of full length animated movies being made there.
If you are curious about what has been happening in Ireland check out the Animation Ireland showreel on their website...
Here's something you may not know. Ireland has a booming animation industry. No I didn't know that either until I went to the Cartoon Finance conference in Dublin last year. In fact the animation industry is doing so well, that in the face of the downturn, it has become one of their major exports. At the conference, it was quipped that the animators are now the ones with the proper jobs.
WFTV: Women in Technology Networking
A big thank you to the ladies from WFTV (Women in Film and TV) for organising a networking event last night for women who work in technical roles across film and television. Three of us (Davi Stein, Anita Gribble and myself) from Escape went along to see what was going down! We had a great time meeting women from lots of different fields. Among them was a DOP, a few editors and to our delight two effects TD’s from MPC.
Truly EPIC God of War trailer
We were enticed this week when we saw this epic live action trailer for Sony’s game ‘God of War: Ascension’, It was made by creative studio and production company ‘Imaginary Forces’, a firm who have worked on a huge amount of projects, spanning from commercial work to television and film,
Google Chrome, Powerade, Transformers, Minority Report, and Boardwalk Empire, are but a few of their accolades to date. Impressive stuff!
If the game is half as epic as this evocative ad, viewers will no doubt want to get playing right away!
It's paper, but not as you know it...
Blown Away by Disney short 'the Paperman'?
Walt Disney shorts are always a treat for viewers. In fact I’d go as far to say that when going to the cinema to see a new Disney Pixar film, part of the excitement is the opportunity to see the preluding short that comes with the main feature
JJ Abrams takes on Star Wars Episode VII
Too much Apple for Ashton Kutcher?
Ashton Kutcher has unveiled that he got himself into a a real pickle, taking on a method actors approach when preparing for his latest role in a film set to hit screens in April 2013, which will follow the life and times of Steve Jobs.
MPC bring the second series of 'Black Mirror' to life
Those who watched Charlie Brooker’s ‘Black Mirror’, were no doubt transfixed by the futuristic realism of the plots, and the creation of worlds that are uncomfortably similar to our own. You will have no doubt been impressed by the VFX (well, those that you noticed) that created the settings on which the plots to unfolded, and of course a considerable amount of the action!
A giant robot, loud music, and plenty of explosions, what's not to like?
The office here at Escape is usually bustling with an array of different musical sounds, and it’s rare we fully agree on what radio station to keep on for more than an hour and a half.
Escape this Summer
While the days are cold, the nights are long, and we’ve seen the back of Christmas and New Year festivities, at one point or another, we all find ourselves daydreaming about the return of the summer sun. The smell of sun cream, the call of the beach, and the excuse to whack on a pair of shades, making ourselves look AT LEAST 20% cooler, is but a dream away at this, the tail end of January.
FINALLY, The Rock has come back, to the big screen!
Dwayne Johnson, known to most as wrestling icon ‘the Rock’, is to play the role of a snitch in his new movie, aptly named, ‘Snitch’, set for release February 22nd..
It's Superman, but not as you know it...
This project has amazed and dumbfounded us this morning, as a) We've had to deal with the whole concept of a Superman movie – directed by Tim Burton and starring Nicolas Cage, that never was, and b) We discovered that a documentary is set to be created, about this semi-mythical piece of film history.
3D Printing on a HUGE Scale!
Here at Escape Studios we are naturally, fans of most things 3D, and personally I find myself intrigued by the growing phenomenon that is 3D printing.
"remember, the Death Star’s power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the force"
We’re well aware that this is rather old news, but what kind of film loving bloggers would we be, if we didn’t share a story about the United States receiving a petition to build an Empire Inspired Death Star?
It's paper, but not as you know it...
We’re fans of art all across the spectrum here at Escape, and these sculptures, created by Chinese artist Li Hongbo are rather mind boggling.
What appears upon first viewing, to be a set or porcelain sculpted heads, are actually a set of heads that are crafted out of thousands of layers of soft white paper,
A form that was originally used to make Chinese toys and decorations – book editor and designer Li Hongbo, became intrigued by their form and took the medium to another level. Check out this site for videos and snaps!