Industrial Light and Magic was created back in 1975 by the legend that is George Lucas, and has kept going ever since, racking up work on over 300 movies to date.
In the beginning there was 'Display'
pho·to·shop, transitive verb, often capitalized \ˈfō-(ˌ)tō-ˌshäp\
to alter (a digital image) with Photoshop software or other image-editing software especially in a way that distorts reality (as for deliberately deceptive purposes)
- Merriam-Webster online dictionary, 2012
From MPC to Cinesite, Fuel VFX to Weta Digital and everything in between! Escapee Leo Neelands.
Ska loving escapee Leo Neelands made a career change but 7 years ago, when upon the word of a trusty friend who recognised the potential of his artistic skills, he made his way down to London with nothing but a Wacom tablet and pen in his bindle and a bucket load of raw talent in his brain.
Behind the scenes at Cinesite - See you there?
2013 Oscars - VFX Nominees!
Tis but 10 days until the much anticipated Oscars! Here at Escape we have a keen eye on who will be winning the prize for best VFX, there are some pretty heavyweight contenders and nominees are as follows…
View Conference announces cash prizes for 2013 winners!
Our friends over at View Conference Italy, last week unveiled that they will be providing cash prizes for winners of their different awards. The prizes vary from top of the range tablets to a lump sum of 2000 Euros. The categories for application are as follows (complete with direct links)
You water believe it!
Heinz Maier is an amateur photographer who has undertaken a rather unique project.
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'.
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...
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.
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!
Webinar: Kick starting your career in CG with Anita Gribble and Garreth Gaydon
Recruiters in any company will be sent hundreds of applications on a weekly basis, and when it comes to getting your application noticed, just try putting yourself in their shoes for a moment. For example, their first job is to sort through the good from the bad. Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to impress at a glance.
2013, the year of the special effects film?
It’s no secret, here at Escape, we love special effects. For that reason, we are especially pleased that someone (Cinefex) has taken the time to find out what VFX clad films we’re set to expect in 2013/14, and compiled them into a succinct, chronological list for our (and your) perusal.
VES Cinematic Color White Paper!
Cinematic Color: From Your Monitor to the Big Screen, documents current state-of-the-art practices for accurately working with color throughout the visual effects and animation process.
Using a Green Screen to help kick the habit!
Regardless of whether or not you’re a smoker, there’s a fair chance that you’ll be rather sick of the uninventive advertising, encouraging people to quit - that uses revolting images to repel people from indulging in the habit,
Total Rigging in Total Recall: Webinar
On 7th of February 2013, Escape HQ will be welcoming Jakub Krompolc, who is head of rigging at London’s Prime Focus world.
Robin Squires VFX Course Diary: Week 12, Final week!
Having started a VFX course here at Escape Studios, I’m keeping a diary to share with you on how the course is going. Here's my update from my final week!
