We’ve all been on-board an aeroplane watching with little interest, the safety demonstration given by the air stewardesses. Or if you have a sense of humour like mine, you try and make them laugh during their demonstrations by any means necessary.
Over the Top Shots (revisited)
We all know the importance good VFX play in films. They can turn scenes of total disbelief into ones leaving you asking how on earth did they do that?
Escape on BBC Breakfast!
It’s been quite a busy morning here at Escape! Our CEO Dom Davenport was interviewed alongside Framestore’s Sir William Sargent at their motion capture studio by BBC Breakfast. The lovely Steph McGovern who presents the breakfast slot conducted the interviews dressed fully in motion-capture gear and Irish danced as the famous Harry Potter animated character Dobby!
Prime Focus World launch new web series 'Close Up'
Here at Escape Studios, we know how you all enjoy getting to the heart of what makes up a stunning VFX shot. So imagine our delight when hearing that Prime Focus World have just released the first of a new behind-the-scenes web series, ‘Close Up’. And let me tell you, these nuggets of geekiness will not disappoint.
An even better glimpse of Iron Man 3!
Some of you may have been feeding off the trickle of teaser footage in circulation for the Iron Man triquel, coming to a cinema screen near us soon! And if you are one such person, you’ll be delighted to learn that a ‘full’ teaser trailer is now doing the rounds, showing off the abundance of action in store for us upon its release in April 2013.
Glowfrog At The VFX Festival
As you probably know Escape Studios organised and hosted the UK’s first VFX Festival last week with events, seminars and master classes taking place across London. The VFX Festival went down an absolute storm and was a fantastic platform to demonstrate the success of the UK’s ever-expanding visual effects industry.
Evil Dead Exclusive @ NYCC 2012
For those of you who didn’t know, New York Comic Con happened last week, and as promised, the largest celebration of pop culture on the east coast of America, brought awesome exclusives by the bucket load.
Keeping it real – kudos to Peter Jackson
It seems that for the last decade, a whole plethora of films have been remade when the original should never have been touched. Classic cult offerings such as Assault on Precinct 13, Cape Fear, Death Race 2000 and even Clash of the Titans have all undergone a reworking, which some might say was wholly unneeded.
We'll have a Heineken; shaken, not stirred
Riding on the excitement of the new Bond film, Skyfall, Heineken has a James Bond themed ad, featuring Daniel Craig. The VFX for the ad were done by none other than our good friends at The Mill, and the global TV and digital campaign will be activated across 32 markets and involves the participation of the film's stars, Daniel Craig and the latest Bond girl, Bérénice Marlohe.
Grounded: A VFX Short with some Heart
In this day and age of huge Sci-fi VFX productions that really don't go anywhere (cough!.. Prometheus...cough! cough!) emotionally we find ourselves longing for some real substance with our entertainment. Enter Grounded , a film short by Kevin Margo, a VFX vet from Blur Studio, about an Astronauts journey through space and life. The short was a top award winner at multiple festivals around the planet and in true VFX fashion Kevin and his team created a process short along with the film to show all of those VFX hopefuls out there just how it was done. Top notch work from a top notch creative, I do hope we see some more from Mr. Margo's mind!
Escape Studios launch the VFX festival with star studded panel of industry experts.
Last Thursday, Escape Studios launched the UK’s first VFX Festival with an exclusive panel debate made up of the industry’s top flag bearers!
Prime Focus World – Dredd 3D
Prime Focus World is the VFX house behind another big box office success, delivering 650 stereo VFX shots for “Dredd” in 3D. To put that into perspective for you, that’s 90% of the VFX for the entire movie. What’s more, this was achieved over a 24-week production period. A massive achievement on an epic scale!
Looper – the next Matrix flick?
Described as ‘this decades The Matrix’, the phrase alone has already set very high standards for it’s audience. Possibly a bold statement to make, The Matrix was pretty groundbreaking for it’s time. At first glance, the statement seems a cheap marketing gimmick, and one with little to support it. But if ever a marketing gimmick was doing it’s job right, it is now… because it definitely grabbed my attention and intrigued me enough to find out more about the film.
They call him, Machete
Those of you who have seen Robert Rodriquez’s grindhouse (destined to be) cult classic, ‘Machete’, will agree that after 105 minutes of semi naked women, full blown gun fights and next level gore, the best part of the film comes at the very end.
Honorary Academy Award goes to DreamWorks' Jeffrey Katzenberg
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that Jeffrey Katzenberg, the 'K' of DreamWorks Animation SKG, is to be given an honorary Oscar at the Governors awards ceremony this November.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
First of all, there was the announcement of a cinematic addition to 'Lord of the Rings', the prequel The Hobbit. Great! Then there was the news that the prequel would be part of a trilogy, even more exciting!
Partysaurus Rex!
Like many other film fans, my journey with Pixar’s original animation classic Toy Story, has been an emotional one. From the age of 5 I’ve watched every instalment of the Toy Story trilogy, each time within a week of its release at the cinema, even the third, which as a 20 year old I saw in 3D, twice.
The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry
Following a lot of doom and gloom surrounding the UK economy, it’s always nice to read something positive about an industry contributing towards economic growth. The BBC posted an article this week discussing an independent report examining the impact of the film industry on the UK economy. And we feel this report is just the thing we need to restore faith in the creative talent that exists this side of the pond, so it can be nurtured allowing the industry to flourish even further.
A guide to CG animations from 1964
We often take CG for granted in modern films—everything from sci-fi flicks to action-heavy blockbusters include plenty of computer generated visuals. But in 1964 the process wasn't quite so widespread.
Right up our street!
Good day film fans! Here’s something we saw online that is sure to tickle your pickle!