We would like wish a big happy first birthday to Electric Theatre Collective who celebrate their first year with some massive success under their belts.
What connects Harry Potter, Thor, Hugo and Game Of Thrones Series One?
Want to know what Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Thor, Hugo and Game of Thrones Series One have in common?
WoW - the mists of Kung Fu Pandaria
MMO game (that’s massively multiplayer online game, for those who don’t know) World of Warcraft sometimes has a bad rep outside of, well, the world of World of Warcraft. However with the recent release of a trailer for this September’s add on, ‘Mists of Pandaria’ even loyal fans are starting to dish out criticism. Many of whom are insinuating that WoW has taken a turn for the worst, in an attempt to appeal to a mass market of gamers, turning their back on their real audience in the process.
Fusion ioFX
The Escape Studios Technology team have received some rather exciting new solutions recently, one of which being the new Fusion ioFX board.
Weird Wins!
With the US release of Paranorman last month (UK release 14th September), sporting giants Nike have released a one of a kind edition of their synonymous, ‘foamposite’ sports trainer. Only 800 of these Paranorman themed pumps were made and get this - they could only be won by weirdos.
A Joker of a film?
Here at Escape Studios, we’re all about the visuals. Cut us and we bleed visuals... I’m sure you’re well aware!
Fuel VFX go into administration
Bad news down under this week, as the prolific Australian firm, Fuel VFX, has made a 'backs to the wall' decision to go into voluntary administration. Having worked on such films as Prometheus, The Avengers and Iron Man over the last few years, we can safely say the world of VFX will be missing this hive of talent!
Everything is just Vine...
Over the past six months we have been working with Michael Illingworth, founder of Vine Post Production to expand his studio. Michael has worked at The Mill and Cinesite and has been involved in post-production, compositing and visual effects supervision on some of the biggest film names in the industry including the Harry Potter franchise, Gladiator and Black Hawk Down.
Autodesk Scaleform
A one day VFX taster session!
“Big things have small beginnings”, was an idea acknowledged in Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, released earlier this year. And for us, this statement couldn’t be more true. Taking the art of visual effects as a prime example, the spectacular CG you see on screens today was born from the most basic of concepts, and the people who created those effects invested significant time and energy to become the talented artists they are today. Every creative talent has to start out somewhere, and with the right levels of care and determination, it can evolve into something magnificent.
Total Recall, Terrific Reception?
This year’s remake of cult classic ‘Total Recall’ has sparked some serious controversy in the world of film. Here at Escape Studios we are PUMPED for its release, given the fact that a number of our graduates have been hard at work over the last year, on the VFX side of things.
A total of 1600 digitally enhanced shots are used in the film, the vast majority of which were worked on by our pals over at Double Negative in Soho – pretty damn cool right?
The hugely complex cityscape of a futuristic London was some challenge for the artists, and it required some high detail rendering, luckily these digital wizards called upon previous lessons learnt from their work on the ground breaking, Oscar winning, Inception.
Total Recall is yet to be released in the UK, so we can’t join the squabbling masses just yet. But if you do spend your bank holiday weekend watching this high action sci-fi flick, we want to know - Does this contemporary version do the original justice?
Twitter is telling me a number of different things, from…“WARNING: Total Recall remake is unbelievably boring.” To “Total Recall - Amazing cinematography, perfect execution. More exciting than Avengers. 9/10”
I just don’t know what to think!
This year’s remake of cult classic ‘Total Recall’ has sparked some serious controversy in the world of film. Here at Escape Studios we are PUMPED for its release, given the fact that a number of our graduates have worked on it over the last year, on the VFX side of things.
SIGGRAPH Round Up...
Another year another SIGGRAPH and what a packed in week it was. This year, LA didn't just give us earthquakes, heat waves and the biggest burritos known to man but also a full week of presentations from some of the biggest and newest studios plus an exhibition hall packed with the latest technology from around the world.
Here is a quick summary and a few favourites from last week. These are just some of the things to check out:
Web series spotlight; H+
When television orignally began, there was only a handful of black and white channels, horse and carriages wandered down our cobbled streets, and people didn't need the internet because they were too busy feeding their clothes through mangles in caves, or something! The first type of TV shows were comedies, and variety shows, and over time, they evolved into dramas, then slowly into the level of award-winning quality we see today. The internet is following a similar pattern; where as video sites originally appeared so we could swap videos of people falling over and kittens kittening, the medium is steadily evolving to produce high quality dramatic web shows.
Gold Medal VFX
In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympics is on at the moment, and amidst the gold medals, world records, union jacks and jovial sports fans, there have been a number of VFX delights that have caught our eye here at Escape, and we thought we’d share a couple with you!
The first video comes from Piranha bar, who have teamed up with Pubilicis Dublin to create a visual treat of an advertisement, on behalf of Cadburys. Watch this Olympic themed, motion capture animation and read about the project here. It truly is a delight for the eyes.
A very close silver medal is awarded to Crystal CG, who’ve teamed up with electronic music duo the Chemical Brothers, to create a VFX driven intro sequence for the big screens in the Velodrome. The objective of said video - to get the crowd roused before the sessions begin.
Watch the Tron inspired project here, and let us know if it’d get you in the mood for some lightning paced cycling.
My answer is a conclusive yes!
In case you hadn’t heard, the Olympics is on at the moment, and amidst the gold medals, world records, union jacks and jovial sports fans, there have been a number of VFX delights that have caught our eye here at Escape, and we thought we’d share a couple with you!
Dad What Are You Doing? It's Shark Week!
Get ready for bone crushing monsters in mind blowing HD slow motion next week, as on August 12th, the Discovery Channel (US) is set to broadcast the 25th season of ‘Shark Week’. The resounding success of this series speaking for itself as it celebrates its quarter century anniversary.
Match It with 3.1
Last week we informed you of the new releases from the Pixel Farm, PFTrack and PFMatchit.
Super Mario On A Whole Different Level
Now, I have to admit that I'm not the biggest fan of stop motion videos, but quite a few people around here really like them and I certainly appreciate the work that goes into creating them. Therefore I felt the need to share this one I spotted at TheVerge.com. It was made by a guy called Zach King and contains everyones favourite Mario and a couple of other guest appearances which you'll no doubt spot.
My, That's A Lot Of Dwarfs You Got There
Peter Jackson, reknowned director for the massively popular Lord of the Rings trilogy took to Facebook earlier this week to announce that his latest creation The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will now be a trilogy of films.
Ever Wanted To See Your Name In Lights?
Or wanted to be able to say, ‘I did that’, when watching a film and seeing a huge, breath taking explosion? Then maybe you should start to think about pursuing a career in Visual Effects. At Escape Studios, we want to make those first steps into the industry as easy as possible whilst providing you with the tools to succeed. Our Visual Effects Production course will not only give you the skills to progress in the exciting world of Film Visual Effects, but will also show you how to make an impressive show reel (which results in many of our students securing jobs once they have finished.)
Batman's Greatest Hits
Following on from my previous blog about The Dark Knight Rises, I thought you would all be interested to see what IGN claim are Batman’s Greatest Movie Moments. They span across all Batman films and, although there will be some obvious choices thrown in there, a couple will probably shock you.
