Susan's Weekly News Mashup: Saturday 7 Jan 2012

Happy New Year! It’s a new year and a new mash-up. This week’s catch contains loads of info about US VFX Companies and their tax breaks, expansions, how to buy a camera, a plea for better treatment for the “Real” Wizards of Oz and more. What’s I miss?

Matchmaker Ang Lee Introduces Rhythm & Hues to Taiwan
From The Wrap
Film director Ang Lee lives in America but still has strong roots in his native Taiwan, where much of his current project "Life of Pi" was shot on location outdoors and in a giant indoor studio "ocean." Now he's playing matchmaker for a Hollywood visual effects company building an overseas office in Taiwan, and players on both sides of the Pacific are happy.

Digital Domain Media Receives Additional $11 Million in Economic Incentives
From Yahoo News
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla., December 29, 2011 - Digital Domain Media Group, Inc. (NYSE: DDMG - News), a leading digital production company focused on visual effects, original content animation and major studio co-productions, today announced that it has been approved for an additional $11 million of transferable tax credits by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity.

Will private schools soon be the only places where students can learn about science?
From io9
The United Kingdom's science minister, David Willetts, thinks that private and international investments can help establish the UK as a world leader in scientific and technological research. But is Willett's plan really feasible? And if it is, is it one the United States could utilize as well?

Pixar is doing a movie set entirely in a girl’s mind
From io9
On Charlie Rose last month, Pixar head John Lasseter talked about Pixar's upcoming movies - including the Monsters, Inc. prequel we already knew about, and the untitled "Pixar's take on dinosaurs" movie we're eagerly awaiting. But then he added that the studio has a movie in development that takes place entirely inside a girl's head, with different characters portraying her emotions. This actually sounds truly creative, and we're left wondering — along with Ian Park at Beautiful Brain — whether this will be Pixar's take on neuroscience. Maybe Robert Downey, Jr. can play the voice of the nucleus accumbens!

Noel Clarke and Benedict Cumberbatch join JJ Abrams’ Star Trek sequel
From Den of Geek
Production is due to start next week on JJ Abrams’ follow-up to his Star Trek reboot, and with that in mind, the missing parts of the cast are starting to come together.

The Real Wizards of Oz Deserve Better Treatment
From Huffington Post
Visual effects are the true "movie stars" of big studio pictures -- they turn today's movies into box office hits the same way big name actors ensured the success of classic films. In fact, 46 of the 50 top worldwide Box Office films of all time were visual effects-driven. And movies and broadcast programs you wouldn't think of as visual effects driven routinely utilize "invisible" effects to make changes to hair color, the sky, or to the background of a scene -- even creating the entire backlot and sets.

The Mill makes Audi hum
From FX Guide
In Audi’s A6 Avant ‘Hummingbird’, directed by Daniel Barber for BBH, a mechanical bird ventures along a surreal country road. The flighty hummingbird – intended to echo the Avant’s lightweight construction – and the roadside-inspired environments were created by The Mill. We talk to four key members of the The Mill’s visual effects team to find out how they designed, modeled, animated and composited the final spot.

Warner Brothers Will Make Netflix, Redbox, Blockbuster Wait Longer for New Movies
From All Things D
Want to watch a new movie just out on DVD from Warner Brothers? You’re going to have to buy it, or wait even longer to get it from Netflix or other disc renters.

Everything you need to know about buying a camera
From The Verge
Cameras! It’s almost impossible to get away from cameras nowadays, yet most of us use them with the bare minimum of knowledge required to snap the nearest tweet-worthy scene. That’s not because we don’t care about truly pretty pictures — even casual observers know the difference between good and bad photography — but have you tried to make an educated choice between cameras lately?

Smile For London: Word in Motion 2012
From Stash Media
Word In Motion unites some of London’s finest poets, writers and lyricists (including Ray Davies, Kate Tempest and Benjamin Zephaniah) with leading artists (including Malcolm Garrett, Hexstatic and Why Not Associates) in a collaborative project to be screened on the London Underground. Taking it’s cue from the seeming indifference shown to literature and the written word during the London riots, Word In Motion aims to reinvigorate an interest in poetry and writing as well as amuse and visually inspire people during the bleak month of January.