Weta Digital, which intends to tackle production-related problems with its new R&D unit, handled establishing mothership shots in District 9. © 2009 Sony Pictures. Weta Digital recently formed a dedicated R&D group headed by former Autodesk senior manager Sebastian Sylwan. He will be going to SIGGRAPH 2009 in New Orleans in two weeks to recruit talent for the group. The aim is to bridge the gap between R&D and production. Sylwan and Joe Letteri, a Weta Digital partner and visual effects supervisor on Avatar, spoke to VFXWorld exclusively about the new R&D unit. More..
Month: March 2010
A team from Weta Digital has taken out the special visual effects award at the British equivalent of the Oscars. Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, and Andrew Jones accepted the award in London today for their work on Avatar.
Back in New Zealand, visual effects supervisor Eric Saindon said there was a lot of excitement around the Weta Digital office when news of the win came through by text message. “Everyone’s pretty ecstatic about it, it’s pretty fun to get this award.” More..
Tolkien devotees will be making their way to Oxford’s Bodleian Library on World Book Day for a fleeting glimpse of some of the revered author’s original artworks.
The Bodleian is mounting a one-day only exhibition of J.R.R. Tolkien’s original iconic artwork for The Hobbit, together with a manuscript of Hobbit doodles and a rare first edition of the book.
The free-of-charge display will take place in the Bodleian’s Divinity School on Thursday March 4 and will focus on Tolkien’s own manuscript of The Hobbit, which was illustrated throughout with monochrome drawings and maps. The drawings also appeared in the British first edition of the middle earth classic. Continue reading “Tolkien Paintings On Exhibit at Oxford’s Bodleian Library”
British actor James McAvoy was set to star with Seth Rogan in I’m With Cancer, directed by Jonathan Levine who was behind The Wackness. But according to MTV, he has now dropped out of this “for personal reasons” and has been replaced by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the lead. Rogen released a statement confirming this casting change and explained a bit about what happened.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate that circumstances outside of everyone’s control have taken James away from the project, but, with James’s blessing, we were able to have Joseph step in to take on the [lead] role of Adam. We all look forward to working with James in the future.”
FirstShowing.net writes it like this:
Gordon-Levitt is REALLY stepping in last minute, as this had already started shooting up in Vancouver. The production has been temporarily halted and will resume again next week. It looks like McAvoy dropped out part of the way in for some BIG reason – either something personal or maybe he was finally cast as Bilbo in The Hobbit?
This tidbit is sure to raise a few eyebrows from Middle-Earth fans scanning news wires for anything potentially related to filming of The Hobbit. The initial article is here on MTV.
Sean Bean will star in a fantasy series on HBO based on George R. R. Martin’s fantasy series “Song of Ice and Fire”. Bean plays lead Eddard Stark, head of one of the leading families in the series. Continue reading “Sean Bean’s ‘Game of Thrones’ officially a go for HBO”
From hollywood.com: Many critics called for Zoe Saldana to be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress prize at this year’s (10) Oscars for her turn as an alien in Avatar. The actress performed and voiced the role, with her movements and facial expressions translated on-screen with computer-generated imagery (CGI).
And Serkis, who shot to fame providing the movements for Lord Of The Rings character Gollum and movie ape King Kong, has dismissed suggestions Oscar organisers should hand out a trophy to “performance capture” actors. Continue reading “Serkis dismisses calls for CGI Acting Oscar”