- Joined: September 2001
- Post Count: 3,644
About seven FX houses handled the varying shots in 'Narnia'. Among them ILM, Rythem & Hues, Sony Pictures Imageworks, and Weta.
When studios go this route, sometimes the final look of the movie suffers because there some of the FX shots aren't consistant with one another. Some end up looking great, while others look just ok.
"Quite an experience to live in fear isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave."
- Joined: March 2003
- Location: New Zealand
- Post Count: 3,013
Quote:
| I thought this *was* a WETA film. I remember seeing an online documentary a long time ago showing them making physical creatures and weapons. |
Assuming you are talking about Narnia...
It's not a Weta Digital film. Digital may have done a few effects shots, but not many - I believe Rhythm and Hues were the main company behind Narnia's digital effects.
Weta's involvement in Narnia was in the practical side of the film - costumes, armour, weapons, monsters, etc.
AFI Top 100 lists:100 Movies,
100 Thrills - Completed
100 Laughs - 24 to go - last seen:
The Freshman100 Passions - 39 to go - last seen:
Breakfast At Tiffany's100 Heroes & Villains - 10 to go - last seen: Tom Powers in
The Public Enemy100 Songs - 44 to go - last seen: "When You Wish upon a Star"...
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
Kami, is there a better pic of the lithograph somewhere? Its hard to get a feel for it from the one on the web. BTW, the text doesn't mention its signed by Peter Jackson, though you can see 3 sigs.
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
What took you so long?:b
Oh, I wish you hadn't shown me those items. I really like the Kong vs V-Rex (while holding Ann) and that lithograph. BTW, I presume the polystone is a cast artificial stone?
And the lithograph includes an artifact from the movie. Farout.
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
Quote:
| I own quite a few of the LOTR ones. To maintain it all you really need to do is keep it out of direct sunlight for extended periods (not good for the paint) and dust it every once in a while. |
Thanks, Kami, I'm going to be drooling over those Kong items for a while.
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: August 2001
- Post Count: 7,528
Quote:
| Rephrasing the question then, it's not "Best Visual Effect." It's "Best Visual EffectS"! |
...in a motion picture. If KONG WOWS, there you go. You can't take away the visceral human reaction. WETA knows that, and their films go for that. And it works, as the three Oscars in three tries shows. Yoda was emotive across a full spectrum. Assuming Kong will be so for far more screentime, who cares if some background plates aren't perfect? Most in the audience don't...my guess is they'll remember KONG.
Take care,
Chuck
Hey buddy...did you just see a real bright light?
- Joined: August 2001
- Post Count: 7,528
Kami,
Many thanks! Are they making any more designs? I like those, but I'm hoping for a KONG only figure.
Awesome,
Chuck
Hey buddy...did you just see a real bright light?
- Joined: May 2005
- Post Count: 305
| BTW, the '76 version of KONG won the Oscar for visual effects that year {tied with Logans Run). |
Technically speaking, neither film "won" the Oscar for visual effects. After
Bedknobs And Broomsticks beat
When Dinosaurs Ruled The Earth for visual effects of 1971 (awarded in March of '72) the category become a non-competitive honorary award given out when merited. This happened because there were so few films being made with large amounts of visual effects. The ironic part of this was that the first film to receive this honorary version of the FX Oscar was
The Poseidon Adventure, the film that would give new life to special effects departments via the disaster movie craze. In March of 1978,
Star Wars was the first film to "win" the FX Oscar after it was reverted back to a competitive category.
I remember a LOT of talk at the time that something was wrong when two films with such bad FX work as
King Kong (1976) and
Logan's Run were given honorary FX Oscars.
You're In The Show With Todd-AO!
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
Are these FYC posters for sale? As I look at that website I don't see that they are.
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: August 2001
- Post Count: 7,528
Jack Black is a classically trained actor. He's a hell of a funny guy, but he'll KILL in the right (dramatic) roles. I could see Black winning an Oscar at some point in his career.
But not yet. Like Kami, I have a few LOTR FYC ads...they usually pick very striking imagery. There is a Fellowship one (and Kami already knows exactly which one I am talking about) that is still my single favorite LOTR image...Aragorn kissing the forehead of Boromir after his passing. And not just LOTR (obviously), but most FYC ads are awesome. Try ebay or Variety magazine.
I might wait for the right Kong figure. Pose and image are very important considerations. I don't want a battle KONG!
Take care,
Chuck
Hey buddy...did you just see a real bright light?
- Joined: April 1999
- Post Count: 3,946
Quote:
| Yes but when was the last time that you heard Jack Black could get an Oscar nomination? |
How about last year for School Of Rock?
Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus.
- Joined: November 1998
- Post Count: 4,490
Quote:
| I personally thought the trailers were laughably awful. |
I thought we were beyond that. Judging a finished movie's SFX on the basis of an Internet trailer is akin to judging how beautiful a six month old fetus will turn out. At that point you can only go by its pedigree. Considering Kong's 'parents' one would be well advised to reserve any final judegment until then. The WETA track record for LOTR speaks for itself.
The matchup of TPM and the Matrix is a prime example of how SFX are evaluated when voting for the Oscars. You would get no argument from me that the volume and quality of TPM was considered superior to those of the Matrix. Where dissension will arise is on which movie's SFX served the story better. The SFX of the Matrix were used to reinforce and serve the story line. Many moments in TPM were busy for busy sakes and JarJar, however well he was created, as a story device was terribly miscalculated, Lucas's Bay of Pigs in my mind, and most importantly - detracted from the drama of the storyline.
If one is pulled out of a movie because of bad background plates then the movie has failed in its primary goal which is to have your attention on the story.
Every man is my superior, in that I may learn from him.
- Joined: December 1998
- Location: Little Rock, AR
- Post Count: 2,069
Quote:
| Try ebay or Variety magazine. |
Well ebay doesn' have (or I didn't see) the fyc pair of Kong and the v-rex. They did have the pair of Kong and Ann sharing a quiet moment on top of the ESB.
I'll have to keep my eyes peeled for the v-rex pairing. What did you mean by "try Variety magazine?" Do they sell the fyc's?
Johnny
www.teamfurr.org
Another cat? Perhaps. For love there is also a season; its seeds must be resown. But a family cat is not replaceable like a wornout coat or a set of tires. Each new kitten becomes its own cat, and none is repeated. I am four cats old, measuring out my life in friends that...
- Joined: August 2001
- Post Count: 7,528
Johnny, late year Variety magazines are full of FYC ads. They are never sold as posters. You have to get the ads themselves.
Chris, if the poor plates take you out they aren't doing their job, I agree. I am merely pointing out that if KONG makes you truly feel the story, then that is worth more than seamless digital backgrounds.
If it comes down to straight up perfect photorealism, ROTS (and Kong I am certain) would lose anyway. ILM wouldn't, of course, as War of the Worlds compacts their effects budget into some tightly managed flawless sequences. But it doesn't really come down to that. We can reasonably guess which three films will be voted on. We know the voters. And we know what makes them vote for the Oscar VFX winners. If the work on Kong himself is what Ebert, Poland, and quite a few others are saying, you can be certain KONG will be nominated. If the Oscars think of a special award for Kong (incorporating Serkis), then the other nominees have a much better chance. If not, they'll probably use VFX to recognize Kong.
Hey buddy...did you just see a real bright light?
