Inside Pixar !

There are definitely good reasons why Pixar animation studio does things right always. Apart from engaging some of the best talents in the world, there are more to it, SEE it yourself.

Inside Pixar
Part- I:


Part-II:


Part-III:


Wish I could be there....alteast as a tourist!

Beowulf: Unbelievable realism!

Yes…that is how I would describe Beowulf movie- Unbelievable Realism! But then, when I think again, that’s a paradox within. Realism should be believable isn’t it?!
Beowulf is packed with exemplary art work. The main models are detailed to the core. The textures and lighting are just perfect; can’t say much about the animation because it is motion captured. I said models and not characters because there was something still missing that made me look at them as 3d models and not as real humans. Though they managed to make awesome wet looks (Angeline Jolie rocks!), the models lacked any sweating, even when the golden dragon was spitting fire around them. This might be nit-picking, but can’t really help it.

Robert Zemeckis, the director, has taken a great leap from Polar Express to Beowulf, in terms of visualization and cast.
There is a question mark hanging around somewhere in the mind. Whey did they make this movie in 3d. It could have been done as a mix of live action and CG. That said, 3d has had a great role in converting the thoughts of the director into visuals and in the process converting a 50 year old 5’10” actor into a 6’3” hunk!



Sony Imageworks’ cutting edge graphics shows all that they have learnt from making Polar Express and Monster House. Now, the ultimate question is…..will it beat the ‘Rat’ at the Oscars? I don’t think so. Ratatouille caters to a larger audience unlike Beowulf which has gory monsters and some real hot nudity (Angelina Jolie again, ruthlessly seductive!)- definitely not for kids. While Rat is an original script, Beowulf is an adaptation of an old epic English poem. Well, that might not be a hindrance on its way to the awards. Whatever it is, Beowulf is a great step ahead in 3d movie making.

Ratatouille - too good !!!

The wait is over. I saw Ratatouille last week with thirty others from my workplace. This is one helluva movie! Pixar’s story telling has hit an all time peak. Apart from the articulate animations, awesome dynamics (cloth, water) and incredible lighting, the story itself is in an all new premise. The ‘Anyone Can Cook’ theme has worked so well in this movie and there is something in it that makes us believe that it could happen in our kitchens too!
It was wonderful to see kids bursting out with laughter when Remy trains Linguini blindfolded. Nobody is always right and nobody is always wrong (hmm….except Skinner) in this movie and that lends so much ‘character’ to all the characters. With all the twists and turns, this movie is one journey worth traveling.
On the technical side, I really enjoyed the water dynamics in the ‘Remy in the gutter’ scene. The cloth simulation on Gusteau (Remy’s figment of imagination) and wet cloth on Linguini were really cool. They must have had one damn rig for Linguini and that showed in many places, one of them was where Remy tries to wake up Linguini. The visualizations for tastes were a great effort, something never tried before!
In a nutshell, Ratatouille is Yummy!

Transformers - After effects

“This is a must see if you're in the mood for a strong, loud summer movie. Fans of the Transformers and newcomers alike are going to have a lot of fun.“

This is what a review of the movie ‘Transformers’ screamed. Not that the reviews break or make my decision to watch movies. I have been wanting to see this movie ever since I saw the trailer involving the Beagle and I finally did it last week. The actual movie was so different from what I had imagined. But that had to do with my knowledge (or the lack of it) of the Transformers comics. But boy did I like it!

Every time a robot transformed, I felt something running down my spine. It was just amazing. Hats off to the animators! The action scene in the desert was fantastic. The CGI integration with the real videos was just perfect. Some fast editing helped pace the action scenes, but sometimes got me lost in it as I couldn’t find who was getting hit.

I also liked the performances of the cast crew, especially Shia LaBeouf.

On the negative side, the excitement created at the introduction of the team of autobots that come down to save earth is not maintained throughout. Not all of those autobots were fully utilized in the movie.

On the whole it was thoroughly enjoyable!

Promoting a promotion

In my previous post, I discussed sequels. Eventually, this is the year of the ‘thirds’. The talk is all about Spider man-3, Pirates of Caribbean- the world’s end (third in the order) and Shrek -3. Each of these films has their own audience and they are all critically acclaimed. The makers consider them a safer bet because sequels don’t have the scare of losing at the box office easily. Marketing them is easier what with the previous versions doing really good and a lot of people already are familiar with the characters and have some idea of the plot to expect. It is better to have very high expectations rather than none at all.

Now, what is the stake of movies that are to be released without prior introduction? How are the makers going to create the expectations for them, competing with the sequels that are to be opened at the same time around? They really have to scream hard to get some attention and that is exactly what Disney and Pixar are trying to do for their latest release Ratatouille (pronounced as rat-a-too-ee), an original animated movie releasing in June.

Right from letting people familiarize the pronunciation of the title, to the plot line- (a rat called Remy wants to become a chef in a famous French restaurant. Rodents and restaurants-something that can never be together), extending to the challenges faced by the crew at the production and the crew itself, Pixar has left no stone unturned. The extent of their promotion strategies are none too familiar. They have to do it to stand amongst the giant sequels all of which are expected to have a cake walk.

To top it all, Pixar will be releasing a nine minute clip from Ratatouille to give the audience a glimpse of what to expect from the movie. Desperate move from the great story tellers, but the Pixar fans will only be too happy to see it. Come May 1, the clip will go public at Apple.com. What is more interesting is that, Disney will run a 90 second promotion material at prime time on American televisions, that will drive the audience towards the trailer that is to be released; a promotion for a promotion! Never heard of anything like that!

Come what may, we could only hope that the Disney-Pixar combo will entertain us as well as they usually do.

Some Images:

Image 1

Image 2

Videos:

Technical Ingredients - 48 mb

Trailer

Brad Bird-Podcast

Allegedly leaked out clip

Ratatouille contest and video player

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Animation movies – the ‘sequels’ saga

A big line of sequels to animated movies are in the making than ever before. As far as I know, these are the sequels,

Shrek 3 - (release - May 18th, 2007)
Shark Tale 2 - (2008)
Madagascar 2 – (2008)
Ice age 3 – (2008)
Toy story 3 - (2009)

This has made me wonder why these studios are going crazy into making sequels. What’s the rationale behind this trend? Is it just the studios or does it have something to do with the audience?

A studio like DreamWorks animation has plans to make one sequel every year. That means, a sequel to almost every movie they make. That sounds terrible because sequels bank on the original release’s success. Making a mindless sequel to an insipid movie (Shark tale 2!) is a great risk. When we say ‘better luck next time’ after watching a flop movie, it doesn’t mean that they should try their luck with a sequel.

Since a sequel to a hit movie will already have an audience, the marketing cost will be less. In spite of having the main characters already modeled and rigged, and some environment that can be used again, with prior knowledge of character actions and lighting setup and dialogue style that form a great chunk of initial hard work, they manage to cost more, thanks to the voice talent. The voice actors/actresses demand a bigger pay check especially if it is a sequel. It is estimated that a sequel costs $20 to $40 million more than the original release.

People are ready to pay for what is tried and tested. If the viewers liked the characters in the original movie, it is more likely that they will be interested to know ‘what happened
next?’ and the expectations to a sequel are always high.

With more and more ‘talking animals’ kind of movie releasing every year, importance is given to awe inspiring graphics and animation laced with an awful story. As a result, the audience, rather than being awestruck, becomes dumbstruck. Only a few have all the qualities and reach a wider audience. Such movies are welcome to have a sequel. But endless sequels are not what we want.

Happy ending for ‘Happy Feet’

Happy Feet may have tap-danced its way to the Oscar, beating Monster House and Cars, but, without launching into full Pixar-fanboy mode, I genuinely think Cars earned that trophy.

The other two relied heavily on motion-capture, which is fine, but Happy Feet started to feel visually monotonous: penguins singing, penguins dancing, penguins everywhere. The constant white Antarctic backdrop looked cool at first, but by the end, my eyes needed sunglasses.

Monster House, meanwhile, feels like a film that didn’t need animation at all. With mostly ordinary human characters and a plot that could’ve been live-action, the only real justification for animating it was the house, and that could’ve been handled with VFX in a live film.

Cars, on the other hand, is born from animation. A world run by automobiles? That concept only works when animated - Pixar squeezed personality, emotion, and humor out of metal and headlights. The environments are gorgeous, the story flows, the emotional beats land, and not a frame feels wasted. What more does an animated film need to win - an unnecessary “message”? Hopefully not.

All respect to the teams behind every film, but if anyone deserved to ride off with the knight holding a sword, it was the crew on Route 66.