VFX Oscar Bake-Off
12-19-04, 10:58 PM
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VFX Oscar Bake-Off
For those interested, here is a news story from Hollywood Reporter about the films that will be making presentations at the VFX Bake-Off.
Seven films selected for VFX bake-off
By Sheigh Crabtree
The shortlist for the 2004 visual effects Academy Award pits Martin Scorsese's reality based "The Aviator" against six films that offer various degrees of VFX-assisted fantasy:
"Spider-Man 2," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "The Day After Tomorrow," "I, Robot" and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."
The seven bake-off contenders for the 77th Annual Academy Awards, which were announced Friday, were culled from an intermediary list of 18 films drawn from an initial qualifying list of 250 films, according to Richard Edlund, chairman of the visual effects branch executive committee.
"Our list gets longer every year," Edlund said. "Visual effects are more and
more part of the glamour of filmmaking."
Industrial Light + Magic garnered the most attention, having contributed to four of the seven films. The Marin County, Calif., shop was the lead house on "Potter" and "Lemony" and contributed last-minute shots to both "Day After Tomorrow" and "Sky Captain."
"It's great to see so many facilities represented on the final list," ILM
president Chrissie England said. "We're really proud of the diversity of our work and especially the digital human work in 'Lemony.' " Sunny, the biting baby in "Lemony," broke new ground for ILM in terms of character animation, skin-shading, subsurface scattering and hair and cloth simulations, England added.
However, the list of semifinalists did contain some disappointment for ILM,
because Universal Pictures' "Van Helsing," for which ILM delivered 500-plus shots, was omitted.
"We're not shocked because the movie was not well received," a Lucas Digital
spokeswoman said. "There also wasn't any real support from the studio in terms of (Oscar) ads or screenings. But it's still disappointing."
While 20th Century Fox's "Day After Tomorrow" made the list, the fact that
Digital Domain was not credited as one of the VFX houses involved is stirring up talk in the insular effects world.
During postproduction, the film's visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas and
the lead effects house Digital Domain had their differences, and, in an unusual move, Digital Domain handed over 85 completed shots and a remaining 140,000 incomplete elements to Fox that had to be finalized by other facilities.
As a result Digital Domain's contributions to "Day After Tomorrow" might not be represented at the bake-off. A film's producers can choose just four visual
effects emissaries for Oscar consideration, and at this point, there is no
representative of Digital Domain on the producers' official list. Instead, the names submitted by Fox to the Academy are those of Goulekas, practical effects supervisor Neil Corbould, Hydraulx's Greg Strause and the Orphanage's Remo Balcells, according to a Fox spokeswoman.
Nonetheless, Digital Domain's Nancy Bernstein, vp feature films and theme parks, was pleased that Digital Domain's work on both "I, Robot" and "Day After Tomorrow" will be on display at the bake-off.
"Obviously, with 'I, Robot' we're just ecstatic that our first foray into 3-D
characters has been recognized by the Academy," Bernstein said, in reference to Sonny, the Fox film's computer-animated NS5 robot.
As for "Day After Tomorrow," she said: "I believe at the end of the day the work that we did on 'Day After Tomorrow' will be recognized by both the producers and the Academy. Our contributions are very important -- from the twisters to the water shots -- and I believe we will be recognized appropriately."
If the film's producers and Digital Domain do not mend fences prior to the
bake-off, which takes place in three weeks, the visual effects branch might be called in to arbitrate and modify the final credit list.
"Due to the politics involved with the picture I cannot comment," Edlund said.
"All I can say is we hope they work it out out of court."
Although the CG-animated movies "The Polar Express" and "The Incredibles" both presented arguments for why their visual effects work should be considered, they failed to make the shortlist.
Edlund acknowledged that "Polar," from Warner Bros. Pictures and effects house Sony Pictures Imageworks, was on the intermediate list of 18 films, along with Pixar Animation Studios' "The Incredibles." But Edlund said that "Polar's" visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston did not show up for a final presentation to the visual effects committee last week prior to the final vote.
"It's surprising it went the way it did," Edlund said. "But Ken wasn't there to
speak for it. He was caught in traffic."
As for "The Incredibles' " exclusion, Edlund said "the visual effects in the
movie have to stack up to the other projects." He noted that both animated films "used all sorts of traditional and visual effects techniques."
Both "Polar" and "Incredibles" have qualified for consideration in the Academy's
best animated feature category.
Imageworks' visual effects work was recognized in the case of "Spider-Man 2," with its 2,050 shots, and "The Aviator," with just 400 shots.
"I wish 'Polar' was on the list; it does color the day," Sony Pictures president
Tim Sarnoff said. "But it's really hard to be disappointed since I'm thrilled to have our two films get into the bake-off. It makes going that much more fun."
Fifteen-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the
visual effects award nominating committee Jan. 19. The members will then nominate three of these seven films for Oscar consideration. The finalists will be announced along with nominations in 23 other categories Jan. 25. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2004 will be presented on Feb. 27.
Seven films selected for VFX bake-off
By Sheigh Crabtree
The shortlist for the 2004 visual effects Academy Award pits Martin Scorsese's reality based "The Aviator" against six films that offer various degrees of VFX-assisted fantasy:
"Spider-Man 2," "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "The Day After Tomorrow," "I, Robot" and "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow."
The seven bake-off contenders for the 77th Annual Academy Awards, which were announced Friday, were culled from an intermediary list of 18 films drawn from an initial qualifying list of 250 films, according to Richard Edlund, chairman of the visual effects branch executive committee.
"Our list gets longer every year," Edlund said. "Visual effects are more and
more part of the glamour of filmmaking."
Industrial Light + Magic garnered the most attention, having contributed to four of the seven films. The Marin County, Calif., shop was the lead house on "Potter" and "Lemony" and contributed last-minute shots to both "Day After Tomorrow" and "Sky Captain."
"It's great to see so many facilities represented on the final list," ILM
president Chrissie England said. "We're really proud of the diversity of our work and especially the digital human work in 'Lemony.' " Sunny, the biting baby in "Lemony," broke new ground for ILM in terms of character animation, skin-shading, subsurface scattering and hair and cloth simulations, England added.
However, the list of semifinalists did contain some disappointment for ILM,
because Universal Pictures' "Van Helsing," for which ILM delivered 500-plus shots, was omitted.
"We're not shocked because the movie was not well received," a Lucas Digital
spokeswoman said. "There also wasn't any real support from the studio in terms of (Oscar) ads or screenings. But it's still disappointing."
While 20th Century Fox's "Day After Tomorrow" made the list, the fact that
Digital Domain was not credited as one of the VFX houses involved is stirring up talk in the insular effects world.
During postproduction, the film's visual effects supervisor Karen Goulekas and
the lead effects house Digital Domain had their differences, and, in an unusual move, Digital Domain handed over 85 completed shots and a remaining 140,000 incomplete elements to Fox that had to be finalized by other facilities.
As a result Digital Domain's contributions to "Day After Tomorrow" might not be represented at the bake-off. A film's producers can choose just four visual
effects emissaries for Oscar consideration, and at this point, there is no
representative of Digital Domain on the producers' official list. Instead, the names submitted by Fox to the Academy are those of Goulekas, practical effects supervisor Neil Corbould, Hydraulx's Greg Strause and the Orphanage's Remo Balcells, according to a Fox spokeswoman.
Nonetheless, Digital Domain's Nancy Bernstein, vp feature films and theme parks, was pleased that Digital Domain's work on both "I, Robot" and "Day After Tomorrow" will be on display at the bake-off.
"Obviously, with 'I, Robot' we're just ecstatic that our first foray into 3-D
characters has been recognized by the Academy," Bernstein said, in reference to Sonny, the Fox film's computer-animated NS5 robot.
As for "Day After Tomorrow," she said: "I believe at the end of the day the work that we did on 'Day After Tomorrow' will be recognized by both the producers and the Academy. Our contributions are very important -- from the twisters to the water shots -- and I believe we will be recognized appropriately."
If the film's producers and Digital Domain do not mend fences prior to the
bake-off, which takes place in three weeks, the visual effects branch might be called in to arbitrate and modify the final credit list.
"Due to the politics involved with the picture I cannot comment," Edlund said.
"All I can say is we hope they work it out out of court."
Although the CG-animated movies "The Polar Express" and "The Incredibles" both presented arguments for why their visual effects work should be considered, they failed to make the shortlist.
Edlund acknowledged that "Polar," from Warner Bros. Pictures and effects house Sony Pictures Imageworks, was on the intermediate list of 18 films, along with Pixar Animation Studios' "The Incredibles." But Edlund said that "Polar's" visual effects supervisor Ken Ralston did not show up for a final presentation to the visual effects committee last week prior to the final vote.
"It's surprising it went the way it did," Edlund said. "But Ken wasn't there to
speak for it. He was caught in traffic."
As for "The Incredibles' " exclusion, Edlund said "the visual effects in the
movie have to stack up to the other projects." He noted that both animated films "used all sorts of traditional and visual effects techniques."
Both "Polar" and "Incredibles" have qualified for consideration in the Academy's
best animated feature category.
Imageworks' visual effects work was recognized in the case of "Spider-Man 2," with its 2,050 shots, and "The Aviator," with just 400 shots.
"I wish 'Polar' was on the list; it does color the day," Sony Pictures president
Tim Sarnoff said. "But it's really hard to be disappointed since I'm thrilled to have our two films get into the bake-off. It makes going that much more fun."
Fifteen-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the
visual effects award nominating committee Jan. 19. The members will then nominate three of these seven films for Oscar consideration. The finalists will be announced along with nominations in 23 other categories Jan. 25. Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2004 will be presented on Feb. 27.
12-19-04, 11:12 PM
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Hmm, too bad PE didn't show up, it was a marvelous exhibition of special effects. But have animated films ever been nominated for special effects? For some reason they seem to be ignored or not allowed in that category.
Nonetheless, interesting list, but nothing I would consider groundbreaking. Of the bunch, I'd have to say I Robot, Day After and Azkaban were the ones that really seemed to impress the most. The work on Sonny was quite impressive, even if you hated the design elements, the technical work was top notch in incorporation into environments and using the method to create a character. That's my two cents...more than likely you really would need to see the presentations on these films to really get into the meat of what was done effects wise for these films. There's no clear cut "Jurassic Park" type of winner in this bunch IMO.
Nonetheless, interesting list, but nothing I would consider groundbreaking. Of the bunch, I'd have to say I Robot, Day After and Azkaban were the ones that really seemed to impress the most. The work on Sonny was quite impressive, even if you hated the design elements, the technical work was top notch in incorporation into environments and using the method to create a character. That's my two cents...more than likely you really would need to see the presentations on these films to really get into the meat of what was done effects wise for these films. There's no clear cut "Jurassic Park" type of winner in this bunch IMO.
12-20-04, 10:23 AM
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Since the list above has to be cut down to the three that will be nominated, I'd be curious to hear that people thing those three with be. I just hope Sky Captain makes it, since I worked on that one. :-)
