Hasta La Gadget!

This week we had the opportunity to have a chat with Sony Pictures Imageworks on how they brought the next generation of L Frank Baum’s “Oz” universe to life in the prequel: Oz the Great and Powerful! Our chat began with Sony Pictures Imageworks’ Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Stokdyk, who let us know first and foremost his role with the film. We then quickly launched in on how the movie creates not just a re-entry into this magical environment for fans of the classic “Wizard of Oz” picture, but also – and especially – lovers of the original book series from whens the whole universe is born.

Stokdyk’s role in the creation of this movie began 2.5 years ago, working directly with the director of the film, Sam Raimi. With Raimi, Stokdyk broke down each element in the storyline piece by piece, speaking about how they’d go about creating each visual effect that would need to exist. After knocking out the script for a period, Mr. Stokdyk headed to Detroit for 7 months of filming the movie on soundstage, working after this for over a year in post-production.

As Visual Effects Supervisor, Stokdyk worked with the fabulous Sony Pictures Imageworks, a group we’ve had some rather fruitful conversations with in the past, to be sure! For those of you who have that tingling feeling you’ve heard Stokdyk’s name before, you’ll be glad to know you’re right: he’s previously worked with Sam Raimi on each of the Spider-Man movies (1, 2, and 3) as Visual Effects Supervisor as he does on the one we’re discussing today and has worked in different effects roles on such classic films as Titanic, Contact, and The Fifth Element.

According to Stokdyk, in both Oz the Great and Powerful and in the film industry in general, the way an effects-inclusive movie can distinguish itself is simple (so to speak). As Stokdyk says, “In Visual Effects nowadays, there’s basically effects work, there’s character work, there’s environmental work – and what distinguishes one show from another nowadays is it’s own unique combination of how those pieces work together and how they’re Art Directed together.”

Seems simple enough to say, right? Stokdyk continued, “[This film] has a nice blend of character animation that’s stunt and action oriented – and performance based – interacting with the real actors. We’ve also got really fantastical environmental extensions of sets. They bring into this fantastical world of Oz what we’ve shot on set.”

You’ll be seeing your fair share of fantastic effects-dependent shots and characters throughout this film which – if you did not know – is out in theaters now! Featured computer-generated characters you’ll be seeing throughout the film include:

The China Girl – this little lady is a porcelain doll that our hero Oz finds after her town is destroyed in the film. She’s voiced by Joey King and trots along with fully realistic features from top to bottom.

Finley the Flying Monkey – a cute little beast voiced by none other than your best buddy Zach Braff. This lovely beast also accompanies Oz throughout the movie and has one whole heck of a lot of fur that needed digital brushing – not to mention the rest of his fully-animated monkey body.

“The most technically challenging production Imageworks’ has completed to date.”

Both Braff and King took part in filming their parts as the monkey and he doll throughout principal photography, allowing the rest of the actors to act and respond in a much more organic way than traditional CG replacements would have allowed. Once filming was complete though, it was all up to the effects teams to bust forth with what Sony Pictures Imageworks describes as “the most technically challenging production Imageworks’ has completed to date.”

The group notes that they completed over 1,100 shots that appear in the final product, these including every single one of the GC environments and character shots. You’ll see digital doubles of each of the main characters: Oz, Glinda, Theodora, Evanora, and Knuck. You’ll see “thousands of flying baboons including three unique hero baboons.” You’ll see massive amounts of CG creatures including “attacking snapdragons, horses, various insects, butterflies, birds, flying fish, wooden horses, lion, squirrel, and river fairies”. You’ll see giant digital crowds of characters across the countryside and inside the city.

Some of the most awesome bits and pieces you should look out for while you’re experiencing this magical mix of fanaticism are:

• Glinda’s Magic Bubbles
• A shimmering wall around Glinda’s countryside and village
• Theodora’s Fire Tornado
• The Oz hologram
• Water effects galore
• Massive poppy fields
• China Town
• Emerald City – including “the main gates, boulevard, central square, back gate, back
alley, bell tower, palace, dais, vaulted corridor, Throne Room, Room of
Resplendence, balcony and bridge digital sets and huge aerials of the city”
• Fog!

And for those of you that are worried that this is another one of those films that destroys the experience of moviegoing with a heavy overdose of effects-driven shots, don’t fret! According to Stokdyk, they were certainly conscious of how easy it could have been to OD.

Stokdyk: You have a certain number of shots in any movie that are all computer generated, right? You just can’t shoot them, or there’s a prop that’s too expensive to shoot, or you shoot them in post after you’ve shot them in principal photography. We certainly had a decent chunk of those kind of shots, but after you’ve gone all CG, and done everything in the world CG, where’s the boundary? Where’s the next frontier after that?”

As Stokdyk tells us, so too must it be true! Expect the most awesome combination of art direction, live action, and CG you’ve ever seen on a film of this kind – start to finish!

Oz the Great and Powerful spells magic: our Sony Pictures Imageworks interview is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Time Warner has just announced that it will be separating itself from Time Inc. The decision was made by its board of directors who felt that this separation is the best decision for both companies. Time Warner will cut away from the magazine business and focus all of its efforts on building its juggernaut media network comprised of a huge amount of popular TV stations as well as its movie ventures.

Time Inc., on the other hand, will be operating as a publicly traded company. It will focus all of its efforts on its publications, including very popular magazines like In Style, People, Marie Claire, Sports Illustrated, Time (of course), Entertainment Weekly, and a whole bunch of others. Time Inc. will continue to do fine on its own. It’s publications are read by half of the United States’s adult population, as well as millions of other readers all around the world.

As of right now, Time Inc.’s current CEO, Laura Lang, will continue to stay on with the company while this separation process is still taking place. Eventually, however, she will find a new CEO to replace her. She is searching for someone who is “a different kind of CEO”. Time Warner’s CEO and Chairman, Jeff Bawkes, stated, “She has been a great partner who has given Time Inc. forward momentum to make this transition possible.”

Time Warner is hoping to close this deal by the end of the year. It still has to be approved by the SEC and afterwards, the terms must be finalized by Time Warner’s board of directors. Both of the companies together formed one of the biggest, fully-fledged media companies around, so it’s a bit depressing to seem them break apart. However, they both have enough pull to survive. With Time Inc.’s huge selection of magazines and Time Warner’s TV stations like TBS, TNT, CWTV, HBO (Game of Thrones!), CNN and more, both have all of the assets they need to thrive without each other.

[via Business Wire]

Time Warner cuts itself off from Time Inc. is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Today is the day we continue the Tony Stark saga with the first full theatrical trailer for Iron Man 3, complete with full views of the main villain, plotline confirmations galore, and a bit of a teaser of what’s sure to be the final battle of the film. This movie contains much contemplation on the part of Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark character and some hard decisions made by both he and his associates regarding the defense of the United States of America. To do this, for starters, they’ll be rolling out with Iron Patriot – clad in the stars and stripes of the USA flag on an Iron Man body.

With this trailer comes confirmation of Tony Stark facing off against not just the Mandarin, but the United States of America – again, that is. This is a continuation of the idea that the USA – or entities therein – are not seeing Iron Man as a protective force that should be as private as it is with Stark, but as a weapon that should be integrated into the government’s own forces. Lucky for them, it appears as if a flock of Iron Men appear near the end of the trailer.

This trailer features characters we can assume will be played by the same actors as they were in previous installments of the film. The director is new, this meaning we’ll have a bit of a different approach one way or another, but the cast will be rolling out with a bit more solidity between films than we had between Iron Man 1 and 2. Now that we’re heavy into the success of the film series – and have seen several of the Iron Man characters in the collective Avengers film – we can expect the cast to stay largely the same from here on in.

Meanwhile you’ll be glad to know that the release of Iron Man 3 is still set for May 3rd and will be battling it out with Star Trek Into Darkness without a doubt – that film coming just a couple weeks later into the month. Iron Man 3 is one of several next-generation Marvel Comics films being released in the near future, each of the Avengers grabbing hold of a continuing series well into the next century as well. Stark ahoy!

[via Yahoo Movies]

Iron Man 3 theatrical trailer unleashes army of Iron Men is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We have talked about some interesting items that turned up on the auction block from some the biggest movies in cinema history over the years. Not long ago we talked about the racing suit that Ricky Bobby wore in Talladega Nights. Some new and very interesting movie props have turned up for auction with a company called ScreenUsed.

Among the props are a bunch of rare items from the classic Steven Spielberg movie Jaws. Among the Jaws artifacts up for auction include Quint’s machete, Hooper’s dive mask, a section of the orca, a shark tail section, and the original Jaws tooth mold and teeth samples. These items will go for auction on March 9.

If Jaws isn’t one of your favorite films, the company is also auctioning off a number of props used in science fiction films and other action flicks. One of the coolest is a Facehugger puppet from AVP: Alien Vs. Predator. Another of the more interesting items is the Blade Runner Blaster and Deckerd’s Shirt that Harrison Ford wore in the science fiction classic.

Fans of more recent films can also bid on props from The Dark Knight, specifically the Glock Pistol and knife that the Joker played by Heath ledger used in the film. There are also various props from other classic movies such as Rambo, Serenity, Star Trek IV, Terminator 2, Troy, and other films. Trekkies will want to get their wallets out, because the props from Star Trek IV include a Klingon costume and mask.

[via ScreenUsed]

Jaws and Star Trek IV props hit the auction block is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

THQ may no longer be amongst us, but its Relic Entertainment-developed game Company of Heroes is still in the all clear with its movie adaptation. The straight-to-DVD movie is set for release next week on February 26 in North America, with a European release roughly a month later on March 25.

The full-length film, based on Relic Entertainment’s real-time strategy series, is about a band of soldiers that are tasked with stopping the Germans from completing their own atomic bomb during the Battle of the Bulge during World War II. The movie will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD, and will include two behind-the-scenes featurettes, as well as deleted scenes.

The movie is directed by Don Michael Paul, who is known for directing a handful of smaller movies, as well as starring in The Island. Company of Heroes stars Tom Sizemore, Vinnie Jones, Neal McDonough, Jurgen Prochnow, and Chad Collins. Sizemore has starred in past war films, including Saving Private Ryan and Black Hawk Down.

Earlier last month, THQ sold most of its assets to other companies, and Relic Entertainment ended up being snatched by Sega for $26.6 million. There’s no word on what will happen to the Company of Heroes video game series, but we at least have the movie to look forward to. Hopefully it’s good, but it probably won’t live up to Steven Spielberg’s and Tom Hank’s own WWII films.

[via Joystiq]

Company of Heroes movie set for DVD and Blu-ray February 26 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.