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One of the things New Zealand is known for is the Weta Workshop. They world’s premiere movie making special effects and design studio. Adam Savage from Tested got a taste of their magic for the upcoming Ghost in the Shell movie with the Major’s iconic thermal silicone suit.
The Little Prince animated film is based on a 1943 story by author Antoine de Saint-Exupery about a pilot meeting a boy from another planet. Author Ramin Zahed takes us on a journey with writer/director Mark Osborne known for his Kung-fu Panda animated hit on the challenge of making a classic story with new twist and animating it. This is Titan Books’ The Little Prince – The Art of the Movie.
A week ago Honda released a tribute video “Paper” of their 6 decades in the auto business. This flip-board animation took many animators and thousands of hand drawings to manipulate movement and other details.
As a fan of Pixar animated films, here’s a fun fact, if you remember watching the first Toy Story, you might remember the Pizza Planet Truck? Well that iconic truck has been in every Pixar movie! Watch and don’t blink, or you will miss it.
Cute and humorous is this animated short – Cap’n Shmelly and the Sperm Whale. From Omens Studios, Cap’n Shmelly is hunting down his nemesis the big whale that took his leg.
As I kid, I remember watching Planet of the Apes with Charlton Heston on TV and like Star Wars, Star Trek and Buck Rogers made an sci-fi impression on me. And then I got all excited in 2001, with Tim Burton’s vision of Planet of the Apes and that was hot mess of suck, kind of like X-Men 3: The Last Stand. Now after many years, 20th Century FOX has gotten the re-boot Planet of the Apes franchise in the right direction. To celebrate, Titan Books publishes The Art of the Films: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes & Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
A long time ago, I remember watching Pixar’s Toy Story in the theater and I was blown away by the CG animation and storytelling. Over the years, many animation houses were looking to do the same and one is Blue Sky Studios (Epic, Ice Age). The CG animated film Rio was a 2011 hit and surpassed the $400 million mark in box-office receipts, so obviously there is a sequel with Rio 2 arriving into US multiplexes on April 11, 2014. Along the way, Titan Books has just released: The Art of Rio – Featuring a Carnival of Art from Rio and Rio 2.
What makes a movie or TV show great? Yes, the acting and cast are among the very important aspects, but like movie reviewer Grace Randolph says “World Building” is also a vital part. Here ILM takes us behind-the-scenes of how they built a “real” futuristic 2259 San Francisco for Star Trek Into Darkness.
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