The Visual Effects Industry implosion and the movement to save it

Over the past few months I have been writing about the visual effects industry, past present...but not the future. Because it's hard to tell what the future will be. Everyday more effects facilities are shutting down or laying off employees in large numbers. If history is any indication, we may see a replay of what happened to the American animation studios in the 50's and 60's. Due to the rising cost of labor during the economic boom times of post war USA, Movie studios were forced to move their cel animation operations overseas where trained labor was significantly cheaper. It never returned. CGI and digital effect technology is no longer exclusive to the US and Canada. Now everyone has the science at their disposal. The question seems to remain..can the industry survive in Western countries that are competing with third world dollars. Will a trade organization that is embraced industry wide save this faltering sector of the entertainment world?

Ask anyone who decides to work in the field of effects and they'll almost always tell you they do it for the love of film and creativity. Very few people enter this field to get rich. But even a modest salary in the United states is significantly higher than in China or India where cost of living and hourly wages are lower. It's simple math. Hollywood is a business and like any other...the steel and textile industries for example...cost to profit considerations are first and foremost. It may be a little naive to think that every country and every effects company will go along with collective bargaining or trade organization structuring. But anything is possible at this point.

A great site for daily developments in this field is vfxsoldier.com. An anonymous visual effects industry journalist who has been following recent trends and developments in this area of entertainment (Most recently alleged layoffs at Sony Imageworks).You can follow his blog below at

www.vfxsoldier.com

also another site that has been posting many personal stories of the impact of these industry wide changes can be found at vfxsoldiarity's Facebook page

link at

https://www.facebook.com/VfxSolidarityIntl



This is an ongoing story not just of this niche section of the entertainment industry but the ongoing narrative of our livelihoods being shipped out overseas. Very soon we may no longer have a creative work force here in the United States. We will just become simply a nation of consumers who no longer create for art or even leisure.

It's something to contemplate on


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYtqkJWcdB0&feature=youtu.be

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of Jason and the Argonauts

When film fans and critics usually discuss their favorite genre films they tend to bring up Lord of The Rings, Avatar, the Stars Wars and Alien. One film that is often left out of the discourse is Ray Harryhausen's 1963 classic Jason and the Argonauts. It is a groundbreaking film in many ways. Although it was a modest success during its initial release, Jason gained it's massive cult following after decades of TV and cable showings and the fandom generated garage kit model craze that came to it's zenith in the late 90's. Jason features some of Harryhausen's greatest stop motion achievement's. It is said by many critics(and Harryhausen himself) that the skeleton battle at the film 's climax is the crowning achievement of his career. But Jason is also a wonderfully engaging film, full of excellent performances , spectacular locations (filmed in coastal Spain among other spots), beautiful production design and wonderful mythological characters. It's easy to see how this film has inspired not only future generations of visual effects artists and film directors but also might have been instrumental in encouraging young people to study mythology and literature.

More pictures can be found at the Visual Effects Archive Page

see link

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.432955050127982.1073741911.394337563989731&type=1

coolvfx visual effects archive page is now The Visual Effects Archive Page

I have updated my facebook archive page and changed the name so hopefully it will be easier to search for and find.

I invite everyone to visit. Please hit "Like" if you enjoy the content and want to see more of the history of filmmaking.

link below

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Visual-Effects-Archive-page/394337563989731

Rare original King Kong visual effects photos

The following is  a link to my Facebook page featuring some very rare photographs of the making of this landmark film from 1933.

Below are photos of the original model's stop motion armature and one of the stop motion models from the famous "spider pit" sequence was cut from the original film. the footage was never found although many photographs and drawings of the sequence survived.

more photos at the link..


http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.406825826074238.94510.394337563989731&type=3

Multimedia script: Documentary on Movie Storyboard artists

The following is my excerpt from my multimedia script on the history and importance of motion picture storyboard artists. There work is critical to the creation of complex films and they are intimately involved in the creation of the composition of shots and conceptual designs for movies.

Their work often goes unoticed by the general public but their contributions are significant.

My script is a rough draft proposal to show the behind the scenes planning of films with these artists who I often refer to as the "blueprint makers" of the movies.

                                    Storyboards: The Invisible art (Part 1)

                                               

Image : Fade IN: Drawings from misc. productions fade in and out

                                                Narrator

The art of cinema has been going strong for over 100 years. It’s one of the few art forms that utilizes  visual and audio sensations to create emotional experience that envelops

the viewer into another realm.

Image: Famous stills of various motion pictures from past and present DISSOLVE into another.

                                                Narrator

Many disciplines go into creating these images. Many are invisible. Behind the scenes. The storyboard artist creates images that never are wind up on screen. But the images they create help the filmmakers realize their vision. In a sense, they are

They blueprint creators of the film

Image: pencil drawings and concept art of various films slow zoom into Camera.

                                                Narrator

From the rough sketches of title designer Saul Bass….

Image: Saul Bass’ Storyboards from ‘Psycho’ appear. The famous “Shower sequence”.

                                                Narrator

To the richly detailed concept art of Ralph McQuarrie for the Star Wars films.

Image: McQuarrie’s color artwork from Star Wars dissolve in

                                                Narrator

Storyboard artists have become the invisible navigators of the film medium.

Image: A Storyboard artist at work.(TBD)

                                                Narrator

Many great directors such as Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick…

Images: Kubrick, Spielberg, Hitchcock. Stills on them directing DISSOLVE from one to another.

                                                Narrator

Have relied on the skilled artistry of these talented men and women.

Images: CLOSE ON: Pencil sketch concept drawings/dissolve into their photo counterparts.

Narrator

These images assist the production design teams; camera crews and visual men plan their work

                                                Narrator

Producers and production managers rely heavily on storyboards to budget and plan expensive scenes that require a great deal logistical work.

Image: Production designer working in Office

                                                Narrator

Before the actors arrive on set, the director often has visualized the film on paper

Image: A movie set. Cameras and Lights are everywhere…

                                                Narrator

The art of the storyboard specialist has been around since the advent of film

Image: Silent film imagery from Melies, Chaplin, Griffith…

                                                Narrator

It has since evolved into a more complex form using computers. A technique known as Previsualization

Image: A computer generated Previsualization sequence (Film TBD).