“We’re shooting two films back-to-back, so I’m writing two scripts, not one, which will complete a free-film story arc – not really a trilogy, but just an overall character arc. “We’re doing a lot of preliminary work right now on new software and new animation techniques and so on. We’re creating a new facility in Manhattan Beach so everybody that’s not already dead is coming back.”

And in time when so many visual effects artists are unemployed, Cameron’s projects, due for release in December of 2014 and December 2015, are a welcome change.

Tintin to get Weta treatment

Steven Spielberg has wrapped up shooting the first Tintin movie in Hollywood and will now pass it to Peter Jackson to complete the visual effects.

Spielberg last week completed 32 days of shooting the actors, including Daniel Craig as pirate Red Rackham, using special performance capture technology, Variety reported.

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of Unicorn will now continue at Weta Digital in Wellington under the eye of Jackson, the film’s producer.

by: Dominic von Riedemann

After years of uncertainty, AMPAS has decided that motion capture films are ineligible for the Best Animated Feature Film Award.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences laid a 4-year old controversy to rest when they announced that motion-capture films are no longer considered eligible for the Best Animated Feature Film category.

James Cameron and Peter Jackson are the kings of the CGI world. Cameron, of course, directed Titanic, the highest-grossing movie of all time—which he says he’d make with no ship if he were filming today. Jackson was the guy behind bringing Middle-earth to the big screen in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Now they are back with Avatar and The Lovely Bones, two of the most-hyped films of the holiday season. Newsweek asked them about their new films and how technology is changing Hollywood. An excerpt of the transcript is printed below:

Bill Desowitz speaks with Oscar-winning visual effects supervisor Joe Letteri about staying on the cutting edge of digital acting and 3D environments at Weta Digital.

After winning an Oscar for vfx on King Kong, Joe Letteri has remained at Weta Digital to supervise work on The Water Horse (Sony/Revolution, Dec. 7, 2007), including the CG sea creature, and Avatar, James Cameron’s long-awaited, first feature since Titanic. Letteri also discusses early work on the CG Silver Surfer from Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (Fox, June 16, 2007). Under the vfx supervision of Kevin Rafferty, Weta has reportedly enhanced its CG animation process that employs performance capture techniques to add further dimensionality to the liquid-metal hero performed by Doug Jones.

The digital acting in King Kong was a huge leap forward, because it was the first such performance that really brought emotional weight. © 2005 Universal Studios.

Several years ago, I got to spend some quality time alone with Ray Harryhausen. It was only about half an hour, but I count it as a career highlight. Although I don’t recall his exact words, Harryhausen told me that he always had a deep commitment to the animated performance, believing that a great one was as engaging and emotionally telling as life itself… or at least a great human performance. The thing that convinced me was his work on Mighty Joe Young. I know that he’s right – it’s not just movement; it’s performance.