Film: February 2006 Archives
Five days and counting! We've got a bunch of shots left, and almost all of the compositors on the show are in the studio finishing up their shots for Charlotte's Web. We're extremely close, and there's not much left to do except finesse. I have two shots left to complete, and one crossover shot to complete with Rhythm and Hues, and then I'll be done! It's all very do-able, unless we get some complicated notes from production.
As some of you may already know if you check IMDB regularly, Tippett Studio is one of the shops that has beem awarded Enchanted, a magical tale about a fairy princess. Or something like that. Here's a little blurb from the IMDB page about the recent news.
The Walt Disney Co. is planning to revive traditional hand-drawn animation next year with its live-action/animated Enchanted, Disney watcher Jim Hill reported on his website today (Wednesday). A traditionally animated test sequence has already been created for the film by veteran Disney animator James Baxter, best known for his supervision of the character Belle in Beauty and the Beast, according to Hill. "And those who have seen this particular piece of rough animation say that it is 'simply stunning. A wonderful throwback to the sort of films that Disney used to make.'" Baxter, Hill said, has been secretly working on the sequence with a small crew at his own studio in Pasadena, and, he added, his work is likely to be displayed by Pixar's John Lasseter and Ed Catmull as they make their well-known case for reviving hand-drawn animation to Disney chief Robert Iger. Said Hill: "They're going to tell Iger: 'Doesn't that look terrific? People are really going to eat this picture up. They've been waiting for Disney to do a new film that features traditional animation. Which is why this movie is going to do HUGE box office next year.'"
We're down to the last two weeks of production here on Charlotte's Web. It's going to be tight, but we're working quite a bit to meet the deadlines! Everything's looking so sweet.
As of now, I'm not sure which project I will be transferred onto. There are a bunch of projects coming in, but staffing is still being organized. I hope I'll be able to lead again on a significant project, but only time will tell. Many of the other leads will have seniority over me when being chosen for a project, as I have only had two under my belt (here at Tippett). Both of them commercials, with shot counts of under 20. My previous lead position on Ghost Ship was a surprise, as I was only there for the last several months, and was not expecting to become an influential part of the crew or even be credited.
I had a chance to read Kevin Tod Haug's Manifxto a little while ago. It's a great blog with some insightful takes on the state of the industry. I worked with Kevin back in 2003 on a made for TV movie that shall remain nameless. It was an interesting project, and I was brought in, like usual, near the end of the show, and had to correct errors that some previous compositors on the show had made. Kevin makes some excellent points on his blog, and I pretty much agree with almost everything he's mentioned. While not updated as often as mine, his blog goes into much more detail about certain visual effects areas, and his perspective as a visual effects supervisor is relevant.
