Columnar Basalt

Took a short day trip yesterday to a nearby lighthouse. The geological rock formations on the peninsula were amazing. The same kind of columnar basalt that we saw on the Giant's Causeway in Ireland and the Isle of Staffa in the Western Hebrides in Scotland.

Climbing Spákonufellshöfði

We climbed to the summit of "Soothsayer Mountain" yesterday.  It was an all day event and Thor made it all the way to the top!  646 Meters!

Icelandic horses!

Thor & Chrissy on the mountain.

Snow in July!

Thor & Chrissy near the summit (really, they're in that picture...)

RAM

Horses on the road by the sea.

Iceland Week 2

Its the end of our second week in Iceland.  Been shooting lots of video and taking tons of photos. We're hiring a car next week and will be traveling all around the ring road that encompasses the island. Things should get more interesting from there. Skagastrond is a nice little fishing town on the North West coast, but we've exhausted all this place has to offer in short order. The weather here is a lot like San Francisco in the Summer. Rolling fog comes in over the mountains occasionally accompanied by strong winds.  

The dashboard troll in the van (way better than a dashboard Jesus if you ask me)

The view from our kitchen.

 

Thor fishing on the pier in Skagastrond

Fog rolling in across town

The sun at 9:30pm...

 

 

VFX Show episode #126 "Super 8"

Check out the latest VFX Show where Jason Wingrove, Mike Seymour and myself discuss the visual effects in the retro movie with a heart that is JJ Abrams "Super 8".  Click on the image below to listen online or subscribe for free via iTunes.  

Midnight sun

There was a big get together with everyone at the studio last night and after dinner we took a long walk around town.  Thor got to play with his new best buddy Kanoa (an eight year old from Hawaii) and we stayed out until midnight and the sun never set.  Its very strange.

Family portrait in the midnight sun, Skagastrond, Iceland

Kanoa and Thor (instant best buddies)

ICELAND

We're in Skagaströnd, Iceland. The sun never sets so it was magic hour last night for about six hours which is perfect for long shooting days. We've got a two bedroom flat on one side of town and a huge warehouse set up as the studio. Last night we went to the local bar and watched a band play some Bee Gees, MGMT, and Beetles covers. More tomorrow.

New York!

New York votes for equal rights.  Gay marriage now legal.  Way to go New York!!

 

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Chrissy, Thor and I went to see this amazing film yesterday. Werner Herzog uses 3D (something I'm personally not a huge fan of) to take the audience to a place they will never be able to see otherwise.  The cave paintings at Chauvet Cave in southern France are over 30,000 years old and are the oldest known representational drawings ever discovered on Earth. If you have a chance to see this in a theater in 3D, SEE IT!  You will not regret it.  Absolutely inspiring.

Herzog's interest in the Chauvet cave was prompted by Judith Thurman's New Yorker article "First Impressions". Thurman is listed as one of the co-producers of the film.

The cave is carefully preserved and the general public is not allowed to enter. Herzog received special permission from the French minister of culture to film inside the cave. Having received permission, Herzog nonetheless had to film under heavy restrictions. All people authorized to enter must wear special suits and shoes that have had no contact with the exterior. Also, because of near-toxic levels of radon and carbon dioxide, nobody can stay in the cave for more than a few hours per day.

Herzog was allowed to have only three people with him in the cave: the cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger, a sound recorder, and an assistant. Herzog himself worked the lights. The crew was allowed to use only battery-powered equipment they could carry into the cave themselves, and only lights that gave off no excess heat. The 3-D cameras were custom-built for the production, and were often assembled inside the cave itself. Herzog was allowed six shooting days of four hours each. The crew could not touch any part of the cave's wall or floor, and were confined to a 2-foot-wide (0.61 m) walkway.

The production encountered several technical difficulties in working with the 3-D cameras in a documentary setting. At the time of production, 3-D films were typically shot on stages with heavy use of digital manipulation. Often, foreground and background elements would be shot separately and digitally composited into the finished shot. Techniques for 3-D filmmaking in natural environments with a single camera and no compositing were largely undeveloped, and had to be worked out experimentally by the crew in post-production.

Before production of Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Herzog was skeptical of the artistic value of 3-D filmmaking, and had only seen one 3-D film (James Cameron's Avatar). Herzog still believes that 3-D is not suited for general use in cinema, but used it in Cave to help "capture the intentions of the painters", who incorporated the wall's subtle bulges and contours into their art. The idea to use a 3-D camera for the film was first suggested by Zeitlinger, who had imagined before ever entering the cave that 3-D might be appropriate to capture the contours of the walls. Herzog dismissed the idea, believing 3-D to be (in Zeitlinger's words) "a gimmick of the commercial cinema". After visiting the cave, however, Herzog immediately decided that the film must be shot in 3-D. After the production, Herzog stated that he had no plans to use 3-D again.

Syd Mead

I got to meet Syd Mead at VCU School of the Arts back in 2007 when he accepted my invitation to come and speak with our students. Syd was very generous with his time and gave an exceptional talk about his work, technique and career trajectory. I'm a huge fan of his design aesthetic, use of color contrast and composition. He is a true modern master. Click on the images below to visit his website where you can purchase books of his amazing work. In the short video at the bottom, you can hear Syd reflecting on the nature of creativity and how it drives the future.

2019: A Future Imagined from Jim Hunter on Vimeo.

Visual Futurist Syd Mead ("Blade Runner," "Aliens," "Tron") reflects upon the nature of creativity and how it drives the future. Photographed in P2 High Definition, this featurette provides insight into the fascinating mind of one of the most influential artists of modern cinema and automotive design.

 

Headache man

Scott Ross, former GM at ILM and founder of Digital Domain, has recently started a blog.  With only a few entries thus far, Scott has laid his cards on the table.  A fantastic read for anyone interested in the "business" of visual effects.  Click on "headache man" below to read Scott's blog.

Manhattan


3/4 oz sweet vermouth
2 1/2 oz bourbon whiskey (Booker's, Maker's, Baker's)
1 dash Angostura bitters
1 maraschino cherry
1 twist orange peel

Combine the vermouth, bourbon whiskey, and bitters with 2 - 3 ice cubes in a mixing glass. Stir gently, don't bruise the spirits and cloud the drink. Place the cherry in a chilled cocktail glass and strain the whiskey mixture over the cherry. Rub the cut edge of the orange peel over the rim of the glass and twist it over the drink to release the oils but don't drop it in.

My all time favorite place for a Manhattan on a Friday night was at The Kezar on the corner of Carl and Cole in San Francisco.  

Docked One Last Time

Backdropped by a night time view of the Earth and the starry sky, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is photographed docked at the International Space Station on May 28, 2011. The STS-134 astronauts left the station the next day on May 29, after delivering the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and performing four spacewalks during Endeavour's final mission.

Image credit: NASA

© Matt Wallin. All rights reserved.