VFX SHOW #173: RUSH

Mike Seymour, Matt Wallin and Jason Diamond go racing with Ron Howard’s Rush. Plus an exclusive video breakdown of Double Negative’s visual effects for the film.

 Please note – we are still experimenting with Google Hangouts. Once this is ‘out of beta’ for us, we will publish ahead of time when you can join us. For now we are recording the audio from the test Hangouts, and we will continue to publish the vfxshow as a podcast regardless. Thanks for your support.

Click on the images below to listen online at FX Guide or subscribe for free in iTunes.

VFX SHOW #172: ELYSIUM

Mike Seymour, Matt Wallin and Ian Failes discuss the visual effects in the new film by Neill Blomkamp, Elysium.

Click on the images below to listen online or subscribe for free in iTunes. 

The Raven searches over the city of Los Angeles at night.

The Raven searches over the city of Los Angeles at night.

The Raven makes an unexpected landing on Elysium. 

The Raven makes an unexpected landing on Elysium. 

An older work by designer Syd Mead that echoes his later actual work on the film Elysium.

An older work by designer Syd Mead that echoes his later actual work on the film Elysium.

CINEFEX CLASSIC KICKSTARTER

Mark Christiansen & New Scribbler Press are hard at work. They've launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring the entire back catalog of Cinefex magazine, THE journal of visual effects, to the Apple iPad. This is no small feat.

 They need your help to complete the project. If you love movies please do what you can to support this project. I did. You can get more info and learn how you can help by clicking the image below to visit their Kickstarter page. 

SAN FRANCISCO - MAY 1906

1906 - This view was taken later in the year. It shows the damage and reconstruction starting in the city after the April 18th disaster. George R. Lawrence was an early pioneer in aerial photography. Lawrence was not an artist, but he was a gifted engineer and a canny businessman. In 1900, he built what was then the largest camera ever constructed: a 1,400-pound monster that required 15 operators and took photographs that were eight feet wide and 4 1/2 feet high, in order to capture the Chicago and Alton Railroad's Alton Limited. The following year Lawrence got into aerial photography, taking a balloon up above the stockyards; the basket separated from the balloon, dropping Lawrence 200 feet, when telephone and telegraph wires broke his fall. Soon afterwards he built a system of kites, the "Lawrence Captive Airship": "a kite train of up to 17 Conyne kites on a piano wire cable suspending a camera held by the specially designed stabilizing mechanism." He made $15,000 alone on sales of a picture of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, or about $375,000 today. This is only a detail of the original, which shows downtown and towards the west. 

ANCHORMAN 2

The sequel to one of my all time favorite comedies now has its first full length trailer. I can't wait. 

 

The first trailer for Anchorman 2. Starring Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Kristin Wiig and Christina Applegate. News Team Assemble! Subscribe http://bit.ly/RDwlvz Watch More of Our Shows! Game Of Thrones Season 3: http://bit.ly/Voaidd Oscars 2013 Videos: http://bit.ly/VIDLNR Spoiler Alert!

THE LEGO MOVIE

https://www.facebook.com/TheLEGOMovie http://www.thelegomovie.com Assembling in 2014! "The LEGO® Movie," the first-ever, full-length theatrical LEGO® adventure, directed by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, opens in theaters February 7, 2014. It stars the vocal talents of Chris Pratt, Will Ferrell, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett, Nick Offerman and Alison Brie, with Liam Neeson and Morgan Freeman.

AT CLOSE RANGE

Sean Penn, Mary Stuart Masterson & Christopher Walken in James Foley's 1986 film, "At Close Range" is now available for streaming on Netflix for the first time. I love this film as a study in low budget (6.5 million), character driven narrative. Amazing script (based on a true story), great acting and beautifully shot by Juan Ruiz-Anchia. 

Check it out if you've never seen it. Click on the image below for more info.

​Sean Penn and Christopher Walken in James Foley's 1986 flim, "At Close Range"

​Sean Penn and Christopher Walken in James Foley's 1986 flim, "At Close Range"

THE AIRMEN AND THE HEADHUNTERS

​In 1944, a U.S. bomber was hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire, and the crew bailed out and parachuted into the wilderness. They were taken in and protected by members of the Dayak tribe - the "wild men of Borneo," who were infamous for their custom of hunting and smoking enemy heads. Months later, the airmen were found by an eccentric British Major who devised an ingenious plan to rescue the men. A crazy true story that's almost impossible to believe. 

This would make an amazing motion picture.​

CICADAS

​This has been going on every night in our backyard for the past few weeks. Amazing creatures.  

​taken in our yard....emerging...

​taken in our yard....emerging...

on the move...​

on the move...​

EAST SIDE ACCESS

The biggest public transit infrastructure effort in the US is almost completely invisible — unless you’re 160 feet underground. The East Side Access project will connect the Long Island Railroad to New York’s Grand Central Terminal via a massive tunnel under the East River.

Read the full story on Wired.​

SIGGRAPH 2013: TECHNICAL PAPERS PREVIEW

The SIGGRAPH Technical Papers program is the premier international forum for disseminating new scholarly work in computer graphics and interactive techniques. SIGGRAPH 2013 brings together thousands of computer graphics professionals, 21-25 July 2013, Anaheim, California, USA. Learn more at www.siggraph.org/s2013.

OVERVIEW

On the 40th anniversary of the famous ‘Blue Marble’ photograph taken of Earth from space, Planetary Collective presents a short film documenting astronauts’ life-changing stories of seeing the Earth from the outside – a perspective-altering experience often described as the Overview Effect.

The Overview Effect, first described by author Frank White in 1987, is an experience that transforms astronauts’ perspective of the planet and mankind’s place upon it. Common features of the experience are a feeling of awe for the planet, a profound understanding of the interconnection of all life, and a renewed sense of responsibility for taking care of the environment.

‘Overview’ is a short film that explores this phenomenon through interviews with five astronauts who have experienced the Overview Effect. The film also features insights from commentators and thinkers on the wider implications and importance of this understanding for society, and our relationship to the environment.

© Matt Wallin. All rights reserved.