Tuesday, June 25, 2013

June VFX News...

<~ Note: The VFXTippingPoint Twitter Feed will be more up to date with articles, bits of news, & discussions...

June 29th

June 28th

June 27th

VFXLaw Tweets...

*Newbreedvfx is a perfect example of why the industry can't fix itself, shots get pulled and finished elsewhere by other pros.  *The pulling of shots is the one tool the studio can use at any moment throughout production regardless of vendor contracts .  *Contracts favor the buyer and give creative, financial, and milestone "outs"; vendors, and therefore artists, pay the price.  *With competition, the downfall of R&H did not affect the studios, nor will any other shop. Supply exceeds demand; a buyer's market.  *Unionization, subsidies, none of this will change the balance. When supply vs. demand tips, only then will you will see change.  *The following needs to occur/is already occurring: fewer vendors, fewer artists, conglomerated shops that can reign in pricing.  *The industry needs a Luxottica, a conglomerate who owns all the brands but promotes individuals price control.  * is bursting like a real estate bubble: an over saturated market and easy money = unsustainable supply vs demand.  *Problems in compounded by oversupply of student labor, subsidies, and competition: all facets affected the current state.  *That concludes my rant today folks. Those pros that can stick it out the next 5-10 years will make it, rest will have to move on. ~end of rant :)
And The Fight Continues by Jesse Toves

June 26th

Referenced in Mariana's Video above : Digital Domain | newbreed VFX | Where is the happy ending for VFX Artists?
4K, 48fps VFX Is Coming - Everything Is Up for Greater Scrutiny

(metro.co.uk)  Chris Harvey has helped create the special effects for movies including X-Men: The Last Stand, Superman Returns, Watchmen and Battleship. He won a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Motion Picture for Zero Dark Thirty.

Cinema is embracing 4K but how much pressure does four times the resolution of high-definition put on you to make flawless effects?


It’s a big buzzword right now, but in visual effects it’s not all that new. Year’s ago you may remember the movie Swordfish and the effects for that were done in 4K. I think it’s great, it’s an evolution, but the biggest and most interesting advances are for what they did in The Hobbit, because that was 4K, it was stereoscopic 3D, and it was 48 frames per second too. The fidelity required is much, much higher and in many ways 48 frames per second has a higher impact than 4K does because you’re halving the motion blur in a frame. Everything is instantly up for greater scrutiny in terms of detail so a lot more goes into creating the visual effects.

The high frame rate really split opinion, what side of the fence do you sit on?

I like it. A lot of people had issues with it. Our eyes work closer to 60 frames per second but people reacted because they weren’t used to seeing it on a screen. In terms of animation and character or creature work it gives you a lot more opportunity to get subtleties in that you might not see with 24 frames. When you talk about The Hobbit and the response that Gollum got, what a step up he was even from Lord of the Rings, the big impact was 48 frames because they could get so much more performance into his character.

VFX Town Hall on IATSE

Streaming LIVE TONIGHT 8 pm PDT | Burbank, Vancouver, California, & online across the globe ~>  
Twitter hashtag: #vfxtownhall 
Facebook: event 

This post will continue to be updated with any media coverage aftermath of today's event, responses, etc.  You can check back for updates. 

I urge you all to comment below any and all of your responses, insight, and constructive views regarding this latest VFX Town Hall meeting.  Thanks.

Coverage

June VFX News..

<~ Note: The VFXTippingPoint Twitter Feed will be more up to date with articles, bits of news, & discussions...

I felt it was imporant to keep this post at the top of this months news, it's a sobering piece of journalism by fxguide's Jeff Heusser that came out amid the vfx town hall event and other industry related news offerings.

VFX in Los Angeles – 100 hour weeks & homeless (fxguide.com) - June 10, 2013  

Next Event: Tuesday, June 25th, 8pm PDT Facebook | vfxtownhall.org

June 25th

June 24th

BECTU's VFX Feature: 8147Kb PDF

Living on the Edge: VFX feature: Living on the Edge, discusses the state of the UK VFX sector and BECTU's campaign in support of the workforce. (published in Stage Screen and Radio, June-July 2013). 24 June 2013 | 8147Kb PDF

June 23rd

June 22nd

June 21rst

June 20th

June 19th

June 18th

What's the prognosis, doc? by Jesse Toves

June 17th

June 16th

  • NZ visual effects industry working long hours (mradionz.co.nz) The survey of 30 countries showed that only 3% here do a 40-hour week, with the rest doing 50 to 80 hours and up to 100 hours during busy periods.- June 16, 2013

June 15th

June 14th

Symbols by Jesse Toves

June 13th

Update: It seams Gridwarp's twitter account has been taken down... 
Gridwarped's Twitter feed was somewhat of a live stream from a company meeting held at Digital Domain this evening, he spoke of DD's move to shift business to it's Vancouver pod, news that the Venice office will merge with Playa Vista, and that 8 people had been laid off today from the Venice facility.  When asked by VFXLaw if people were being asked to relocate at least?  Gridwarp mentioned that some people will be approached, and it was said to let your leads know if your interested in moving.  You can follow the feed here.
The outfit will be a collective and sets out to redress some of the negative working practices in the industry.

"We've been at the sharp end of how the vfx industry has developed over the years, and like many artists, have worked untold hours of overtime for no pay and little job security, " says Hunt. "Like so many in the industry, we've done this as we are incredibly passionate about what we deliver to the screen." ~Chris Hunt

June 12th

"There’s a huge divergence with what’s happening in visual effects in the film world and what’s happening in the commercial world," Shipman said. "What drives a lot of the decisions in film is purely cost, whereas in the commercial world it’s not driven by those tax incentives." ~Jon Collins

June 11th