Behind The Magic - ILM's Visual Effects of "Pacific Rim"

Too you long enough ILM! 6 months after the premiere of Pacific Rim, looks like the Lucas Arts VFX division has finally released a nice juicy reel featuring all the work that they contributed to Del Toro's Kaiju fest. It looks like they played a big role in creating one of the movies highlight battles, Gipsy Danger versus the Category IV 'Otachi' Kaiju in Hong Kong, which was absolutely amazing to watch on an Imax screen when it came out.

For more Pacific Rim making of goodies, check out Studio Mirada's VFX Reel as well as Studio Rodeo's contributions to capturing the interiors of the Jaegers in the film. And of course, let's not forget about our rather viral Pacific Rim - Japanese fanart edition post.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Kills Everything

In this supercut to end all super cuts, Youtube user Auralnauts created this amazing ode to the one and only Governator. Kill Count serves as both a chronicle of every kill captured in the course of 24 movies as well as unintentionally showcasing the evolution of his Austrio-American accent. Check out the rules that they came up with for this 30 minute cinematic epic below.

THE RULES
1. Guns, blades and projectiles always kill unless otherwise depicted
2. Close proximity explosions kill unless otherwise depicted
3. Indirect kills as a result of an explicit action by Arnold count
4. Kills must occur on screen, or be reasonably indicated through on screen action
5. Dream sequences, fantasies or movies within a movie count. If it's on screen, it's a kill.
6. People that are killed more than once count each time.
7. We don't care what Mossberg says in T2. They didn't show that many.
8. Everything up to Escape Plan. Nothing unavailable on Bluray.

There Will Be Blood - Through Numbers

Created by Ali Shirazi as a study of one of Paul Thomas Anderson's finest period pieces to date, Through Numbers is a really interesting study on the types of compositional rules he applied to any tracking shots with one point perspective specifically. If you're unfamiliar with the rule of thirds, or the golden ratio, it's a universally used compositional device that is typically used in a subliminal fashion by artists, directors, photographers and beyond to create balance (Or a lack thereof) in their work.

While the piece incorporates some nonsensical math at parts that doesn't correlate with what's on screen, (More of a stylistic touch imo) it's a good reminder of how well these rules work when planning out shots or pieces of art.

A Behind the Scenes Look at 'Escape from Tomorrow'

One of the most intriguing movies this year also has one of the craziest back-stories to it's filming method. Escape from Tomorrow was shot completely under Disney's radar, using Guerilla filming making techniques in one of the most observed locations in the world. The film, which releases tomorrow, is a dark and twisted descent into madness during one man's family vacation to Disney World. 

 

The idea of filming a feature length film in the biggest theme park in the world absolutely blows my mind, but thought of potentially losing all your work if caught sounds absolutely horrifying to me. The mental strain of always having to watch your back while in Disney World adds an entirely new level to the film.

 

Vice has done an amazing job at wrapping up the crews time in Disney World with this behind the scenes look. If you're as interested in the film's process as I am, definitely take a look, because I can't see Disney ever letting something like this fly again.

Beyond

Director Raphael Rogers had me fooled into thinking I was watching a high budget short with Beyond, a fantastically crafted scifi thriller by the freelance director, who showcased what he was capable of accomplishing with virtually no budget, a trait that is probably quite attractive in the Hollywood market these days. Rogers set out to create a short that would also double as the piece to show off his chops. Filmed in the Mojave desert and in several other locations in California with some rented cameras, the final result also left us wondering how well this would work as a longer form narrative. Here's to hoping the buzz around Beyond gets Raphael the attention he deserves.

 Arya is the last remaining member of her family, a lineage with a unique genetic code that grants the ability to survive the folding of temporal and spatial boundaries... In short, she can teleport. Tasked with exploring new planets, she is in search of something that will explain who exactly she is and where she comes from.

Hollywood's History Of Faking It - The Evolution Of Greenscreen Compositing

Created as an instructional film for Filmmaker IQ, a creative community dedicated to filmmakers, The Evolution Of Greenscreen Compositing presents a fascinating look at over 100 years of compositing, starting off with the revolutionary work of Georges Méliès, who pioneered techniques including multiple exposures, time lapse photography, hand painted colorization and screen dissolves in his time. This fascinating video goes in depth into the evolution, and iteration of the techniques used up to modern day digital green matting techniques which are prevalent in the film industry today.

The Epic Red5k Helicopter Journey - New Zealand

Directed by Mark Toia, this absolutely stunning beauty reel was crafted with the leftovers of footage captured over a 3 hour flyover of Southern New Zealand using a Red Epic 5k Camera mounted inside a custom built stabilization system designed for high speed movement called Shotover. The camera brain for the Red 5k itself runs over $25,000 without a lens, and it's not hard to see why once you full-screen the footage and take it all in.

A sample shot of an installed Shotover K1 System

I'd always wondered if it was possible to get this type of fluidity in aerial shots, especially following our article about the amazing advances in image stabilization with the MōVI, and the proof is finally here in video form. The shots are so fluid that it nearly doesn't seem possible without some form of  stabilization after the fact, but this was simply the result of Shotover's absolutely incredible tech developed for these types of shots. Check out Mark Toia's final commercial using the above footage after the break.

Inside Jaws - A Filmumentary By Jamie Benning

Sent to us by the creator himself, Inside Jaws is an awesome passion project created by filmmaker Jamie Benning, an in depth documentary regarding the making of Steven Spielberg's 1975 film: Jaws, a movie noteworthy for becoming the movie industry blueprint for summer blockbusters. Meticulously crafted over the period of 16 months, this long form documentary features an incredible wealth of information regarding the making of the movie, including unreleased interviews and deleted scenes.

Benning has done an amazing service to movie buffs online, crafting and releasing similar in depth documentaries: Raiding the Lost Ark, Star Wars Begin and more for free as a labor of love to movies he truly loves. If you're interested in donating towards keeping his operations going, head over to his Filmumentaries website for more details.

Game Over Man - Videogames In Movies

Created by the folks over at Slacktory, Game Over Man is an enlightening 20 minute look into the collision of two pop culture mediums: Videogames and movies. Despite being handled in a rather half assed manner in most movies, it's an interesting look at to how engrained videogame culture has become in our society. Check out the entire list of source movies (In order), after the break!

The Art Of Michael Kutsche : Videogames, Film And Beyond

(Via)

Michael Kutsche is a concept artist currently working in the film industry, having had a chance to work on several high profile projects in the last few years including Alice In Wonderland, Thor, John Carter of Mars and most recently Oz: The Great and Powerful. His style entails delivering incredibly detailed concepts border on illustrations, offering studios a rich, fully fleshed out visualizations of ideas. This knack of his has earned him definite recognition as one of the up and coming designers in the movie field.



Over the last few years I've seen Michael Kutsche's career evolve in the standard path of most visual designers currently out there, staring off with a gig at Sega working on Viking: Battle for Asgard and the Empire: Total War franchises. Unfortunately based off of a large amount of conversations I've had over the last few years, the game industry can truly be a creatively stifling environment for most artists, who typically transition out to freelancing careers or working in the film industry after a short few years. It's a make it or break it industry, especially considering the toll that working on a game for several years and potentially face cancellations, working under difficult, crunch-heavy environments and other factors can take. The average career span of a concept artist in the game industry typically lasts three years, based off of 90 or so interviews I've had with visual designers.

While film can potentially be very difficult as well, it offers shorter term project cycles with the payoff of seeing your designs on screen, an ultimate fulfillment for a creative person. Whereas these are the circumstances that Michael Kutsche has faced in his career, he's truly found his stride in the movie industry from what we can tell. More of his awesome work after the break!

Ender's Game Trailer Drops

Based off of Orson Scott Card's award winning 1985 scifi novel, the cinematic adaptation of Ender's Game finally has a trailer. Set in a futuristic earth ravaged by two invasions from an insectoid race, an international fleet races to train up a new generation of fleet commanders from a young talent pool in a last ditch effort to survive. The film will follow the exploits of the titular protagonist named Ender Wiggin as he is trained to be humanity's last hope.

Starring Harrison Ford as Colonel Hyrum Graff, Asa Butterfield as Ender and a Maori tattoo riddled Ben Kingsley as Mazer Rackham, initial impressions seem to indicate that this film could go either way. Considering that the movie is both written and directed by Gavin Hood, best known for Xmen Origins: Wolverine (Ouch), it might be best to temper your expectations for this one, as it's officially a wild card for us. Ender's Game is slated for a November release.

Iron Sky Without VFX

Coming hot off the debate regarding Hollywood's disregard for the VFX industry, one of the indie studios took it upon themselves to show off what a team of artists was able to do for their production, Iron Sky which was primarily shot on green screen.

'Here are some key scenes of Iron Sky without the visual effects. We want to thank our superb vfx team who fought 8 months 14+ hour days in order to deliver the film in time.'

Texas Chainsaw 3D Concepts - What Leatherface Could Have Been

(Via)

Texas Chainsaw 3D just came out about a week ago, a sequel of sorts to the notorious 1974 horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which terrified audiences with it's unrelenting gore and disturbing premise at the time. Conceptual artist Jerad S Marantz just recently uploaded three variations of Leatherface's mask design for the remake. Known for character/ creature design in films like The Green Lantern and Rise of the Planet of the Apes,  Jerad was tasked with bringing the brutal protagonist of the film to a 2012 audience.

The final design (as pictured above) didn't stray far from the original design, whereas his other concepts are surprisingly different. Check out the different variants of Leatherface that could have been after the break!

The Temper Tantrum Supercut

This supercut was edited together by Zach Prewitt, showcasing some of the most famous movie outburst performances captured on film. People reaching the end of their rope, losing it, snapping and taking it out on inanimate objects. There's a certain stress release you get from simply watching others explode, so here's to hoping that some of you guys find this cathartic.

'The Other F Word' Is A Love Note For Fathers And Punk Rockers

This is a documentary I've heard a few things about, but now it's on it's way? I'm looking forward to it even more.

The documentry includes Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, Rise Against’s Tim McIlrath and follows Jim Lindberg, a 20-year veteran of the skate punk band Pennywise, on his hysterical and moving journey from belting his band’s anthem “F—k Authority,” to embracing his ultimately authoritarian role in mid-life: fatherhood.

In terms of other dads featured in the film, which was Executive Produced by Morgan Spurlock & Jeremy Chilnick, The documentary also includes Art Alexakis (Everclear), Mark Mothersbaugh (Devo), Tony Adolescent (The Adolescents), Fat Mike (NOFX), Lars Frederiksen (Rancid), skater Tony Hawk, and many others. This is my play-list almost every day, so of course I'm sold!

“The Other F Word” screens first in New York and Los Angeles, then hits theaters across the country in November and December. Check out if it's coming to a cinema near you soon after the break.

Syndromes: MOTHER

Despite my initial impressions, this isn't footage created exclusively for a music video, but actually from a film coming out October 10 called "Syndromes" by Kristoffer Borgli and Golden Filter, the band behind the amazing track present in this video (Mother). The details are pretty scant at this point as to the extent of the collaboration between the band and the filmmaker, but I'll be marking the date on my calendar. The moody atmosphere and implied narrative have me pretty damn intrigued. The subtle shot of the mysterious girls hair starting to raise at 0:26 gave me some serious chills. This isn't going to end well.

Red State Trailer Runs Red

Ok, I'm a HUGE Kevin Smith fan. But even I am having trouble believing that he has created this film. This trailer is like nothing Smith has done before; and I mean that in the most sincere, complementary way.

Red State is a movie that has been causing much controversy within the movie & media industry, while causing much talk within the advertising industry. This film has proven a lot with such little budget. It's a beautiful love note to anyone working within a budget and through independent means, which is something all of us here at Awesome Robo can completely understand.  Plus it's a film mocking Westboro Baptist Church. Win Win.

Red State will be released through video on demand on Labour Day (September 5th) and in cinemas through his Smodcast Pictures label across North America on October 19th.