thought this was interesting. comments?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/movies/the-avatars-of-their-era/article1458121/

Liam Lacey

From Saturday’s Globe and Mail Published on Friday, Feb. 05, 2010 5:40PM EST Last updated on Saturday, Feb. 06, 2010 1:02AM EST

James Cameron’s science-fiction epic Avatar is not only the box-office record holder of all time and poised nicely for Oscar glory next month (with nine nominations). It has been widely hailed as a movie that has changed the experience of movie-going. Technology was developed for it that realizes a virtual world in unprecedented detail and allows actors to transfer their performances to three-dimensional animated characters. In a little more than a century of film, a handful of other films stand out as fundamentally changing our experience of the movies.

1. The Birth of a Nation (1915)

D.W. Griffiths’s first blockbuster was the culmination of narrative innovations in cinema’s first 20 years, from close-ups, cross-cutting action scenes and flashbacks, to action in the foreground, middle and background. Unfortunately, The Birth of a Nation was also a shamelessly racist propaganda film that contributed to the revival of the Ku Klux Klan.

2. Battleship Potemkin (1925)

Director Sergei Eisenstein’s film about Russian sailors’ 1905 rebellion against their Czarist overlords is an exercise in the power of montage, designed to induce the maximum emotional effect from editing. Everyone from Neil Jordan and Martin Scorsese to Terry Gilliam, Frances Ford Coppola and George Lucas have paid homage to the sequences, while Eisenstein’s propaganda techniques have shaped modern advertising.

3. The Jazz Singer (1927)

“Wait a minute, wait a minute. You ain’t heard nothin’ yet, folks. Listen to this,” said Al Jolson in the first movie to use scenes of synchronous dialogue, ending many silent stars’ careers, changing the look of movies, and ushering in the era of rat-a-tat banter.

4. It Happened One Night (1934)

The original romcom, with runaway heiress (Claudette Colbert), and Clark Gable as the grumpy guy who falls for her. Undershirt sales dropped after Gable appeared shirtless. It gets remade a few times each year under a different title.

5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)

Disney’s first animated Technicolor feature emphasized realistic depth effects and action sequences, and lay the foundation for the eventual converge of animation and live action.

6. Gone With the Wind (1939)

The story of how a spoiled Southern brat, Scarlett O’Hara (Vivien Leigh), becomes the embodiment of the indomitable South remains the model of every prissy heroine who discovers her mettle. Still the highest-grossing movie of all time, when adjusted for inflation, the movie is also a landmark in hype, with its release preceded by a three-year publicity campaign.

7. Citizen Kane (1941)

Apart from being often cited by critics as the greatest movie ever made, Citizen Kane marked significant technical innovations, including deep-focus photography and overlapping dialogue, and a much-imitated jigsaw narrative. Culturally, it marks the transition of the job of director from craftsman behind the camera to king-of-the-world status.

8. Breathless (1960)

Jean-Luc Godard’s propulsive B-movie plot, jump-cuts and high-low culture mix opened up the New American cinema of Francis Ford Coppola, Arthur Penn and others, and continues to cast its shadow over the art-exploitation blends of Quentin Tarantino and the unhinged melancholy of Wong Kar-wai.

9. Psycho (1960)

Alfred Hitchcock’s low-budget shocker broke a lot of rules, killing off its star and showing a toilet onscreen. The frenzied editing of the shower scene pushed back decades of film censorship and opened the door to the cinema of sensation. Bonnie and Clyde, Jaws and the entire slasher genre owe Psycho a huge debt.

10. Star Wars (1977).

“Star Wars was the film that ate the heart and soul of Hollywood,” lamented screenwriter/director Paul Schrader. How did a movie for kids become the new paradigm? From CGI, Dolby Sound, toy marketing, mythologist Joseph Campbell, trilogies and reboots, the Star Wars franchise is the new model. A generation of 10-year-old Star Wars worshippers, from J.J. Abrams to Kevin Smith, grew up to become filmmakers themselves.

Hi everyone
it would be great to see you, if you are available. I’m hoping that over the course of the two open houses we can display many of the class projects. I’m not sure at all how many people will attend, but if you can spare some time to hang out and be prepared to talk about your project, let me know — I would love to showcase your work (and, yes, it can be put on your cv!)

Does anyone know where to get a program to actually insert our projects into a GPS film/iPhone overlay?

Thanks!

An article on machinima as an avant-garde medium imbued with political potential for new modes of representation.

http://cineaction.ca/issue73sample.htm

Happy New Year to all of you.
Now, here is something interesting:
http://www.psfk.com/2010/01/iphone-controlled-helicopter-offers-augmented-reality-views.html

I tried to post a comment to my last post, but it still didn’t let me. The same Word Press problems of before…

Anyway, what I intended to say was that I just saw it in 3D tonight, and liked it quite a bit. Having listened to Ali’s lecture definitely made me appreciate the technological feat more.

I found that during the first few minutes, the 3D didn’t feel quite right. Rapid motion in particular seemed problematic. Then, once my eyes/brain adjusted, the 3D felt like the amazing spectacle that everybody has hyped about. But somewhere midway through the movie, I stopped noticing the 3D as much. Has anybody else had this experience? It’s not that it looked 2D, but that the 3D felt normal instead of “in your face.”

I figure I’ll get the ball rolling…

Has anybody seen Avatar yet? Thoughts? Liked it? Didn’t?

I just wanted to let you know that I have posted my machinima and all the entries related to my project on my blog.
If you are interested in reading/watching, please visit:

http://themachinimaproject.blogspot.com

Of course I do welcome and appreciate all your comments.

Happy Holidays to all of you,

Birgit

Amazing new first person shooter technology where you can project the screen anywhere.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/12/11/microvisions-picop-laser-projector-meets-rifle-shaped-motion-co/

check it out:

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2319932

At the Cinespace studios in south Riverdale, the cast and crew of Resident Evil: Afterlife will finish shooting in 3D in the next week. In January, Saw VII will begin shooting, also in 3D.

The Toronto film industry, still struggling to recover its glory days, sees much hope in the third dimension. Key players hope to establish the city as a reliable destination for large Hollywood productions looking to shoot in 3D.

“When Hollywood producers have successful experiences at a location, they tend to come back,” says Jim Mirkopoulos, vice president of operations at Cinespace Studios. “Toronto has film crews, technicians and camera operators who have been seasoned for 30 years, and now those people are becoming very conversant in 3D.”

Last night, the crew working on Resident Evil: Afterlife were scheduled to shoot a series of 25 foot high explosions in the parking lot of the Cinespace studios on Booth Avenue. To get the depth required for 3D, the crew had to film the blasts not only straight on, but also from above and below.

The technology to shoot in this way required camera rigs that were only recently developed for James Cameron’s epic Avatar.

The cost of 3D cameras, often about $500,000, has made accessing the equipment for training difficult. The union representing the city’s camera crews hopes the Resident Evil producers will let them use the 3D equipment for a weekend once shooting wraps to train people who didn’t work on the film.

“The 3D camera technology hasn’t actually changed that much, so when we do get our hands on the equipment our people are pretty quickly trained,” says Rick Perrotto, a business representative for the International Cinematographer’s Guild’s local branch.

Fortunately, the 3D cameras and rigs for Saw VII are being provided by the Toronto-based 3D Camera Company. The equipment will arrive in Toronto a week before shooting begins, and local crews will be offered seminars and training during the first week of January.

The 3D Camera Company was started in 2006 and has grown into one of the four largest 3D film companies in North America. While the company is headquartered in Toronto, its equipment is rented out by productions all over the world.

Bill White, one of the founders of the company, believes it is essential that Toronto’s film crews become well-versed in the 3D technology.

“Within three to four years, I believe everything will be shot in 3D,” Mr. White says. “Shooting in 3D only presents a nominal extra cost, and it’s growing exponentially. When you capture 3D you automatically capture 2D as well, so you are adding value to the product.”

The technology has existed since 1890, but with the recent popularization of high definition film projection Hollywood studios began to invest in 3D films again. Almost all of the major 3D releases this decade had been animated films, but in January, 2009, Lionsgate released My Bloody Valentine 3D, which went on to earn more than $100-million worldwide. James Cameron’s much hyped 3D science fiction epic Avatar is to be released on Dec. 18, and 2010 will see major 3D releases including Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland in 3D and Disney’s Tron: Legacy (filmed in Vancouver).

Ali Kazimi, a film professor at York University, said the school is in the early stages of offering a course on 3D filmmaking.

The 3D Camera Company recently provided York with a 3D camera, and Cinespace gave the school access to its set of the American Oval Office in Kleinburg for the school’s 3D FLIC project.

Prof. Kazimi directed a five-minute 3D film called Cleaning House in September. The film’s crew was comprised entirely of current students and recent graduates, with the purpose of testing the potential of new 3D technology.

“It’s so new that it’s not currently a course, but there is an expectation that the research will lead to curriculum development,” Prof. Kazimi says.

Read more: http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/toronto/story.html?id=2319932#ixzz0ZHVlIVQb
The National Post is now on Facebook. Join our fan community today.