April 2017 – Page 2

Director interview: Rupert Sanders on ‘Ghost in the Shell’

null

For the premiere issue of the Visual Effects Society’s new print magazine, VFX Voice, I set out to cover the effects of Ghost in the Shell. I was lucky enough to speak to visual effects supervisors Guillaume Rocheron and John Dykstra, and a whole bunch of artists from Weta Workshop. I was also able to interview director Rupert Sanders about his approach to the practical and digital effects in the film.

Now that VFX Voice is out – see the cover article here – I thought I’d feature the full-length interview with Sanders here on vfxblog, which covers a lot of the director’s thoughts that couldn’t make it into the magazine for space considerations. Hope you enjoy. Continue reading Director interview: Rupert Sanders on ‘Ghost in the Shell’

Sony’s Smurfs are back

Smurfs_feature_main-1280x600

Sony Imageworks and Sony Animation are very familiar with CG Smurfs, but in the newest Lost Village fully animated feature, they had to go back to the Peyo roots. Here’s a look at Cartoon Brew.

The VFX industry is always changing

mags

Nothing really ever stays the same, but one of the fun things about visual effects is how much the technology, artistry and the business changes. There’s also often new ways of hearing or learning about VFX – over the years I’ve got my information from books, magazines, online articles, podcasts, DVD featurettes, tutorials, seminars and of course face to face.

Now I’m excited to be part of a new communication medium – the Visual Effects Society’s brand new print magazine VFX Voice. I wrote some pieces in there on Ghost in the Shell, Westworld, Kong: Skull Island, Cars 3 and a bunch more. Loved the process – and you can grab the magazine now, or read it online at http://vfxvoice.com.

Quirky and Unity

MrCarton_main-1280x600

Mr. Carton is a really fun animated series made with Unity. It’s the kind of out-there show that you have to watch to get a handle on. Check out my story on Cartoon Brew.

Live action / CG hybrid characters are growing up

Kuze1

…and there’s some incredible ones in Ghost in the Shell. At least, that’s what I’m describing them as. Just like Ava in Ex Machina, or Vision from Avengers, Kuze and The Major in Ghost in the Shell are real-life actors with incredible CG augmentations. Here’s my report on Cartoon Brew.