2016 Oscar Predictions

Now that most of the Hollywood movie guilds have had their award shows, I'm posting the most relevant Oscar winner data that I've been compiling over the last two months. Hopefully this transparent information is handy to readers as they prepare their picks for their office pools. Be sure to also check out my last post for a digital painting I did featuring this year's Best Visual Effects nominees. My picks are listed in italics below.

Most Oscar nominations: 12-The Revenant, 10-Mad Max, 7-The Martian, 6-Carol, Bridge of Spies, Spotlight, 5-Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Most BAFTA nominations: 9-Carol, Bridge of Spies, 8-The Revenant, 7-Mad Max, 6-The Martian, Brooklyn, 5-The Big Short, The Danish Girl, Ex Machina, 4-Star Wars, 3-Spotlight, Sicario, Steve Jobs, The Hateful Eight, 2-Amy, Inside Out, Theeb

Guild Awards Ceremony Schedule:

1/9: Los Angeles Film Critics Association (Critics Circle, one of many)

1/10: Golden Globes (GG)

1/17: Critics Choice (CC)

1/29: American Cinema Editors (ACE)

1/30: Screen Actor's Guild (SAG)

1/31: Art Director's Guild (ADG)

2/2: Visual Effects Society (VES)

2/6: Annie Awards, Director's Guild (DGA)

2/13: Writer's Guild (WGA)

2/14: BAFTAs, American Society of Cinematographers (ASC)

2/20: Cinema Audio Society (CAS), Makeup Artist and Hairstylist's Guild (MUAH), USC Scripter Awards

2/21: Satellite Awards

2/23: Producer's Guild (PGA), Costume Designer's Guild (CDG)

2/27: Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE)

2/28: Academy Awards

Below are the nominees, listed in order announced. In each category's parentheses are the main indicators of who will win.

Key:

(V) best Vegas odds  (B) BAFTA winner, (AA) Annie Award winner, (N) most overall nominations of the category's nominees, (RT) Rotten tomatoes score, (*) special requirement of past winners (BZ miss) category Ben Zauzmer missed in 2015 (Vegas miss) category Las Vegas odds sites missed in 2015

SUPPORTING ACTOR (*SAG winner, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, DQS - not nominated for SAG). 

• CC, Christian Bale, The Big Short  RT 88%
• DQS Tom Hardy, The Revenant  RT 81%
• DQS Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight  RT 97%
• B, Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
• DQS, GG, V Sylvester Stallone, Creed  RT 93%
• 
  
•  
• COSTUME DESIGN (BAFTA winner, Costume Designer's Guild, *B + CDG = lock, DQB-not a BAFTA nominee. Period usually beats Fantasy)
• Carol  RT 94%
• Cinderella  RT 84%
• CDG, The Danish Girl  RT 71%
• *CDG, B, CC, V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• DQB The Revenant  RT 81%
• 
  

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING (Matches BAFTA winner 60% of the time, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Guild, Critics Circle, N-total noms)

• MUAH, B, CC, V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared  RT 67%
• N The Revenant  RT 81%
• 
  

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (most other nominations, misc. honors)

• Embrace of the Serpent  RT 100%
• Mustang  RT 98%
• CC, GG, V Son of Saul  RT 92%
• Theeb  RT 96%
• A War  RT 100%
• 
  

• SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION) (not enough data)

  • V Ave Maria
  • Day One
  • Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
  • Shok
  • Stutterer

  
  
• 
  
• DOCUMENTARY SHORT (not enough data, HBO screens)
  • HBO, V Body Team 12
  • HBO Chau, Beyond the Lines
  • Claude Lanzmann
  • A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
  • Last Day of Freedom
  • 
    
  • 
    
  • SOUND MIXING (BAFTA better at predicting Mixing than Editing), Cinema Audio Society, Goes with Sound Editing winner only 44% of the time) Vegas miss
• • Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
  • V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens  RT 93%
  • The Martian  RT 93%
  • CAS, B The Revenant  RT 81%
  • 
    
  
  

  SOUND EDITING (Motion Picture Sound Editors, American Cinema Editors, BAFTA. Goes with Sound Mixing winner only 44% of the time)

  • ACE, V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
  • Sicario  RT 93%
  • Star Wars: The Force Awakens  RT 93%
  • The Martian  RT 93%
  • B The Revenant  RT 81%
  • 
    
  • 
    
• SUPPORTING ACTRESS (SAG, BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, DQS - not nominated for SAG)

  • DQS Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight  RT 74%
  • V Rooney Mara, Carol  RT 94%
  • Rachel McAdams, Spotlight  RT 97%
  • SAG, CC, V Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl  RT 71%
  • B, GG Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs  RT 85%

  
  
• 
  
• VISUAL EFFECTS (BAFTA 9/10, N-most overall nominations, Predictinator, S-space themed helps, V-VES winner)
  • Ex Machina  RT 92%
  • CC Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
  • S The Martian  RT 93%
  • Predictinator, N The Revenant  RT 81%
  • B, VES, S, V Star Wars: The Force Awakens  RT 93%
  • 
    
  
  

ANIMATED SHORT (not enough data, Annie Awards, DQA - not nominated for Annie)

• DQA Bear Story
• DQA Prologue
• V Sanjay's Super Team
• DQA We Can't Live Without Cosmos
• AA  World of Tomorrow
• 
  

ANIMATED FEATURE (BAFTA, Golden Globe, Annie winner, DQG - not nominated for Golden Globe, DQA - not nominated for Annie) BZ miss, Vegas miss

• Anomalisa  RT 93%
• DQG, DQA Boy and the World   RT 95%
• GG, AA, B, CC, V Inside Out  RT 98%
• Shaun the Sheep Movie  RT 99%
• DQG, DQA When Marnie Was There  RT 89%
• 
  
• 
  

PRODUCTION DESIGN (BAFTA 5/7 recently, Art Directors Guild, BAFTA+ ADG = lock. Period usually beats Fantasy)

• Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
• The Danish Girl  RT 71%
• ADG, B, CC, V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• ADG The Martian  RT 93%
• ADG The Revenant  RT 81%

CINEMATOGRAPHY (*normally requires a Production Design nomination, G-ASC winner a weak predictor)

• Carol  RT 94%
• The Hateful Eight  RT 74%
• *Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• ASC, B, CC, V,* The Revenant  RT 81%
• Sicario  RT 93%

FILM EDITING American Cinema Editors (ACE + BAFTA winner agree - 5/5), BZ miss

• ACE, The Big Short  RT 88%
• ACE, B, CC, V Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• The Revenant  RT 81%
• Spotlight  RT 97%
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens  RT 93%

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE (tough to predict, multiple nominations, DGA, BAFTA)

• B, CC, V Amy  RT 96%
• DGA, Cartel Land  RT 91%
• The Look of Silence  RT 96%
• What Happened, Miss Simone?  RT 81%
• Winter on Fire  RT 94%
• 
  

ORIGINAL SONG (no good predictor, GG, Critics Choice went to an un-nominated song this year, Critics Circles)

• "Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey  RT 25%
• "Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction  RT 77%
• "Simple Song #3" - Youth  RT 74%
• V "Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground  RT 93%
• GG "Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre  RT 64%

ORIGINAL SCORE (GG the best but a weak predictor) BZ miss, Vegas miss

• Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
• Carol  RT 94%
• B, CC, GG, V The Hateful Eight  RT 74%
• Sicario  RT 93%
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens  RT 93%
• 
  

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (WGA, DQW- no WGA nomination) Vegas miss

• Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
• DQW Ex Machina  RT 92%
• DQW Inside Out  RT 98%
• WGA, B, CC, V Spotlight  RT 97%
• Straight Outta Compton  RT 88%
• 
  

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY (WGA, USC scripter award 5/5 last 5 years, BAFTA, DQW-no WGA nomination, DQB- no BAFTA nomination)

• WGA, B, CC, V The Big Short  RT 88%
• DQW Brooklyn  RT 98%
• Carol  RT 94%
• DQB The Martian  RT 93%
• DQW, DQB Room  RT 97%
• 
  
• 
  

DIRECTOR (DGA winner, DQD - not nominated for DGA)

• Adam McKay - The Big Short  RT 88%
• CC, George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• DGA, B, V Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant  RT  81%
• DQD Lenny Abrahamson - Room  RT 97%
• Tom McCarthy - Spotlight  RT 97%
• 
  

ACTOR (SAG winner, DQS - not nominated for SAG)

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo  RT 70%
• DQS, GG Matt Damon, The Martian  RT 93%
• SAG, B, CC, GG, V Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant  RT 81%
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs  RT 85%
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl  RT 71%
• 
  
• 
  

ACTRESS (SAG winner, DQS - not nominated for SAG)

• Cate Blanchett, Carol  RT 94%
• SAG, B, CC, GG, V Brie Larson, Room  RT 97%
• DQS, GG Jennifer Lawrence, Joy  RT 60%
• DQS Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years  RT 98%
• Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn  RT 98%
• 
  

PICTURE (PGA winner, DQP-not nominated for PGA, DGA winner, BE-Best Ensemble SAG nom/win, (BS) Best Screenplay nom, WGA nom, Normally needs 7+ nominations, N-most nominations)

• BS, CC The Big Short  RT 88%
• BS, Bridge of Spies  RT 91%
• BS, Brooklyn  RT 98%
• GG Mad Max: Fury Road  RT 97%
• BS, The Martian  RT 93%
• B, N, GG, V The Revenant  RT 81%
• Room  RT 97%
• WGA, BS, BE, Spotlight  RT 97%

Helpful links:

Ben Zauzmer's Twitter  and THR pages

Rotten Tomatoes awards leaderboard

Guild nominations leaderboard

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/oscars-your-essential-guide-short-867680

http://www.wikiwand.com/en/List_of_film_awards#/United_States

Winner trivia 

2016 Best Visual Effects Oscar Race artwork and works in progress

Last year I thought it would be fun to sketch a little battle scene between all the visual effects nominees for the Academy Awards. This year the contestants came from Ex Machina, Mad Max: Fury Road, The Revenant, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and The Martian. This is a challenging one to predict, but I think it will go to Star Wars, despite that franchise normally being passed over in this category. There was some strong early buzz for Mad Max and a late surge from The Revenant, which is the only film in the category I have not seen at the time of this writing.

This year I wanted to step it up a bit, and used this piece as an introduction to Corel Painter 2016. As a longtime Photoshop user, it was a bit wobbly getting started (I still don't have a good solution for an eraser tool hotkey), but I've liked the program more each time I used it, and find the brush selection easy to use and helpful to reconnect with when I used to paint with oils or work with conte crayons. Color mixing is also seems much easier.

Ex Machina's Ava,  Mad Max: Fury Road's Imperator Furiosa, The Revenant's Hugh Glass, Star Wars's Rey, and The Martian's Mark Watney having it out for Oscar gold.

Here's how the process went:

Three thumbnails were sketched in my phone's Painter app to test compositions. The iconic Mad Max War Boys were originally featured more prominently, and in the second one Rey gives Hugh a good smack. The third composition had Rey and Finn trapped on the floor of a canyon. The initial idea on the left ended up being chosen.

A closer look at the "approved" thumbnail. Mark was originally in his Mars Rover back in the midground, and Hugh rode the Revenant bear while firing at us with his rifle (but that was a bit much). A Star Wars fleet helped fill the sky, but this was later dropped to help balance out the players.

After I brought the sketch into Painter, I made my first line pass, focusing mainly on the foreground fighters. Hugh replaces Finn next to Rey, and Mark replaces the War Boy. To help guide the focal point of the Oscar, I added a rifle on Hugh's back to help flow up to it from the bottom of the composition. It was around this time I was reading Hereward Cooke's Painting Techniques of the Masters and Ray Bethers' Composition in Pictures, which helped with the composition.

Something wasn't right with Rey. I had decided to pick Star Wars as the winner around this time, and she needed to have a larger role in the composition. I still wanted her staff to provide the same tangent pointing to the Oscar though, so I sketched up some poses and settled on the "Force grab" one.

Final "ink" pass, with some background detail sketched in. This was all done using the Scratchboard tool up to this point.

The "underpaint" pass, below the inks layer. Getting used to the different brushes now, including the conte crayon. For this piece, I remembered to pick a particular color to fill the background with and paint over, which I normally forget to do. As you'd expect, it helped immensely in tying the color palette together.

At this point, I thought a more dramatic sky with a Mad Max-style lightning storm could work better, but it would have undermined all the lighting I had painted on the characters up to that point. I decided against it based on time constraints.

The subtler sky, styled to look like it could belong in the worlds of either Mad Max or The Martian. I made small adjustments to the background landscape to help draw attention to the area where the Oscar statue is. After this I went back to Photoshop for the text pass and called it a day.

Or, when put all together:

Using 3D Animation to Examine Composition in Vermeer's "The Music Lesson"

I've been watching videos on classic painters this week, and came across Vermeer: Master of Light, a 2001 documentary about the master narrated by Meryl Streep. It started out slow and straightforward for those familiar with the painter, but then it cut to a segment that truly impressed me. Taking an incredibly close look at his painting "The Music Lesson," the filmmakers used 3D animation to rearrange the elements of the painting to help better understand the impact of its final composition. They do such a great job with their presentation that there's nothing I can add. Kudos to those who worked on it. Watch:



It's examinations like this that serve as a helpful reminder of how much thought goes into the simple arrangement of elements in an image. Painters like Vermeer thought about these things to a staggering extent.

2015 Oscar Nominees Announced

Click here for the official list. I'll do a follow-up post soon with my predictions, but I'll call Star Wars as the VFX winner right now, with Mad Max a close runner-up. Hopefully I can beat last year's score of 19/24.

BEST PICTURE

• The Big Short
• Bridge of Spies
• Brooklyn
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight

BEST ACTOR

• Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
• Matt Damon, The Martian
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl

BEST ACTRESS

• Cate Blanchett, Carol
• Brie Larson, Room
• Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
• Charlotte Rampling, 45 Years
• Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

• Christian Bale, The Big Short
• Tom Hardy, The Revenant
• Mark Ruffalo, Spotlight
• Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies
• Sylvester Stallone, Creed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

• Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
• Rooney Mara, Carol
• Rachel McAdams, Spotlight
• Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
• Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

DIRECTING

• Adam McKay - The Big Short
• George Miller - Mad Max: Fury Road
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu - The Revenant
• Lenny Abrahamson - Room
• Tom McCarthy - Spotlight

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• Anomalisa
• Boy and the World
• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• When Marnie Was There

COSTUME DESIGN

• Carol
• Cinderella
• The Danish Girl
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• Amy
• Cartel Land
• The Look of Silence
• What Happened, Miss Simone?
• Winter on Fire

DOCUMENTARY SHORT

• Body Team
• Chau, Beyond the Lines
• Claude Lanzmann
• A Girl in the River: The Price of Forgiveness
• Last Day of Freedom

MAKEUP AND HAIR STYLING

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared
• The Revenant

ORIGINAL SONG

• "Earned It" - Fifty Shades of Grey
• "Manta Ray" - Racing Extinction
• "Simple Song #3" - Youth
• "Til It Happens to You" - The Hunting Ground
• "Writing's on the Wall" - Spectre

ANIMATED SHORT

• Bear Story
• Prologue
• Sanjay's Super Team
• We Can't Live Without Cosmos
• World of Tomorrow

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• Ave Maria
• Day One
• Everything Will Be Okay (Alles Wird Gut)
• Shok
• Stutterer

• 
  

SOUND MIXING

• Bridge of Spies
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Martian
• The Revenant

SOUND EDITING

• Mad Max: Fury Road
• Sicario
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Martian
• The Revenant

FILM EDITING

• The Big Short
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Spotlight
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• Embrace of the Serpent
• Mustang
• Son of Saul
• Theeb
• A War

ORIGINAL SCORE

• Bridge of Spies
• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Sicario
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

PRODUCTION DESIGN

• Bridge of Spies
• The Danish Girl
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant

VISUAL EFFECTS

• Ex Machina
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• The Revenant
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

• The Big Short
• Brooklyn
• Carol
• The Martian
• Room

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

• Bridge of Spies
• Ex Machina
• Inside Out
• Spotlight
• Straight Outta Compton

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Carol
• The Hateful Eight
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Sicario

RIP Alan Rickman

This brilliant actor brought so many classic moments to cinema over the years, it's hard to pick the best. Here's a drawing I did of him five years ago for my 300 heads sketchbook:

Alan Rickman, 1946-2016

Sketch of Max Von Sydow as Lor San Tekka

So some years it's easy to think of what you want to pursue more as a resolution. For me, this New Year's resolution was a resounding: DRAW MORE! 2015 was the dryest year yet for time spent away from the drawing pad, with attention spent more on photo manipulation and touching up family pictures (you parents of young kids out there know where I'm coming from). However, the neglect ends now. The first piece I drew this year ended up being taken from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, whose art books were a joy to flip through over the break. There will most definitely be more subjects taken from that universe as I work on getting my draftsmanship skills back up to snuff.

Actor Max Von Sydow as Lor San Tekka. Graphite on paper. 2016

Also, I read an art book over the weekend called Sketchbook for the Artist, that I highly recommend. It was the perfect refresher of illustration principles to keep aware of, no matter how many years you've been drawing.

"Legend of the Last Lava Pup" commercial

The video for the new Clash of Clans commercial is now online, and is already up to 15 million views in less than a week. I helped previs the animated portions. For a small writeup on the project, click here.

The first 'Star Trek Beyond' trailer is here

I spent a good portion of this year working on the previs team for the latest Star Trek film for Paramount Pictures, both on and off the studio lot. This trailer will also screen before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so I'm looking forward to seeing those slick finaled shots on the big screen.

2016 Oscars short list announced for "Best Visual Effects"

This year, the short list for movies that could win the Oscar for "Best Visual Effects" was expanded to include twenty films. They are:

• Ant-Man
• Avengers: Age of Ultron
• Bridge of Spies
• Chappie
• Everest
• Ex Machina
• Furious 7
• The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
• In the Heart of the Sea
• Jupiter Ascending
• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
• The Revenant
• Spectre
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• Terminator Genisys
• Tomorrowland
• The Walk

I am glad our work on Furious 7 helped that movie make the cut. Next comes the bake-off, which I assume will be twice as long this year (!). Congratulations to all those who worked on visual effects for these notable films.

If I had to predict which films will become the final five nominees, I would choose:

• Jurassic World
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Martian
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• The Walk

Of course, based on my findings from studying last year's Oscar race, this probably means a space-themed movie will once again win for "Best Visual Effects," which has traditionally been the case in years with multiple space-themed nominees. Of course, it is still too soon to see how many will end up nominated, but this could make the space films The Martian and Star Wars: The Force Awakens the strongest contenders to win. Jupiter Ascending, another space movie on the list, seems like a long shot due to bad reviews and a cast lacking Oscar nominees and winners, even though the Wachowskis have Oscar pedigree from their "Best Visual Effects" winner The Matrix.

The Martian has a cast with many Oscar nominees, but no actual winners other than Damon (who won for writing), and the number of Oscar nominees Star Wars: The Force Awakens has in its cast other than Harrison Ford is...unknown to me because I have avoided that IMDb page like the plague to keep that movie as spoiler-free as possible for me. I should have a slightly better prediction after I see it during Winter break, but history shows that Star Wars movies with the original cast win Oscars, and follow-ups do not (Three winners, three losers). Stay tuned for more observations on the Oscar visual effects race.

'Star Trek Beyond' trailer to screen before 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

It's nice to have this officially confirmed. I was on Star Trek Beyond for most of this year, and I am very excited to see how the trailer looks on the big screen seven months in advance. Hopefully we have reached the point now where Abrams has helped unite Star Wars and Star Trek fans in space opera fandom, after so many years of exclusionary mockery ("the dark times").

Honda's "The Power of Dreams" commercials

Earlier this year I was the Previs Supervisor for five commercials by Honda for their "The Power of Dreams" campaign. Four of them are posted below. For the fifth commercial video and more information on how they were accomplished by my team, visit the Honda page on my portfolio website.

New 'Gods of Egypt' trailer

The work we did at Proof, inc. for the movie mainly focused on a sequence in the third act, which has only a few shots in this trailer. I will be able to share more details as more content for the movie gets released online.

Comic-con Saturday Recap

This was my tenth consecutive year attending the San Diego Comic-con. The convention seemed to noticeable escalate in size between 2005 and 2010, but the last five years have all felt basically the same, with the convention taking over the center as well as increasing portions of downtown. I only go on Saturdays at this point, and it's a pleasure to reunite with my old San Diego buddies, as well as anyone who is able to make it down from Los Angeles or other cities. I try to sample a little bit of the floor and upstairs panels each year and this year I attended three panels: 3D Printing with Adobe Photoshop, William Shatner's motion comic "Man O War," and Google Spotlight Stories, which are akin to a CG theatrical performance you watch on your phone.

The Google Spotlight Stories panel had animators Patrick Obsorne (director of "Feast") and Glen Keane ("Duet"), who were very nice to speak with and kindly posed for photographs. I'll have to draw some caricatures of these gentlemen soon.

With "Feast" director Patrick Osborne, before the Google Spotlight Stories panel.

With master animator and "Duet" director Glen Keane after the end of the panel.

Walking around the floor was fun as usual, with the chance to view the finely-textured costumes from Batman vs. Superman up close, and exploring the illustrators tables, where I was positively blown away by Heather Theurer's incredible fantasy work, especially her realistic renditions of Disney characters:

Heather Theurer's take on the Frozen sisters.

Lilo and Stitch, with Mulan underneath.

Another artist, Scott Smith, made a series of typographic prints that fit every line of dialogue from popular movies on them:

I also saw Star Wars concept artist Iain McCaig doing some live portrait drawing, which was enlightening (the drawing advice he gave to his subject was to "get completely lost in your reference.") Terry Dodson's "Vespa Girl" was irresistible, so I snagged a postcard of it as I walked by his table. Little surprises like these are the reason why it is still worth it for me to continue going to Comic-con each year.

The Speed Chart

In previs, there are often times when you have to animate objects flying through space: birds, helicopters, spaceships, angry flying monkeys, etc. With live action previs, however, the speeds at which your objects move have real-world implications when it comes time for the film crew to shoot, so you'll need to keep accurate speeds in mind. That way your previs team can inform the director and  his crew how fast their helicopter will have to travel to catch up with all those angry flying monkeys.

Speed can be something a bit difficult to visualize for comparison, so here is the Speed Chart I ended up making:

If I had something like this before I started researching, it would have saved a lot of time. I hope this comes in handy for you at some point.

Sources:

Helios: http://www.aerospaceweb.org/question/spacecraft/q0109c.shtml

Apollo 10: http://www.history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_10a_Summary.htm

Space Shuttle: http://www.space.com/12127-8-surprising-space-shuttle-facts.html

TOPOL-M: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/RT-2PM2_Topol-M

X-15: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/North_American_X-15

Blackbird: http://www.historynet.com/sr-71-blackbird-sets-london-to-l-a-speed-record.htm

F-14: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Grumman_F-14_Tomcat

Concorde: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Concorde

Bell X-1: http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/artifact.cfm?object=nasm_A19510007000

B-2 Bomber: http://www.militaryfactory.com/aircraft/detail.asp?aircraft_id=6

747: http://www.therichest.com/business/technology/the-10-fastest-passenger-planes-in-history/

Cruise missile: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cruise_missile

P-51D Mustang: http://www.cafsocal.com/our-aircrafts/our-aircraft-and-history/north-american-p-51-mustang-%EF%BB%BFman-o-war/

Apache: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Boeing_AH-64_Apache

News Helicopter: http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Airbus_Helicopters_H125_%C3%89cureuil

Proof CEO Ron Frankel to Speak about Previs and Postvis at FMX

For those attending FMX this year in Stuttgart, Germany, the Proof, inc. CEO Ron Frankel will be presenting there on May 7th. He will go in depth on the work done on Guardians of the Galaxy and Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. For more details, click this link for the FMX post.

New Extended Look at Furious 7's "Cargo Drop" Sequence (With Posters!)

I'll get right to it:



Suffice it to say that this movie has some wild stunts and sequences like the cargo drop, which was the first part of the movie I worked on when I joined the project two years ago. Those who appreciate how the series is going more and more over-the-top will love it for sure.

Less than a month to go before it drops...

New article for Influx Magazine

I adapted my last blog post into an article for Influx Magazine about this year's Visual Effects Oscar winner. The article is called "Interstellar and the VFX Oscar: What History Tells us about how Much the Academy Loves Space Movies." I recommend it to anyone interested in Oscar History and who loves space movies. Please give the link a visit and leave a comment if you enjoyed it. Thanks!