Keith Lango VTS

One last post before I turn in for the night.

If you have not seen these, or have watched a few but none recently, then you must really get on over.
Keith Lango is offering subscription to a video tutorial service. He teaches animation from the basics of pose to currently timing. He is getting more and more in depth every month and I
love it!!!

They are so informative and useful that every cent is worth it. I have been subscribing since day 1 and will continue as long as they are as good as this. He teaches on a personal level... well actually its into a video camera so hardly personal... but it feels like he is in your lounge talking
to you. The inclusion of tips and tricks he uses and a few examples each
month from his work really helps get his points across.

A big thank you to Keith for doing this and to all who dont subscribe - JUST DO IT!!

BTW - 50% of all proceeds go to charity, so its not like he is doing it to fund his retirement, its a genuine love of animation that keeps Keith going.

Quick Test

This is just a test to see if all is working properly.
I was having problems uploading my last two posts.

If this works, we are all good to carry on as before.

Hmmm.... looks fine.

Wait
Why are there no comments.

Oh yes, because nobody reads this blog, you ass!

QRIO

This is a little late but never the less.
I went to Sandton City on Friday afternoon to see the Sony Expo. Besides all the really cool cameras and HD DVCams etc, there was the cutest robot in the world.
Sony's Ambassador "Qrio"
Absolutely the most adorable and amazing robot I have ever seen in person. I will be posting some of the movies that Sasha took with her camera but in the mean time here are a few stills.





They could talk, dance, throw a ball and do many more impressive things than I feel like explaining. If you really want to know more then check out the Sony Website.

<>

Here are the movies I spoke about.
Part 1 15MB
Part 2 2.5MB
Part 3 2.5MB
Part 4 3.7MB

Crazy Weekend

Ouch...
My head hurts!

My cousin from Australia, Andrew, was out in SA for the week and we spent the weekend at Marakele National Park, visiting my brother's ex boss and watching the Currie Cup Semi-Final.
Lets just say that Saturday was spent mostly drinking with a bit of rugby viewing. Shouting the Bulls to their fourth successive Final took a lot of drinking and after the win I proceeded to break logs for the fire.
While attempting to break a rather stubborn branch, I slipped and fell ass over head onto the patio.
Seeing as I had more alcohol than blood rushing through my veins, my arms forgot to react and I stopped my fall with the left side of my noggin.

Crunch!!
Not too much blood but a sore head in the morning.

I am recovering so no need to send Get Well cards.

The Shining: Feel good movie of the year

Okay, so I know this is two weeks old already but its so good that I just have to show the few people who read this blog.

The Tattered Coat posted a recut trailer of the Shining.
It comes from a competition to re-edit trailers and turn them into a completely different genre. Absolutely brilliant!

Fire destorys Aardman Warehouse!

Oh dear, this is truly a sad day.

My heart sank when I read this article...CNN.com

Most of Aardman's history was destoyed in that fire.

From Morph to Chicken Run, various props and sets were lost forever.
The only good thing in the article is what Nick Park says that this was nothing compared to the tragedies in Pakistan.

It puts it in perspective but still is very sad, especially for an avid Aardman fan like myself, who would beg his aunt to send over to South Africa, the latest Wallace and Gromit VHS cassettes as soon as they hit the UK stores.

I was always facinated by Morph growing up and when I first saw an Aardman collection it made me realise that there is a lot more to animation than what comes out of the US. I was hooked on Claymation and especially the house Lord and Sproxton built...

But we rebuild ourselves after events like these and I am sure Park, Lord and Sproxton et al will be able to regather and replenish that warehouse with future master pieces like those that came before.

PJ to Exec Produce "HALO"

Ooooh - this is good. ANIMATION MAGAZINE

Basically the movie version of Halo is going to be executive produced by PJ and Fran, and filmed in Wellington New Zealand. All the post will be done at Weta.
Awesome news for WETA - really indifferent news for moi!

or is it?

Ahem...
excuse me while I make my way to the NZ embassy.

Cape Town in Spring

Blimey - its been ages since I posted anything, and as I look back it appears that I post maybe once a month.
Well thats just not good enough!
So here goes, some more photos from the film front.

I spent three days and two nights in Cape Town last week on the Southern Sun shoot at the gorgeous Cullinan Hotel in the CBD. The Southern Sun group were very kind in putting the main crew from Joburg (the rest were local) up in the hotel for the two nights we were there - we actually slept during the day and the staff got strict instructions not to try and clean our rooms before 2pm ;)


I went down as VFX supervisor for the Refinery as there were to be a few tricky shots with crowds and wipes (I wont bore you with the details) as well as hero finale that was to be made up of many plates - as it turned out we got most of it in camera and just seeing the cut today - its working rather nicely.

As it was a very busy hotel we were only permitted to shoot from 7pm to 7am - YIKES!
Harsh but I guess only fair as they dont need smelly crew around their main lobby during the day.



This was the view from my room just before the first nigth shoot was to begin.


Those smug bastards sitting there drinking their hot chocolate and eating muffins.
Grrrr - dont they do any work. (kidding) Fun team to work with from MorrisJones, gladly work with them again anytime...


A collection of christmas trees exploded outside the hotel



Our Hero's car transforms in his imagination from fancy taxi to fancier limo.


The porters line up for their big moment, bowing to our hero as he walks past.
This is the kind of treatment you get at Southern Sun Premier Hotels ;) Well it feels like it anyway.


Inside the lobby of the Cullinan

The crew with the setup of the lobby shot. Waiting for the lighting department as usual.


Besides showing off his fishing trophies the entire time, Werner did do a bit of DOPing (and thats pronounced Dee-Oh-Pee-ing - Not DOPING) Here he is with director Slim discussing their next plan of action.



Here is the same view as above but at 6:15am as I was making my way to bed after being awake for 26 hours. Having gotten up at 4:30am the previous morning to get to the airport.

That day I spent relaxing and I also hit the gym for a short while, getting my body ready for the next night of pain and suffering.

That evening went smoothly and certain concerns were dealt with and what we considered possible FX shots turned out to be filmed in camera so less work for our EQ artist this week.

Here is Slim's producer Greg with the Helium Light inflated to give a stunning moonlit feel inside. Greg is still wanting to know why he paid for this...

Anyway, that evening didn't take as long and we were all in bed by 5am.
Back to Joburg that afternoon, exhausted and with a serious internal clock problem...
Luckily I had the weekend to rectify it.