The young adults on the autism spectrum who worked on visual effects for Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, now in theatres, could have easily been pigeonholed into jobs that were either rote technical jobs or routine jobs, like stocking shelves at a grocery store. Instead, they went on to develop visual effects skills at Exceptional Minds vocational school – and surprised an industry that is known for its creativity: Hollywood.
Since 1992, Cutting Edge has built a string of studios that employs over 150 artists and reaches from Brisbane to Sydney. Like most professional shops they can do it all: films (Predestination, The Age of Adaline); commercials and TV series, including Powers, PlayStation Network’s first scripted show that’s based on Marvel’s beloved graphic novel series. What they couldn’t do was run all render requests off a single dispatcher, and the minutes kept adding up.
The American Society of Cinematographers will honor the extraordinary achievements of director-producer Ridley Scott in advancing the art and craft of filmmaking by bestowing him with the organization’s annual Board of Governors Award. The presentation will be made during the 30th ASC Awards for Outstanding Achievement on February 14, 2016, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.
Father and son re-recording mixers Michael and Christian Minkler have joined the growing roster of sound talent at Sony Pictures Post Production Services. The Minklers, who mixed the current Columbia Pictures release Concussion in Sony Pictures’ Burt Lancaster Theatre, have been working at the studio since last year, but are now on a formal basis. The pair previously mixed Insurgent on the Sony lot and are currently collaborating on The Hateful Eight.
Panavision has announced the opening of an expanded New Orleans location. The new 30,500-square-foot space will also house Light Iron’s first brick-and-mortar facility in Louisiana. The facility represents the first location occupied by the two companies since Panavision acquired Light Iron earlier this year.
The obvious difference between sound for the big screen, the small screen, and now, the tiny screen, may not seem that different. In many ways they are not. As sound designers and editors, we want the viewer to experience every gunshot and explosion as well as every word, whether listening in a theater, at home on a TV, or earbuds on the subway. Sound for the big screen on a movie like Trumbo means you can use 5, 7 or in the case of Dolby Atmos, unlimited channels, for panning. We also have a large dynamic range because of the room size and speaker size. This, in many ways, is the easiest for those of us creating the sound tracks.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers have announced that the SMPTE Board of Governors has formally approved the creation of the SMPTE U.K. Region and appointed Bruce Devlin, chief media scientist at Dalet, to serve as its first governor.
Oblique FX created 123 visual effects shots for Sicario, the latest film from director Denis Villeneuve. Sicario tells the story of a young FBI agent (Emily Blunt) thrown into the violent and lawless world of the drug trade across the U.S.-Mexico border. A gritty, realistic drama, the story required subtle effects work to blend seamlessly with the cinematography of Roger Deakins.
K-Tek has extended its smart line of Stingray Audio bags, with the first made specifically for the Tascam DR-70D and DR-701D. The new KSTG70 incorporates Stingray’s hallmark big-bag features into a small, yet sturdy form factor to enhance the versatility and applications of Tascam’s compact package. The Stingray KSTG70 is ideal for audio and video professionals, documentarians, serious enthusiasts and musicians.
Iris, Archimedia’s suite of software applications designed to speed file workflow, can now play Interoperable Master Format complex files. These files are rapidly becoming a preferred format for motion pictures because they dramatically reduce the number of file versions film studios need to send out. Archimedia CEO Mark Gray said, “We are proud to introduce an upgrade to Iris that makes it the world’s first software media player for IMF complex files. Now that IMF is gaining traction in the OTT and video on demand television markets its use is sure to increase.”
