WoW Machinimas

If you liked the premier of Southpark season 10, featuring some of World of Warcraft animation, or machinima on this side of the Internet, you would be interested in these fine quality films that expand the narrative potential of this nascent medium. For an example, the 1st place winner Edge of Remorse, produced by Riot Films has no dialogues but manages to craft a nice story in limited means of expressions within the WoW game engine and animations.

Wednesday NAB 2006

I missed the career fair because I had to do a quick work for my client in the morning. However judging by the list of reps in the fair, I don't think I missed any significant opportunity.

Anyhow, after all things considered, I did manage to attend the Oscar nominated editor Craig McKay's keynote. I got in the middle of where he was showing a scene from Philadelphia, and talked about his works. I'm beginning to notice that the editors or post production field people are rather shy and mellow, which suit me fine. He didn't part with any significant info, but he mentioned of the lost art of mentoring as he only has two people working for him compare to 20+ people when he was cutting on Moviola. When he was cutting film, back in the old days, his assistants can see the editing decision he made, when he handed off a strip of film to them. But now days, he has to make the effort to show them how and why he made a certain cut. That somehow explains many young editors hiding their lack of experience with fast cuts, even though their life has been saturated with visual narratives.

After the keynote, I took the advantage of the free luncheon they served on the exhibit floor, and went home to hit the editing books on my own.

Firfox 2 Tips

Top Firefox 2 config tweaks. If you haven't done it yet, do it now. It offers great net surfing experience.

Battle of the Year 2006

Last for One in DC
Originally uploaded by arisnoe.

If you have been following the B-Boy scene like I do, after editing a b-boy documentary film no less, you would be interested to know that last year's champion, Last for One, won 2nd place this year in the Battle of the Year 2006. Although they didn't win back-to-back, they proved themselves and the rest of the world that Korean B-boys are still reigning champs.

I had the pleasure of meeting them personally at DC three weeks ago, as they were invited to perform at a Korean festival. Although I missed their performances, but I found they were young and incredibly talented guys who matured beyond what the movie captured them two years ago.

The B-boy scene in Korea is exploding now, as so many world-class b-boy crews are show off some crazy moves and dances that are pushing its limits. I hope the documentary finally ignites the same passion in the states as well as the rest of the world to join this exquisite art form.

Hard Knock Freelance Life

A beginner's guide to freelancing by Phil Gyford offers some of valuable lessons that you can avoid from the get-go--although his advices are based in England. Your business-savvy often counts more than your crafts sometimes in this cold, harsh world.

Immortel

I'm not sure how this movie got into my queue and delivered to me over other movies I need to catch up. Probably because it's an unique European, i.e. French, CG animation. Well, it was, for 75% of time. Well done for the period--two years ago, when it was made. It almost looked like Final Fantasy: the Spirits Within. The movie is based on the director's original graphic novel, which I saw the book when I was in Paris, with haunting and evocative images. Yes, the French makes beautiful stuff, but the story is not. No matter how much you want to like it, the story is dense, the characters are denser, and the drama is non-existent. (Why does this Egyptian god is dying and trying to impregnate the heroine? Drop me a line if you know.) You can tell the movie is going nowhere within 10 minutes of its running time. Unfortunately the DVD didn't come with a subtitle or English caption, but I got through the movie fine by fast-forwarding it, just admiring visual directions. The animators did superb job. The set designers did great job as well, but the direction sucked. Just because you are great illustrator doesn't make you a great storyteller, although you can sell yourself and your creation based on purely on look. (To be fair, the actors do it all the time!)

Sure, I might be a spoiled Hollywood junkie, but like beautiful illustrations, great stories know no bound. I felt depressed by the fact that all the great visual and talent was wasted in serving this self-absorbed story, but fortunately, the Colbert Report came on right after the movie ended. (Yes! USA! USA! USA!)

Let it be a lesson to all storytellers of all mediums that it's not easy to weave a fantasy/epic/myth out of pretty pictures alone. Regardless of how cool your ancient god looks.

The Formula

New Yorker: What if you built a machine to predict hit movies? "That stars didn’t matter, that the director didn’t matter, and that all that mattered was story—and, by the way, that you understood story the way the people on the inside, people who had spent a lifetime in the motion-picture business, didn’t." Neo would say, "Whoa."

Tuesday NAB 2006

Panasonic Booth at NAB 2006
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

In contrast to last year, they sent me an offer to attend the exhibit and the keynote sessions for free this year, so I went. (Yes, I'm jobless once more. Such is a life of a freelancer. Sigh.)

I scored tons of industry mags before entering the main exhibit area, so you should go if you are interested in picking up some pro magazines for free. Hehehe.

Today's keynote was delivered by Chris Franklin, an award winning commercial editor. He gave a casual talk of his works, including Martin Scorses's AMEX commercial at last year Tribeca Film Festival, and the hot off the Avid system, new Ellen DeGeneres' AMEX commercial, which charmed the audience including yours truly. He didn't go specific about technologies or his editing skills or philosophy but just talked like another industry professional who's content with his job. He warned aspiring editors to learn everything and prepare to sit for 14 hours straight. (Yeah, my butts getting too big for its own good. TMI, indeed.)

The exhibit floor was rather small, but Panasonic and JVC had a grand booth to try out their latest cameras, Avid had another big booth to showcase their systems. (I'm falling in love with their new black Mojo SDI.)

Future Media Concept was primary sponsor and they had nice half-hour tutorial sections of Apple programs that I sat in one for Motion. I got a taste of it and it was pretty good. The interface was more 'friendly' compare to After Effects. AE changed its interface in its new version and I can understand why, even though new interface bothers old pros like my bro to no end.

I saw some nice pro gears, and some other stuff that you wouldn't know unless you attended one of these events. It is really different from reading reviews from magazines, interacting with the developers/manufacturers and the actual products.

I don't know why Apple didn't care to have a booth. I'm surprise that SGI cared to attend with a small booth.

I'm going back tomorrow for another keynote, a career fair, and a free session on one of many post production classes. Stay tuned.

NAB 2006 Badge

NAB 2006 Badge
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

This is where I'll be for today and tomorrow. (See you there.)

Apple SoHO Encyclopedia of Visual Effects presentation

Encyclopedia of Visual Effects presentation
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

This is a long overdue post of the presentation of Brian Conner, co-author of upcoming Apple Pro Training Series: Encyclopedia of Visual Effects. He works at the venerable ILM, participated in many blockbuster movies like "War of World" and "Star Wars Episode III." He showed some of the clips of his works in visual effects that are invisible and visible-like light sabers in Star Wars.

Although he explained many facets of his works very well, I think the audience was overwhelmed by his technical jargons during his presentation. Even I felt I was barely catching up to his explanations that no one dared to ask a question at the end of the presentation.

The book is yet published, but I hope this book will help me solve many problems that arise from combining different visual elements from different programs, making a shot/scene. I'm certain that it will be a hit with hardcore Star Wars fans since the book will contain the full Shake project that created a light saber fight scene in Episode III, which Mr. Conner showcased in the presentation. With Shake price came down in reasonable range, I believe there will a rise of quality visual effects in many indie films, not just Star Wars fan films.

Because this field is progressing everyday, I'm glad to hear that he and his co-author is planning to publish another book, to accommodate growing technical challenges. So it's the first book in a series of books that could well become an Encyclopedia. One book at a time.

I AM LEGEND shoot

I AM LEGEND shoot
Originally uploaded by arisnoe.

I was walking 5th ave, the other day, and ran into an army of PAs swarming the street, redirecting sidewalk traffic. They were out about 3 blocks from the actual location to cut off the flow.

I didn't see any star, but it looks like they're shooting inside Hugo Boss store. (Mental note, checkout the store.)

It's always interesting to run into an actual big Hollywood production on NYC streets.

I haven't ran into a Spider-Man 3 production this year, though. Hmm..

the Nightmare before Christmas 3D

the Nightmare before Christmas
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

I was more than curious of this new re-release. I was more glad that I got to see this movie on the big screen theater again. But I wasn't prepare for the majestic sight. The 3D technology did come a long way, although I still had to wear a black plastic glasses.

The original animation is a visual treat regardless it was in 3D or not. However, when it did get this 3D makeover, I didn't think I saw this movie properly, although my count of watching this movie is nearing two digits. The level of details that popped into my eyes were astounding. It's not one of those 3D animation that tries to poke-your-eyes-out, even though it did have one in the intro. Regardless, I felt like I was watching these figures coming alive before my eyes. More apt description would be like having these character animated before my eyes, as if I was following their movements with a camera.

The movie is a treat, the magic is still there, and the fans came out in drove. The theater was packed in a Sunday afternoon in the Union Square theater, only one of two theaters that featured this unique technology and this special animation. Although I had to pay $13!-a price that's almost there with a discount of new release DVDs, I came out enchanted and enriched with the 3D experience like no other. Do yourself a favor and catch it before it's too late. I hope they would re-release this in DVD so that I can watch at home, with the plastic glasses I left with from the theater.

I wonder if they'll do Corpse Bride next? Corpse Bride is not up to a par with the Nightmare, but the stop-motion animation in that movie is fluid.

I came back home, humming to all the great songs in the movie once more. Yes! I'm Jack, the Pumpkin King!

Busy Be

Beauty by the Sea
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

I've neglected to post on this blog because I'm getting busy, professionally and personally. I got hooked up with a new online video company that's putting out some medical videos. It's not taxing creatively but it's technically challenging stuff. More over, I'm finally earning good money to be financially stable, although I still got big student loan and credit card debt to pay.

Secondly, I'm helping out a film student friend of mine to make his thesis short film this winter. I'm writing the script, assisting the production, and editing the film. Since it will be shot in Super 16, I'm excited about the potential to work in film instead of usual digital HD stuff.

Finally, now that I've been struggling in NYC indie scene for couple of years, I'm getting some nice referrals from my previous works and contacts. I'm considering a feature project that I may have to hire an assistant editor(!) to help me out. It's been just a year since I started this path down the post-production/editing path from my production gigs. (Unless you are trying to be a camera man and become a DP, don't go production path, no matter how much you want to be a director.) I learned that there's a career, and there's a trade, which you make your living. Your trade and your career may not converge for a while unless you steer your trade and works to your desired career path.

So the oil price is coming down, the economy seems to be more or less stable, the mess in Iraq is nowhere near the end, and our mis-guided President still got two years left in his term. So I'm still a survivor, marching to my own beats.

Good night and good luck.

The Departed

departed
Originally uploaded by disjecta79.

The best script out of Hong Kong cinema got fast-tracked to American remake with venerable Marty at the helm with all-star casting. Despite some rumors that production was in trouble, the movie is a blast and critically well-received.

I love the characters and relationships that refined over the original. Especially the strong, female character/love interest that binds our two protagonists over the forgettable yet beautiful Kelly Chen in the original. And, Jack, well Jack is simply marvelous.

However, I still got beefs about this remake. First, the suspense is lessen. Regardless of difference in running times, the original kept you at the edge of the seat. The pace was fast and with greater momentum. (When the ending hits you, it hits you hard with greater pathos.) It was like juggling glasses while you are walking on a rope.

Second, I really didn't like the push motivation they gave Leo to go undercover. Maybe the writers and director felt it was more logical, but Leo was a desperate cop with wrong motivation compare to the original undercover cop, played by suave but melancholy Tony Leung. He was a honorable and skillful undercover cop who was coming apart because of the stress and the pressure of his job. That made his plight more appealing than whiny Leo trying to get off the hook all the time.

Lastly, the ending, was a cop-out. I seriously couldn't believe they did that to the near-perfect ending of the original. I couldn't understand why Leo didn't go find Mark's character first near the end, until... I can't spoil the movie for my dear readers here. Andy Lau, another star of the original, didn't like Mark's constant swearing character and I agree. He was more of a joke character that the audience found relief, not a tough cop he was trying to convey with his demeaning words. There are some logical holes, to me at least, in the story, but that's minor compare to these three.

Now that the remake is a hit, I wonder if they'll do trilogy like the original did. The remake is for 'the departed' but the original is for those who understand the weight of surviving 'the infernal affairs' of the world.

Korean Cinema wave

Korean Cinema wave
Originally uploaded by beatmania.

New posts coming soon this weekend. I have drafts of old posts that need to be updated and published on the site.

Working for vacations. No. Working for financial freedom. Working for my dreams.

YouTube MyTube saga 2

With YouTube, Google puts its competitors in a jam. "Of course, baked into all these predictions is the assumption that online video really is the next big thing in Internet content and that its popularity can translate into advertising sales. Certainly, Google's executives think that's the case and were willing to spend big on YouTube, despite having their own video service and a reputation for steering clear of major acquisitions." The net video market is ready to explode. I'm working on one of the ventures in this space. Time for money, money, and mo' money!

Upgrade Your SuperDrive

HardMac: Unlocking the full potential of your Mac Pro's Sony DW-D150A. My old Powerbook had this hack that made it region-free DVD player. Cool hack to enhance your shiny new Mac Pro. (I'm waiting till next year with Leopard release.)

Adult Movie Posters

from 60's and 70's. I see some famous ones. Compare to today's heavily photoshoped ones, these look like a work of art, indeed.

Dead or Alive Music Video

Windows Streaming Media, featuring Korea's very own, MC Mong.

Honestly, it could be the editing, but the action in this movie's looking better and better. It looks like the director watched some good Kung-Fu flicks to rip from. It could become a cult hit for unintended hilarity, including 'service shots'

South Park Machinima

It was very good premier. I'm sure 7 million WoW (World of Warcraft for you newbs) fans loved it. It will be on YouTube and all the file sharing sites in no time if you didn't tivo it. Ain't I so digerati?

I knew WoW graphics were very cinematic, but it looks like Machinimas, computer animations produced by real-time game engines, finally made mainstream splash. Sure, non-fans wouldn't recognize that it DID use WoW game graphics, but it was good enough to invoke emotions and inhibits characters, compare to those paper-cut characters. However, the show was another cheap-shot at stereotypical gamers, rather than reaching for higher dramatic potential for the new medium.

If you are interested, you can see the real Machinma done with WOW assets, without extensive modifications and help from the Blizzard.

I think Blizzard just sold another million copies of WoW after tonight, not to mention their upcoming expansion pack. Yes, the gaming is the main stream to stay. The narrative potential of the medium is yet to be discovered.