VIDEO: UFO Over Costa Rica!

Video: Amazing Student Sci-fi Flick!

More Info on New CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK Film!

More info from Vin Diesel on the upcoming Riddick film The Chronicles of Riddick: Deadman Stalking:

While I was working on character, the Director and his team of artists have been creating the world and style of this picture. We all know how much I enjoy concept art and storyboards, haha, I am like a kid in a candy shop.

Seeing the early stage of CGI is always fascinating to me, it is a element that usually comes together long after the filming process, so you look forward to seeing it fully realized.

First stop for the Riddick production is Canada, which is where we shot a large part of Chronicles…

P.s. I am grateful to have Universal in such support of this complex character’s journey… not many studios would back an “R” rating. Very cool.

The image above is from one of the new storyboards.

Rare TINTIN Volumes Stolen!

Two rare “Tintin” volumes were stolen in Belgium this summer.  The first was a first edition of Tintin au Congo (Tintin in the Congo) allegedly taken from a glass case at the Royal Museum Of Mariemont in Belgium.  The second was a first edition of Le Crabe aux pinces d’or (The Crab with the Golden Claws) was allegedly taken from a sale in Namur, Belgium.  The video above supposedly shows these thefts and the couple involved.

Tintin has been a popular comic book character in Europe since the forties.  The character is expected to gain greater fame with the release, later this year, of  “The Adventures of Tintin”.  A CGI mocap film, directed by Steven Speilberg, and produced by Peter Jackson.

Source.

Video: Batgirl Promo!

Check out this promo for the new CGI “Batgirl” television series!  It aired after the season finale of “The Brave and the Bold”.  Pretty cool, huh?  Can’t wait?

Not so fast.

Find out the skinny on this series after the jump …

Spielberg will Make First Ever Appearance at Comic-Con!

For the first time in his career, Steven Spielberg will be appearing at Comic-Con.   It will be on July, 22, 2011 as part of the The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn panel.  He will also be receiving the annual Inkpot award.

Most believe this appearance is due to concerns over Tintin.  The big budget CGI motion capture film which is far from a sure thing.  Especially in America where the source material, a Franco-Belgian comic, is not especially well known.  Will it work?  Well, a similar appearance by James Cameron prior to the release of Avatar did.  But Spielberg isn’t as much of a huckster as Cameron.  Hmmm …

I AM LEGEND Make Up Test!

Before they made the decision to go 100% CGI, Steve Johnson did this practical make-up test for I Am Legend.  Why did director Francis Lawrence reject this?  He thought it limited performance.  We don’t see that at all.  There’s more performance in this little test than in all the CGI in the final film.

Video: THUNDERCATS Test Footage!

This is a CGI test for a proposed Thundercats movie.   This has been on the net for a few days and has already received the usual critical drubbing.  However, some of that has been a bit out of control.  Like this comment on Youtube:

Thank god this was stopped dead in it’s tracks. I mean really, is it so much to ask for a more adult story AND impressive visuals out of Hollywood? Why do we have to pick one or the other and sometimes get neither?

Um, an “an adult story” for Thundercats?  Thundercats?!?  Do you remember Thundercats?  Hell, you don’t even have to remember it:  It’s a show called Thundercats!

But if you don’t remember Thundercats watch a bit of it after the jump.

New CONAN Film Won’t Rely on CGI!

Sean Hood, screenwriter of the new Conan film,  says the film won’t rely on action gimmicks or CGI:

the stunts, the fighting, and the visual effects were done, whenever possible, IN CAMERA.

I think that audiences are hungry for this kind of action film. In this Conan the Barbarian, people don’t flip backwards through the air in gravity defying bullet time or leap across chasms as if playing Nintendo. Swords are heavy, armor is cumbersome, and when people break bones or crack skulls, the audience winces. The action feels visceral and authentic.

That sounds very good.

He also feels the approach to 3D will be different:

The 3D elements in Conan are meant to enhance this concrete and naturalistic style. In scenes of warfare, you feel trapped between spearmen and archers. In scenes in ancient ruins you feel dizzy with vertigo. In this movie, 3D is used to enhance the effects of a barbaric world and to push the story forward. It’s more about immersing the audience in the environment than “jumping out in your face.”

All sounds good.  Either this film is being done right, or Hood just knows how to talk to Conan fans.  If the former?  Great!  If the latter?  Job done.

Source.

Update: More about THUNDERBIRDS Reboot!

The web was a buzz this week when Gerry Anderson announced there will be a new Thunderbirds television show.  Now, in an article written exclusively for the Sun newspaper, he’s telling more.

First up, here’s the big bit he reveals:

The new version will be made with CGI, on computer.

Small weep.  We were hoping for puppets.

So will this be a reboot or a continuation?  Anderson answers that as well:

[T]here is a lot of spade work to do because the original programme is very old.

It was made nearly 50 years ago and the world has changed.

It won’t look like the old Thunderbirds. Not at all.

Take something like Thunderbird 2, which seemed to be the favourite with the fans – that would have to be updated.

But we would be careful that there would be something about the design that they felt they know.

So a reboot.  Clearly.

What does Anderson think is the key to a successful Thunderbirds series?

Thunderbirds remains popular because the scripts were written on the basis that the audience would get to know the characters in the first part of the show.

Then we would put them in an impossible situation, so the audience would follow every word because they felt the character was a friend who needed assistance.

We created characters who would please pretty much everybody. My favourite was probably Parker, because he was a bit of a boy and working for a titled woman and was very experienced at cracking safes.

Nice.  Love the fact that Anderson’s a Parker fan.

Finally, who will the show be aimed at?  Will it exclusively be for kids or will it have more of a family appeal?

I have never believed in children’s programming, and the show is watched by people of all ages.

I’m a child at heart, so I wrote things that appealed to me and it followed that it would appeal to children as well.

That’s a great approach.  We’re kids at heart too.  And we don’t wanna feel left out of a new Thunderbirds show.

So although we’re not that crazy about the CGI approach everything else he says has us quite excited.  How about you?  Offer your thoughts in the comments section!