Argo’s best picture win topped off a successful night at the Academy Awards for movies originating on Kodak film. In the 85-year history of the awards no Oscar-winning best picture has ever been made without motion picture film technology.
In addition to best picture films on Kodak also won Oscars in all four acting categories as well as adapted and original screenplay among others. In all movies produced on Kodak stock took home the gold statue in 12 of the 19 narrative feature categories (non-animated). Six of the nine best picture nominees told their memorable stories on celluloid (Argo Lincoln Silver Linings Playbook Django Unchained Beasts of the Southern Wild and Les Miserables).
We take great pride in our rich history with the Academy Awards and this year is no exception ” says Andrew Evenski president and general manager of Kodak’s Entertainment and Commercial Films Group. “You can listen to all the hype but the truth is that motion picture film continues to be the gold standard and last night was certainly proof of that.”
Earlier in the weekend Film Independent’s Spirit Awards also named a best picture winner Silver Linings Playbook which originated on Kodak film. Four of the five nominees in that category also chose Kodak emulsions (Beasts of the Southern Wild Keep the Lights On Moonrise Kingdom and Silver Linings Playbook).
Silver Linings Playbook also won in the directing adapted screenplay and best actress categories at the Spirit Awards while best cinematography honors went to Ben Richardson for Beasts of the Southern Wild. Richardson’s palette was Kodak Super 16 mm film. Evenski says that the company is committed to providing filmmakers a range of products. “Filmmakers want creative options ” he says. “We are as committed as ever to providing them with a choice for telling stories. We are currently making billions of feet of film and who knows maybe next year’s best winner is already being shot on Kodak film.” ,3893
Thinkbox Software Releases Krakatoa MY For Autodesk Maya,2013-02-27, Thinkbox Software has released Krakatoa MY its volumetric particle renderer previously available for the Autodesk 3ds Max 3D software. Krakatoa is CPU-based highly optimized heavily multi-threaded and can be used successfully on most hardware running Windows or Linux operating systems including laptops and render nodes without dedicated high-end graphics accelerators.
Krakatoa MY seamlessly connects Autodesk Maya with the Krakatoa renderer and provides a number of features designed to accelerate artists workflow when manipulating millions of particles. Krakatoa MY shares the same rendering core with Krakatoa SR (Stand-alone Renderer) and Krakatoa MX (3ds Max) and will produce identical results given the same input data and settings. Versatility and performance have made Krakatoa a favorite tool among studios of all sizes for years. With the release of Krakatoa MY we are thrilled to bring Maya users access to an efficient pipeline for particle effects creation something they have been requesting for some time. We love feedback from our clients and are more than happy to go above and beyond to make whatever they want a reality so its exciting to see Krakatoa MY come to fruition said Chris Bond founder Thinkbox Software.
Key features of Krakatoa MY include: Point or voxel representation of particle data with various filter modes motion blur and depth of field camera effects and HDRI render passes output to OpenEXR files Simultaneous support of both additive and volumetric shading models with per-particle control over color emission absorption density and more Support for various light scattering algorithms high-quality self-shadowing and occlusions from both geometry and DTEX maps Dedicated particle loader object supporting Krakatoa .PRT file sequences RealFlow .BIN file sequences and .CSV file sequences with the ability to offset retime combine and modify already cached particles Dedicated PRT Volume and PRT Fractal objects inside the Maya viewports provide procedural particle creation from polygon mesh volumes and mathematical algorithms Particle partitioning tools for caching multiple versions of the same simulation to combine into high-density particle clouds Particle repopulation for render-time conversion of low-count simulations into high-count particle clouds ,3894
Barco DP2K-10Sx Debuts at Berlinale,2013-02-27, Last month’s 63rd annual Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale) saw the premiere of Barco’s DP2K-10Sx projector which is specifically designed for smaller screens and was used for many screenings in the intimate setting of small cinema theaters. “Over the past ten years Barco has built up a successful partnership with the Berlinale ” says Theodore Marescaux product manager digital cinema at Barco. The festival offers a complete cinematic experience ranging from mainstream cinema screenings as well as independent and art house films to experimental projects. This year’s edition was the ideal opportunity to launch the new compact DP2K-10Sx projector on the German Austrian and Swiss markets.” Some of the more than 800 films at the European Film Market of the Berlinale are screened exclusively for a smaller audience of industry professionals. The festival also created the initiative Berlinale goes Kiez to create festival atmosphere at art house cinemas of different neighborhoods. The so-called Flying Red Carpet has been travelling from art house cinema to art house cinema on seven evenings during the festival screening two films from the official program each day. “Most quality projectors are too big to install in these smaller cinemas ” says Ove Sander technical manager digital cinema. “Thanks to this new projector we were able to digitally project about 90 percent of the Berlinale movies compared to 75 percent in 2012.”
When developing the DP2K-10Sx Barco closely kept the cinema operator in mind. Independent cinemas or art houses are typically small businesses sometimes even family-run where everyone helps out. “Our new DP2K-10Sx integrates our leading digital cinema technologies into a compact scalable and cost-effective platform without sacrificing image quality. To make sure everyone can work with it we made a huge effort to make it user-friendly ” says Jörg Brüggen sales manager digital cinema DACH.
Tim Sinnaeve market director digital cinema at Barco says “Going digital is a big and important step for smaller cinemas. There is a lot of concern in the industry that the transition from 35mm to digital threatens the survival of smaller independent and art house cinemas that take up a unique position in the cinema landscape. Barco strongly believes that Digital Cinema also offers a unique opportunity for these cinemas to thrive as it offers them flexibility in their programming and new business opportunities. Our new projector will make the transition easier for smaller theaters and help them grasp these new opportunities.” ,3895
Dreamworks’ The Croods Released in Barco Auro 11.1,2013-02-27, Following its recent alliance with Barco Dreamworks Animation has released The Croods in the Auro 11.1 by Barco cinema sound format. The movie screened in Auro 11.1 at the CineStar Sony Center in Berlin last month. CineStar’s Sony Center cinema at Potsdamer Platz has eight theaters equipped with Auro 11.1. “The sound quality of the Auro 11.1 cinema sound format is simply amazing says Oliver Fock managing director CineStar. “It ensures a truly immersive experience. As the first theater with this audio system here in Berlin we are proud to offer this experience to the Berlinale audience starting with the première of 'The Croods'.”
The Croods written and directed by Chris Sanders and Kirk DeMicco tells the story of the world’s first family road trip. When their cave is destroyed the Crood family must embark on a comedy adventure into strange and spectacular territory in search of a new home. As if patriarch Grug (Nicolas Cage) didn't already have enough to handle it goes from bad to worse when they encounter an imaginative nomad named Guy (Ryan Reynolds). With Guy's help the Croods conquer their fear of the outside world and discover that they have exactly what it takes to survive – each other. “This is the first movie where we have started post-production using the Auro 11.1 sound format from premix through to final mix. The Auro workflow has exceeded our expectations in terms of ease of use sound quality and meeting our budget. We actually finished the mix ahead of schedule ” says Jim Beshears head of post-production at DreamWorks Animation.
Argo Win Continues Kodak Film 85-Year Oscar Streak
