During a panel discussion at the first CinemaCon in 2011 director George Lucas one of digital cinema’s true pioneers made the observation that the completion of the worldwide transition from 35mm film projection to digital will mark not only the end of one era but also the start of a newer more exciting one. He argued that once most of the world’s theatres are equipped with digital technology new and exciting advances can and will happen and they will happen rather quickly.
The Traumpalast cinema in Backnang in the German state of Baden-Württemberg recently opened after nearly eight months of work to remodel the building and to celebrate is showing the new James Bond film Skyfall. The theatre has a total of five auditoriums and seating to accommodate more than 600 moviegoers. Kinoton was contracted to completely digitize automate and network it. The service technicians of Kinoton's Southern German branch installed five Kinoton DCS Digital Cinema Solutions one in each auditorium with lamp outputs between three and 4.5 kW.
Writer producer director Bill Muir’s The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone in theaters nationwide in March.
LipSync Creative and LipSync Post have combined to create the global TV and theatrical campaign for 20th Century Fox’s Ice Age 4: Continental Drift Blu-ray and DVD release. The 30 second event spot is running in UK cinemas nopw and will include a December 9th run with The X Factor final. It was produced by senior producer Anna Urban-Large and directed by creative director Howard Watkins. Agency director Louise Kean wrote copy and the score composed by Rob Hughes senior re-recording mixer. Sean Farrow VFX supervisor supervised the VFX.
Kodak will showcase its portfolio of asset protection films at this year’s Association of Moving Image Archivists Annual Conference from December 5-8 at The Westin Seattle. The company will also present information on the newest addition to its film family – Kodak Vision3 Digital Separation Film 2237. The AMIA Conference is an annual gathering of industry professionals and academia that brings together the restoration and preservation community who work tirelessly towards saving and keeping cinema and broadcast content accessible whether created today or 100 years ago.
Rhythm & Hues recently completed the lions share of visual effects shots on the acclaimed new film Life of Pi leveraging Nvidia GPUs to maximize throughput and accelerate creative workflows.
Rodeo FX contributed 50 VFX shots to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn—Part 2 said president/VFX supervisor/founder Sébastien Moreau. He added that the company previously provided VFX to an earlier edition of the Twilight Saga series The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Founded in 2006 Rodeo FX has created designed and produced digital visual effects featured within dozens of hit movies.
Sachtler is planning its 2013/14 catalog and because a cover should represent what a company is all about Sachtler wants its users to show how they perceive the brand and its values by offering a photo competition. The best shot will be shown on the cover of the new Sachtler catalog and its contributor will get a free FSB 8 tripod system with a Speed Lock tripod. Ace M MS tripod systems will be given-away to two participants in a random drawing. Global brand manager Tobias Keuthen says ”Sachtler users can rely on 50 years of German engineering and high quality standards.
Director of Photography Colt Seman is always looking for the latest tools to enhance the variety of high-profile projects that come to his Long Beach California based company Sweatpants Media. When Seman and partner director Jonny Zeller heard about Schneider’s new line of Cine Xenar III lenses they had to put them through their paces. “We chose a variety of projects with a variety of challenges ” says Seman. “We did a 30-second spot for NBC and The X-Games in LA. We also do an ongoing series for Red Bull where the lenses have to keep pace with a racecar driver.
Cinesite completed visual effects for the 23rd Bond film Skyfall and used its digital environment expertise to enhance physical stunts and effects. For Skyfall Cinesite was awarded four sequences that showcase its award-winning environment and CG creature techniques – the creation of the first ever CG creature to feature in a Bond film a CG Komodo dragon and three sequences on the London Underground consisting of digital environments and set extensions.
