If the emails that have been coming in from some of our loyal readers are any indication, some of you may be wondering where we’ve been or why the posts on Celluloid Junkie have decreased over the past six months.
The explanation is quite simple really. Like all of those who blog about the industries within which they work, sometimes it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to write about certain topics for various reasons. The very jobs which allow us to be knowledgeable enough to write about our industry sometimes actually prevent us from doing so due to conflicts of interest or breaches of confidentiality. Since these positions are how we actually feed our families, they tend to be given priority.
So it is that over the past several months each of the contributors to Celluloid Junkie have been otherwise engaged. Patrick von Sychowski has been busy tending to his responsibilities at Reliance MediaWorks. J. Sperling Reich has been focused on a number of industry related projects. Anyone who has glanced a a trade publication over the past year knows how busy (and feted) Carolyn Giardina has been lately.
That said, we expect to pick up the pace here on Celluloid Junkie and try to make up for some lost time… or in our case, a lack of worthwhile posts.
Just this past weekend I was shocked when my daughters, six and four-year-olds, asked who Bugs Bunny was. I’m not sure why I was so surprised, since they watch very little television and most of the movies they’ve seen feature characters from Disney, Pixar and Dreamworks Animation titles. This is probably why my attempt to trigger their memory with a “What’s up Doc?!” in my best Mel Blanc voice was such a failure.
Thanks to YouTube it only took a few minutes to introduce my daughters to not only Bugs Bunny, but Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, Tweety Bird and all the major Looney Tunes characters I remember so fondly from my own youth. Yet, as if responding to my personal predicament, Warner Bros. themselves will be lending me a hand in my daughters animation education.
Earlier today, the studio announced that three new animated Looney Tunes shorts will be shown in theaters in front of Warner Bros. releases. Not only will these new shorts be shown in 3D, but they will feature the voice of Mel Blanc based on recordings he made in the 1950s.
Per the press release, the shorts hitting theaters are as follows:
“Daffy’s Rhapsody”: In the first of the new shorts, a persistent Elmer Fudd chases Daffy Duck (Blanc) on stage during a musical performance. The short features Blanc performing the song “Daffy Duck’s Rhapsody.” “Daffy’s Rhapsody” is scheduled to debut in theaters on November 18, 2011, in conjunction with Warner Bros. Pictures’ release of “Happy Feet 2.”
“I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat”: A classic game of cat and bird transpires in Granny’s apartment as Tweety Bird goes to great lengths to avoid the clutches of his arch-nemesis Sylvester the Cat. The short also features the hit song of the same name, which was performed by Blanc, and sold over three million copies worldwide.
Untitled Coyote & Road Runner: Wile E. Coyote’s epic quest to capture the Road Runner continues in this all-new short. Will the Coyote finally get his paws on his elusive prize?>
On July 9th the ongoing debate between 2K and 4K digital cinema picture resolution took an interesting turn when an unexpected player entered the fray. At VidCon 2010, a conference for online video professionals, came to a close, YouTube announced that they would begin supporting and streaming videos shot in 4K. (And you thought the popular website was only good for short clips of cats riding vacuum cleaners).
Okay granted, this news doesn’t really advance the discussion of digital cinema so much as it raises the awareness of projected image resolution to many industry outsiders who had never given it much thought before. YouTube’s blog post announcing the support of 4K is a perfect example of how the topic is being discussed by the public at large:
To give some perspective on the size of 4K, the ideal screen size for a 4K video is 25 feet; IMAX movies are projected through two 2k resolution projectors.
It was only in December of 2009 that YouTube announced they would allow for 1080p video content to be uploaded and streamed. Less then a year later they are increasing the resolution of the videos they’ll accept by four times to 4096 x 2304 pixels. As a comparison, Sony’s SRX-R320 digital cinema projector has a native resolution of 4096 x 2160 pixels.
If you were wondering what kind of impact the recent rash of 3D film releases has had on the general public, you need look no further than Fluevog Shoes. The Canadian shoe designer John Fluevog, whose footwear is often deemed trend setting, sent out a promotional email on Friday in which the subject line read – John Fluevog Thinks You’re Awesome In 3D.
Though messages like this that land in my inbox are automatically labeled “Bacon” and are often summarily deleted after a cursory inspection, I actually clicked on this one. I admit after reading the subject I was curious as to how a Canadian shoe designer whose shoes are sold in tiny, upscale boutiques could have anything to do with 3D.
The email contained the graphic above announcing an anniversary sale and was accompanies by the following text:
People said it couldn’t be done… launching a shoe company built on unique design and genuine appreciation, nurturing and developing it for 40 years, and then offering it in 3D! Well, consider that bridge crossed, that stone overturned and that box ticked. Welcome to the 40th Annual John Fluevog Thinks You’re Awesome Sale in 3D!*
The asterisk at the end of the last sentence is defined at the bottom of the email with the disclaimer “3D available only in store”. Keep in mind, this is coming from the same designer who emblazons angels on the soles of his shoes and whose company’s tag line is “Unique Soles For Unique Souls”.
North America’s largest movie ticket website is feeling quite charitable lately. In fact, over the next two weeks (June 7th through June 20th) Fandango will be donating $1 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation for every ticket they sell to “The Karate Kid” which is being released today by Sony Pictures in the U.S. and Canada.
The partnership seems rather complimentary given that Starlight’s whole mission of aiding critically ill children and their families revolves around entertainment. The 25-year-old charity uses entertainment as a distraction from the pain, depression, fear and isolation a child may experience during an illness. The organization presently has more than three million family members in their network.
A single dollar may not seem like much, but according to the press release published to announce the program Starlight manages to stretch a dollar quite far:
$1 enables a child with cancer to play Starlight’s Fun Center video games for almost an entire day while going through chemo therapy
$1 enables a teen who is too sick to leave home to spend a day finding supportive friends on Starlight’s Starbirght World
$1 helps a family get away from hospital treatments to have fun for a day at a Starlight Great Escapes event
Over the last five days “The Karate Kid” has accounted for 52% of Fandango’s ticket sales and the film continues to outpace the sales of this weekend’s other new releases.
Berkeley Breathed making his mark at Technicolor. (LA Times)
If I mention the name Technicolor what is the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are you’ll think of the company primarily known as a film processing lab and the world’s largest DVD replicator. Original content creation is probably not a concept most would associate with the company.
That may be changing soon, as Richard Verrier reported in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. Technicolor has purchased the rights to “Pete & Pickles”, a children’s book by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed with the intent of adapting it into an animated television series. The book focuses on the Mutt and Jeff friendship between a playful circus elephant and a prim-and-proper pig. Breathed is probably best known for his comic strips “Bloom County” and “Opus”.
Continuing the trend of sending animation and effects work overseas to India, most of the show’s production will be done in Bangalore, where Technicolor built a computer animation studio with partner Dreamworks Animation in 2007. Technicolor has since taken full control over the facility and renamed it Technicolor India. About two dozen artists will work in the United States on key frame drawings before the work is sent to India, where skilled labor is less expensive. The studio plans to have a staff of 1,200 by the end of the year working on projects for a range of clients, including Electronic Arts and Nickelodeon.
Kodak restated an unwavering commitment to film this morning, with an announcement that it has added two new films to its Vision3 family.
The stock additions include a medium-speed, tungsten-balanced color negative camera film, and a color intermediate designed for digital post workflows.
“These new Vision3 films are the tangible results of our ongoing commitment to filmmakers,” said Kim Snyder, president of the Entertainment Imaging Division, and vice president of Eastman Kodak Company, in a released statement. “By capturing the highest possible amount of image information, far more than any digital format, the Kodak Vision3 family of films gives the filmmaking community incomparable flexibility throughout the motion picture chain. That translates directly to time and cost efficiencies on set and in post, and greater creative control no matter what workflow is followed.”
From the press release:
Vision3 5213/7213 is a 200-speed, tungsten-balanced film. It features extended latitude, enabling cinematographers to record more details in highlights, and delivers finer grain for natural-looking images in the darkest areas. The emulsion is optimally designed for both controlled interiors and challenging high-contrast exteriors, and is available in all formats (65 mm, 35 mm, Super 16 and Super 8).
KODAK VISION3 Color Digital Intermediate Film 5254/2254 is designed for use with contemporary film recorders – both laser recorders and numerous CRT recorders that are still widely used in the marketplace. The imaging characteristics of this new intermediate film enhance the speed and efficiency of DI postproduction while rendering noticeably sharper images that more faithfully represent the intentions of filmmakers.
For those of you who have been following our posts here on Celluloid Junkie you no doubt have noticed that we have been quite silent of late. All it takes is a quick look at our archives to see that we didn’t post anything in the entire month of July. Even casual readers of the blog will notice the huge gap in posts over the past couple of weeks.
Well, we now wanted to fill you in on the reason for our brief absence.
As many of you know, Celluloid Junkie is an extra-curricular activity for everyone who contributes. When we aren’t posting updates on the latest industry news we are all working diligently at our day jobs within the industry. At times, one or the other of us will be too busy to post anything on CJ and other contributors work to pick up the slack. The month of July proved especially difficult with all of our contributors finding themselves inundated with work that actually pays them.
We have also spent time formalizing our editorial policy. We strive to be a positive and informative voice for those working in the exhibition and distribution space by extending the conversation to an online environment. The goal of CJ has never been to “break news” like our TI 4K story, though we don’t mind it when members of the industry allow us to do so and are quite proud of such posts. Our intent has always been to keep those who need such information up to date with the latest industry developments and to provide critical analysis at a time of fast moving development. Read More »
Merlin Entertainment’s London Eye is adding 4D cinema, with a new screening venue and debut short movie.
Designed to excite London Eye-riders, a short movie was written and directed by Julian Napier and stereo 3D produced by Phil Streather, CEO of 3D company Principal Large Format. The film was produced by Centre Screen Productions in association with Principal Large Format and Pablo Post.
“Having a purpose-built theatre for a 3D or 4D film is perfect because getting a film like this right relies a lot on the theatre geometry,” Streather said in a released statement. “The distance of the audience from the screen and the size of the screen itself have an enormous impact on the experience. Knowing the exact dimensions of both the screen and the theatre before we started production meant that we could craft a film that would perfectly fit the space.”
The focus of the four-minute film is a little girl on a day trip to London, whose view of the capital’s many tourist sites is obscured by people and buildings, until she arrives at the London Eye. Read More »
If the emails that have been coming in from some of our loyal readers are any indication, some of you may be wondering where we’ve been or why the posts on Celluloid Junkie have decreased over the past six months.
If you were wondering what kind of impact the recent rash of 3D film releases has had on the general public, you need look no further than 
North America’s largest movie ticket website is feeling quite charitable lately. In fact, over the next two weeks (June 7th through June 20th) 
Kodak restated an unwavering commitment to film this morning, with an announcement that it has added two new films to its Vision3 family.
Merlin Entertainment’s London Eye is adding 4D cinema, with a new screening venue and debut short movie.
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