The VFX Oscar shortlist has been announced, and Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is in the bakeoff! Digital Domain has two films in the running.  Along with The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button also made the list.  Congratulations to everyone who worked on both of these films!

Beverly Hills, CA (January 6, 2009) — The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that seven films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 81st Academy Awards^®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Australia”
“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”
“The Dark Knight”
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army”
“Iron Man”
“Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor”

On Thursday, January 15, all members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 15-minute excerpts from each of the seven shortlisted films. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate three films for final Oscar consideration.

The 81st Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Thursday, January 22, 2009, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2008 will be presented on Sunday, February 22, 2009, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Just look how damn good this looks..  This is 1/4 scale footage off of a DSLR..  What the hell?   That is full sweetness right there..  The only thing I can hope for beyond this on the final production model is a 24p mode and shutter speed control.  If they added those I think I’d collapse from pure giddiness.   Shweeet!

Check it out on Vincent Laforet’s blog, he produced this independently from Canon on his own dime..  Although I think he will somehow make much more back 

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So, this is the camera I’ve been waiting on to upgrade my aging Canon 10D.  I love the Canon 5D but I was holding out for its replacement.  I heard the announcement was coming up soon so I was literally checking out Keith Coopers’ website 5 times a day for new information.  His website is loaded with good information and reviews BTW, I recommend visiting.  So when I finally read the specs and unveiling..  well, hot diggedy damn!

The big surprise for me was the fact that the new 5D MK II is able to handle 1080P movies at 30fps.  Being able to do this all the while utilizing all of my lenses, and the camera’s low light capabilities the quality could possibly rival professional HD cameras..  It is amazing.  If the movie quality does hold up, what a pretty big achievement for a DSLR!  Imagine how this could change how people shoot?  Photojournalists, wedding photographers, sports, indie film makers and more.  The ability to capture good quality video while maintaining amazing still image quality whenever needed all in one body simply seems to good to be true, yet here we are with the 5D MK II.

I’ve been following Vincent Laforet’s blog about him getting his hands on the pre-production 5D Mark II model for 72 hours and shooting a short film with it.  He’s absolutely raving about it and his excitement is infectious.  For those who don’t know who Vincent is, he’s an amazing photographer who shoots regularly for the New York Times, and who’s work has been published in “Vanity Fair, The New York Times Magazine, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek, and Life Magazine”.   He’s a very interesting person judging from his work and reading his blog.  Read more about Vincent here.

You can read about the 5D Mark II and all of the amazing specs over at dpreview.com’s hands on preview of the new 5D Mark II.  There are some stills and some video footage there.  Grab a handkerchief, you’ll need it to wipe the drool from your chin.

I have my 5D Mark II on pre-order, they should be shipping in November…  I can’t wait!

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I’ll be attending Siggraph this year and I’m really looking forward to it.  It will be great checking out new technology, but it will be even more fun catching up with old friends.  I’m going to be quite busy, I have two panels, the first on is on Monday, 11 August, between 3:45 - 5:30 pm at Petree Hall D.  Here’s some information on it.

Mummy Unwrapped: Director Rob Cohen, Digital Domain, and Rhythm & Hues Unveil Filmic Secrets

Monday, 11 August, 3:45 - 5:30 pm
Petree Hall D

Supervisors and CG supervisors from Digital Domain and Rhythm & Hues present an inside look at the makings of “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” from the archeological research to animation.

Rob Cohen
Joel Hynek
Nordin Rahhali
Digital Domain

Derek Spears
Rhythm & Hues Studios

I’ll also be doing a Sidefx panel on Tuesday.  It’s called Expert Panel: Houdini for VFX, that will take place on Tuesday, August 12 between 4:00pm and 5:00pm.  Here’s some info.

Most Houdini artists are involved with visual effects and this panel
will be discussing the existing tools and workflows while looking for
ways to make things even better. Conversations about real production
scenarios will guide the discussion. This panel will be moderated by
David Prescott, Visual Effects Supervisor at DreamWorks Feature
Animation.

The rest of the week will be checking out Siggraph, and maybe a party or two…  :)  There’s also the Digital Domain booth 1301, which I’ll be hanging around a bit.  I hope to see some of you there!

An interview that I did with CG Society is now up.  If you’re interested check out some behind the scenes making of the vfx we did at Digital Domain.  Click the image below or follow this link.

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Here’s another article on Mummy 3 that I did that’s now online.  This one will be printed as well I believe.  Check it out, it’s called Step by Step: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

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pineapple

(pīn‘ăp‘əl)

n.

1. 1. A tropical American plant (Ananas comosus) having large swordlike leaves and a large, fleshy, edible, multiple fruit with a terminal tuft of leaves.
   2. The fruit of this plant.
2. Slang. A hand grenade.
3. A shot at Digital Domain that was as painful as passing this fruit.

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And then there was one. We’re down the final shot left to deliver on Mummy 3. It should be going out tonight at 8pm. Oh yeah baby! It’s the title shot for the film; a huge shot that transitions the film from ancient china to modern times without a cut. Almost there!