Performance-Capture Legend to Helm ‘Animal Farm’ in 2014

Andy Serkis is a name movie fans should know quite well, as he is THE performance capture pioneer. He has done the breathtaking performances of Gollum from the Lord of the Rings, and Caesar in Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He has worked in TV, video games, and movies. While he has attained great success and praise in this field, Serkis has expressed his desire to try his hand at directing. Recently he announced the project that would serve as his entry into this career path. He will be shooting an adaption of George Orwell’s beloved novel Animal Farm.

Serkis confirmed his attachment to the film and gave a status report in an interview with ScreenDaily. Acquired to Serkis, his team has started on pre-visuals and principal photography was planned to begin in the middle to third quarter of 2014. He commented further on his goals for the film, saying,

What we’re trying to do is fairly unique. It’s going to be entirely performance captured, so rather than photographing real animals and showing them with talking mouths, it will all be generated by the interaction between the actors playing those roles…the physicality and facial expressions of all the animals will come directly from actors’ performances.

The design for those has to work in a particular way and it’s a particular heightened design look we’re going for. We also have to find a balancing aesthetic for the environment in which we situate the characters. We’re experimenting shooting with live action plates but with a heightened design…it’s not just shooting in a field. We’re producing this like an independent movie. The idea is to get as far down the road as we can but eventually we expect a studio to get involved.

A cast has been finalized but the details are being kept under wraps at the moment. It was revealed that concept artist Michael Kutsche will be working on the film as well. Kutsche has previously worked on Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Thor, and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. He estimates that the budget for Animal Farm is somewhere around $50 million.

To say this is a very ambitious project is putting it lightly. This would be the first film where animals would be performance-captured, which is a feat in itself. While Serkis is no stranger to playing animals, playing an ape is very different then playing a pig, horse, or other types of animals. Still, given his successful track record, I have every faith Andy Serkis will pull this off.

What are your thoughts on the project? Is Serkis starting his directorial career off on the right foot? Share your opinions in the comments!

 

Source: Screen Daily

 

chirstmas

A Familiar Face Returns to Direct Back-to-Back X-Flicks

There are certain names that just go together in people’s minds, pairings that excite an audience as the combination is seen almost as a seal of quality. One such pairing is director Bryan Singer and the series of movies he helped launch in the year 2000, the X-Men film franchise. The writer/director of X-Men and X2, the producer/writer for X-Men First Class, and the director/producer of the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past has been confirmed to be behind the camera for the merry mutants once again for their next film installment, X-Men: Apocalypse.  The director had teased about his involvement in a tweet that read “#Xmen #Apocalypse 2016!”, but confirmation of his directorial duties didn’t take place until recently.

While Singer’s recent track record outside of the X-Franchise has been spotty, the X-movies he’s been attached to are some of the most fondly remembered entries into the series and well received by fans and critics alike. Even X-Men First Class, which is the lowest ranked film in the franchise in terms of box office, served to bring people back to the series and re-instill a positive public perception of the films after the damage caused by  X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

While X-Men: Days of Future Past is a giant crossover event for the franchise, blending the cast of the classic movies with cast of X-Men First Class and will be the second most expensive movie Fox has ever made (the first being Avatar), X-Men: Apocalypse is set to solely focus on the First Class team.

I couldn’t be happier to have Singer back on the franchise he made famous. I’ve liked every installment he’s worked on and he really does seem committed to making the franchise as strong as possible. Here’s to your success, sir.

 

 

As always, we want to hear from you. Are you excited to have Singer back making X-Men films or would you prefer someone else being in charge of the franchise? Let us know in the comments below!

 

Via Vulture

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‘X-men: First Class’ and ‘Thor’ Writers Sign on for ‘Terminator’ TV Series

As some of you may or may not know, Terminator is getting a reboot. There is going to be a new trilogy of films alongside an interconnecting television show. Today it has been announced that Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz will be writing and executive producing the TV portion of the new Terminator initiative. David Ellison’s Skydance Productions and Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures hired the two and it seems the TV series will be released in conjuncture with new movies.

Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz are two names most geeks should know. The duo has often worked together, so this time is no exception. The pair have already written for several TV shows including Andromeda, The Twilight Zone, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Fringe. Miller and Stentz are not only limited to television. Both of them have writing credits for several movies in their resumes, such as the timeless classic Agent Cody Banks. Oh, and they also wrote some indie movies called Thor and X-Men: First Class. Perhaps you’ve seen them? I heard they were modest successes in the box office. Miller and Stentz have also produced for The Twilight Zone, Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, and Fringe.

It’s safe to say these two certainly have the chops to pull off an amazing Terminator show seeing as they had already done so before. On a side note: WHY DID YOU CANCEL SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES FOX?!! WHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYY?!!!!!!!

I’m fine. I’m fine.

Anyway, I do worry Miller and Stentz might be taking a page out of Guillermo Del Toro’s many notebooks and are taking on more then they can chew. In addition to the new Terminator show, they’ve also been hired to write Top Gun 2. So I’m worried the two might be spreading themselves a bit too thin. Still they’ve shown they can handle a pretty heavy work load so I’m very much with these two the whole way. It also helps that they won’t be the only ones serving as executive producers on the show. The writers of the first film in the new trilogy, Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier will also be executive producers.

I’m very interested in the fact that the show and movies will intersect. I’m very curious how they will pull this off. The fact they seem to be having the writers heavily involved in all aspects shows how seriously they are taking this ambitious project.

What do you guys think of Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz writing the TV show? Do you think they’ll be able to pull off the intersecting movie and TV show story lines? Let us know in the comments!

Source: TheWrap

 

chirstmas

All I Want For Geekmas Round 1: Criterion Scream Box

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year, especially if you’re a geek. With so many great Blu-rays and DVDs released over the last year, it can be difficult to know just what to buy that special obsessive in your life.

Fear not, the guys of Digital Noise are doing not one, but a whole series of holiday gift guides breakdown the best releases of the year in various categories. To kick things off, we recommend our favorite boxed sets, Criterion Collection entries, and Scream Factory titles.

Enjoy the first day of Geekmas and be ready for subsequent installments. We can’t promise we will be completely sober, but to be fair, we can also not promise that we won’t randomly break into song. Remember, all the links below go directly to Amazon and getting there from here supports the site no matter what you buy.

 

The Boxed Sets…

Friday the 13th Collection Blu-ray Review   WB 20 Film sets w time   Zatoichi Collection Blu-ray Review

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Fernando di Leo Collection Vol 2 Blu-ray Review   The Guild Megaset DVD Review   Breaking Bad Complete Series Blu-ray Review

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MST3K 25th Anniversary DVD Review   Dr Who Series 1-7 Blu-ray Review   Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Gift Set Blu-ray Review

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Chucky Collection Blu-ray Review

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The Criterions…

On the Waterfront w time   Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Blu-ray Review   Shoah Blu-ray Review

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City Lights Blu-ray Review   Life and Death of Colonel Blimp Blu-ray Review   Safety Last Blu-ray Review

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Two Lane Blacktop Blu-ray Review   Slacker Blu-ray Review   Eyes Without a Face Blu-ray Review

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The Blob Blu-ray Review   Repo Man Blu-ray Review   The Devil's Backbone Blu-ray Review

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Scream Factory…

Lifeforce Blu-ray Review   I Come in Peace Blu-ray Review   Assault on Precinct 13

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Ninja III Blu-ray Review   Q the Winged Serpent Blu-ray Review   Prince of Darkness

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Phantasm II Blu Review   Night of the Comet Blu-ray Review   Vincent Price Blu-ray Collection Review

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The Howling Blu-ray Review   Town that Dreaded Sundown Blu-ray Review   Psycho II Blu-ray Review

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The Fog w time

‘Cabin in the Woods’ Writer and Director Attached to Netflix’s ‘Daredevil’

If you should hear a oddly loud “YES! THANK YOU GOD!”, it came from a little town in Pennsylvania. That’s right, it came from me after I heard the news that Drew Goddard has been hired by Netflix to write and direct the Daredevil pilot and serve as showrunner of the series. If you haven’t heard of Drew Goddard, I’d like you to turn in your geek card this very second. Personally, I think he’s one of the rising talents in the industry and I’m thrilled he’s getting more work.

He’s already worked on so many things I adore. He wrote several episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, including “Selfless,” “Never Leave Me,” “Lies My Parents Told Me,” “Dirty Girls,” and “Conversations with Dead People.” He also wrote the famous Geek Trio scenes for the series. “Selfless” and “Lies My Parents Told Me” were two of my favorite episodes of Buffy as they went into the pasts of two of the most complicated and most interesting characters in the series, Anya and Spike. I bring this up in particular because Daredevil is a very complex character and Goddard has demonstrated his ability to handle scenes mined from a character’s rich background, which well bodes well for the Daredevil pilot and the series as a whole.

Goddard’s writing resume goes far beyond his tenure on Buffy. He has also wrote several episodes of Angel, including “Lineage,” “Damage,” “Why We Fight,” “Origin,” and “The Girl in Question.” In addition, he is responsible for several episodes of Alias, including the 100th episode and the series finale. Furthermore, he was attached as a writer for Lost up until season four. It is likely that his stellar TV writing credentials, especially on these well-known geek properties, played a major factor in securing the Daredevil job.

Daredevil will not be Goddard’s first time with a comic book property. Drew has actually written several volumes of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic. This demonstrates his ability to transition from television to comics. It will be interesting to see how he handles taking things in the opposite direction.

Alongside his long tenure in television, Goddard also has experience with movies. Cloverfield and World War Z are two of his most famous writing credits. While he only has one directing experience under his belt, it is notable enough to significantly boost his profile. Goddard wrote and directed the hit horror film Cabin in the Woods. I would liked if he had gotten the chance to get more directing experience under his belt, but given his storied profile, I still have faith he’ll do a very good job on Daredevil.

Do you think Goddard is the right choice for Daredevil? What do you think of his previous writing projects? Sound off in the comments!

Source: Variety 

 

chirstmas

‘Low Winter Sun’ Sets For Good As AMC Cancels Much-Maligned Drama

In a move that has surprised literally no one, AMC has decided to cancel its newest crime drama, Low Winter Sun, after a single season.

Despite several casting and programming advantages, Low Winter Sun was never able to captivate a sizable audience. The show had two well-respected actors, Mark Strong and Lennie James, as its main characters, two homicide detectives who kill a colleague in the first episode. It came after the much-revered Breaking Bad  during the second half of its final season in an attempt to maximize viewership. Furthermore, Low Winter Sun was aired before Talking Bad, a popular roundtable discussion with celebrities and members Breaking Bad‘s cast and crew, and its commercials were peppered with previews for the next episode of Vince Gilligan’s popular series. Still, even with AMC’s best show in front of it and Breaking Bad fan-service behind it, Low Winter Sun was widely panned by the few critics and audiences who bothered to watch it.

The pilot episode, which premiered after the first episode of Breaking Bad‘s final half, was viewed by a meager 2.5 million viewers. This number would only decline throughout the program’s lifetime. Its final episode was watched by well under a million viewers, which likely contributed to its demise. Low Winter Sun is one of two original AMC shows to get canceled after one season, the other one being 2010′s Rubicon.

To be frank, I’m surprised Low Winter Sun survived the whole of its single season. AMC did everything it possibly could to get an audience for it, so its failure came down to the quality of the show itself. There, it was certainly found lacking.One time, I lost my remote under my couch during an episode of Breaking Bad and because I was far too lazy to get up and change the channel, so I had the misfortune of seeing an episode of Low Winter Sun. Between the endlessly dreary atmosphere, the lack of any compelling stories or relatable characters, and the wooden performances (aside from Strong and James), the show stood no chance of succeeding. Placing these flaws in the wake of the exemplary Breaking Bad only served to amplify them.

The few people who (likely accidentally) saw the drama recognized that it was just terrible. In fact, even the show’s stars knew it was a dud. Seriously. Here are two quotes from The Wrap’s interview with James Ransone, who played a major character on the show:

“It wasn’t a good show. I had higher expectations going in. They can’t all be winners.”

“If it doesn’t get canceled, I’ll be goddamn shocked. The ratings were terrible.”

If the people paid to be on a show openly hate it, the verdict is unquestionable. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Did you ever watch an episode of Low Winter Sun? How did you stop yourself from gouging your eyes out? Share your thoughts and your puns about the show’s demise in the comments!

(I’ll start: Looks like Winter isn’t coming after all! Nyuk nyuk nyuk.)

 

Via Entertainment Weekly and Variety

 

chirstmas

‘Introduction to Actor Training’ – Week 6

“Theatre isn’t combined to the stage. The entire world is a stage, and that entire stage is a world waiting to be explored”

We had explored working inside out, and outside in. This week, we looked at utilising these techniques in performance not for ourselves, but instead a puppet that we created. We took great care in creating and moulding our little tinfoil puppet – Creating life, age, a personality.

 

 

We looked at The Tin Forest by Helen Ward and Tim Robertson; An endearing short story of a lonely man, living in a Tin Forest, full of everyone’s discarded trash. We began to deconstruct the contents of the story, the actions, the sounds, the sights. It created a real sense, even if only personal of the world we were reading.

 

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In groups, we began to create our designated section of the story, exploring the room around us, the spaces and the worlds that could be created around us. A very important lesson today – Theatre isn’t combined to the stage. The entire world is a stage, and that entire stage is a world waiting to be explored.

We continued to explore creating worlds and the characters inhabiting it. This time, creating our own city filled with areas and places that have inhabited our own memories and lives. We then added layers of real stories, rumours and bad experiences, all of which created a sense of personal history within this city and linking to the idea of discarded trash, the things that we would discard from our lives and pasts are things that actually make up the city, our experiences and who we are and also who other people are.

I identified how this exercise could be further used to create characters within the city, and the location of that character, where they live, the locations they attached to could inspire the character itself – a great example of outside in.

Today was difficult. As a companion piece to what had come before it was an ideal day. What was difficult was the isolation aspect of it. Being every week this was the first session that felt like a bridging session between the past and the future, as it should be. But due to the weekly timetable, it was a slightly more difficult one to digest in context.

 

 

chirstmas

THEOG: Episode IX

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After starting out with what sounds like the old-school Leog version of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music, the gang gets down to serious business.

This week, we’ve got not one, but two guests: Oneofus’s own Brian Salisbury makes his first appearance on the show, and Doctor Nerdlove himself, Harris O’Malley sits in on the discussions.

Much is made of the spill closing announcement, the sequel to The Shining, the show Almost Human, and finally, Chris’s trip to China and Japan. You really can’t miss this one. It’s now against the law. And Karl Urban IS the law. So don’t screw it up.

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Fez Song song of the week                    Royal Scam album of the week

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And don’t forget to make The Original Gentlemen’s season that much brighter by purchasing something, anything from Amazon via OneOfUs’ link. Just click the picture to buy yourself (or someone on your holiday list) any item you choose. You will be supporting the site and we greatly appreciate it.

chirstmas

That’s Web-tastic! – Seconds, Anyone?

Greetings all, and welcome to the second edition of That’s Web-tastic! One of Us’ newest feature is all about celebrating this little thing we call the internet and all the people on it who make it great. In this feature, Chris Harrison and I will face off to see who can present the coolest thing on the internet. There are no points, nor prizes. There is only the mild feeling of glory that only occurs when you show cool internet stuff to your friends. With that said, let the games begin!

My entry this week is a new viral marketing campaign for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Normally, I cannot stand it when studios attempt to drum up underground buzz for their shlock with fake videos, but this one works because it fits the X-Men into real events in history. The Bent Bullet video claims that Magneto was the true assailant behind the JFK assassination and the federal government hid it from the public in a deep and well-hidden conspiracy effort. Incidentally, the campaign is timed well, as the 50th anniversary of President Kennedy’s assassination was only a few weeks ago. The video is partnered with a website with a detailed article about the incident and how Magneto factors into the entire situation. Check out The Bent Bullet video below:

 

 

Might as well throw in the towel now Chris. Nothing captures the spirit of the internet quite like websites dedicated to decades-old conspiracy theories. Prove me wrong!

—

Alright good sir, I will admit that’s a good one. But do you know what’s better than manufactured tie in conspiracy theories for entertainment? Real life conspiracy theories… for entertainment. Therefore, I’ll throw into the pot this week Jesse Ventura’s Conspiracy Theories. More specifically, secret hidden Time Travel.

I love conspiracy theories. They are like the best fiction around. Obama a lizard person, Illuminati ruling the world, and so on. They ignite my imagination more than anything.

Here, a man claims to have proof of time travel including a photo of himself at the Gettysburg address.

 

It’s certainly silly, but it’s great. I’ll probably be dragged away by your secret time team for even discussing it, but there you go!

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Good day old sports, I thought I heard a clash of keyboards in the internet arena. I will say, I am quite disappointed in you two. I expected a little more out of you fine gentlemen. I scoff at your petty little tickle and slap fight. Although, I admire the attempts at aggressive engagement and see potential in this altercation. I applaud those who enjoy the thrill of a good fight and the glory of battle. So if you do not mind good sirs, but perhaps I, Angelo Elauria of the INTERN-net, can throw down the gauntlet. So let’s grow out of this tickle and slap fight, and turn it in to a three-way cuddle tussle. Mine is an evil laugh.

I say to hell with your conspiracies! Perhaps I can provide the most conspiritorial conspiracy of all conspiracies. One that questions the very nature of your existence. If you ever start to postulate a conspiracy theory, I want you to ask yourself the most fundamental question that was proposed by one of the greatest philosophers of all time:

♫ Is this the real life? Is this just faan-ta-sy… ♫ – Freddie H.G.

You know what’s better than conspiracy? Rhapsody. Specifically a Space Bohemian Rhapsody. You know, ones with Darth Vader using the force to do sick guitar solos.

So my weapon of choice will have to be this clever rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody, re-imagined to fit the plot of Star Wars, as well as to express the emotions of its characters:

 

Yeeeeup. I just went there. *Drops the microphone, jumps in the Millenium Falcon, and enters Hyper Drive*

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Well, that was certainly unexpected! A surprise entry at the last minute! Well, I did say there were basically no rules to this thing, after all.

All right Us Nation, who takes the title of Web-tastic this time around? Decide the winner of the no prize in the comments!