Rice fields

Stunning crop art has sprung up across rice fields in Japan.Farmers creating the huge displays use no ink or dye. Instead, different colours of rice plants have been precisely and strategically arranged and grown in the paddy fields. As summer progresses and the plants shoot up, the detailed artwork begins to emerge.

These pieces of work show patience and intelligence which portray the cultural paintings of Japan. The things which attract me to this piece are that i am interested in Japanese culture, old and new. I also like the texture of art created out of rice plants.

Viagra

The only reason that this image is in my blog is that i laughed when i first saw it.
Although this would never be used in the commercial world, it does promote the product perfectly.

There isn't much that i can say about this piece without my fellow class mates thinking I'm a pervert and so I'll leave it.

Avatar

Most films which are put on hold for 10 years and take 4 years to make, usually fall short of the final production and end up lost in the endless stream of unmade films. However, this is not the case for the new film by James Cameron.

Avatar, the first major film from Cameron since Titanic, only came about due to the amazing SFX done on Lord of the Rings. It was originally supposed to be produced after Titanic but this was not to be with the estimated cost being $400m.

This film is 40% live action and 60% photo realistic CGI. 'It will use the same digital-3D camera system (developed by Vince Page ) and virtual production studio (developed by Robert Legato) that Cameron will use on Battle Angel.'

I have been looking forward to this film for a while now however, since the trailer was finally released, i am looking forward to it for another reason.
The CGI in this film looks amazing with a lot of motion capture within the CGI scenes.
When looking at the trailer, there is a certain moment which excites me. This would be when the main character, played by Sam Worthington, wheels himself off of the space shuttle. The reason that this moment excites me so much is that this actor, is the only thing within the scene. The rest of it is animated.
Other things that excite me about this film are the environment shots. The establishing shots of the jungle have an Earth feeling whilst also having a mythical, fantasy look of it. This is due to the gravity defying land masses which float above the planet.

This film is being released on 18th December and will not be attending Uni that day as i will be in the cinema

2012

Although there are more and more disaster films being released, i always look forward to seeing how they are portrayed. This trailer shows that, like most disaster films, the visual effects within this film are numerous and complex.

The SFX for this film are done by local company Double Negative, based in London. The depictions of disaster look very realistic, or as realistic as you could imagine it. With the visuals looking like this, it allows that audience to be drawn into the film and the events. This realistic portrayal of events, buildings and characters is something which i would like to investigate more, something which i would like to be able to do in the future.

heroes

The first thing that attracted me to these paintings was the cartoon/ comic book style that they portray.

After watching the series, i grew to like these paintings even more and so, began to look into the artist as well as his techniques.
Tim Sale, unlike other artists within his profession, is colour blind.
He draws and paints these images using Black, Grey and White. The illustrations are then digitally coloured and texture is added so that when they are printed onto the canvas, they look genuine.

This style of illustration and painting is something which i would like to experiment with, especially with some of the other members of my group as well as certain styles which the illustration students portray.

Tron 2

After seeing this trailer, i was as excited as a small child on Christmas morning. As a fan of the first Tron, i was quite apprehensive about the idea of a sequel however, after seeing this trailer, i feel that the sequel will be a great success.

The trailer shows how they have increased every aspect of the original whilst also keeping the initial ideas. The light bike sequence within the trailer shows how they have kept the light bikes shape and trail but improved the ergonomic design and visual excitement.

The visuals within the trailer as well as music accompanying the trailer show that this film has a darker aspect to it, even though its a Disney film. Its good to see that Jeff Bridges stars in this film as well as the original, keeping the fans of the first film excited.

After looking through the research that i'm doing, the aspects which i am more passionate about are visual effects within live action, especially the film industry. I feel that this path is what i would like to explore in the future.

Atonement

This film, although different from what most people would think i watch, is one of my favorite films within the past couple of years. After reading the book, i thought that the film version wouldn't be able to portray the series of events in the same style and emotion.

I began watching the film, wary of how the story was going to be told but, to my surprise, the story stuck to the book very well. The change in perception and time changes were done in the most convincing way possible.

If you haevn't read the book, the story was told well enough to not give any hint at what was coming next, leaving the story to tell itself without the viewer being able to guess whats going to happen.

In my opinion, this film is a must for anyone interested in films, whether they be classical films or even sci-fi films. The story is beautifully told with a script that sticks well to the book and a cast that brings the characters to life. The visuals are amazing, without being over the top, which is what gives the film its charm. According to Double Negative, the company managed, '200 challenging visual effects shots for the film. These included crowd replication, underwater environment creation, explosions, planes, smoke and beautification of buildings. One of the most challenging of these was a live-action shot on the beach at Dunkirk lasting 5 minutes and 27 seconds.'

The Knowing

Its been a while since my last blog entry due to circumstances beyond my will however, i thought id start again and begin what i like to call, 'Rory's film entries'. It will have many sequels like any Sylvester Stallone film but without the tedious and inevitable endings.

My first entry in this series is not my favourite film but instead, the film which iv only just finished watching. I decided to go against my better judgement, and actually watch a Nicolas Cage film. In my opinion, his films aren't bad, its just that fact that he has the same pose in every single film that he is in (legs astride, chest out, shoulders back, looking up every so slightly), and he manages to fit it into this film as well.

Enough of my Cage rant and more about the film.

Story: Based around a list of numbers written in 1959 which predict all major disasters happening in the next 5 decades. The list is then put in a time capsule and dug up 50 years later. Enter Nicolas Cage. Events unfold as the list predicts. Strange people turn up occasionally. Rocks are handed out. Fires! Crashes! Tears! A little bit of stalking. A man with a light in his mouth (very strange, kinda reminded me of old Greg but different orifice) More stalking, more rocks, more fire. The End

Good things:

1. It is one of the only disaster films I've seen in a long time which lives up to its promise and kills everyone on the planet earth
2. The effects are visually exciting and fairly realistic
3. The plot seems to keep the viewer hooked whilst also allowing a bit of creative thinking on the audiences behalf
4. The Ending sequence uses music as a direct contrast with the visuals and so feels very poetic

Bad things:

1. Nicolas cage is out-acted by a 9 year old
2. Very, very cheesy ending
3. Moments in the film which seem as if they were there to shock the audience, came up short and didn't cause a reaction in me
4. There are mistakes in the film such as match moving errors, where the actual props and the visual props aren't properly aligned.
5. Other errors involve factual errors, continuity errors and prop mistakes (Aussie cars, licence plates and products in America)