TV & Movie Appreciation
Great Effects for Good Omens: Collaboration with Milk VFX
Wouldn’t you know it? You’re a demon living on Earth for the past 6000 years, and you’ve finally persuaded your angelic counterpart to help you stop the end of the world, and now you can’t remember where you left the 11 year old Antichrist. Such are the tribulations of Good Omens, the newly posted Amazon Prime Video series based on the beloved 1990 classic fantasy novel by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. We spoke with the Oscar, Emmy, and BAFTA-winning team at Milk VFX about how they brought this epic comic fantasy to life.
Feature
Tim Wilson |
Making Of...
Go Creative: Designing Disney's Aladdin with Gemma Jackson
Gemma Jackson, production designer for Disney’s live action Aladdin, joins Go Creative Show host and commercial director Ben Consoli to discuss the film. As the award winning production designer of Game of Thrones, Finding Neverland, Bridget Jones Diary and more, Gemma shares her experience working with director Guy Ritchie to create Aladdin’s stunning look.
Ben Consoli |
Making Of...
Innovative Production Techniques on Freeform's Good Trouble
Good Trouble, a Freeform series spun off the popular and highly regarded The Fosters, features production innovations including an LED videowall as a scenic backdrop. Panasonic Varicam LTs shooting in ProRES 4444 feed a dynamic post workflow at Keep Me Posted, a FotoKem company, featuring upwards of 1000 cuts per episode and extensive use of flashbacks.
Christine Bunish |
Adobe Creative Cloud
Adobe and That Cup on Game of Thrones
Many things were shocking about Season 8 Episode 4 of Game of Thrones (Don’t worry, no spoilers here!), but the one shock to rule them all was that quick cameo of a contemporary drink cup next to the dragon queen herself. A quick tweak with Adobe's new Content Aware Fill for Adobe After Effects, later, and well, we won't spoil the outcome for you!
Hillary Lewis |
Film Festivals
Making the Documentary ‘Ernie & Joe’
Creative COW’s Hillary Lewis sits down with Jenifer McShane at SXSW to talk about her latest documentary feature following two unique police officers who approach the mental health crisis in San Antonio, TX in a new, inspiring way.
Feature, People / Interview
Hillary Lewis |
TV & Movie Appreciation
Gods, Marvel, & Maui: Making VFX on a Pacific Island
It's safe to say that there's no other VFX vendor in the world quite like capital T, let alone one that is constantly contributing to films like Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War and Black Panther, as well as the critically acclaimed TV series, American Gods. What makes capital T unique is that they’re a two person, husband and wife team, who work from their home office ??" a beach house in Hawaii. You'll be inspired by what 2 people can do, if also a little envious of where they're doing it!
Feature, People / Interview
COW News |
Art of the Edit
Editing The Emmy Award-Winning Phenomenon, Wild Wild Country
Wild Wild Country premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim, and when it hit Netflix a few months later, it quickly became a phenomenon, going on to win the Emmy for Outstanding Documentary of Nonfiction Series and netting editor Neil Meiklejohn an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Picture Editing for Nonfiction Programming. Creative COW's Matt Latham spoke with Neil about managing a project of this scope, treating the eight parts as a single film rather than episodes, his use of Adobe Premiere Pro, workflows with visual effects and music, and much more, including career advice for aspiring editors.
Feature, People / Interview
Matt Latham |
Art of the Edit
Editing Marvel's Black Panther: Debbie Berman ACE
This is an epic tale spanning two decades, three countries, 12,000 miles -- and that's just the story of Debbie Berman, ACE, starting in reality TV and indie film in South Africa, making her way to Canada and then the US to edit Marvel's Spider-man: Homecoming and, most recently, Black Panther, already one of the most popular films of all time. In this exclusive interview with Creative COW Managing Editor Kylee Peña, Debbie talks about struggling toward US citizenship, a serendipitous meeting with an ambitious young director, helping to bring representation to the big screen and pride to her home country.
People / Interview
Kylee Peña |
TV & Movie Appreciation
Avengers: Infinity War - Thanos, Titan, and Weta Digital
At the center of one of the biggest films in history, Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War, stands Thanos, a CG character whose emotional range became a major contribution to the film's success. Creative COW Contributing Editor Hillary Lewis spoke with Weta Digital VFX Supervisor Matt Aitken about the challenges of their work on this remarkably compelling character and his world.
Feature, People / Interview
Hillary Lewis |
TV & Movie Appreciation
VFX Legion Completes Effects for SUPERFLY Remake
Producer Joel Silver and Director X called on VFX Legion to tackle 100+ shots designed to amp up the impact of the raw violence in Sony’s reboot of the iconic ‘70’s film. The reboot of ‘Superfly’ puts a modern, stylish spin on the original 1972 film about a Harlem drug dealer trying to score one last deal before getting out of ‘the game.’ Set in present-day Atlanta, the Mecca of today’s popping music scene, the action is driven by a hip-hop soundtrack curated by Future. The city’s distinctive style is the backdrop for a new generation of affluent, extravagant drug kingpins that takes violence to the extreme.
Editorial, Feature, Project
VFX Legion |
TV & Movie Appreciation
Star Wars: How Much Is Too Much?
When Disney announced that they would be making a new Star Wars movie every year for at least 10 years I was both excited and a bit skeptical. In 2012 when Lucas sold his company to Disney for $4billion, he included his outlines of Episodes VII, VIII and IX. But Disney and Co. decided to discard these stories and start over, also discarding the extended universe of comics and books that millions of SW fans had grown to love. Adding JJ Abrams to the mix was icing on the cake for SW fans who have become critical of SW. But Lawrence Kasdan was the saving grace, who wrote a script for VII that the original actors could get behind. So, how much Star Wars is too much?
Review, Editorial, Feature
Mike Cohen |
Cinematography
Go Creative Show: The Cinematography of A Quiet Place
Charlotte Bruus Christensen is the Danish cinematographer behind the lens of the horrifying and beautifully shot film A Quiet Place. Charlotte joins commercial director and Go Creative Show host Ben Consoli to discuss the camera, lighting, and lensing choices for A Quiet Place, its unique sound design and how show created its horrifying yet warm look.
Ben Consoli |
Art of the Edit
Cate Haight ACE on Editing The Sundance Hit Indie, Puzzle
Cate Haight, ACE, has edited some of the most memorable films and television shows in the last few years. Her latest indie feature Puzzle -- which tells the story of a suburban mom who discovers a passion for competitive jigsaw puzzling -- debuted at Sundance Film Festival this year. Creative COW Contributing Editor Alee Caldwell sat down with Cate to talk about going to the fest, advocating for change, and putting together the pieces of Puzzle.
People / Interview
Alee Caldwell |
Adobe Creative Cloud
Creating Dunkirk VR: Ingenuity, Accessibility & Adobe Tools
Academy Award-nominated director Christopher Nolan has referred to his film Dunkirk in IMAX as “virtual reality without the goggles,” so when it came time to build Save Every Breath: The Dunkirk VR Experience, the team at Practical Magic knew that the stakes were higher than usual. Creative COW Associate Editor Kylee Peña speaks with Practical Magic's Matt Lewis and Adobe Director of Immersive Chris Bobotis about the challenge of creating a tie-in worthy of a supremely immersive Academy Award-nominated Best Picture, the future of user interfaces, the role of community in storytelling, and the new ways that young creators are driving technology.
Feature, People / Interview
Kylee Peña |
TV & Movie Appreciation
The Long Road Home with Seth Reed
Seth Reed is the Emmy®-nominated production designer for the National Geographic miniseries The Long Road Home. Seth joins Go Creative Show host Ben Consoli to discuss the challenges and benefits of shooting at Fort Hood in Texas and how he created the biggest standing set in North America.
Editorial, Feature, People / Interview
Ben Consoli |
Cinematography
Robert McLachlan: Cinematographer for Game of Thrones
Robert McLachlan is the cinematographer of Game of Thrones, Westworld and Ray Donovan, and he joins commercial director and Go Creative Show host Ben Consoli to share behind the scenes stories from some of his most iconic scenes including The Red Wedding and The Loot Train Battle.
Feature, People / Interview
Ben Consoli |
Audio Professionals
Hearing The Handmaid's Tale: Jane Tattersall's Sound Career
With Emmy, BAFTA, Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel, Canadian Screen, and Directors Guild of Canada Awards among many more, Jane Tattersall shares insights into a career in sound editing entering its fourth decade with two young women just beginning their own careers in the field. Their conversation begins with Jane's work on the Hulu hit series, The Handmaid's Tale.
Feature, People / Interview
Kylee Peña |
Art of the Edit
Living The American Dream: Editing Sharknado 5
Ana Florit is your typical Los Angeles-based film editor: among other things, she grew up in the French Alps, moved to Paris, directed a one-hour movie, moved to Hollywood, and has served as the lead editor on the 2nd, 3rd, and now, the latest in the pop-culture phenomenon Sharknado franchise, Sharknado 5: Global Swarming. You know, your usual run-the-the-mill American Dream story. In Ana’s case, the journey also includes a stint at Video Symphony, a Saturn Award nomination, and playing a major role in moving independent production powerhouse The Asylum fully from FCP7 to Premiere Pro. Here, Ana talks with Creative COW Associate Editor Kylee Peña about workflow, VFX, and some of the secrets of Sharknado's success. (Spoiler alert: they're not comedies.)
Kylee Peña |
Art of the Edit
The Secret World of Foley, One of Cinema's Most Magical Arts
The Secret World of Foley is an evocative, wordless insight into one of the cinema’s most magical arts: the creative addition of synchronized sound effects in post known as Foley. This short film is also one of the most beautiful things you've seen in a long time. We highly recommend it to any fans of movies, sound, and the inspiration of watching true artists at work.
Feature
Tim Wilson |
RED Camera
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2: Behind the Scenes with RED
Anticipation for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 was already heated up when director James Gunn announced that it was to be the first feature film captured with the RED WEAPON camera using an 8K RED DRAGON VV sensor. In this marvelous behind the scenes featurette courtesy RED Digital Cinema, James discusses the decision to use the RED WEAPON, and how it played out with director of photography Henry Braham, BSC. Both of them found the combination of the massive sensor and small form factor incredibly compelling, providing them the technology to capture the epic scale of the action, in a package small enough to allow them to get exceptionally close to the scenes of genuine intimacy that are this series' secret weapon. (See what we did there?)
Editorial, Feature
Tim Wilson |
Panasonic Cameras
Shooting MTV's Mary + Jane with Panasonic VariCam 35
To shoot the ½ hour scripted comedy series for MTV, Mary + Jane, the producers at Television 360 enlisted cinematographer Charles Papert (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, Key and Peele), who found that Panasonic VariCam is a great fit for moving fast and getting great images when time and resources are scarce.
COW News |
Art of the Edit
FuseFX & mocha: VFX for Walking Dead, Empire, AHS & More
The 100+ member team at FuseFX juggles over 30 television episodics a season, while also working on features and commercials. Current credits include: FOX's Empire, ABC's Agents of SHIELD, AMC's The Walking Dead, SyFy's The Magicians, CBS's Zoo, and FX's American Horror Story. Brigitte Bourque, FuseFX's Digital Effects Supervisor and a 20 year industry vet, talks to us about the work that FuseFX does, and how Imagineer Systems mocha fits into their pipeline.
Feature, People / Interview
Imagineer Systems |
Art of the Edit
Game of Thrones: Battle of the Bastards VFX
Deluxe Entertainment Services Group (Deluxe) has shared with us that its Australian animation and visual effects studio Iloura delivered a significant suite of work for the recent "Battle of the Bastards" episode of HBO's tentpole series Game of Thrones. Working on the epic battle sequence for the Season 6, Episode 9 crescendo, Iloura's team of visual artists used a mix of VFX and hand-crafted animation techniques to realize the vision for the bloody showdown. As a bonus, we include HBO's production featurette on staging and shooting Game of Thrones' most epic scene yet.
Feature
Iloura VFX |
Cinematography
Depth of Field: Gregg Toland, Citizen Kane and Beyond
Whenever somebody equates "shallow depth of field" and "cinematic look," it's important to remember that the opposite is also sometimes true. Creative COW Editor-in-Chief Tim Wilson celebrates the work of Gregg Toland, ASC, born this week in 1904 -- the first master of extreme depth of field in movies like Citizen Kane and The Grapes of Wrath that forever changed what is possible for humans to do with cameras. This reprise of a classic article from the Creative COW Archives also offers a look at what Toland's approach to cinematic composition can mean for YOUR shooting.
Editorial, Feature
Tim Wilson |
TV & Movie Appreciation
Favreau, Technicolor & MPC Make The Jungle Book Come Alive
Todd McCarthy, veteran film critic and historian, in his review of director Jon Favreau's new, stunning adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book declared, "...the visual effects team led by Robert Legato and (MPC's) Adam Valdez has both created sumptuous settings that look as lifelike as any CGI ever presented in a studio feature and integrated both humans and animal characters in them in seamless ways."
Editorial, Feature
Jon Favreau |
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