Carolyn Giardina

A half-century ago when George Lucas decided to make “Star Wars,” a core visual effects team was handed a sizable challenge: Figure out a believable way to transport audiences to a galaxy far, far away. Essential to that goal was the development of a new type of motion control camera system: built in a Van […]

“The Imaginary,” an upcoming hand-drawn animated fantasy film from Japan’s Studio Ponoc that will play in competition at this year’s Annecy International Animation Film Festival, is set to debut July 5 on Netflix. An Oscar-qualifying run is also planned. “The Imaginary” is directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, whose credits as an animator include Studio Ponoc’s 2017 debut […]

Chris Hemsworth, the voice of a young Optimus Prime, and Brian Tyree Henry, the voice of a young Megatron, got an enthusiastic welcome at CinemaCon as they introduced a first look and 3D scene from “Transformers One,” Paramount’s animated origin story based on the Hasbro toys. “This origin story is how they transformed from brothers […]

Three-time Oscar-nominated director Chris Sandlers and Oscar winner Lupita Nyong’o previewed unfinished footage of DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot” at CinemaCon — what Sandlers says took inspiration from Disney classics and Hayao Miyazaki’s work, resulting in an original visual style that he described as “a Monet painting in a Miyazaki forest.” Based on Peter Brown’s […]

As negotiations proceed for a new Basic Agreement between IATSE and AMPTP, Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700), the second largest of the 13 Locals that work under the contact, has reached a tentative agreement on its craft-specific proposals, the Guild announced to members in an email on Friday night. That means eight, including […]

Complex visual effects and computer graphics can mean extensive (and expensive) computing needs, and to address this, Amazon Web Services is launching a new cloud rendering service. AWS Deadline Cloud, aimed at entertainment and other industries with computing-intensive needs, makes its infrastructure available, the model is structured so that users only pay for what they […]

Dolby is heading to CinemaCon with a new offing for theater owners, with an eye toward growing the number of premium theaters that offer its Dolby Vision laser projection systems. Dolby Cinema-branded auditoriums offer Dolby Vision coupled with Dolby Atmos sound in a customized upscale environment with comfortable seating and ambient light. Now, Dolby is […]

Visual effects veteran Tim McGovern, who received a Special Achievement Oscar for the VFX in the 1990 sci-fi classic “Total Recall,” has died, his wife Reena NeGandhi announced Saturday on social media. He was 68. The VFX innovator served as CGI director on Paul Verhoeven’s “Total Recall,” which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger and was based on […]

With negotiations underway for a new three-year Basic Agreement between IATSE and AMPTP, the International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600)c—cthe largest of the 13 IATSE Locals that work under this contract — has reached a tentative deal on its local-specific issues for its camera and publicist members, according to a Wednesday night memo obtained by Variety. […]

Ever since the Las Vegas Sphere was first illuminated on July 4, 2023, promos for everything from “Trolls Band Together” and “The Marvels” to the Super Bowl and U2’s recently-concluded Sphere residency have appeared on its 580,000-square-foot LED exosphere. Now, Sphere Entertainment Co. is giving students an opportunity to design content for the new venue […]