October 31, 2006, 4:27 AM CT

Technique Harnesses 3-D Game Engines

Student scientists working with Beth Coleman, assistant professor in comparative media studies and in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies, are exploring machinima, one branch of the rapidly evolving world of computer animation. As members of the Machinima Work Group, they are experimenting in the medium to find new modes of cinematic expression.

Machinima (pronounced "machine-ima," the word is coined from "machine" and "cinema") is animation that is made by harnessing 3-D game engines, such as those used in Xbox or PlayStation games, and adding original content--dialogue, dramatic situations, and new or modified characters. Relative to traditional computer-generated imagery (CGI), in which animators must create the characters, scenes (levels) and action from scratch, machinima is fast and cheap--though still enormously time-consuming. The most well-known work of machinima to date is "Red vs. Blue," a comic sci-fi series based on the popular Xbox games Halo and Marathon. But a number of, including Coleman's group, are working to expand the medium above and beyond the genre of parody and to gauge its potential for artistic and cinematic expression.

Coleman explained in a recent interview that the medium has really exploded in the past five years, to the point where you now see ads on television that are made in machinima.........

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October 25, 2006, 4:56 AM CT

Let's Hack This Beck

Who knew that a megalo-uber-etoile like Beck Hansen would entertain just a few hundred geekerati this past weekend (the likes of dotben and Joyce Parks) at Yahoo Hack Day 2006, but alas, it's true. To the amazed delight of childlike adults dressed in all manner of t-shirt and jean combos, one of the best musicians around (and Scientology's finest gift to mankind so far) put on a full stage show at the annual geekfest, including on-stage-maneuvered puppets, bear costumes and even a custom-filmed mini-movie about hacking, Yahoo! and puppet porn.

Hard as GETV tried to climb into the Yahoo! workout room, where Beck met with the Yahoo! fancy-pants, we could not (Eddie wanted to get some beer, mostly.) Finally, as Beck graced the hacking area (aka, Yahoo! cafeteria) we grabbed the band members and asked them as a number of questions as we could, despite having no brain cells left in the presence of actual and non-Internet rock stars.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

October 22, 2006, 10:33 PM CT

Shorts October 2006

"Humanism" is the key word in both Kristi Mitsuda and Michael Koresky's reviews of Hans-Christian Schmid's Requiem. Only two takes from the Reverse Shot team this time around at indieWIRE, but they're embracing ones.

Also: indieWIRE's interview with Doug Block as his moving 51 Birch Street begins its trek across the country and a dispatch from the Pusan International Film Festival from Brian Brooks.

For SF360, Michael Fox talks with Joseph McBride about his new book, What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career, in which he "catalogs Welles' amazing output in the last 15 years of his life, demolishing the widely held perception of Welles as a debauched clown."

"[W]hat makes Reign of Terror great isn't necessarily how well it adheres to, or shakes up, various genre conventions," writes Bilge Ebiri at ScreenGrab. "It is, quite simply, an incredibly well-put-together, gripping film - a true showcase for the visual and narrative expertise that would serve [Anthony] Mann so well in his later career."

Matthew Clayfield ruminates on Susan Shineberg's recent profile of Peter Greenaway in the Age: "Greenaway seems to me to be the perfect excuse for distinguishing auteurism, which is about films, not directors, from dead-end fascination with authorial rhetoric, which is an entirely different, far more limiting, thing."........

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October 22, 2006, 9:57 PM CT

Marie Antoinette Reviews

The early Marie Antoinette reviews are coming in, and they don't look too bad. Not fantastic, but pretty solid. I've got to admit I haven't had one shred of interest in this film ever since I saw the first trailer for it a few months ago. The fact that Sofia Coppola is directing it gets my attention, but nothing I've seen so far has solidified that. Looks like it might be worth watching after all.

Here is what some of the critics are saying about Marie Antoinette reviews:

Highly theatrical and yet also intimate and informal, Marie Antoinette lets its story slink almost casually through its lovingly composed and rendered images.

A.O. Scott - New York Times.

The work of a mature filmmaker who has identified and developed a new cinematic vocabulary to describe a new breed of post-postpostfeminist woman.

Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly.

Let them have eye candy pretty much sums up Sofia Coppola's approach to her revisionist and modernist take on the famous royal airhead who in the end lost her head.

Todd McCarthy - Variety.

If Sofia Coppola isn't the queen of slow, she's the princess of bore. Despite its sumptuous production design and cinematography, this is grotesquely superficial, slow, and boring.........

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October 22, 2006, 9:51 PM CT

The Prestige Reviews

Early The Prestige reviews are coming out, and they don't look great. As a matter of fact, I'm really disappointed in what I'm reading. The Prestige has been one of the films I've most been looking forward to seeing ever since watching the trailer a few months back. but so far no one I've talked to who has seen it is raving about it. A bunch of people like it. but didn't love it. Damn!!

Here is what some of the critics are saying in their "The Prestige" reviews:

"Pic insists on a depth of human emotion that isn't developed -- protags emerge as one-dimensional, despite the efforts of two of our best leading actors -- amid increasingly elaborate, uninvolving plot mechanizations".

Dennis Harvey - Variety.

The Prestige isn't art, but it reaps a lot of fun out of the question, How did they do that?

Owen Gleiberman - Entertainment Weekly.

A dazzlingly complicated narrative; indeed, it might prove a little too complicated for a number of viewers.

Andy Klein - Los Angeles CityBeat.

Audiences might enjoy this cinematic sleight of hand, but the key characters are such single-minded, calculating individuals that the real magic would be to find any heart in this tale.

Kirk Honeycutt - Hollywood Reporter.........

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October 16, 2006, 8:28 PM CT

When J.Lo Gyrates With Another Man

A husband would surely be green with envy, when he sees his wife getting raunchy with another man, even if it's solely for the cameras.

And Marc Anthony can certainly not be blamed for leaving after two minutes of singer/actress wife Jennifer Lopez's video shoot with raunchy rapper LL Cool J.

As per the sexy hip-hop hunk, Anthony apparently couldn't tolerate the shoot of the racy sequence, and hence did a runner right after he started to get a groove on with his missus for the video "Control Myself".

"We had a lot of chemistry going on. So when Jen's husband came on set - he was only there for a minute before he left again," The Mirror quoted the 38-year-old stud, as saying.

ANO-HTTabloid.com.........

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October 16, 2006, 8:23 PM CT

October "it" Girl, Kate Moss

I never used to care much for Kate Moss. Ok, maybe I was a bit fascinated by what Johnny Depp saw in her during their tumultuous relationship, but mostly I was very confused with the attention given to the waif of all waifs.

Ever since Kate's life exploded in Sept 2005, when she was caught "powdering her nose" with an illegal substance, there seems to be more depth to her. She was dumped by H&M and other major contracts, but a year later the waifish style icon's comeback has seen her profile reach new heights.

Her annual income is believed to have risen to about $45 mill USD working with Rimmel, Agent Provocateur, Virgin Mobile, Dior, Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Stella McCartney, Bulgari, Chanel, Nikon, Versace, Calvin Klein Jeans and Burberry. Now she's set to start designing a new collection for UK's TopShop (read more Couture in the City).

Here's a fashionista that doesn't need a stylist (ala Rachel Zoe) to set her look. Moss takes risks with her style, career and life and that is why she is this month's "it" girl.

Story Cont'd......

And if that isn't enough - she counts F. Scott Fitzgerald among her favorite writers eventhough she also once admitted that her bedside reading was The Tao of Pooh Bear. Come on! that has to speak to this "it girl" and a dynamic personality behind the couture frocks.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

October 16, 2006, 8:20 PM CT

Looking Good on Halloween!

Halloween is right around the corner, so let's talk about how to look good and remain fashionable when choosing your Halloween costume.

Location

Think about where you're going to be and what you're going to be doing on Halloween, before you pick a costume. Are you going to Las Vegas for a bit of club hopping and running around The Strip? Then for god sakes, wear comfortable shoes!! Giving up and carrying your incredibly sexy shoes by 8pm, is not incredibly sexy. So, choose your footwear wisely. Stiletto heels over 4" will be your worst enemy if your night involves lots of walking or dancing.

A better choice (that is still very sexy) would be platform heels with a padded footbed or even better, platform boots with a thicker heel. If you're going to a tame Halloween house party, then by all means, wear the wildest, highest, most uncomfortable shoes you can find (sort of like these monstrosities).

Also think about where your going to be spending Halloween before picking out your costume. If your going to be somewhere crowded, you are not going to want to be wearing a long, floor sweeping costume (people stepping on it will get old very quickly) and whacking people in the face with a winged costume will also wear on your (and other peoples) nerves.........

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October 15, 2006, 9:04 PM CT

Mustek PD77 to Float Twin Screen DVD Player

Does your 7? LCD display proving too small to engage the entire family on a long journey? Mustek PD77 with its twin 7? TFT LCD displays is out there with a solution to your problem.

Attuned with CD, DVD formats along with MP3, DivX, XviD and AVI, the PD77 offers a resolution of 480 x 234 pixels and 16:9 widescreen images. Sound system is quite effective that presents good sound even in a traffic noise. You can own the couple 7? TFT LCD displays for just £179. Not a bad deal.........

Posted by: Gina      Permalink         Source

October 12, 2006, 9:45 PM CT

3D Screen for Your PMP

Now there is no need to wear 3D glasses to take experience of a 3D video. Neovision Labs has developed a magical 3D screen, iFusion, for your Portable Media Player.

iFusion is an accessory which can be used with iUbi Blue PMP and when placed on it magically displays 3D content. No 3D glasses or any other software has to be installed to view the 3D pictures or Videos.

iFusion will support iUbi Blue as their first PMP and will be released by the end of this year. This device priced at a mere $50 won't even dig a hole through your pocket.........

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