Peter Jackson is at the very top of my list of people who are awesome. The behind the scenes video diaries he’s been churning out from the set of the upcoming two-part prequel The Hobbit are simply fascinating. The theme of the fourth vlog is 3D filmmaking. Jackson and his crew are shooting The Hobbit in 3D using RED EPIC cameras and 3ality lenses. The camera department is home to a grand total of 48 RED EPIC cameras on 17 3D rigs. Interestingly, all of the different camera rigs are named after Jackon’s family members and inspirations. All of the scenes from the film are being shot at 48 frames per second at 5K resolution for a more realistic and immersive picture. The diary explains how everything from the set design to makeup is affected by the way in which the high-res 3D camera rigs pick up colors and tones. Oh and get this–even the concept art is drawn in 3D with red and blue colored pencils! Go behind the scenes with Jackson in the video above. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releases December 14, and part two subtitled There and Back Again comes out one year later.
Category Archives: Video
Comedy trailer roundup: ’21 Jump Street’, ‘Wanderlust’, ‘Project X’
Check out these trailers for three upcoming comedy films. First up is a red band trailer for 21 Jump Street, a film based on the 1980s crime drama that starred a young Johnny Depp. The theatrical adaptation stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill as young undercover cops investigating crimes at a high school. It hits theatres March 16, 2012.
Jump after the break to watch the trailers for Wanderlust and Project X. Continue reading Comedy trailer roundup: ’21 Jump Street’, ‘Wanderlust’, ‘Project X’
‘Parks and Rec’ goes to the Grand Canyon in web series starring April & Andy
If you watched the latest episode of Parks and Rec, then you know that the Pawnee gang survived the (nonexistent) apocalypse in “End of the World.” During the episode, April encouraged her hubby Andy to check things off his bucket list. Among the many absurd activities on the list (including making the “most awesome” grilled cheese sandwich) was visiting the Grand Canyon. Actors Aubrey Plaza and Chris Pratt and some crew members shot the quick scene on location in Arizona. While they were there, additional scenes were shot that never made it in the episode. These scenes were packaged into four separate webisodes and are available to watch online right now! The web series is called Parks and Recreation: Road Trip, and it follows April & Andy’s antics at the Grand Canyon. The first one, “Spider,” is embedded above; watch the others plus a behind the scenes clip at NBC.com.
‘Fringe’ showrunners discuss the return of Peter Bishop
Take 2. Due to the World Series airing on FOX last Friday, the next pivotal episode of Fringe–you know, the one where Peter Bishop comes back into existence and reunites with his partner Olivia and father Walter–was pushed to the following week. Well, I am excited to report that a week’s time has indeed past and the episode titled “Novation” will air tonight! Before watching tonight’s installment, take a moment to hear what Fringe showrunners J.H. Wyman and Jeff Pinkner have to say about the return of the younger Bishop. “What are the consequences of Peter being back?” posits Pinkner. Tune in to find out.
Fringe airs Friday nights at 9PM on FOX. Bonus video after the break! Continue reading ‘Fringe’ showrunners discuss the return of Peter Bishop
Game trailer: ‘Grand Theft Auto V’
Here it is, the first look at Rockstar’s latest project, Grand Theft Auto V. We’ve all been anticipating this since the video game developer hinted at its arrival in the form of an image. Check it out above, then read on.
In an official press release, it is confirmed that Grand Theft Auto V is currently in full development and Rockstar North– GTA series creator–is leading the charge. The game will take place in the fictional “city of Los Santos and surrounding hills, countryside and beaches in the largest and most ambitious game Rockstar has yet created.” Rockstar is keeping mum about the game’s plot. The PR only goes so far in saying this: “A bold new direction in open-world freedom, storytelling, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California.” Rockstar Games founder Sam Houser adds, “Grand Theft Auto V is another radical reinvention of the Grand Theft Auto universe. We are incredibly excited to share our new vision with our fans.”
After watching the trailer there are a couple things we can speculate. First, it would make sense that the narrator is the protagonist of the game and what we know is that he is a father in pursuit of a better life; he wants to be “a good guy for once, a family man.” Now even though the trailer features one narrator, it does jump around between various characters. Whether or not this means the game will have players jumping in and out of the shoes of more than one character is still up in the air. But it’s certainly fun to speculate. Mission-based gameplay is expected, while multiplayer co-op is on every one’s wish list. A release date has not been set, but I’d say it’s safe to assume a holiday 2012 launch. Once again, stay tuned.
PlayStation Home redesign hits PS3 consoles today
This week Sony announced an overhaul for PlayStation Home, an avatar-based gathering place for the PS3 gaming community. The new Home experience revolves around the following new “genre-based districts”: Action District (a gathering place for hardcore gamers), Sportswalk (for sports fanatics), Adventure District (for Uncharted 3 fans), Pier Park (for arcade gameplay), PlayStation Home Theater (features videos tailored specifically for PlayStation gamers), and PlayStation Home Mall (sells avatar items and other downloadable content). Along with a new futuristic Hub and an integrated Activity Board, the upgraded Home will offer up a slew of free-to-play game titles “based
upon a freemium business model” including a FPS called Bootleggers ’29, a racer RC Rally, and a puzzler Cogs. For a quick preview, jump after the break to watch a video tour of the revamped virtual hangout; the full PR is pasted directly below it. After that, fire up your PS3 and roam free!
[Via PlayStationBlog] Continue reading PlayStation Home redesign hits PS3 consoles today
Motorola announces Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition tablets
Today Motorola announced the successor to its Android tablet the Xoom. Expectantly the new tablet is called the Xoom 2. It features the same 10.1-inch widescreen display as its predecessor, runs Android Honeycomb 3.2, and is powered by a dual-core 1.2GHz processor. 16GB of storage is on board, as is 1GB of RAM. A five megapixel shooter sits on the back, and around the front you’ll spot a 1.3 megapixel camera for video chat. Ports include HDMI, microUSB, and 3.5mm headphone jack. And to highlight a few more key differences from the original Xoom: the Xoom 2 weighs approximately 100 grams lighter than the first Moto tablet, it is also much thinner measuring at 0.35 inches thick, the display is brighter and more vibrant than before, it features new splash-guard coating for protection against spilled liquid, Gorilla Glass protection will help deter scratches, it is compatabile with a separately sold Motorola Stylus for note-taking, and an enhanced battery will support more than 10 hours of video playback. Additionally, the body sports an elegant design with angular cut-away corners that takes cues from the recently announced Motorola smartphone the Droid RAZR; Moto promises better ergonomics because of this.
And then there’s the Xoom 2 Media Edition. It’s essentially a Xoom 2 with a smaller 8.2-inch display. A few other things distinguish the Media Edition from its larger brother: it features a wide 178 degree viewing angle, it has a 20 percent improvement in graphics performance over the original Xoom, and it weighs under a pound.
A press release, in full after the break, says that the WiFi-only versions of the Xoom 2 (£379.99) and Xoom 2 Media Edition (£329.99) tablets are headed to Ireland and the UK later this month. No word on when they will hit stateside. People who do get their hands on a new Xoom can expect a future update to Google’s upcoming OS Ice Cream Sandwich, so they are future-proof in that sense. Get a closer look at the Xooms below and jump after the break to watch a promo.
[Via Engadget] Continue reading Motorola announces Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition tablets
The “Kinect Effect” leads to Microsoft-backed SDK coming in 2012
We all know the Kinect motion sensor was created to work in tandem with Microsoft’s video game console Xbox 360 to reinvent and enhance the gaming experience by “making you the controller.” But shortly after the device hit the market the open source community (read: hackers) cracked open the magical sensor and figured out ways to make it useful beyond the realm of gaming. Kinect hacks became so popular that I thought it’d be neat to highlight some of the most inventive ones in a post titled “Kinect, hacked” last December. Rather quickly Microsoft caught wind of all the amazing ways people have tinkered with their sensor and they shared plans to release a Kinect SDK into the wild that would give the general public official access to Kinect APIs and other developer tools. In a blog post today Microsoft executive Frank Shaw announced that the SDK is coming in 2012. In his own words:
To further fuel innovation and imagination, we will offer a Kinect for Windows commercial program early next year. We recognize the intense commercial interest in harnessing the capabilities of Kinect, and are working with a wide range of companies and developers to create a great set of tools and APIs. In fact, our commercial pilot program has already received more than 200 applications from top companies in more than 20 countries spanning 25 unique industries, eager to explore the possibilities of Kinect beyond Xbox 360!
It’s really great that Microsoft is acknowledging the open source tinkerers and giving them a means to further their creativity. Watch what the “Kinect Effect” has spawned over the last year in the video above. My favorite is the application created for hospitals in Spain enabling surgeons to scroll through medical images in the operating room with gestures so they could avoid the need to rescrub. Pure genius. To see more related videos head over to Microsoft’s Kinect Effect website.
[Via MicrosoftBlog]
Gmail takes a bold step forward with new look [Update: official iOS app released]
Today Google flipped the switch and transformed Gmail with a new look. It was previewed back in July and now it’s ready for primetime. The navigation panel on the left is more customizable; you can resize the labels and chat areas depending on which section you access most often. Search has been upgraded, too. The search box up top now features a drop box with helpful options that should make finding exactly what you’re looking for easier and faster. You can also create filters from search queries. Emails have been aesthetically transformed to look like streamlined conversations. Profiles pictures for your contacts show up inside emails and unneccesary text has been stripped out of view making reading a conversation a better experience. In addition, Google has figured out a way to make the Gmail window fit your screen perfectly; the spacing between elements on the screen will automatically change based on the kind of display you’re using. In the settings menu, you can play around with display density and manually select “comfortable,” “cozy,” and “compact” views. Last, the Gmail team has added high resolution themes to the mix. They say most of the popular themes have been upgraded to HD, so the switch on your end should happen automatically. The new look has rolled out to everyone today; to enable it simply click the “Switch to the new look” link located at the bottom right in Gmail. There’s a brief video highlighting these changes after the break.
Update (11/3): Today Google finally released an official Gmail app for iOS devices. Google says they’ve “combined your favorite features from the Gmail mobile web app and iOS into one app so you can be more productive on the go.” The Gmail app promises to bring speed, efficiency, and optimized touch input to the table. The iPad version takes advantage of the larger display, naturally. Moments after Google released the Gmail app into the wild, unfortunately, they pulled it from the App Store due to “a bug which broke notifications.” As soon as the app returns to the Store you will be notified.
Update 2 (11/16): And it’s back! Get your download on right here.
[Via GoogleBlog; GmailBlog] Continue reading Gmail takes a bold step forward with new look [Update: official iOS app released]
Short film: Kid Cudi in ‘Maniac’ (NSFW violence)
Last November Kid Cudi hinted that a short film based on one of his songs was coming and yesterday on Halloween he released it on the ‘Net. The short film, directed by Transfomers star Shia LaBeouf, is titled Maniac and it is “inspired by” the song with the same name featured on Cudder’s sophomore album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. The extremely dark, gritty, and violent clip does not play the “Maniac” track behind it, nor does it refer to the lyrics in the song as it plays out like a short film and not a music video. The score that plays in the background is original music produced by Cudi and Wizard collaborator Dot Da Genius. In the nearly ten-minute short, a film crew follows two serial killers (played by Cudi and Chris Palko) documenting their exploits. As made explicit in the post title, this video is NSFW due to graphic violence and gore and in fact it is rated NC-17.
You have been warned. Mash play at your own risk. Happy Halloween!
Update: Cudder sat down with Complex and shared some insight into the making of the Maniac video. In it he talks about working with Shia LaBeouf, the character he played in the video, funding the film, and he explains why the characters speak in French. Read the choice quotes over at Complex.
Trailer: ‘American Reunion’
Here’s the followup to last month’s red band teaser; it’s a traditional trailer for the upcoming fourth installment in the American Pie franchise, American Reunion. Jim, Michelle, Stiffler and company are all back to take part in their ten year high school reunion. Let the nostolgia flow above and anticipate a April 6, 2012 release.
Stop-motion animation studio LAIKA is back with ‘ParaNorman’ [trailer inside]
Here’s a nice Halloween treat for us all: a teaser poster and trailer for the upcoming stop-motion animated feature ParaNorman. The movie is from Focus Features and LAIKA, the same partnership that produced 2009’s critically-acclaimed Coraline. ParaNorman is directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler; Butler imagined and penned the original story. The voice cast includes Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Anna Kendrick, John Goodman, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Elaine Strich, Tempestt Bledsoe, Bernard Hill, and Alex Borstein. The trailer, embedded after the break, doesn’t reveal much of the plot as it includes zero dialogue, but this quick synopsis should suffice:
A misunderstood boy who can speak with the dead takes on ghosts, zombies and, worst of all, grown-ups, in order to save his town from a centuries-old curse. Norman Babcock is an outcast in his small New England town. When a horde of zombies is unleashed on the populace, Norman learns he must use his paranormal powers to make things right again. That’s not an easy task when you’re only eleven. And you’ve just been grounded.
The movie poster and teaser trailer make ParaNorman out to be a strange, dark, and visually stunning piece of work worthy of much anticipation. It releases wide August 17, 2012 in 3D. Continue reading Stop-motion animation studio LAIKA is back with ‘ParaNorman’ [trailer inside]