Saturday, November 27, 2004

The Third Chimpanzee

Click here to read an article about a 13 million-year-old fossilized skeleton of an ape that is possibly a common ancestor of humans and great apes, including orangutans, bonobos, chimps and gorillas that was found recently in Spain. Pretty exciting news for me as I have really developed an interest in getting to know more about the theories of the development of early man since recently reading Jared Diamond's book "Guns, Germs and Steel: A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13000 Years." A great book and a real "page turner!" I simply couldn't wait for the next revealing anecdote of our development. I was thrilled. And so much of the book seemed to make such simple elegant sense in a non-biased way, as if to say "how can we determine anything else when we are presented with this evidence?" So now, I'd like to read his other preceding book "The Third Chimpanzee: The Evolution and Future of the Human Animal" (the theories of which are apparently proven by the Spain discovery!) but, I have recently seen that Mr. Diamond has published still another volume on the subject called "The Rise and Fall of the Third Chimpanzee: Evolution and Human Life." So, now I have to find some serious down time in order to get caught up! Also, if anyone knows of any good reads along these lines, please let me know! I find the idea of the theory that we are descendants of great apes so appealing in its unifying nature, as if to say, really these are the facts, we are one of them, that I am beside myself with expectations of the implications when the vast majority of humans begin to see themselves really as they are: terrestrial! I can't see how anything but good can come from this knowledge, but I suppose if you're a "bible thumper" you'd find it all a tad disturbing! Ha!

Thursday, November 25, 2004

The Time of Year for Work and Flu

Seems to me this time of year is always filled with a ton of work, and many folks struggling through illnesses small and large.

I have a moutain of work at the moment, but I am enjoying it. There is always a sense of relief when the crunch comes, because at least you know "now its the crunch." Sometimes waiting is worse. Just getting down to it is a welcome relief from the anticipation of all the work to come. And then, of course, after pinning it for three weeks or so, you end up asking yourself "just exactly why did I want this again?"

I got a bit of a sore throat this week. See what I mean? That's the last thing I need. To go through the run up to Christmas horrendously busy at work, with Meg arriving to London in a few days (thank god) and be ill! No way man, not gonna let it happen! So it is home I go to dose myself with some kind of tranquilizer and drift off to sleep listening to the gorgeous tones of Michel Nyman's score for the film Gattica.

Monday, November 22, 2004

Electronic Arts Criticism Goes Mainstream

Click here for the New York Times article about the recent criticisms of Electronic Arts as an unfair employer. The chain of events that lead to this story began by the combination of a web log written by a disgruntled spouse about the life of an Electronic Arts employee, and the class action lawsuit currently underway in the United States brought by a current Electronic Arts employee seeking back pay for unpaid overtime. It will be interesting to see how Electronic Arts responds as it will no doubt set a huge precedent in the still very immature games development industry. Personally, I am shading kind of positive, and I believe that EA (in California anyway) will eventually choose to conform to the feature film post production model. Which, for most folks, is: a 50 hour work week, 10 hours of which are paid at 1.5X rate. Anything above that - 2X rate. Here's why.

First, paying for talent. At the moment, the high-end of talent (as a gross generalisation, of course) remains in the film industry today. Principally, this has to do with the fact that film production typically pays more as a result of requiring a higher level of visual sophistication. Although this is changing, it is still true for the most part. EA continually has trouble recruiting out of the film industry (and continues to try to!!!) as a result of your average 3D operator putting 2 and 2 together and saying "why should I open myself up to potentially unlimited hours, when I currently have the fall back that the longer I work, the more costly I am, and therefore there is a natural drag on the hours I work." Doesn't make much sense. When EA decides to make the "payment method" mirror what is already the status quo, the operators will no longer see the kinds of distinctions they currently see. It is all about parity.

Second, if they don't choose to, they will be litigated into it. The labour laws are quite clear, and they are not obeying them. The only potential hick-up is... how many of your colleagues have kept accurate, provable logs of their hours worked? Uh, yeah... oh, and you'd better not vote for Campbell if you want EA to be compelled to obey the law in British Columbia! Most conservative governments will just roll over in the face of an industry giant like EA.

Third, avoiding unionisation. The quickest way for EA to avoid a painful unionisation process is to do what most film studios do - pay the higher rates. As long as rates remain high, and there is relative parity of hours worked and pay for those hours (including benefits) there really is very little incentive to unionise. Personally, I think unions are totally necessary for those employees deserving of protection - nurses, police, teachers, miners - those individuals who are obviously providing services that we "can not live without." I don't think "Grand Theft Auto - San Andreas" counts as that, so unionisation is really just about pay (and a bit about treatment). In fact, at places like ILM, the union has often been a drag on increasing wages industry-wide rather than a catalyst!

In terms of the situation in Vancouver. Canada will always represent a cost advantage to EA. Principally in the exchange, but also in the fact that Canadian salaries are typically lower as a dollar figure (as a result of this, when I have worked in CA, I have made roughly 2X what I was making in Vancouver in "real dollars" though I didn't ever work for EA). In reality, if you compare say an annual percent growth curve charting revenue in games, versus average annual salary increase, I am willing to bet my next royalty bonus (I don't actually have one!) that revenues have out performed salaries by percent growth. What does this mean? The work force is cheaper than ever. That's why they will continue to expand the Burnaby campus. Games are getting more expensive to produce, but when compared to the increase in revenue, they are cheaper in real terms. Take a look at Halo2 just out. It is pretty clear. What is also clear is that the games production model of "generating block busters" and nothing else, is also conforming to the film model. Independent game studios are going the way of the Dodo!

A Run in the Park

Yesterday, as has been customary for me recently, I used a portion of my one day off from work per week to go for some exercise. This meant a jog in Regents Park. Just north of central London, Regents Park houses the London Zoo, and nearly the only natural elevation inside the city borders, Primrose Hill. So, I usually jog up there and run through the park to the top of the hill for a quick view before retracing my steps. It can be really pretty, as it was full of lovely flower beds and colour this summer, or like yesterday when the "atmospherics of the London fog" played with the light in such a way as to delineate objects and foliage into a patch work, kind of like a card board cut out animation. I was wishing I had my camera throughout my jog. I guess I will have to plan to walk up there in the morning before work or something. I always seem to see something or someone interesting there. As I entered the park, and stopped to stretch out a bit, I saw this middle aged woman and a younger man with a dog sitting on a bench. The dog was a great little boxer who was having a blast with a ball. It wasn't long before I realised that they were drinking. I was thinking to myself, when was the last time I saw a couple of "regular enough people" getting smashed at 11 o'clock in the morning in a park in Vancouver? Uh, yeah...

Saturday, November 20, 2004

U.K. Showcase Spotlights VFX

Click here for an article about a recent showcase in Los Angeles featuring the Soho (London, UK) studios. It is interesting that the article ends on a rather down note.

"Thanks to tax incentives and a wave of young talent, London has become a major global vfx player, and there’s a very collaborative environment in Soho, since they all must divide the work. However, there is a feeling among some that the current vfx boom may not last much longer, what with the low exchange rate and new requirements that U.S. productions be shot in the U.K. to take full advantage of the tax breaks."

This seems to be the consensus feeling from where I am sitting. Even though the total workforce in Soho still only represents a fraction of the American work force in visual effects, the boom in work here has breathed great life into British post production. However, eyes are now turning to the problem of perpetuating the phenomenon in a more stable form. The tremendous growth in the feature film visual effects business in London over the past five years (mirrored by the growth of The Moving Picture Company where I work which did not even have a feature film department five years ago) has been largely due to a handful of factors. First of all there is the financial incentive. The bean counters in Hollywood were simply able to make the numbers work well here because the lower bids, combined with the tax breaks (in the form of a lease-buy-back scheme) made a lot of sense. Especially when the studios cast aside their previous English eccentric appeal and not only adopted a more American style visual effects development pipeline, but actually pursued and catered to the needs of American producers as clients. At times, producers and supervisors have told me that this simply meant visual effects supervisors and producers "using certain catch phrases" and "lingo" familiar to the American clients with the sole purpose of making them feel at ease. It was key to have these clients "feel as though they were getting the same process as in the Untied States" and therefore the same end result from the Soho studios as they would in America. The reality is that I think that the work in such films as the Harry Potter franchise have somehow benefited from a more European perspective, and "feel English" as a result. Never mind that some of the more impressive work was completed as usual at ILM and SPI. What remains to be seen is how the trimming of the financial incentive, with greater restrictions on what kind of projects are eligible, and the ever increasing rates operators have been charging in an environment starving for legitimate talent, will transform the landscape in post production. Will the Harry Potter franchise continue to pulse along as the life-line for feature film visual effects production in England?

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

Time for a Little Update

I thought I would just give everyone a little update on how things are going over here seeing as I have not had a lot of time to post any "life stuff" over the past few weeks. Things are getting "right busy mate" at work and will be so until we are finished the film sometime mid-February.

Meg was here this weekend! Gracias a dios! I really miss her these days! And although it was of course amazing to have her here and to have fun seeing some of London, it is always depressing when we part. I am really coming to the end of my tether with our "separation" business. It has been of necessity, but it is for the birds. I think we are both looking very much forward to moving on to our next local "together." More on that in a second!

Originally, we had planned a weekend away from London, but things being the way they are now, with me becoming more and more busy towards my Dec.17th interim deadline, and Meggi only really here one full day on Saturday, we thought it best to postpone that trip until early in December when she is back in London for longer. So we decided to do some "London things." That usually means a walking trip to one of the London markets, a movie, dinner. That kind of thing. We thought that perhaps we will have the opportunity to see one of the shows this time -- which we still have not done! But, it did not come to pass. Oh well, maybe when she is back in December. There is so much to see and do in London, sometime it is hard to imagine! I still have not really fully explored the British Museum - AND IT IS ACROSS THE STREET!!! From my flat.

Meg's fall seems to have been a fruitful and enjoyable one for her. It is a true testament to how much she loves Madrid that even with her marido in London, she still has a pretty grand time - GO FIGURE! She has remarked several times, that although there is always something to improve when learning a language, she has finally felt that she has made some great strides in her Spanish. To me it is more than obvious, but I think that for her it took that "extra little bit" that she has gained from these few more
months to really feel that she has attained a new solid level. I think she is really prepared to move onto the next stage, whatever that is... (even though she constantly says 'I need two more years' no matter what stage she is at) I think most probably some more translation and part-time language instruction - but you'd best ask her!

So far "Kingdom of Heaven" has been a fairly well run, and interesting film for me to work on... I am doing more or less the same job description as I have on past films - digital cinematography. I am responsible for the "look" of computer generated imagery in the shots I work on. I am so pleased at times that I have finally found something that I like so much. I still have to pinch myself sometimes when I think "I am working on a Ridley Scott film" as a Lighting Technical Director. It is indeed too bad that as a result of the "photo-real nature" of the work, no-one in the audience will know what I did! For this reason, London remains a thrill. The studios here are quite interesting and challenging places to be. However, as a dyed in the wool west-coaster, I have the overwhelming sense now that "London is great for a time," but that you shouldn't wear out your welcome! So I feel like moving on... Even though I know that for some reason, I will be back. It is the nature of the work. The proximity to Europe, which I still have not seen nearly enough of and the history you can access here is amazing, but the smog, high cost, and busy nature of life here can get you down!!! The very best thing about Vancouver I think is the way you can create a such an amazing routine that includes work and healthy play. It is a hard thing to do here.

I have been asked by MPC to continue in January, until the completion of this film, in early February. I asked that I have a couple of weeks off to come home for Xmas, and that they pay my way back. We are working out the details. They have also offered me a slightly more senior position on the next installment of the Harry Potter franchise (meanwhile, I struggle to figure out what I am doing right!? Har, har...) In the meantime, I am applying to companies in California. Things look encouraging there, but also a bit delayed. So, with all things considered, and some luck, I should be able to arrive there mid-late February, and have everything sorted out for the remainder of 2005. Meg will likely stay behind in Vancouver when I return to London, if I am to return for such a short period of time, and she will do some contract work from there. There are some things happening in Vancouver as well, but overall, they look to be less stable, or something that I am not interested in doing. Them's the breaks! I am certain that the situation will always be changing.

Well, that's about it, I hope everyone is well, and I am very excited to be home in: 34 DAYS!

Monday, November 08, 2004

The Return of Signore Iozzi

As much as we had hoped differently, Marco "Il Italiano Desastro" Iozzi has returned to London, and The Moving Picture Company. He has come running back to us from his native Italy with his tail between his legs. Apparently, his countrymen couldn't stand his pugnacious, self-agrandizing and posturing, and have kicked him out on his ear. We are all very sad and disappointed that he has returned. Now, we will have to deal with him. Oh, god. We were all hoping that he would be stranded in the woods near his new multi-million dollar country villa, but alas, he has returned to London to make our lives miserable with his incessant chatter. His Italian friends are especially depressed about the news.

Truth be told, we are very happy to have Marco back amongst us, lightening our days at the studio with his great sense of humour and voracious talents. Ciao Marco! Welcome back to London dude!

Friday, November 05, 2004

Bonfire Night

For our friends and colleagues (and that includes yours truly!) who are puzzled by Bonfire/Fireworks/Guy Fawkes night celebrated here in England on November 5th, click here for an explanation. You will see that in all this business of weapons of mass destruction, terrorist cells, enemies within, torture of suspected opponents, whipping up of rabid religious popular opinion against a convenient hate figure etc etc etc - George Dubbya and the neo-cons are about 400 years behind us Brits!

Your IQ Means Nothing, Yeah Right...

Click here to see a breakdown of the average IQ of American citizens by State and the coresponding Presidential Candidate who won that state. Is it really so surprising that those States with the highest levels of academics, technology development, and international links voted Democrat and have the highesy IQs? Somehow, I don't think so! Or perhaps, according to this guy it is all actually a hoax. Oh well, we still have hope...

Build a Better Bush!

Click here for a quick and easy way to extol some private revenge on El Stupido himself, and notice how all permutations somehow remain viable... truly scary!

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Some Pictures from Meg's Birthday Weekend

Click here for an up close and personal look at our "Fin de Semana Frances" in Spain. Andre has kindly done a bit of photo-posting for us for all to enjoy. Thank god for his skills with the photo-sticher man! One of my big tasks when I finally get some time to myself is to mount a serious effort at getting some of my lovely photos od Spain up on a website. A chore that will be for certain, but it must be done!

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

Meg's Birthday Weekend

I have just returned from a fabulous weekend in Spain. Jean-Paul, Andre and I flew to Madrid together to celebrate with Megcita on her 31st birthday. Meg did her usual fabulous job planning everything for the weekend, so that our trip included visits to the towns of Salamanca, Avila, L'Aberca, and Patones. These Castillian pueblos are situated within a reasonable driving distance of Madrid amongst the Sierra mountains. It would of course be much better to see them by bicycle, as the roads and views are most spectacular, but having a rental car is a very efficient way to get to some of the more out of the way places and we were obviously limited to the weekend.

Friday, we arrived from London in the late morning and met directly with Meg in La Plaza Santa Ana, one of our favourite lunch spots in the Spanish capital. We had a lovely lunch of some traditional Spanish favourites. Chopitos, chorizo al vino tinto, patatas bravas, and settas. And of course, some cervezas! Then we bolted to Atocha train station to pick up our rental car. The drive to Salamanca was easy enough and quite enjoyable, aside from the traffic in Madrid, caused by the Madrilenos running for the exits anticipating the long weekend rush. We booked rooms at The Parador of Salamanca which turned out to be a very modern, stylish hotel overlooking the city and its two magnificent cathedrals. What a view from the lobby! We freshened up a bit and headed out to check out the centre of this amazing old city at night. We began with a look at Spain's largest contiguous "plaza mayor." This old central square was absolutely impressive lit up at night and filled with people heading out for tapas. And that is exactly what he did next! We went into a great little wine bar, got stuck into a corner table, and ordered some of the local favourites and a fine copa de vino tinto del Ribiera del Duero. Following our tapas, I absolutely could not resist the temptation to find a restaurant to consume a gorgeous piece of Spanish beef. Very little hunting revealed a place where I could order "Solomillo de Ternera con Salsa de Roquefort" (Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese Gravy) in a quaint dining room built for Spaniards from the Middle Ages. I managed to avoid the ceiling beams just long enough to enjoy a fabulous dinner! And the meat was some of the finest I have had in Spain.

Saturday, we woke up late, following the most spectacularly restful sleep I have had in years (the tranquility was astonishing in the Parador, especially so I think for having lived in central London for nearly a year now). Breakfast was a Spanish smorgasbord of breakfast specialities. Croissants, danishes, queso manchego, zumo de naranja, cafe and chocolate caliente! What a feast! Meg focused on opening some birthday presents and I just focused on the food! Ha! Following breakfast we walked back to central Salamanca to have a better look at the cathedral. There is a great view from one of the upper balconies that we climbed up to take a look across the Castillian plain. It was really pretty, and a great start to the day. We were side-lined for a little while when Andre became obsessed with locating "la rana de Salamanca." There is local folklore that says that to those who are able to locate this little carved stone frog, perched atop a skull, somewhere on the immense facade of the cathedral, it will bring them good luck (and especially for students, good grades)! Needless to say, the only place we found it was on a postcard! Andre was upset. We had a quick cafe and headed out in the car for a lovely drive to L'Alberca for lunch. L'Alberca sits in the cozy confines of the Sierra de Francia. Nestled into a kind of trough in the mountains, it's craggled hand-laid stone streets and facades, and cooler climate make it a big draw during the summer months. As a result it is a bit touristic, although at this time of year, a very worthwhile journey. The buildings themselves are quite unique and almost look as though they have been transported from the French Alpes or somewhere similar due to their odd construction. We made away with haste from out little mountain retreat and wound our way through the Sierra de Francia back toward Avila as it was getting fairly late. The ride back, some three hours or more, was painless enough and yielded some absolutely gorgeous vistas of the sierra and countryside around. If that wasn't already an action-packed day, when we arrived back to Madrid we had a full night ahead all planned out! Suffice to say, after 4 tapas bars and a restaurant, and with Meg still urging us on, we called it a night (or a morning, depending on how you want to look at it). Pedro and Jordi came along for the fun, and so as it turned out Meg had her husband, and four of her "male entourage" to celebrate with her on her 31st birthday!!!

Sunday featured a big sleep-in after our late night out, and then a quick one hour blast out to Patones for a long, late lunch with Vicky, Pablo and Pedro. Andre and Jean-Paul stayed in Madrid to check out the city by foot. Patones was incredible. The most "Tim Burton-esque" place I think I have ever been. And I was really kicking myself that Patrick and I did not venture out in this direction during the year on our bikes. It would have been epic! Again, some amazing food, and a walk around in the town were enjoyed by all. Now, Patones is simply known as a great weekend getaway for Madrilenos, but the town has the unique distinction of having once been a kingdom. The story goes something along the lines of Napolean, having been unable to receive taxation money from the people of the area that is now referred to as Patones (actually simply the last name of the largest family in the area) he sent out his troops to "find them." Well, they couldn't. They had hid themselves away in the sierra for so long, no one knew where they were! So, as a face-saving maneuver during his control of Spain, he granted them their own kingdom, thus exempting them from taxation in the capital (or something like that!). Patones was an extremely enjoyable spot and I am sure we will be back on day - hopefully on a bike!

Monday was a bit of mad scramble to get our bikes into their boxes in preparation for our return trip to Vancouver at Christmas, and see a few folks I wanted to see before leaving Madrid. After accomplishing the packaging of the bicycles, we rushed like mad to see Elen and Bart, and the new addition to their family Sana! Meg's friend Merve joined us there, and then we rushed back to La Plaza Santa Ana to meet Jordi and Andre for lunch before bolting to the airport! A botched attempt at taking the bikes with us left me a bit stressed out, but we managed to make it back to London quite comfortably! I was nice to have Andre along for the return tripped as we recounted the events of one of my best Spanish experiences! It was just a great weekend, enjoyed immensely by all!