SOFTIMAGE XSI London User's Group

Oye geezer... I went to this presentation last night given by my friend Jordi Bares, and his colleague Jan Walter - both of The Mill. They were showing off the Mill's proprietary pipeline (which Jordi and Jan have developed) that allows a seamless rendering solution for XSI with not only Mental Ray... But PRMAN, Air, and 3DLight!!!

Anyway, the whole philosophy was really interesting, and a very appealing one because they have managed to alleviate some key technical issues - and I love them for that!!! You work as you would normally in XSI using Mental Ray, setting up the scene, gathering (or referencing-in assets) and working with the Render Tree using Mental Ray as your visualizing tool. Then as you approach final rendering you begin to make the hard decision about which elements of your shot are better handled by what render engine. Huh? Yeah, no kidding. You are about to "choose a renderer." And basically, (because I don't really understand how they did it) you don't have to worry about shader parity, or anything because they have developed a "set of 16 matched shaders" which will be nearly identical in all the renders!!! Anyway, the cool thing is that you can just work artistically, incorporating whatever tools you like (XSI, Massive, etc.) and the use this XtoR exporter to sort out your rendering issues when the time comes, thus alleviating the necessity of getting locked into a particular way of working from the get-go due to the fact that "you will eventually be rendering in PRMAN" (or whatever renderer). Pretty hot off the wizzle shnizzle. This was easily the most interesting rendering demonstration from a "pure user value" aspect I have ever scene.

Here's a link to some photos from the evening. As you can see the SOFTIMAGE XSI London User's Group isn't shy about admitting that there's a little booze fueling the creative fires. Not that that's out of place in Soho, UK!!!

Homer visits Winnipeg to save some d'oh!

I remember a late 80's interview with Matt Grenning about the "meaning of the Simpson's" where he said something along the lines of "Americans are stupid." He was surely being inflamatory, but perhaps this is a sign that the Canadians have not escaped the critical eyes of the writer either!

Homer visits Winnipeg to save some d'oh!

Tuesday, January 18th, 2005

Bartley Kives

ONE of the biggest Hollywood celebrities to ever visit Winnipeg got in
and out of town this weekend without being accosted by a single
photographer.

Simpsons family patriarch Homer Simpson spent a sizable chunk of
Sunday's episode in Manitoba, buying up massive quantities of one of our
province's most popular exports -- prescription drugs, which sell here
for a fraction of the retail price in Springfield.

In case you missed it, Homer, Grandpa Simpson, neighbour Ned Flanders
and convenience-store operator Apu drive up to a surprisingly un-snowy
Winnipeg after Mr. Burns cancels his nuclear-power plant's employee drug
plan.

Along the way, the Springfield residents pass an almost photo-realistic
Trans-Canada Highway East sign. Some playful Canadian on the Simpsons
writing team knew enough about Manitoba to tease the local geekdom with
a Gimli turnoff -- on the wrong side of the road.

Another road sign proves the writers have us nailed.

"Welcome to Winnipeg. We were born here. What's your excuse?" greets
Homer, Grandpa, Ned and Apu as they head into town. They quickly land
counterfeit health cards from a trio of hosers who promise "enough drugs
to make Regina look like Saskatoon."

Flanders also meets his Canuck doppleganger, who speaks the same
iddly-diddly language but scares Ned with marijuana.

"Would you like to puff on a reeferino? It's legal here, you know."

After loading up on pills of every colour, Homer and his buddies get
busted by Mounties on their way back into the U.S. Turns out Apu is
suspected of "expressing his faith" in public, a no-no in secular Canada.

The cross-border drugs are seized and the citizens of Springfield cut
off, leading Homer, Grandpa and a repentant Mr. Burns to fly a smuggling
mission to "somewhere In Manitoba."

After loading up on more drugs, Homer offers to pay back his Canadian
co-conspirator by taking him to see the execution of a mentally
challenged prisoner, something that happens "four times a week" in the
U.S. It's a clunky line, but not uncommon in a show that often holds up
Canadian values as a model for a kindler, gentler America.

When the Simpsons visited Toronto in 2002, there was a barrage of
advance publicity. But with most of Canada's TV critics in Los Angeles
for the annual winter TV tour, there was no warning the most lovable oaf
on television was coming to our town.

The first time Winnipeg was name-checked by the show was during the
1995-96 season, when Bart, Nelson, Millhouse and Martin pull up
alongside a bickering family on a road trip to Knoxville, Tenn. After
the father tells his kids to stop fighting, Nelson hits him in the back
of the head, leading to the locally immortal line, "That's it! Back to
Winnipeg!"

Series creator Matt Groening, who has family in small-town Saskatchewan,
would later suggest Homer was born in Winnipeg. But his offhand comment
to a Montreal audience is not interpreted as canon by obsessive Simpsons
fans.

Sodaplay Madness

I just added a really cool art link to my sidebar under "Hella-Cool Art Links." Be careful, because Sodaplay is an amazing time waster. Whole hours seem to pass in mere nanoseconds. The incredible thing is... I don't even know how to describe it! A little bit of Flash and some physics programming I think? Whatever it is, it sure as hell qualifies for my sidebar!!! Try it! I did and I am still stunned!!!

Back To The Big Smoke... Again!

I am back in Soho to finish my work on Kingdom of Heaven. I should be on my way back to Vancouver by the middle of February, however, if all goes according to plan. So, it will be a short stay in England for me in 2005. There are just 6 weeks remaining for this production and it is beginning to feel as though we are in the final rush to get this pig through the pipe! It is not the most enjoyable part of the production as it is quite stressful, but at least we are firing on all cylinders and getting things done. It is a very fulfilling feeling when you know a project is on the eve of departure after a lot hard work and long hours.

I am exhausted at the moment though. Jet lag is the culprit. It is so much worse when traveling in this direction (west to east). Traveling home to Vancouver seems to not even affect me. You leave London say at noon, and arrive the same day in Vancouver at 2pm, after 10 hours flight time. You try to stay up as long as you can that first day back to the coast and that's it. The next day you're a little tired, but not really fatigued. Coming from Vancouver to London is a different story. I believe it has something to do with missing a whole day. Since arriving last Thursday, I have been regularly exhausted by mid-afternoon, but unable to sleep until past midnight, and then up like a light switch before 6am. This morning, instead of lying awake and failing frustratingly to fall back to sleep, I got up and went to the gym. I had to do something to break the cycle. I felt like a block of cement while there, but I think it might have done the trick. For the moment, I am even more exhausted than yesterday afternoon! Perhaps I will sleep through the night tonight! When will the insanity stop?

Computer Graphics Year In Review

Click here for an interesting selection of highlights from the computer graphics community this year. It is a well rounded list of items that includes projects large and small, and also news items and hardware/software innovations as well. Click here for an article outlining which projects are in contention for the prestigious (yet ultimately meaningless) Academy Award for Visual Effects. Industrial Light and Magic once again leads the pack in terms of films recognised.

That's the way the Van-cookie crumbles...

I thought that this was a "classic" piece of Vancouver "news." Culled from the CBC today.

VANCOUVER - A British Columbia woman who makes and sells ginger snaps laced with marijuana has been acquitted of trafficking for a second time, after prosecutors failed to prove the treats contain cannabis resin.

Mary Jean Dunstan, also known as Watermelon, was arrested twice and charged with possession of cannabis resin for the purposes of trafficking.

But analysts who used samples of the resin police seized to mix and bake the same kind of batter Dunstan uses for her ginger snaps have not been able to prove the extract is still present in the finished product.

"The judge found a reasonable doubt at the end of the Crown's case as to what was in the cookie," said Dunstan's lawyer, John Conroy.

"If the cookies or the brownies or whatever ... have been made in a batter so nobody can identify leaves, sticks or stems through a microscope, then the only way the Crown can get a conviction for possessing a prohibited thing would be if they charged her with possession or trafficking of cannabis [alone], without adding resin or marijuana," he said.

Analysts are able to chemically detect cannabis in Dunstan's cookies.

Trafficking in cannabis is a more serious drug offence that could lead to a jury trial and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, and Conroy doubts the authorities would choose that route over a few ginger snaps.

The resin-trafficking charge is a lesser offence that carries a lighter sentence.

"My lawyer and I are saying, like, if you can't prove it's there, how can you measure it?" said Dunstan, who hosts a Pot TV internet show when she's not selling the cookies at places like Vancouver's Wreck Beach.

She too doubts the Crown would opt for a more serious charge, given the kind of reaction she said she has gotten from her fans and drug opponents alike.

"The court of public opinion is not interested in paying their tax dollars any more, it's quite clear," she said.

The Crown is appealing her acquittal on the resin charge, however.

Kingdom of Heaven

Here's a link to the official website for the film I have been working on as a member of the visual effects post-production crew. It is called Kingdom of Heaven, directed by Ridley Scott, and The Moving Picture Company is the sole visual effects vender on the picture, so we are all pretty excited. I have been doing technical director chores again (lighting computer graphics elements like armies, seige machinery, catapults, flaming balls of fire, etc.) like the last couple of gigs. I believe it is the most visually sophisticated project I have yet to work on and a few of my shots rival those I worked on for The Matrix: Revolutions in terms of brute force and complexity. The principle photography is nearly unanimously gorgeous, which makes lighting to "match the plate" a real pleasure. You can learn so much about lighting computer graphics well when you have such amazing source photography. As evidenced in the trailer, the film seems to borrow some of the "Ridley Scott look" of his previous films, which makes it feel a little derivative, but it works in this case, so all power to him! For once, I think the majority of "me mates" may actually want to see the work I have been doing... I don't think there was a lot of support for the toilings of the Walshman in the case of Alien Versus Predator! I have had a real blast on this one.

Christmas in Vancouver

Happy Holidays everyone! As we say in the local, all-inclusive, non-discriminatorial, vernacular in Vancouver. I love "the holidays" but I think in a kind of conflicted way. After all, this time of year has its origins in the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Being a non-practicing Irish-Catholic Canadian Agnostic such as myself there are some issues. Meaning that I was raised going to Catholic church services with my Dear Ole Dad (my Mom never attended and I am still not sure exactly why) and later decided on my own that I would not continue in that Walsh family tradition. It was not that I was opposed to the idea of a god, in fact I quite liked the idea, but I was altogether unenthused by what I saw at church (the hypocrasy in the messages, the lack of observation of the most simple of the tenants of the Bible like "judge not lest yeh be judged," etc.). Nor was I jumping in the aisles about the definitions of god that Catholocism proposes. At the time, my adolescence, I was becoming aware that my intuition was on the level of something more mystical and less dogmatic... some kind of flakey "mother nature knows best" or "the cosmos is all around us all the time," or "I am but a speck of sand in the hour glass of time" sort of thing, as opposed to a formalised set of rules written down by a bunch of dudes with no connection to my world and vested interests of their own at the time of writing. I remember very fondly some of the aspects of the church services I attended at this time of the year, but entirely on the level of sight and sound and not at all in terms of religious significance. And emphatically more the familial house born celebrations and happy traditions of a most resoundingly positive experience. My mom's incredible contributions to the season from the kitchen and her quirky ways of recognising those around her for their gifts, my Dad making eggnog and playing some gorgeous LP on his stereo and amping up his usual penchant sentimentality, my sister getting up hours before anyone else in giddy excitement at what Santa Claus may have brought her, stupid gifts for the cats, Christmas Ice Hockey tournaments, and Lego, always more Lego, etc. So nowadays, I look forward to the season of gift giving in a very secular way. I see it as THE important break in everyone's schedule. A pause in everyone's year that puts family and friends in the focus. The time to take time so to speak. I guess I do tend to reflect a lot more at this time of year, and I wish in a secular kind of way that I could do something more tangible to "help people" and think less of myself which is all good, but I don't ever get a chance to act on it, so around we go again. This is something I sincerely hope to change in the future. To quote a great trubabdor of our age "so this is Christmas, and what have you done? Another year over, and a new one just begun." I guess I just think that there will be a another stage of life for that. Like how Meg's Mom and Dad now spend a lot of time voluteering now that her Dad has retired. Something like that. I guess I am saying is that Christmas to me is all a bit warm and cozy, secular and ambiguous, fuzzy and family, and I love it. So, Merry Christmas All!

The Famous People

This year, largely as a result of living and working in central London, I have seen a lot of famous people. Just the other day, Meg and I literally ran into Kenneth Brannaugh, for example. As always when you run into a leading man, he was shorter, and not as good looking as you'd expect. Earlier in the year, I ate pizza at Spiga on Wardour Street sitting next to Emma Thompson and some pastey English chap. She was I would say, as she is - quite stunning, but very comfortable looking as she does. I was so hungry that I didn't even notice it was her until she got up to leave. I had noodles sitting next to Jason Statham, best known as Turkish from the movie Snatch, and he looked like he'd been run over by a five gallon vodka martini. But it could have been for effect, who knows. A little while later Ralph Fiennes jumped into a cab on Wardour Street, looking suspiciously like someone "trying not to be noticed" in a big Woody Allen style "hide me" hat. Michael Palin popped into Patisserie Valerie on Old Compton Street for a croissant on the go looking smart and healthy and like he'd stop to give anyone directions if they had the guts to ask. There was the rumour of Madonna at the Dog and Duck that I was not able to corroborate. The capper to all these sightings however was the other night when Meg and I were walking home along Drury Lane having jumped off a bus near Aldwych. We were passing by the theatre where "The Producers" is playing when we heard a little commotion. Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles were exiting the theatre to their car. Meg and I were no more than 5 or 6 meters from them. I couldn't believe how polite and respectful everyone suddenly got in their presence. People actually backed up and gave them room. There was one paparozzi guy who spent a roll of film, and I thought to myself how odd that seemed given that in my experience, most Londoners are quite comfortable being "amongst the famous."

Working for a Knight on a film about Knights

As you may or may not know I have been doing some "digital cinematography" work (fancy stuff, huh?) on a little film called Kingdom of Heaven (formerly called The Crusades). I have had the chance to run into Sir Ridley Scott (he was knighted), the film's director, a couple of times. Not to say that we've had a pint down the pub and chatted about the good old days, but you know I have seen him in the studio when he arrives with his entourage to look at the work and so forth. He gave me a "hey wassup?" nod and wink the other day. Famous people like him have a hilarious effect on people. Sir Scott is definately one of those people with gigantic character who "fills the room" when he comes in. He is very comfortable in the studio though, and doesn't seem put off at all by all the geeks and computers. In fact, he just seems a little grumpy and bored most of the time! He'd probably rarther be down the pub. Anyway, pretty fun to be around when he is in the studio. Quite a thrill to be working on a film by the man who made "Blade Runner." I can remember thinking when I first saw that film... "Man, if I could do that..."

Click here for an early seak review of a test screening. It is probably malarky, but there it is!

Typical Posh Londeners We Are

Today Meg and I had what I think comes pretty close to a typical posh Londoner day. We began the day by a simple little gourmet breakfast at home cooked by yours truly. Just a nice little omlette with some great cheese from Neal's Yard, some crusty baguette and coffee and tea, but when done well it is all you need to start the day right! Then straight away we walked from the flat all the way to The Borough Market where we picked up some lovely fixings for the coming week. This is my favourite thing to do in London on a saturday morning. To be out in the city, taking in the Thames Waterway and all the various things you can see along the way, and ending up at this great market full of such great food, is a real sophisticated pleasure that is free to all. I love things like this. Things of quality, available to all. Unfortunately we had to scarf our Organic Wild Boar Sandwiches and hot-foot it back to the flat beacuse as luck would have it, Meg was able to pick up some cancellation tickets for The Producers at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane during the week. So we poshed ourselves up and headed off to see the matinee show. We have not had the chance to get to see a show all year, so this was our one opportunity. We figured that if you're gonna see one show all year, you should bust the bank and see a very well reviewed one. In fact, our reviewers were none other than Claus and Michelle who saw the show during the fall and said it was basically the best show they had seen in London in 3 years. Afterwards we just walked up Drury Lane to the Lowerlander Grande Cafe for dinner. At this cafe they have some spectacular Belgian beers on draft and some of the best reasonably priced pub fare I have had in London. It was so nice to just chill at the pub, and chat about the show. I had Moules Frites and Meg had an organic Scottish beef burger. The chips (French Fries) were amazing as usual. We floated home arm in arm, and as if the stars were alligning for us to create the perfect end to the typical posh London day we sat down to find Notting Hill on television. So if you're ever looking for a schedule to put together your own typical posh London day just follow this theme: market, show, pub, and film. I guess you should try and stuff a museum in there somewhere. Oh well, we'll have to give it another go!

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!

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.

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...

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?

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!

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!

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...