FOCUSING ON COMPUTER ANIMATION, CG AND FILMLOOK®

Often the projects that arrive here at FILMLOOK Inc. for film simulation processing are completely posted and ready for air or duplication. At times, a client will call with questions about compositing computer graphics or animation with video and how FILMLOOK will deal with these images.

Most composited CG effects will pass through FILMLOOK with little or no artifacts; however, it is important to consult with us first before any final decisions about computer animation are made. In the series "The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne," extensive computer animation was used to create fanciful airships, elaborate locales as well as to enhance action sequences. All of these effects were created frame-by-frame at 30 frames per second and the entire series was processed in FILMLOOK using our 30-frame film simulation. Our 30-frame mode ensured compatibility with their rendering process and yielded no artifacts. As an added benefit, FILMLOOK assisted to fully integrate the CG elements into the live action by eliminating the aliasing that sometimes occurs with video-originated computer graphics.

Computer animation that is rendered field by field (60 fields per second) may need to be bypassed by FILMLOOK to minimize undesirable artifacts. This could present a problem however, if there are video camera originated "live-action" elements composited with the CG. The resulting image will unfortunately look and move exactly like 60-field video. Two better approaches would be to either composite the CG elements later after FILMLOOK, or create a computer generated "motion blur" to the CG effects (simulating a 1/60th of a second shutter speed) that would make the elements more compatible with our 24 or 30 fps film simulation.

Moving CG titles such as those found on an end title roll can be bypassed if the title roll is over black, or if they are moving slowly, processed at 30 or even 24 fps if the titles must occur over live action. Stationary title cards over black or live action works well through FILMLOOK. Depending on the speed of the title roll or crawl, it may be best to hold off on final titling until after FILMLOOK, especially if there is a misspelling or change in credits after postproduction is completed.

Clearly, a short FILMLOOK test of computer animation or titling in your project is strongly recommended in seeing what unexpected effect, if any, our film simulation may have on the final image. Although rare, spotting FILMLOOK processed CG problems at this point will help reduce the chances for potential headaches once final postproduction is completed on your project.

3 SHOTS HEADED FOR FESTIVALS

BURBANK-The FILMLOOKed short film "Three Shots" by Canvas Entertainment and Soby Entertainment has been accepted at The Sarasota Film Festival and the "Director's View" film festival at Stamford CT, according to "Three Shots" filmmaker Gene Wolande.

"Three Shots" is a forty-minute fictional short spanning three generations of a family-owned bar in Chicago. Shot in mini DV with the Canon XL-1, FILMLOOK was used to give each story in the production a unique "period feel" through color correction and grain adjustment. "Three Shots" is part of the Director's View Independent competition and is currently being entered into film festivals in anticipation of distributorship. For more information on the Director's View film festival see www.thedirectorsview.org on the worldwide web.

TREES IN DIRECTOR'S VIEW

The FILMLOOKed feature "Trees" has also been accepted in the "Director's View" film festival, and is part of the Directors View Independent competition as well.

"Trees" will be distributed by Raven Releasing for worldwide distribution and is available at video stores....congratulations.

WAL-MART SHOPS FOR FILMLOOK

SAN FRANCISCO-Premiere Retail Networks is producing several in-store commercial spots for the retail giant Wal-Mart, which have been shot in video and processed in FILMLOOK.

The spots highlight individual departments in the store and feature everything from DirecTV satellite purchases to Wal-Mart Gift Cards. The spots are recorded in video, edited then sent to FILMLOOK for final film simulation and color correction. The spots are currently running nationwide in stores; check your local Wal-Mart.

FULL MOON, CIMARRON GO PUBLIC

HOLLYWOOD-Full Moon Universe has announced a merger with Cimarron-Grandview Group and has revealed plans to become a publicly traded company. Full Moon has produced several FILMLOOKed features for direct to video sales. We congratulate Full Moon and Cimarron-Grandview on their new partnership.

CHASING THE SUN WITH FILMLOOK

LOS ANGELES-Local PBS station KCET is producing "Chasing the Sun," a comprehensive history of flight and commercial aviation. The four one hour-long documentary segments feature rare archival film.

The documentary is produced and videotaped by members of the same team that presented the Emmy award winning KCET documentary "The Great War." "Chasing the Sun" covers flight from its beginnings with the Wright brothers through the development of commercial aviation, and also examines the perils of overcrowded skies in future air travel. Shot in Europe, Canada and the United States, the videotaped segments were processed and color corrected by FILMLOOK to give the re-creation segments as well as the archival film elements an integrated, polished look. "Chasing the Sun" will air on local PBS stations every Monday evening in July; check local listings.

"THE PISTOL" SHOOTS FOR FILMLOOK

NEW YORK-The late, great basketball star Pete Maravich was profiled in a new CBS Sports documentary "Pistol Pete" that profiles the Atlanta Hawks superstar through FILMLOOKed sports interviews and in archival footage.

The NBA hall of famer and 1977 high score leader is remembered through a comprehensive study of his career from LSU to the NBA. "Pistol Pete" airs April 1, 2001 during CBS Sports' Final Four weekend coverage of the NCAA Basketball Championship. Visit http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/cbs/sports/
news/102300maravich.htm for more information.

FILMLOOK LATE BREAKING NEWS

ORLANDO-The new hit Nickelodeon series "Taina" will now air entirely in FILMLOOK, according to the show's producers. In our Winter '00-01 newsletter we announced initially that only the music video portions were to be FILMLOOKed, but it was announced recently that Nickelodeon Studios has requested the entire series be processed by FILMLOOK.

LOS ANGELES-The producers of the provocative MTV series "Undressed" have just announced that the hit series has been approved for two forty (40) episode cycles-congratulations to the crew of "Undressed".

COLORADO SPRINGS-"The Summer Intern," produced by Alpha Productions, will be distributed by Cheerful Pictures and is available at video stores....congratulations.

LOS ANGELES-Hard G, the producers of the short film "Odessa or Bust" have won best short in the AngelCiti Film Festival in February. The film stars Red Buttons and Jason Alexander, and is a provocative look at Hollywood life and the afterlife. FILMLOOK congratulates "Odessa or Bust" and we hope to be hearing from Hard G on future festival awards and projects!

© 2001 FILMLOOK Inc. All rights reserved. FILMLOOK is a registered trademark of FILMLOOK Inc.

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