YouTube ramps 360-degree video with ‘Spotlight Stories’

YouTube on Tuesday added interactive, 360-degree animation video to its line-up, with help from the makers of “Wallace and Gromit.”

Dubbed “Spotlight Stories,” the new feature will be viewable on the YouTube app of an array of Android-powered smartphones.

Showcasing the technology was a Santa-themed short film from Academy Award-winning studio Aardman Animations, entitled “Special Delivery.”

The animated short centers on a building custodian trying to find a “mysterious stranger” who remains just out of sight but leaves behind a trail of gifts.

Designed by Google as a new form of storytelling, the immersive films allow users to drill down into sub-stories within their plot by moving their phone towards what they want to see.

“The sensors on your phone allow the story to be interactive, so when you move your phone to various scenes, you unlock mini-stories within the story,” technical project lead Rachid El Guerrab said in a blog post.

“Special Delivery” features 10 subplots and three potential endings.

Google Spotlight Stories will be expanded next year to more Android devices as well as a YouTube application for mobile devices powered by Apple software, El Guerrab said.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Toys talk to kids about Velvet Revolution

PRAGUE—The Velvet Revolution that kicked off in Prague 25 years ago Monday was a seminal event in the collapse of communism. Try explaining that to children who have only known democracy.

That’s the challenge tackled by two veterans of the uprising as the massive student protests faded ever further into the past. They wanted to capture the excitement of the rallies, the brutality of police beatings and the surreal repression of a nation that Vaclav Havel—later president—dubbed “Absurdistan.”

So renowned puppet designer Miroslav Trejtnar and filmmaker Tatana Markova teamed up to present the Velvet Revolution in a 30-minute movie that tells the story of more than a dozen children of the revolution—now parents—through the magic of animation.

“The parents are telling their children why they joined the demonstration, why they wanted a change,” Trejtnar said. “It’s about a turning point that they didn’t experience.”

“We used animation to present it in a form familiar to them,” said Markova, “so the story becomes lively for them.”

In the movie, the parents choose a toy—a small human figure or animal—and tell their own story by moving it on a big map of Prague. The toys are then animated to play out the drama of the events that toppled communism in Czechoslovakia.

On Nov. 17, 1989, fiery speeches at a university campus inspired thousands of students to march downtown toward Wenceslas Square. As darkness fell, police cracked down hard, beating demonstrators with truncheons and injuring hundreds in the melee. Unbowed, the students went on strike and the crowds mushroomed, something the authorities were soon unable to contain. On Dec. 29, Havel became the country’s first democratically elected president in a half-century.

“It’s really tough to explain to them the overall atmosphere—what we could do and what was banned, what could get us into trouble and how complicated everything was,” said Daniela Kramerova, who participates in the film with her daughter Mariana.

The film took about four years to make, and its creators raised the funds through a crowd-funding campaign.

Trejtnar said he hopes the movie will inspire children to take a larger interest in history. “If they don’t like something,” he said, “they should try to change it.”

One 12-year-old girl who learned the story of her parents through the movie organized a protest against billboards in her neighborhood.

“We didn’t encourage her to do it,” Trejtnar said. “She’s a clever girl.”

The film “What to Tell the Kids?” premieres on Monday. It will be screened in the open air on the same Prague street where police attacked the students 25 years ago.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Disney Pixar announce plans for ‘Toy Story 4′

LOS ANGELES—Buzz Lightyear and Sheriff Woody are coming back to the big screen.

Disney Pixar announced Thursday it plans to produce “Toy Story 4,” with a release date in June 2017.

Pixar chief John Lasseter will direct the film.

Lasseter directed the first two “Toy Story” films and says his team has come up with a new idea for the franchise that he can’t stop thinking about. He says said the fourth “Toy Story” installment will “open a new chapter” in the lives of Woody, Buzz and their playful pals.

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

‘Frozen’ makes viewers feel warm all over

Some reviewers get a kick out of watching a bad film, because it gives them a legitimate reason to give it a witty and well-deserved kick in the pants—but we’d much prefer to see a good film and just sing its well-deserved praises!

That’s why we were so happy to catch “Frozen” last week—it’s a gorgeous gem of an animated feature that goes a long way in making up for all the disappointing animated productions we’ve seen of late.

The visually and emotionally eventful film tells the story of two princesses with magical powers that take a turn for the worse, resulting in an accident that makes their parents curtail their powers so they can’t hurt anybody else again.

Unfortunately, this drives a wedge between the two royal sisters, and once Elsa becomes queen upon the death of her parents, she turns herself into a recluse. Despite her best efforts, however, the negative effects of her awesome powers unintentionally make themselves felt, plunging the kingdom in a vise of ice that makes the film’s resident villains entertain dark thoughts about exploiting the populace’s unhappiness to gain control of the troubled country.

Botched romance

For her part, the younger sister, Anna, gets into her own share of scrapes, including a botched romance with an initially super-charming prince who turns out to be a villain in princely garb!

In addition, while attempting to get reunited with her self-exiled sister, who’s become a veritable Ice Queen, the feisty princess has to fight off  the movie’s increasing number of villains, with the very welcome help of a goofy ice merchant and his trusty reindeer.

Another ally is a snowman character who gets so much screen exposure that, by the end of “Frozen,” we’re sure that we’ll be seeing him again soon in other TV-film Disney productions.

Aside from being an eventful and visually thrilling movie, “Frozen” gains more plus points by being a musical film, with a number of original songs that are so good that one of them was even nominated for a Golden Globe.



The singing is great, the characters are empathetic, the plot details are interesting and even exciting—what more do we want to see and hear in a full-length animated film?

But, even exceptional movies have their less than praiseworthy moments, so we should share that the midsection of “Frozen” is a bit flabby and sluggish, especially the scenes involving Trolls who are looking for a good wife for their human “adopted” son.

The long detour features a song that doesn’t deserve the extended treatment it’s given, so we’re only too happy to see those Trolls toddle away!

Come to think of it, even the film’s finale sort of feels stretched and overwrought. But, the film as a whole is so entrancing and winning that we quickly overlook its occasional downers and just focus on the good stuff—which stays with us long after we’ve left the moviehouse!

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Talking turkey

Many animated feature films are about weird creatures engaged in far-out activities and antics, but “Free Birds” strives to be more relevant and potentially significant by latching on to Americans’ traditional Thanksgiving feast and celebration for its thematic fulcrum and linchpin.

This savvy decision makes the movie less ephemeral, giddy and silly than other efforts, so the production is more consistently viewable.

Another plus factor is its decision to factor in a subplot that involves its feathered protagonist’s mission to prevent the extermination of native-American turkeys at the US colonies’ first Thanksgiving feast.

Miles Standish has had to be transformed into a villainous character to make this possible, but worse historical sins have been committed in the perverse name of cinematic entertainment, so what the hey—!

New colony

As this movie reimagines it, turkeys in a huge fattening “factory” choose a young “turk” to escape the facility with a few eggs to start a new colony of “free birds” elsewhere—but, their hero ends up a big zero when he loses hold of his cache of eggs!

He loses all hope of helping his beleaguered species—until he unexpectedly ends up as the token, symbolic bird that no less than the President of the United States ritually “pardons” every year at Thanksgiving, and is allowed to live forever—at the White House, yet!

Despite his cushy good fortune, however our feathered friend can’t forget his original mission—and is able to fulfill it after a series of amazing events—like, would you believe, stowing away on a revolutionary time machine that takes him all the way back to the first Thanksgiving feast, way back when?

It’s all fantasticating fluff, of course, but the Thanksgiving theme continues to keep the loopy storytelling on relatively even keel.

On his new adventure in the distant part, our hero meets a flock of other rebellious birds who bravely oppose Standish and his mangy and hungry cohorts.

Naturally, his new friends include a young “tomboy-princess” who not only makes him feel gooey all over, but eventually gets to lead her rebel army to victory! —How’s that for a politically correct denouement?

Rigorous challenge

Before that happens, however, the flick’s resident human villains are allowed to have the run of the place, to force our heroes to do their best to rise up to the increasingly rigorous challenge.

—Not to worry though, the film is decidedly rooting for the good guys—and birds—so “no animals were hurt (or baked) in the course of making this movie!”

In any case, this is an animated feature, so if any turkeys are shown meeting their Maker—don’t worry, they’re all of the digitized sort.

Now, about that big Thanksgiving feast at the end of the film: How did they pull it off without the usual baked and stuffed turkey treats? No spoilers here, but let’s just say that they were replaced by a more modern gustatory offering that involves—a delivery boy!

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Asia’s animators draw inspiration from Japan’s Miyazaki

BUSAN – As Oscar-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki heads into retirement, industry watchers say the next generation of Asian filmmakers stepping out of his shadow will struggle to match the Japanese master’s box office domination.

“The view here is that there will be no ‘second Miyazaki,’” Tokyo-based author and film critic Mark Schilling told AFP.

The market for Asian animation is dominated by children’s films, Schilling said, and not the more adult-themed productions Miyazaki became famous for, such as his Oscar-winning “Spirited Away” in 2002.

The 72-year-old director last month shocked the industry – and his legions of fans – by announcing he was walking away from directing.

The decision was made even as Miyazaki’s latest production “The Wind Rises” – a look at the life of the man who invented Japan’s Mitsubishi Zero fighter airplane – continues to dominate the box office in Japan. It has collected an estimated $115 million in takings since its July release.

That success follows impressive global totals from Miyazaki’s “Spirited Away” ($274.9 million), 2004′s “Howl’s Moving Castle” ($235.2 million) and 2008′s “Ponyo” ($201.8 million). “The Wind Rises” is scheduled to begin hitting screens in Europe and the United States from January next year.

Schilling – who translated the Miyazaki-themed book “Princess Mononoke: The Art and Making of Japan’s Most Popular Film of All Time” – said audience figures for many animators working in a similar hand-drawn style would inevitably fade.

“None of their films have scaled the Miyazaki-like box-office heights and it’s hard to see how they can in the future.”

Small market

The small marketplace has not deterred 35-year-old Yeon Sang-Ho, whose second feature “The Fake” was a hit with critics at the Busan International Film Festival held earlier this month.

“Animated films for adults are actually rare,” he told AFP, on the sidelines of the festival. “So even when a film gets money invested in it, it’s still difficult to get it released.

“Animators like me will just have to make people become more familiar with animation by making more films.”

Despite being lauded by critics – and picking up three awards at Busan in 2011 – Yeon’s debut “The King of Pigs” did not recoup its $150,000 budget from box office takings.

Undeterred, Yeon has infused his latest production with a similar brand of savage and profane social comment as he explores the story of a man locked into battle with an unscrupulous church leader.

The director, while acknowledging that the market for more mature-themed animation in Asia was small, said the reaction to his first feature and the inspiration he drew from the likes of Miyazaki and the manga artist Minoru Furuya (“Himizu”) had made him fiercely determined to continue developing his own style.

His films are noted for their ultra-realistic mix of computer-generated and hand-drawn images.

Creative control

Also capturing the attention of both critics and the audience in Busan was 23-year-old Korean Han Yeo-ul, whose “The Child Who Draws an Octopus” was the only piece of animation in the running for the festival’s major prize for Korean short films.

Han’s production uses a very child-like cut-out style which belies the weighty issues it conveys.

“Animation allows me to capture the innocence of childhood,” she said. “You can capture how the world looks through a child’s eyes but still look at serious issues.”

While Han also acknowledged the market was small, she said it gave her freedom to communicate more directly with her audience.

“You can express yourself more [in animation] than in other films. It is a very personal thing.”

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

“The Simpsons” Director Brings Humor to “Disney’s Planes”

From two-time Emmy® nominated director and aviation enthusiast Klay Hall (“King of the Hill,” “The Simpsons”) comes “Disney’s Planes,” an all-new big-screen adventure that showcases a crop duster’s desire to do more than what he was designed to do.

The action-packed 3D animated comedy features Dusty, a plane with dreams of competing as a high-flying air racer. But Dusty’s not exactly built for racing—and he happens to be afraid of heights. So he turns to a seasoned naval aviator who helps Dusty qualify to take on the defending champ of the race circuit. Dusty’s courage is put to the ultimate test as he aims to reach heights he never dreamed possible, giving a spellbound world the inspiration to soar.

Says Hall, “I think people will really relate to ‘Disney’s Planes’ because it’s a great underdog story. It has a lot of heart and a message we can all use: If we can believe in ourselves, step out of our comfort zones and get past whatever fear is holding us back, we’d be surprised with the results. And that’s exactly what happens to Dusty in this movie. He’s a crop duster who’s never flown above 1,000 feet, but he dreams of being the fastest air racer in the world. He has a lot of obstacles to overcome and needs to dig pretty deep to find the courage to become more than what he was built for.”




According to producer Traci Balthazor-Flynn, the global setting of the film invites audiences along for the ride. “Dusty has never been far from home, so he’s experiencing the world for the first time,” she says. “The film visits places many of us—like Dusty—have never seen. It features characters from all over the world—diverse personalities we can get behind and root for. It’s a real adventure—a road movie in the sky.”

Hall, who attended Cal Arts with fellow animation vets Rich Moore (“Wreck-It Ralph”) and Andrew Stanton (“Finding Nemo,” “WALL•E”), came to Disney in 2005. “My background has always been primetime comedy,” says Hall. “I spent 10 years at ‘The Simpsons’ and then ‘King of the Hill.’”

So when it came time to build the story for “Disney’s Planes,” humor was a key ingredient—along with the kind of action a film about airplanes called for and—of course—authenticity and heart.

Hall credits the story team with finding the right blend. “What’s really cool about making an animated film is—hands down—the collaboration. I think animation is the most collaborative art form there is. It takes an army of talented people to do one of these films.”



Hall, executive producer John Lasseter and co-screenwriter Jeff Howard came together early in the process to hammer out the story. “We sat in a little room for five or six hours,” says Howard, who welcomed the opportunity to brainstorm with Lasseter. “We all respect him so much, creatively—and we were invited to hang out and spitball with him. That’s when we came up with the idea of a crop duster who wants to be a racer. We named him Dusty that first day and talked about a race around the world where he’d meet racers from different countries.”

“It just felt right,” says Lasseter. “There’s a great group of new characters who fly throughout different parts of the world—Iceland, Germany, India, Mexico. We knew from the start that it had to be better than good. It had to be great. And it is. It’s beautiful. To say that I’m excited about this movie is an understatement.”

Distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International, “Planes” takes off in Philippine theaters in 3D on Aug. 21, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™ in select cinemas.

source: movies.inquirer.net

The Naughties are out to trick Smurfette in “The Smurfs 2”

Bad wizard Gargamel has created the Naughties – Vexy and Hackus — and all he needs is Papa’s secret magic spell to turn his Naughties into ‘real Smurfs’ and have unlimited Smurf essence, in Columbia Pictures/Sony Pictures Animation’s magical sequel, “The Smurfs 2.”

When it comes to destroying the Smurfs, you can see Gargamel’s train of thought: if you can’t beat ‘em, make ‘em. After all, he did it before: take clay and just add wizardry. “Smurfette started as a lump of clay that Gargamel dropped into his cauldron and brought to life, so that she could infiltrate Smurf Village. But Papa Smurf saw the good in her, and used a magic spell to turn her into a True Blue Smurf,” says director Raja Gosnell.

In creating the Smurf-like characters called the Naughties, producer Jordan Kerner went the extra mile to make sure that Vexy and Hackus would fit squarely into the Smurfs universe. “Every step of the way on the Smurfs movies, we work very closely with Peyo’s daughter Veronique Culliford and Smurfs historian Tom Cosijn to make sure we are getting it right – in script development, production, all the way through the release of the films. And that went double as we created the Naughties,” he says. “The neutral color gray was their desire, as Peyo didn’t want the Smurfs ever associated with any particular human color. Peyo created this world – as we expanded what he built, we felt a duty to respect and honor what came before.”





Vexy is the sister that Smurfette never had — until now. But unlike Smurfette, she’s not as nice; she’s determined to be Naughty and do Gargamel’s bidding. It’s not easy having a dad like Gargamel – Vexy has grown up to be tough, devious, and very persistent in bringing Smurfette to the naughty side… but when she meets Smurfette, it turns out that Vexy may not be as Naughty as she thinks.

“Vexy is smart and mischievous and has lots of attitude. Attitude to spare,” says Gosnell. “And she really does want to please her father.”

Christina Ricci infuses the voice of Vexy with sarcasm and sauciness. Ricci says that Vexy and Hackus are just looking for the same thing any child needs. “They don’t have a family and love,” she says. “They’re not really bad – they’re just lonely kids. When they kidnap Smurfette, that’s just their way to try to get their ‘father’s’ love. But at the same time, I like that I got to play naughty.”

“In a strange way, voice work gives you so much freedom as an actor,” says Ricci. “As you work on one line, and the quality of your voice, and fine-tuning single syllables, over and over, you can dissect and pick apart and change little things and make it your own. It’s amazing to me how much fun that is.”

Of course, Vexy is just one-half of Gargamel’s dastardly plan. “Vexy is the brains of the operation,” says Kerner. “And her brother, Hackus, is the unbridled enthusiasm and brawn.”


Hackus is a lovable, sweet, hyperactive loose cannon easily influenced by his Naughty sister, Vexy. He’s a bit berserk, sweet to the core, a cyclone of energy, and is a Naughty of few words—very few, in fact.

“Curb Your Enthusiasm’s” JB Smoove is the voice behind the misbehaving Hackus.

Describing his character, he says, “He’s like an experiment gone wrong. Hackus loves to have fun and loves being naughty. Vexy and Hackus play tricks on Azrael, they play tricks on Gargamel, they play tricks on each other. He’s enthusiastic, happy, playful, curious, fun, and overwhelming. He’s Hackus. Hackus Hackus Hackus!”

Opening across the Philippines on August 07 in 3D, 2D and regular theaters, “The Smurfs 2” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International.

source: movies.inquirer.net

Pixar goes back to class with Monsters prequel

LOS ANGELES—Pixar sends its Monsters back to class this weekend with “Monsters University,” the first time the animation giant has made a prequel to a member of its stable of hit franchises.

Released Friday in the United States, the movie takes monster buddies Mike and Sulley back to their college days when they learned their scaring skills, displayed in the original 2001 blockbuster.

Pixar has made its share of sequels — think “Cars 2″ and “Toy Story” 2 and 3 — but the California-based studio’s 14th feature film is the first to go back in time, to show where the “Monsters Inc.” characters come from.

The first film presented a cast of monsters in a world where the city’s power was generated by children’s screams. An army of scary creatures went into toddlers’ bedrooms to make them wail as loudly as possible.

Sulley, who looks like a cross between a blue bear and a dinosaur, was one of the top scarers, supported by his faithful friend Mike, a small green ball-shaped cyclops with one enormous eye.

In “Monsters University,” we see how they met in college, where loud-mouthed dilettante Mike was already the campus monster chief, while shy, hard-working Sulley could only dream of joining the top scarers.

“We always knew that we wanted to tell the story of Mike wanting to become a scarer,” director Dan Scanlon told AFP.

“We knew that that was sort of the heart of the story, the idea of what do you do when you come up against a brick wall or you come up against a closed door. What becomes the issue is then just how do you tell that story.”

But Scanlon, making his first feature-length movie for Pixar, admitted that at first, he and the writers struggled to come up with a compelling story to drive the prequel emotionally.

“We were going down roads that seemed thin. Sometimes a story doesn’t have an engine behind, it is just kind of meandering around a setting. OK, we have college, but what are they doing in college?” he said.

But they struck upon the idea of a misfit group, the Oozma Kappa fraternity of “losers.”

“Once we included that group, the story came to life. Because it allowed Mike and Sulley to have someone to take care of,” said Scanlon.

“Having them taking care of the misfits or having to deal with this misfits group, it made them kind of a mom and dad that had to learn how to come together to take care of the kids.

“And that element really changed the story. That’s when we felt we’re on the right track.”

As with past films, including “Finding Nemo” (2003), “Ratatouille” (2007) or last year’s Oscar-winning “Brave,” the “Monsters” prequel combines spectacle and fun with serious themes for youngsters, such as accepting tough reality.

But it is also an ode to friendship, and how it can transcend differences and hurdles.

“Friendship is a big part of it… As you see when you meet Mike and Sulley, they are very different people than they are in the next film,” said Scanlon.

“What I like about the film is that it sort of shows you how your friends can help make you who you need to be, especially when you’re younger. They can not only help you find who you really are, not only help you find what things you’re actually good at, but also help make you a better person.”

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Pixar Co-Founder Ralph Guggenheim Lauds Filipino Talent

MANILA, Philippines - Marking the maiden staging of the Film, Animation and Gaming Congress of the Department of Tourism on July 26 and 27 was the participation of acclaimed international film and animation professionals, among them Nickelodeon’s Eli Noyes, Cartoon Network Online creator Doug Barry and Pixar co-founder Ralph Guggenheim.

Guggenheim, who has served as the Vice President of Feature Animation for Pixar Studios and as lead producer for the 1997 animated hit “Toy Story,” and who has been executive producer for Electronic Arts, now runs Alligator Planet LLC. His current company is involved in projects that put him in business with various offshore production studios. While he is yet to work with a Filipino studio, he does know our rich history in the creative field.

“Philippines has a long history of animation that I know goes back at least… it’s 20 years that I’ve been involved in this sort of thing and I know that it goes further than that,” Guggenheim tells Bulletin Entertainment on the last day of the Congress. “And there’s a number of great studios that are here and a number of great young artists whose work we’ve seen over the last few days [that we’ve been in the country]. So we think there’s huge potential here.”

The Congress, with the theme “Made in the Philippines: From Storytelling to Storyselling,” coincided with the Cinemalaya Film Festival. It aimed to help filmmakers (producers/directors), original content creators, and various other people in Philippine Creative Industries to identify issues and challenges that face them, as well as the various opportunities open to them.

It had also planted the seed in the development of a globally competitive Creative Services in the country. In fact, according to a DTI press release, the Creative Services sector reported revenues in 2011 of about US$142 million for animation and US$7 million for game development. It employs almost 10,000 creative workers and support workers as well.

Of bigger and perhaps more worldwide opportunities for local artists, Guggenheim notes, “All of the studios that I know have started because a few artists came together and built something and it became larger and larger and they did better and better work as time went on. They weren’t all experts when they started but their expertise grew and their knowledge grew as they worked together. And it’s an industry where young talent is always appreciated and always desired, so there’s no question that this could happen.”

Perhaps his visit would become beneficial to both him and our local artists. “We always do a lot of projects with overseas companies and we’re always looking for a new, young talent and companies that are capable of creating stuff and that can work together with us in ah… projects. So yeah, we are always in search for that and we think the Philippines will be a great place to work.”

Guggenheim and some fellow speakers planned to wrap up their second day of the Congress on the 27th by staying a few more hours at the CCP. “I will see my first film at Cinemalaya this afternoon. We’ve been busy with the conference,” he smiles. “We love independent films and I’ve heard Cinemalaya has great filmmakers and great films so I’m ready to relax and enjoy some films.”

As advice to young creators, Guggenheim closes the interview by offering, “I was once so young [boy] who had an interest in animation, got together with some people I knew and liked, and things grew and changed and our company became successful. But we didn’t start with anything more than a dream and an idea of what we wanted to do.”

Indeed, big dreams come true not just in the make-believe world of movies and animation but, as Guggenheim proves, also in real life.

source: mb.com.ph