Computer Graphics World

February 2009, Volume 32, Number 2: COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD (USPS 665-250) (ISSN-0271-4159) is published monthly (12 issues) by COP Communica- tions, Inc. Corporate offices: 620 West Elk Avenue, Glendale, CA 91204, Tel: 818-291-1100; FAX: 818-291-1190; Web Address: info@copprints.com. Periodicals postage paid at Glendale, CA, 91205 & additional mailing offices. COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD is distributed worldwide. Annual subscription prices are $72, USA; $98, Canada & Mexico; $150 International airfreight. To order subscriptions, call 847-559-7310. © 2009 CGW by COP Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. No material may be reprinted without permission. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use, or the internal or personal use of specific clients, is granted by Computer Graphics World, ISSN-0271-4159, provided that the appropriate fee is paid directly to Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. Prior to photocopying items for educational classroom use, please contact Copyright Clearance Center Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923 USA 508-750-8400. For further information check Copyright Clearance Center Inc. online at: www.copyright.com. The COMPUTER GRAPHICS WORLD fee code for users of the Transactional Reporting Services is 0271-4159/96 $1.00 + .35. POSTMASTER: Send change of address form to Computer Graphics World, P.O. Box 3296, Northbrook, IL 60065-3296. going to get their entertainment. They will go somewhere regardless of what happens with the economy, but we need to be smart about producing the right kind of product they want to see." Make no mistake: Imageworks will con- tinue producing movies. "People always want to hear a good story or see a good movie—that is still the biggest bang for your buck, spending two hours engaged in a movie theater," Sarnoff adds. "Seeing a movie that takes you somewhere else is as good as it gets in entertainment." Will uplifting stories draw audiences more so than other types? Sarnoff doesn't believe so. "Studios are still looking for the best stories and putting them out whenever they feel it will make the greatest impact," he says. Nevertheless, films are getting more expensive to make. Sarnoff points out that the cost range for films will always ex- ist—those at the high end will continue to get more expensive, and there will always be those with smaller budgets. "There are new technologies that come along that allow new filmmakers to make compelling films with far less money. But the number of films at the high end will continue to grow because there are more outlets for ex- pensive films, depending on what story you are trying to tell," Sarnoff explains. The audience's expectations will con- tinue to grow, too. "They expect perfection. They want something fantastic, and it is expensive to create something spectacular. To wow an audience today takes quite a bit more skill than it did a decade ago," says Sarnoff. "It requires not just the machin- ery and the technology we use today, but the imagination and skill sets of the people making the shots, and that goes back to what I said earlier about innovation." Sarnoff continues: "I am now trying to give the artists the tools they need to express themselves without necessarily having to go through the mundane process of trying to get the work to appear on the screen. I want to take directly what is in their mind and provide the conduit by which they can place it on the screen—that would be the tech- nology I am looking for. Because, at the end of the day, our imaginations are limitless, so let's see if we can tap into them better." Personally, what is Sarnoff hoping to ac- complish in the near future? "I want my kids to turn to each other and say, 'My God, that's amazing; that's terrific.' It's personal to me. That's why we do it—we want to please and impress the audience." n February 2009 48 n n n n Editor's Note According to Sarnoff, visual effects (such as those in Valkrie, top, and Body of Lies, bottom) are no longer considered part of postproduction. Rather, they are considered part of the production process, and included in the initial film planning.

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