Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/5474
As 2009 draws to a close, it's time to take stock of the year. And what a year it has been for both visual eff ects and animated fea- tures. ere may have been years with more big box-offi ce VFX- centric fi lms, but 2009 was a standout nonetheless. More movies than ever featured invisible eff ects so good that audiences had no idea they were watching eff ects. at is indeed a testament to the maturation and evolution of the VFX industry. e year also saw a low-budget fi lm with an even lower VFX budget—District 9—capture the universal acclaim of visual eff ects supervisors. And at the other extreme, perhaps the most expensive VFX movie made—Avatar—is hotly anticipated by those same experts as a potential breakthrough in the eff ects industry. is is also the year when the lines blurred among the various digitally created movies. "We'll have a plethora of fi lms to look at this year," says VFX supervisor Jeff rey Okun. "So many are blur- ring the borderlines, like A Christmas Carol, Avatar, G-Force. Is it animated? Live action?" is isn't a new debate, but 2009 off ers fresh evidence for the advocates of every position. Animated features are likewise having a banner year. With 16 fi lms submitted, there will be fi ve nominations this year. Just like their VFX brethren, the animated features are a lively group that ranges across a wide gamut. Unlike previous years, where fuzzy animal animation prevailed, this year features the fantastic and the realistic, animals and humans, and make-believe creatures. It also has been a year that has showcased animation styles, from keyframe animated to stop motion and hand-drawn. e year also delivered many stereo 3D fi lms. Some were live action, some were stop motion, and others were CGI—proving that this newly revived medium transcends genres. (See the issue archives at www.cgw.com for details about the CGI in the fi lms.) Computer Graphics World spoke to visual eff ects and animation professionals about what impressed them among this year's fi lms. Here's what they had to say. 2012 Release date: November 13 Production companies: Columbia Pictures, Centropolis Entertainment, Farewell Productions, e Mark Gordon Company e Mayan calendar has predicted the end of the world in 2012, and in this big VFX movie, sure enough, right on schedule, it does. As the world spectacularly self-destructs, the focus is on the adventures of a hardy band of survivors. VFX supervisors gave 2012 a thumbs-up, noting the massive scale of the fi lm and its visual eff ects. " e fi lm is unbelievably huge," says Michael Fink, CEO and senior visual eff ects supervisor at Prime Focus VFX. "It's gorgeous work. e movie looks engaging, and the shots are amazingly complex. It was really diffi cult work." While a lot of the eff ects were done at Digital Domain, that studio's visual eff ects supervi- December 2009 23 The 2012 effects were character-like, appearing in nearly every scene.