Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/612975
22 cgw n o v e m b e r . d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 Corporation, TSG Entertain- ment, Scott Free Productions, Genre Films, International Traders, Mid Atlantic Films It was not that long ago that we spent a theater experience in space with Sandra Bullock in Gravity, and not only did audiences love it, but voters did as well, with the movie pulling in seven Oscars and many other awards. Will our next trip into space be as fruitful? Those behind The Martian surely hope so! And, audiences are respond- ing well to it. In this film, it is Actor Matt Damon's character who becomes the astronaut stranded, and this time it's on Mars. A tremendous amount of VFX work went into creating the harsh Martian environments, as MPC worked closely with Di- rector Ridley Scott to bring the red planet to life. The team used one of the largest greenscreen stages in the world and filled in the backdrops with amazing digital imagery. T H E W A L K RELEASE DATE: October 9 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: ImageMovers, Mel's Cite du Cin- ema, Sony Pictures Entertain- ment, TriStar Productions The title is succinct and simple. The accomplishment, complicated and larger than life. The biographical film re- tells the story of High-wire Art- ist Philippe Petit as he dares to traverse a wire between the tops of the World Trade Center towers a few decades ago. Director Robert Zemeckis and visual effects artists re-creat- ed 1970s Paris and NYC, and building the now-lost towers in realistic, high-resolution detail. The most difficult feat, how- ever, was re-creating the view from the top of the buildings and placing audiences on the edge by situating them on the wire with the actor as he "per- forms" the stunt on film. T O M O R R O W L A N D RELEASE DATE: May 22 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Walt Disney Pictures, A113, Babieka For the movie Tomorrow- land, artists at ILM had to build the future – Director Brad Bird and Disney's version of the future depicted in the fictional Tomorrowland, which draws from Disney's theme parks. However, the future is not as bright as one hopes. In fact, the digital effects crew had to build three versions of Tomor- rowland – when the character Frank first visits as a youngster in 1964, then in 1984, and finally when things go south. To this end, the first visit shows the city under construction, with the 1984 version idealized, and later, as a dystopian environment. In addition, artists had to faithfully re-create the Disney rides from the 1964 World's Fair. Could this be Back to the Future all over again for Disney when it comes to awards? Animation A N O M A L I S A RELEASE DATE: December 30 (limited) PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Starburns Industries, Para- mount Pictures This is hardly the typical Disney/Pixar or DreamWorks Animation film. Nor is it the stop animation we have grown accustomed to from studios like Laika. Rather, this stop-motion film from Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson uses puppetry to tell the story of a man crippled by the mundanity of his life. The comedy-drama got its start as a series of sound plays and funding from Kickstarter. Additional funding enabled the filmmakers to expand the project from a 40-minute short to an 80-minute feature. The puppets are made with 3D printers, and are photorealistic. Its unique style and story have not hindered its acceptance, having won the Grand Jury Prize at the 72 nd Venice International Film Festival, and just may be quirky enough (it is rated R for a reason) to win votes during this awards season. H O M E RELEASE DATE: March 27 PRODUCTION COMPANY: DreamWorks Animation Each year moviegoers are confronted by stories of alien invasions of some sort, but in Home, the aliens are cute and colorful, and their weapons are bubbles. The human teenager Tip in this creature feature has seven costume changes, and her hairstyle was altered six times, thereby challenging the effects team. The aliens, on the other hand, have six legs and can walk sideways or backward, in addition to forward, and change color according to their mood. Meanwhile, the world transformed by the Boov crea- tures is a caricatured version of the real world. Lighting is more theatrical than realistic. But the praise and attention the movie has been receiving is 100 percent real. H O T E L T R A N S Y L V A N I A 2 RELEASE DATE: September 25 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Columbia Pictures, LStar Capital, Sony Pictures Anima- tion, Sony Pictures Digital, Sony Pictures Imageworks The return of Drac and his family and friends is frightfully delightful as the characters continue to scare up laughs in Hotel Transylvania 2. Here, the production team spent two years developing and refining the look of the environments, characters, and props. Ani- mators and designers got to stretch their creativity with the youngster Dennis, whose red, curly hair is scary out of control. Also in this sequel, the human world is far more visible, challenging the team to draw an artistic distinction between the monster and human worlds. I N S I D E O U T RELEASE DATE: June 19 PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios Oentimes we let our emotions get the better of us. In the animated feature Inside Out, a young Riley tries to keep her emotions – in particular, Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness – in check following a move to a new city. The movie features two parallel stories: one set in the real world that is de-saturated aer the not-so happy move, and a bright, HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 2 HOME ANOMALISA