Post Magazine

June 2012

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Bits & Pieces L The Mill takes on the Mirror Man ONDON — The Mill (www.themill.com) contrib- uted 40 visual effects shots to Snow White and the Huntsman, the upcoming Universal release due out this month. The film stars Charlize Theron as the ror Man visual effects. The Mirror Man is a liquid, sil- ver/gold form that rolls from the mirror when the queen asks it questions. The studio spent six months on research and devel- opment troubleshooting the effect. According to The Mill's VFX supervi- sor, Nicolas Hernandez, it took the stu- dio between 10 and 11 months to execute their shots. "Mirror Man has to emit from the mirror and then form,'" he explains. "It is as if the mirror melts and so he is both liquid and solid and metallic. He had to be elegant." The studio started with a live-action physical element shoot upending buck- ets of paint on dummies at 1,000fps to see what happens in the real world. The Mirror Man is a full CG character and had to stand up to multiple close-ups in scenes with Theron as her Queen Ravenna character. This included her performance being reflected in his pres- ence. The studio used Maya, The Mill spent six months in R&D and troubleshooting, making sure the look of the Mirror Man was just right. dark queen, who is threatened by a prophecy suggesting Snow White will end her reign. Among The Mill's contributions were all of the Mir- Houdini, RealFlow and Nuke to com- plete the project. Will Cohen was VFX producer for the studio. Additionally, The Mill's LA location created the film's titles. Numerous other facilities also contributed to the feature, including D-Neg, Rhythm &Hues, Baseblack, Lola, Hydraulx and Legacy. Perceptive Pixel releases new stylus N EW YORK — Perceptive Pixel's (www.perceptivepixel. com) active stylus, which enables simultaneous pen and stylus input is now available. According to Perceptive Pixel, their new active stylus allows a natural, on-screen drawing or writing experience without the need to toggle between input modes. The active stylus functions like a regular pen, allowing users to sketch, annotate, design and draw directly on Per- ceptive Pixel's true multi-touch, projected capacitive (pro- cap) displays. The system allows users to use one hand to write or draw and use the other to reposition the on- screen object, just as one would with pen and paper. The company's pro-cap displays detect an unlimited number of fingers and up to four simultaneous stylus inputs. Patented controller technology differentiates sty- luses from fingers while tracking input from each stylus separately and eliminating false touches. The Perceptive Pixel active stylus is sold as an accessory to its 27- and 82-inch displays. 4 Post • June 2012 www.postmagazine.com Filament Productions (www.filamentprod.com) is using AJA Ki Pros to record Dave Matthews Band concerts. Director Mike Lane captures the shows in HD Apple ProRes 422 for camera feeds that project on both house screens and LED video walls. Shows are shot with five HD cameras fed into six Ki Pros. Each camera is isolated and a copy of the director's cut is kept for post refer- ence. As much as 2TBs of footage is captured per show. Material is archived on external drives and catalogued back at the band's Charlottesville, VA, studio, where they are kept for future Web videos, social media and live releases. What Post Readers Are Up To: right now MUSIC: "I traded rock for salsa about eight years ago and discovered a new musical playground. The mix of complex African rhythms and silky Latin melodies is addictive. While I still love the classic artists, from Celia Cruz and Tito Puente to Grupo Niche and El Gran Combo, I am getting into Reggaeton. Check out Omega's "Merengue Electronico," Tito El Bambino's "Llama Al Sol" or "Maquina Del Tiempo" or Don Omar's "Taboo." ncloth, VIDEO: "I watched Gonzo's Last Exile. The 26-episode anime series was beautiful and kept me coming back for more. It's sort of family friendly (some battle scenes) with children as the leading characters, and positive, peaceable moral themes." — Tom Overton, KMP

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