In the first of a three part series, Doug talks about the creation of various effects sequences completed for Blade Runner. In this video, he focuses on creating the opening sequence referred to as the “Hades Landscape”.

Doug and his Entertainment Effects Group team created thousands of acid-etched brass miniatures lit from below with hundreds of bundles of fiber-optic lights, shot in forced-perspective through layers of smoke to create layers of light refraction, creating depth.

Doug reveals how the explosions visible in the sequence were projected on screens placed throughout the miniature and light-timed. These explosions were created through massive pyrotechnics shot in the California desert for a discarded sequence for the 1970 Michelangelo Antonioni film Zabriskie Point.

The sequence ends on the Tyrell Pyramid, which Doug’s team created at 3 different scales with similar etched-brass lit from within.

All of this was shot on 65mm using motion-control and optically composited through multiple film exposures.

Once the fourth-largest metropolis in America—some have called it the Death of the American Dream. Today, the young people of the Motor City are making it their own DIY paradise where rules are second to passion and creativity. They are creating the new Detroit on their own terms, against real adversity. We put our boots on and went exploring.

Parts 2, 3, 4

http://3tongallery.typepad.com/3_ton_gallery/2010/08/thirty-five-images-of-space-helmet-reflections.html

In HD: BLADE RUNNER revisited >3.6 gigapixels.

Thanks Cole.

http://www.winnebagoman.com/

WINNEBAGO MAN reveals the story of Jack Rebney (a.k.a. “the angriest man in the world”), who has delighted and fascinated millions of viewers with his hilariously foul-mouthed outtakes from an RV sales video–one of the first and most infamous underground videos to be passed hand-to-hand on VHS tapes, before YouTube turned it into a full-blown viral phenomenon. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer takes on the seemingly impossible task of tracking down Rebney, who turns out to be more savvy, deep, weird, and cool than anyone could have imagined. In short, he’s a star. WINNEBAGO MAN is a hilarious, smart, and unexpectedly poignant look at one man’s response to unintended Internet celebrity, and ultimately a story of how a so-called ‘humiliation’ can become a beacon of light to many.

http://www.annyas.com/screenshots/

Mark Coleran is a visual designer who has worked in a wide range of design disciplines from print graphics to motion design and visual effects. His work in motion graphics has included television show titles and branding through to his specialist area; the design, creation and animation of fantasy user interfaces for film. Over the years this work has seen him create interfaces for such films as The Bourne Ultimatum, Tomb Raider, Mission Impossible 3, The Island and Mr and Mrs Smith. Currently he is working with the Canadian software developer, Gridiron Software. He is creating the user experience and interface for a next generation creative workflow application; Flow.?

Visual Acoustics. The Modernism of Julius Shulman

Photographer of architecture, naturalist, educator, and commentator on urban form. One of the leading architectural photographers of the 20th century, Shulman developed close association with the modernist architects, principally those active in Southern California such as Gregory Ain, John Lautner, Richard Neutra, and R.M. Schindler. Shulman’s images played a major role in crafting the image of the Los Angeles and “Southern California lifestyle” to the rest of the nation and world during the 1950s and 1960s. A prolific author, consultant, lecturer, exhibitor, and editor of his own vast archive, Shulman remained active up until his passing away in July of 2009.

Also see:

Julius Shulman: Man Behind the Camera

People and Buildings. The architectural photography of Julius Shulman