Hi guys,
today is going to be a very different post and for that I apologize but I feel very strongly about this and I just want people to know about this. As you know I work in the VFX industry. I love my job, creating magic for the big screen...magic that is often unseen and really that is the biggest compliment of all for us...that you didn't see we were even there. With that however also comes the price of not getting acknowledged or respected for the work that we do.
At the Oscar's last night, when Samuel Jackson cut of Robert Downey Jr. and made jabs about VFX getting the respect they deserve? In sight of the fact that 400+ people were protesting outside I'd say that was a bit in poor taste. When Bill Westenhofer was trying to mention the financial trouble Rhythm & Hues, the studio that made Life of Pi even possible he was cut off by the Jaws theme music?! Really? His speech was 1:10min long...compare that to Ang Lee's 2:20min speech and no cut off music. And then to top it all off Ang Lee thanked everyone down to the pool company but forgot to mention the studio who created the skies, the ocean and one of his main characters Richard Parker.
For those of you who don't know this...Rhythm and Hues, the studio behind Life of Pi and Snow white and the Huntsman and the Golden Compass filed for bankruptcy last week. Tax subsidies and a flawed fixed bid business model is crumbling the VFX industry and forcing companies to move our jobs overseas. Lay offs in the hundreds and now chapter 11's have become more and more frequent.
In context of what's going on at the industry the lack of acknowledgement last night just added more fuel to the fire.
For those of you who don't know this...Rhythm and Hues, the studio behind Life of Pi and Snow white and the Huntsman and the Golden Compass filed for bankruptcy last week. Tax subsidies and a flawed fixed bid business model is crumbling the VFX industry and forcing companies to move our jobs overseas. Lay offs in the hundreds and now chapter 11's have become more and more frequent.
In context of what's going on at the industry the lack of acknowledgement last night just added more fuel to the fire.
And in case you'd like to know just how much of the movies you're watching is real and how much is done in VFX...here are some images that will hopefully make you appreciate the artistry we do:
thank you so much for listening. I know this is not a pleasant subject but please know we just want to raise awareness. We make magical movies possible...movies that make billions of dollars yet our companies file for bankruptcy. We're out of jobs, we lose our homes and are forced to move our families half across the globe every couple of months so we can feed them. I know we're not the only industry facing this problem so I think you can all relate to this issue.
thank you again,
Sony
Thank you Sony. I had absolutely no idea. I have looked at some of your required work for school when I would visit your blog to check out cards. I find your creations to be awe inspiring and had wondered if I would ever see your work in movies and wished I could know it was it was yours. I am middle aged and am so very far out of touch with IT workings. I will pass your message to my 22 year old daughter and her husband. She and I watched the Academy Awards together and she understood the creativity used for Life of Pi. She was throwing out abbrevations. I wish you the best.
ReplyDeleteWe all have issues we feel strongly about and blog posts are a great way to get them out there. I didn't actually watch the awards, but I had heard some of the background on the Life of Pi. You can't watch a movie without appreciating the visual effects and amount of effort that went into them :) Love the pics. Great example.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had time to read blogs in months, so I'm just catching up now.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch a lot of movies, but when I do, I can't even imagine how much work goes into the awesome visuals. So thank you, thank you for speaking up regarding this issue. And thank you and your colleagues for the amazing work that you do!