felix ip。蟻速畫行

Saturday, March 31, 2007

Mazinger Z

看完Steve Jung的示範及交流，心癢癢時手也癢癢，突然好想畫鐡甲萬能俠...
I was inspired a lot from Steve's demostartion last few days, and i really want to draw something again. My friend Jose is a fans of Magzinger Z and it just pop up in my head... so l drew it.

龜來的雜感

由美國首映、香港的慈善首映直到今天，才有空寫下自己的感想。未能把雜感好好的整合...

值得驕傲嗎? 香港人!
我們做到了...完成了我們的第一齣電影...第一齣留名於荷理活的電影...這是我們的電影！這是香港人的動畫電影啊！

香港的首映比荷理活更感動！
最快樂莫過於與公司上上下下所有有份參與的員工一起看...
最感動的一刻是出片尾出製作人員名單....長達10分鐘的掌聲......給我們有份參與的每一位身與及自己。我當時坐在第一行，連續的掌聲過了好一陣子才發覺原來全場都站起來高興地鼓掌！那份熱情、熱血深深地感動我。

其實不愛忍者龜...但還是愛上了
不只是不愛，其實很討厭。愛上的是我們兩年來一起創造、屬於我們的忍者龜。這是感情的建立啊！

給予我們很多的第一次...
製作忍者龜的兩年第一次當監製的工作、第一次在美國工作及生活、第一次在高速公路上駕駛、第一次在荷理活参與首......

只是第一步...還有很多夢
未來的三年會有另外的兩個Franchise: Gatchaman及Astroboy。終有一天不再是只製作別人的Franchise，而是100%自家製的故事！現在全人熱血裝備中！

待續...

Friday, March 30, 2007

載譽龜來!

香港終於上畫了 ! 如果不是陪小朋友一起看，我還是推介大家看原裝英文版，比較原汁原味。

Rotten Tomatoes Reviews

Thanks Steve

Thank Steve Jung for sharing his experience on concept design and digital painting with us!
We all having a good time!

Thursday, March 29, 2007

New Transformer Poster

之前話過，不太喜歡Transformer Movie的造型設計... 但卻又喜歡這兩款海報...... 喜歡它的Tagline夠直接，"Optimus-Protect" VS "Megatron-Destroy"，還有我對於大頭的構圖有特別好感。

延伸閱讀

Monday, March 26, 2007

TMNT Weekend Box Office Top 1

很好的開始 ! TMNT以US $25,450,000 (estimate)成了開畫票房第一，300被迫退為第二位...雖然不及pixar的，但不過不失了。下星期Disney 的 Meet The Robinson上畫，如果票房都有第一，咁就開心死了 !

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

'TMNT' wins weekend
Shell shock sends '300' to second place

NEW YORK - Animated pic "TMNT," the latest installment in the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" franchise, won the weekend at the B.O. by taking in $25.45 million.
Pic - from Warner Bros. and the Weinstein Co. -- played 3,110 theaters for a per location average of $8,183. Warners also had the No. 2 pic with "300," the holdover that raised its cume to $162.3 million in its third frame.Among other new releases, Paramount's R-rated actioner "Shooter" targeted third place in the charts by debuting to $14.5 million, off 2,806......

source: Variety.com

Sunday, March 25, 2007

NinZaku

Mutants Overpower Ancient Warriors!

TMNT在美國的首個週末開畫票房對我們意義極大... 星期五晚暫時以US$8,600,000勝上畫第二週收US$6,000,000的300... 星期一晚便知道結果。

上映戲院數目 (Threaters) :
TMNT 3,110 300 3,280

TMNT knocked 300 out of the top spot as the sword-wielding turtles -- resurrected by computer graphics --slice off $8.6 million on Friday -- beating those other buff fighting machines from the Middle East by $2.6 million...

How the Ninja Turtles hold up through the rest of the weekend is anyone's guess, but after two decades as iconic cultural figures, the muscled amphibians still represent a formidable franchise. And put Hong Kong's Imagi studios solidly on the map.

CGI movies Budget and Box Office

正在注視著TMNT開畫週末票房的同時，順道做了以下的票房資料整理。

過往曾在美國上映的電腦動畫電影的製作成本(Production Budget) 、本地票房(Domestic Box Office)及首個週末票房︰

2007
● TMNT — March 23, 2007
Budget $34,000,000
Opening Weekend $25,450,000

● Happily N'Ever After — January 5, 2007
Budget N/A, Domestic Gross $15,589,393
Opening Weekend $6,608,244

2006
● Hoodwinked — January 13, 2006
Budget N/A, Domestic Gross $51,386,611
Opening Weekend $12,401,900

● Ice Age: Melt Down — 31 March 2006
Budget $80,000,000, Domestic Gross $195,330,621
Opening Weekend $68,033,544

● The Wild — April 14 ,2006
Budget $80,000,000, Domestic Gross $37,384,046
Opening Weekend $9,684,809

● Over the Hedge — May 19, 2006
Budget $ N/A, Domestic Gross $155,019,340
Opening Weekend $38,457,003

● Cars — June 9, 2006
Budget $120,000,000, Domestic Gross $244,082,982
Opening Weekend $60,119,509

● Monster House — July 21, 2006
Budget $75,000,000, Domestic Gross $73,661,010
Opening Weekend $22,217,226

● The Ant Bully — July 28, 2006
Budget $50,000,000, Domestic Gross $28,142,535
Opening Weekend $8,432,465

● Barnyard: The Original Party Animals — August 4, 2006
Budget $51,000,000, Domestic Gross $72,637,803
Opening Weekend $15,820,864

● Everyone's Hero — September 15, 2006
Budget $ N/A, Domestic Gross $14,523,101
Opening Weekend: $6,061,762

● Open Season — September 29, 2006
Budget $ 85,000,000, Domestic Gross $84,303,558
Opening Weekend $23,624,548

● Flushed Away — November 3, 2006
Budget $149,000,000, Domestic Gross $64,488,856
Opening Weekend $18,814,323

● Happy Feet — November 17, 2006
Budget $100,000,000 Domestic Gross $196,811,996
Opening Weekend $41,533,432

2005
● Doogal — 24 February 2005
Budget N/A, Domestic Gross $7,417,319
Opening Weekend $3,605,899

● Robots — 11 March 2005
Budget $75,000,000, Domestic Gross $128,200,012
Opening Weekend $36,045,301

● Madagascar — 27 May 2005
Budget N/A, Domestic Gross $193,595,521
Opening Weekend $47,224,594

● Valiant — 19 August 2005
Budget $35,000,000, Domestic Gross $19,478,106
Opening Weekend $5,914,722

● Chicken Little — 4 November 2005
Budget $150,000,000, Domestic Gross $135,386,665
Opening Weekend $40,049,778

2004
● Shrek 2 — 19 May 2004
Budget $70,000,000, Domestic Gross $441,226,247
Opening Weekend $108,037,878

● Shark Tale — October 1, 2004
Budget $75,000,000, Domestic Gross $160,861,908
Opening Weekend $47,604,606

● The Incredibles — November 5, 2004
Budget $92,000,000, Domestic Gross $261,441,092
Opening Weekend $70,467,623

● The Polar Express — 12 November 2004
Budget $165,000,000, Domestic Gross $176,616,677
Opening Weekend $23,323,463

2003
● Finding Nemo — 30 May 2003
Budget $94,000,000, Domestic Gross $339,714,978
Opening Weekend $70,251,710

2002
● Ice Age — 15 March 2002
Budget $59,000,000, Domestic Gross $176,387,405
Opening Weekend $46,312,454

● Jonah: A VeggieTales Movie — October 4, 2002
Budget $14,000,000, Domestic Gross $25,581,229
Opening Weekend $6,201,345

2001
● Shrek — May 16, 2001
Budget $60,000,000, Domestic Gross $267,665,011
Opening Weekend $42,347,760

● Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within — 11 July 2001
Budget $137,000,000, Domestic Gross $32,131,830
Opening Weekend $11,408,853

● Monsters, Inc. — 2 November 2001
Budget $115,000,000, Domestic Gross $255,873,250
Opening Weekend $62,577,067

● Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius — December 21, 2001
Budget $30,000,000, Domestic Gross $80,936,232
Opening Weekend $13,832,786

1999
● Toy Story 2 — November 18, 1999
Budget $90,000,000, Domestic Gross $245,852,179
Opening Weekend $57,388,839

1998
● Antz — October 2, 1998
Budget $105,000,000, Domestic Gross $90,757,863
Opening Weekend $17,195,160

● A Bug's Life — November 14, 1998
Budget $120,000,000, Domestic Gross $162,798,565
Opening Weekend $33,258,052

1995
● Toy Story — November 22, 1995
Budget N/A, Domestic Gross $191,796,233
Opening Weekend $29,140,617

PS*
一套片的票房總收入是美國本土票房再加上外地票房。以上只列出美國本土票房。

Saturday, March 24, 2007

New Imagi Website

www.imagi.com.hk

那個用了接近7年的悶悶 imagi Corporate website終於在日前更換了。新 Website 比舊的多了很多動畫及資料內容，包括Hignlander，Gatchaman 及 AstroBoy，要想多了解 imagi最的新攪作，看看罷。

設計連製作約兩個多月，我們仍在擴建中.....

在此多謝各兄弟姊妹這段時間的努力，多哂!!!

TMNT Reviews 2

I went....I saw....I was Impressed!
By DaiQuan Cain, Comic Book Movie, 3/24/2007

"...a film that looks like a too-long episode of a Saturday morning cartoon with a healthy CGI budget..."
By Brian Tallerico, UnderGroundOnline

it is a kids’ movie, it’s one that’ll satisfy the big kids, too.
By Deanish, deanish.com

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Return to the Big Screen
By Ester Molayeme, The Epoch Times

TMNT is surprisingly dark, but still enjoyable
By Forrest Hartman, StatesmenJournal

By Walt Kneeland, comiXtreme.com

By Joel Massie, MoviePulse.net

By Erik Davis, cinematical.com

TMNT: The Turtles More Animated in CG

Joe Strike connects with the filmmakers behind TMNT to discover the mystical secrets behind Imagi Ent.'s first CG feature and the relaunch of a popular franchise.
March 23, 2007 By Joe Strike

When Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman first doodled up a funny-animal turtle dressed as a ninja warrior, it's a safe bet they had no idea of the entertainment franchise they were about to unleash on the world. The tongue-in-cheek terrapin evolved into a quartet of heroes who debuted in a 1984 self-published, black-and-white comicbook as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The foursome became a surprise comics phenomenon that led to mega-licensing deals, several cartoon (and one live-action) series, along with three live-action movies. The franchise got its second wind in 2003 with a new Saturday morning 2D cartoon series and is about to return to the big screen with a fully animated CGI version.

You just can't keep a good turtle down.

It might have worked in the 1990s, but actors in turtle suits (even ones designed by Jim Henson's Creature Shop) won't cut it in the all-digital 21st century. The new movie, opening March 23, 2007 in the U.S., comes from the Hong Kong-based Imagi Studios. The film is being distributed in North America by Warner Bros. and overseas by the Weinstein Co. As with 2D animation, budget-driven producers and distributors are searching outside the U.S. for lower cost CGI -- and what they're finding is looking better all the time.

"Everyone is wired in Hong Kong with broadband, everyone has cell phones you'll see a year from now," observes Paul Wang, who finally has a few moments to relax after producing (with Thomas K. Gray and H. Galen Walker) TMNT, the latest chapter in the Turtles' adventures and their first theatrical feature since their third film in 1993. "They have latest fashions as far as technology goes. When I'm over there I see stuff I've never seen before -- now they're advertising real time cell phone video delivery at 30 frames per second. Hong Kong is a hi-tech city. They've been heavily influenced by Japanese anime and western blockbusters. They get both things and you see that reflected in their own cinema and the sensibility of the people there."

Wang's CGI experience dates back to 1995 and Pacific Data Images (now PDI/DreamWorks), where he did effects for movies like The Peacemaker and The Arrival before leaving hands-on work behind to become the lighting supervisor on Antz.

Paul Wang, a producer on TMNT found it easy to work with Hong Kong-based Imagi Animation Studio on the feature. In fact, he has since joined the company as an exec.

Imagi got its start in 2000, producing CGI TV series like Zentrix and a direct-to-video feature based on the Digimon franchise. The studio always had its eye on the prize, though: theatrical feature animation, beginning with the Ninja Turtles.

Wang joined Imagi's TMNT team in 2005, while director Kevin Munroe was still working on the film's script. Gray, the producer of the Turtles' three previous features, had convinced their co-creator Peter Laird to go to the well one more time and Imagi, formed in 2000 was ready to play with the big boys. Towards that end, they had opened up a creative development office and production facility in the Los Angeles area, the better to tap into the local talent market and pitch to the studios in town.

The whole point was not just to revive the Turtles franchise, but to push CG animation to another level," Wang recalls. "In 2006 six furry animal movies were released; we thought it was time to do something more edgy, dark -- basically a live-action movie.

"We didn't have the rights to the characters yet [in early 2005]," Wang recalls, but with all parties on the same page and a signed agreement a formality, the L.A. studio began staffing up, ultimately employing some 70 people. As with most U.S. TV animation, character and concept design, creation of a story reel, etc. took place in L.A. The studio created the bare bones CGI cinematography, which was ultimately sent to Hong Kong for full animation by its staff of 300. High-speed Internet data transfers shipping problems and their attendant time delays a thing of the past.

"By the end of 2005 things were ramping up, with Hong Kong doing its own pre-production and producing CGI assets for the film. "Two-thousand-six was the really the year of Hong Kong Imagi production. Here in the States, Kevin and (production designer) Simon Murton [Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, I, Robot] were approving thing and giving notes, along with a few artists guiding that effort. We did the last bits of post the end of February: mostly audio cues, tweaking some of the dialog and trimming a few shots."

Imagi used Maya, today's default CGI software, with Pixar's RenderMan used for the production pipeline's "back-end." "Maya's front end, its tools to move models, place lights and so on are very interactive, it's what Maya's good at," Wang explains. "What it's not so good at, it doesn't have a great render -- it has a sufficient render.

"What people do when they become higher-end studios, either they write own software like DreamWorks, or they'll buy high-end off the shelf software, which is what we did: Pixar created RenderMan. They keep us a year behind the version they use in-house, but it's pretty cool. We upgraded to it to get the better quality for the Turtles."

TMNT's animation and rendering are indeed impressive. The Turtles' body language and facial expressions convey distinct attitudes for each member of the quartet; no Turtle suit could ever come close to the CGI characters' mouth articulation. (Check out their face-spanning smiles.) Skin textures boast convincing texture and translucency (courtesy of RenderMan). A rooftop battle in the rain is a showpiece of effects animation and light reflectivity as raindrops visibly splash off the Turtles' glistening faces.

In fact the Turtles, hewing to their previously established comic book/2D cartoon/live-action appearance, look more "real" than their human supporting cast. It's a decision Wang ascribes to making the shelled heroes "the center of the story. We wanted them to have more detail and visual interest, and have the humans support the Turtles from the design viewpoint."

Definitely a wise decision: after several disastrous flirtations with photo-realistic people (The Polar Express and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within come to mind, as does Pixar's early short Tin Toy), CGI producers now realize that computer-generated human beings (in CGI movies as opposed to live-action special effects) need to be stylized (if not completely cartoony) or risk falling into the `uncanny valley' of audience rejection.

The contrast between the animation in TMNT and Imagi's previous high-profile effort -- the NBC primetime TV series Father of the Pride -- is particularly striking. "That was a TV show produced on a TV schedule," Wang points out. "Instead approving 50 or 100 shots a month, you'd be approving 100 a week; your throughput has to be so much faster. They had two weeks to complete a 22 minute episode -- that's 11 minutes a week through the pipeline."

FOTP's cast of furry felines suffered as a result, with their textures appearing more painted on than homegrown. "We couldn't afford to render anything more on them than texture mapped fur with little patches of [3D] fur in it. It was a product not only of the time the animators had, but the time available for rendering and tweaking shots. Back then the pipeline was Maya all the way through, including the render."

Today, Imagi's goal is to produce CGI movies that "serve the high-end market" at a fraction of those film's $100 million-plus budgets. "We're doing them for $35 to 40 million," Wang says. "Other CGI films in that range don't have our kind of production quality" and goes on to admit, "our production staff is essentially all in Hong Kong which pretty much cuts our costs."

According to Wang, language barriers aren't a problem because "all the creative supervisors and production management in Hong Kong were hired for their English. We hold English classes for the animation staff" and adds with a touch of hyperbole, "there are no Cantonese [language] classes in the U.S."

"Our animation director has spent most of his life outside Hong Kong. He's Chinese, but he's been around the world -- he grasps the meaning rather than just the words. You can use the adjectives and he'll know exactly what you mean. When you say `thoughtful,' he'll know the Turtle needs to look like he's actively thinking, not zoned out."

With Imagi's first feature under its belt, Wang (now their vp of development) is overseeing the company's next two high profile releases, both based on classic anime TV series. The first is Gatchaman, featuring the exploits of a Power Rangers-style superhero team, but the second one is likely to get the most attention: a long-overdue movie version of the show that first brought anime to the U.S., Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy. "Sony spent several years trying to do, but for whatever reason they were unable to get it off the ground, so we picked up the rights.

"In one sense, Astro Boy is the Mickey Mouse of Japan and Tezuka is their Walt Disney. There are a lot of post-World War II themes in his story, but it's about a robot who wants to be a boy -- there are shades of Pinocchio and a lot of movies. AI is especially similar in the beginning; large parts are borrowed from Astro Boy. I believe Spielberg came forth and said as much."

Might there be more Turtles in Wang and Imagi's future as well? "We've talked about it. If it happens, we're ready to hit the ground running."

Joe Strike is a regular contributor to AWN. His animation articles also appear in the NY Daily News and the New York Press.

Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.

source: AWN

US TMNT Premiere 3

四个分别以艺术家、科学家命名的忍者龟也曾是中国一代青年的童年记忆

很多人小时候爱看的电视动画片《忍者神龟》（Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles）在搬上大银幕后，终于要上映了。3月17日，由华纳公司出资并发行、香港意马国际动画公司负责动画制作的《忍者神龟》电影版在好莱坞中国剧院举行首映典礼。参与本片动画部分的香港意马动画公司多位工作人员及该片华裔制片人王以立（PaulWong）等出席首映式，而为该片配音的章子怡则因事未能出席。

　　为配合该片，好莱坞中国剧院门口换下了往日的红地毯，而铺上了鲜明的绿色地毯。所有媒体工作人员并被要求穿绿色服装出席。为了取得更好的宣传，发行方还给前来参加首映典礼的嘉宾和记者发了“忍者龟”戴的四色眼罩，而一些被邀请的小朋友们还穿上“龟壳”、手拿武士刀玩具。

　　本片的主角四位“忍者龟”分别以知名艺术家、科学家命名，并戴不同颜色眼罩。这四位小龟分别是：“蓝色”达·芬奇、“紫色”爱因斯坦、“红色”拉斐尔和“橙色”米开朗琪罗。首映式上，四位身穿“忍者神龟”外形服装的演员分别扮演这四位主角出现在绿地毯上，他们可爱的造型引来众多媒体访问，只可惜他们的服装太厚不能讲话，只好与人们合影、招手，惹来众多游客围观。

　　据了解，《忍者神龟》还是第一部由华人负责制作的好莱坞动画片，拍摄电影的计划和创意都是香港意马公司提出的，前后有四百多名香港工作人员参与其中，总共耗时三年。该公司概念设计师李天伦、动画制作人叶伟青、特效主管吴建光均表示为第一次亲手制作的作品能在好莱坞及全世界发行而感到激动，同时他们表示续集已在酝酿中。

轉載 : 新京报

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

US TMNT Premiere 2

*PS 又再謝謝Richard兄提供好料

Sunday, March 18, 2007

US TMNT Premiere

令人相當興奮的美國首映 ! 看是緑色地毯 !

開幕前一小時在Chinese Theater 門前已經人山人海...

五呎二吋的真人版忍者龜...個樣都幾醜...

Executive Producer Francis Kao 接受當地華人記者訪問...

Producer Tom Gray被記者大團團圍住...

待續.....

TMNT Review

same face, new look

● New York Post
Familiar 'Toons
Flash Back TO '80S Comics at the Movies
click to see detail

● LA Times
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles go digital
The comic-book heroes' fourth film is rendered without stuntmen in CGI.
click to see detail

Saturday, March 17, 2007

美國首映

今天下午就是我人生第一次出席荷理活首映。
全美國的同事也會出席。聽說有綠色地毯......

4分鐘長最新TMNT片段

Click the link below to see the 4 minutes new TMNT clips
點擊以下連結看4分鐘長最新TMNT片段 :
http://raincloud.warnerbros.com/wbmovies/tmnt/featurette/tmnt_featurette_500.mov

以下還有一些較高解像度的TMNT片段 :
http://www.filmstalker.co.uk/archives/2007/03/tmnt_hires_clips_online.html
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/teenage_mutant_ninja_turtles/
http://movies.go.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles/m842461/comedy