Film Strategy

Raging Bull  |  Martin Scorcese  | 1980 | USA | Format: 35mm  | 129 min Polish poster for Raging Bull I just saw Raging Bull the other day. For the first time.   That would be near heresy for a filmmaker to say but I just wasn't interested for a long time.  And it wasn't because I dislike DeNiro or Scorcese or boxing.  It was simply I didn't like how Sugar Ray Robinson (my favorite boxer of all time) was depicted.  In the stills I saw of the movie, Sugar Ray looks scrawny, unkempt and plain wack; not an image befitting the man, the legend who was so good they had to create the phrase "greatest pound-for-pound" to describe how good he was across the board and in comparison to everyone from flyweights to heavyweights. I mean see for yourself... The "real" Sugar Ray The "Raging Bull" Sugar Ray I know, I know... it's such a minor quibble but I'm such a major Sugar Ray fan.  Anyway, I was always curious to see it and I fin

World War Z | Marc Forster | 2013 | USA, Malta | Format: 35mm | 116 min     Within the overall filmmaking strategy that takes a project from development to distribution, producers need mini-strategies (like Matryoshka dolls ) to complete certain complex parts of the film.  One of those mini-strategies involves how best to create effective and convincing special visual effects (VFX).  Digital Arts Staff and Wired had behind-the-scenes access to the making of World War Z which gives us an idea of how the producers and director planned and prioritized their effects (granted their budget was ridiculous but still, resourceful and inventive filmmakers can still take notes and learn how to make amazing VFX even if they don't have the money... like this guy ). For the honors, MPC was tapped to provide the VFX using their in-house crowd simulation software, ALICE.    Led by MPC's VFX supervisor Jessica Norman, the house completed more than 450 shots for World War Z.