Universal Notifies Theaters 'Cats' Is Being Updated With "Improved Visual Effects"
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I feel so bad for the vfx artists who have no doubt been put through blistering hell over the past week to make this happen, and, hhh’ehh! - not gonna make dick of difference.
shareYes, can imagine Hooper cracking the whip, firing off angry emails and fury fuelled Skypes to cowering cgi team leaders. and when I read this bit:
The updated movie will be available to download Sunday via a satellite server, while exhibitors who don't have access to the server will receive a hard drive by Tuesday, per Universal's note. The studio is asking that theaters replace the current print of Cats as soon as possible..
bet most cinemas wont bother . Its not like audiences will magically turn up on mass becuz some FX scenes have been slightly improved. All anyone wants to see this Christmas is SW
Working Title produced the star-studded Christmas film, which cost roughly $100 million to make after tax rebates and incentives, and before marketing.
bet it cost more than 100m (whenever a big movie bombs or looks its going to they always try to make the budget seem small as possible) I bet its closer to 200m . I mean the ENTIRE film is CG like Avatar.
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Yeah what a scene man.
I wasn't there in this case to say for sure, but people should understand that 3d vfx crews working on Hollywood movies tend to have it very hard. Deadlines are insanely tight. Hours are brutal. They're often treated as disposable and pay is typically very basic, and you’re essentially a “wrist”. When you see cg heavy films completed on surprisingly small budgets, that money for sure came straight out of the artists’ quality of life. There have been a few cg films in recent years that have had near scandals over vfx department conditions.
that must be the most thankless and browbeaten/bullied jobs in the industry . All so you can tell ur friends you working on the latest blockbuster and see ur name hidden in the endless credits on a movie produced by some billionaire Hollywood tyrant. yikes
shareThere are worse jobs on films, but it's up there. It's not for wimps.
There are definitely artists who thrive in a high pressure environment, and especially those who love the satisfaction of working as a team to make something bigger than themselves. It can be a cool thing. Like with most creative jobs the hierarchy of who is making the fun creative decisions and who is executing tends to be a very high ratio and you have to start at the grunt shop level and climb your way out. And of course some studios are better work environs than others.
Any way you slice it I all but guarantee it was a hellish, miasmic bloodbath of turd polishing this week on Cats, and the vfx crew members are going to be hitting the egg nog within an inch of its life as soon as they can catch a break.
So as you all sit in the theater laughing at this burning trash pile, make sure to savor the fumes of their blood, sweat and tears.
The way you describe it makes me recall reading about the FX work on Star Trek The Motion Picture where they were working flat out 24hr hours a day right up to the last minute because the FX house the studio hired initially created unusual stuff so had to go to the Star Wars and Close Encounters guys to get it done in just a few months which was thought to be impossible. The head FX guy said he made the studio pay through the nose to make the date though lol
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