Dennis Muren and the Art of Visual Effects

Dennis Muren interviewed by CG Society

"people think the aesthetic and art comes from the director... they think the art is brought to them when they get the storyboards... All of that is the beginning, not the end. Usually, the sets are not lit for the effect because the effect isn’t there. We have to relight it. To do that, you need to have a broader background than a technician. In every technical task, an aesthetic component can make it better"

Dennis Muren’s Oscars
1981 - Star Wars: Episode V
1982 - Technical Achievement Award
1983 - E. T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1984 - Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi
1985 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
1988 - Innerspace
1990 - The Abyss
1992 - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1994 - Jurassic Park

Oscar Nominations:
1982 - Dragon Slayer
1986 - Young Sherlock Holmes
1989 - Willow
1998 - The Lost World: Jurassic Park
2000 - Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
2002 - Artificial Intelligence: AI
2006 - War of the Worlds

XNA Challenges & Contests

The Warm up
Microsoft Academic Days on Game Development in Computer Science Education - Aboard the Disney Wonder Cruise Ship. "The Challenge was simple but completing it was anything but - make an original game, from scratch in 4 days. Each XNA Game Studio Express Challenge team worked from Monday March 5 to Thursday March 8 to bring their game to life."

“DungeonQuest” by Benjamin Nitschke and Christoph Rienaecker from Germany

“Simian Escape” by Jonathon Stevens and Patrick Glanville from the United States

“Damage Control” by Josh Butterworth from the United Kingdom

“AbduX,” by Andre Furtado from Brazil

You can download the 4 games here.

The real thing
The Dream-Build-Play Challenge
Design and build an original game for Windows XP SP2 or Xbox 360™† using XNA
Game Studio Express.

Criteria
Innovation (40%) – Push your creative and technical limits.
Fun Factor (40%) – Hook our judges with exciting, entertaining action.
Production Quality (20%) – Make your game world as polished as possible.

Prize of $10,000 USD
FINAL ENTRY DEADLINE: JULY 2, 2007

O Futuro está aqui

A convergência chegou aos meios de produção. Equipas da indústria de videojogos partilham espaços com equipas do cinema. São reutilizados modelos, texturas, animações tudo em nome de uma maior convergência da forma. Uma busca pelo aperfeiçoamento da convergencia do media que proporcione a transmedialidade de
Jenkins (2006).


"There’s a new phenomenon emerging in the high-stakes world of big-budget filmmaking... video game artists, taking photographs, recording the proportions and textures of sets, and working closely with production designers and the visual effects team to make sure their game upholds the same production values as the film. They’ve become an almost permanent fixture on the moviemaking scene. The reason is because in this era of cross-platform marketing and convergent technology, major film properties live twice—in the movie theater and in the interactive realm... they should succeed in fusing the emotion of films with the intense absorption of interactive entertainment” (Game Films, 2007)

Experimental Gameplay Project

"The Experimental Gameplay Project is about discovering new forms of gameplay. Each game must be made in less than 7 days by 1 person, and show off something we've never seen before."

It really deserves our time and why not a try!

Second Version Done

First supervisor reviewing process completed. Second version delivered, waiting for second and last supervisor reviewing.

First Version Done

completion of the first version without revisions. at last a first a look at the white paper brick

Stockholm meeting

INSCAPE Project 2nd Management Meeting ocurred at KTH - Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm.

Pressure...

After 3 months of pure PhD outlining, only, without writing a single page or even a single chapter, no more delays are allowed. Pressure is up and i need to go for it, write it an so finish it... deliver it... defend it... get rid of it...

Family time

Winter by the beach