LOS ANGELES, March 5 (TheWrap.com) - 'National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence' -- and 'Titanic' movie Oscar winner -- James Cameron will lead a new two-hour special called 'Titanic: The Final Word With James Cameron' on April 8 to mark the 100th anniversary of the Titanic's sinking.
Described as the 'ultimate cold-case investigation into the tragedy,' Cameron's NatGeo special will unfold on a sound stage with a 42-foot replica of the ship in the background, as Cameron gathers the world's foremost Titanic experts -- engineers, naval architects, artists and historians -- to try to come up with the ultimate explanation of why the unsinkable ship sank in April 1912.
'An investigation of this magnitude has never been attempted before, and some of the revelations may alter the fundamental interpretation of what exactly happened to the Titanic,' according to a NatGeo release.
On April 9, National Geographic Channel will air 'Save the Titanic With Bob Ballard,' in which Ballard, the man who discovered the Titanic's final resting place in 1985, travels to Ireland to meet some of the men who helped build the ship and discusses how the ship's remains are in danger from looters, among other threats.
'If the Titanic is not protected and there's no guard on duty, it will get stripped,' Ballard said in a statement/span's 'The Dictator. 'It'll get stripped until all the jewels have been taken off the old lady's body.'
National Geographic magazine will devote a cover story to the Titanic anniversary; Cameron's 1997 'Titanic' film, which won 11 Oscars, will be re-released on April 4, including IMAX 3D showings.
(Editing By Zorianna Kit)
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Animated "Lorax" leads box office with big debut
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A big-screen version of classic Drts to leave the East to be with her West Germa. Seuss children's book 'The Lorax' rang up a massive $70.7 million in U.Sinale International Film. and Canadian ticket sales over the weekend, the biggest movie debut so far this year.
The popularity of the 3D animated 'Lorax' far exceeded industry forecasts and helped lift total box-office receipts ahead of last year for the ninth weekend in a row.
Danny DeVito provides the voice of the small orange Lorax who guards the trees in the film based on Seuss' 1971 book about preserving the environment.
In the movie, Zac Efron provides the voice for a 12-year-old boy trying to win the heart of a young girl, voiced by Taylor Swift movie Barbara at the 6. Along the way, he discovers the story of the Lorax.
Families turned out in force for the film, which cost $70 million to produce, and audiences gave it an 'A' rating on average in polling by survey firm CinemaScore't know how it felt to . Pre-weekend forecasts had suggested an opening as high as $50 million.
'I couldn't be more excited,' Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, said of the debut weekend tallyence a harrowing reminder. The movie satisfied 'the need for a family film in the marketplace,' she said.
About 8 percent of sales came from giant IMAX screens, and 52 percent came from theaters equipped for 3De via the Baltic, she star. Both formats command higher ticket prices.
Before this weekend, the year's highest debut belonged to love story 'The Vow,' with $41.2 million.
The weekend's second-place film, 'Project X,' also beat projections, debuting with $20.8 million at North American (U.Sa fifth time after she won . and Canadian) theaters from Friday through Sunday.
The teen-oriented comedy tells the story of three high school students who plan an epic party that spins out of controlfter she won Berlin's Silver Be. The low-budget movie without big-name stars, which cost $12 million to make, drew in its target audience of young males.
Marketing on Twitter helped get people talking on the social networking site and 'propelled this movie well past anyone's expectations,' said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.
OSCAR BOOSTS 'ARTIST'
Overall domestic ticket receipts beat the same weekend last year by nearly 26 percent, the ninth straight weekly increase, according to the box office division of Hollywood.comhe movie Barbara at the 62nd Berlinale Internat. So far, 2012 ticket sales are running 19 percent ahead of last year.
In third place for the weekend, military drama 'Act of Valor' pulled in $13.7 millionrmants kept close watch on the country&#. The movie released by privately held Relativity Media has grossed $45.2 million domestically since its release last weekend.
Rounding out the top five on domestic charts, Denzel Washington thriller 'Safe House' pulled in $7.2 million and Tyler Perry drama 'Good Deeds' grossed $7.0 million.
Fresh off its Oscar wins, black-and-white silent film 'The Artist' gained 34 percent from last weekend to pull in $3.9 million domesticallyshortcuts' id='lw_1328980030_5'Nina Hoss/span f. The Weinstein Co/span was brought back to life in. expanded the movie to 1,756 theaters from 966 after the film won five Academy Awards including best picture class='yshortcuts' id='lw_13289. The film's total domestic take now stands at $37.1 million since its limited release in November.
The studio is 'very happy with these numbers,' said David Glasser, Weinstein's chief operating officerkers, friends and even spouses might betray them . 'You have to remember we have a silent, black-and-white movie,' he said.
Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures released 'Drinale International Film Festiv. Seuss' The Lorax' and 'Safe House.' 'Project X' was distributed by Time Warner Inc unit Warner Brost actress award for 'Yella' in. Lions Gate Entertainment released 'Good Deeds.'
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; editing by Todd Eastham)
The popularity of the 3D animated 'Lorax' far exceeded industry forecasts and helped lift total box-office receipts ahead of last year for the ninth weekend in a row.
Danny DeVito provides the voice of the small orange Lorax who guards the trees in the film based on Seuss' 1971 book about preserving the environment.
In the movie, Zac Efron provides the voice for a 12-year-old boy trying to win the heart of a young girl, voiced by Taylor Swift movie Barbara at the 6. Along the way, he discovers the story of the Lorax.
Families turned out in force for the film, which cost $70 million to produce, and audiences gave it an 'A' rating on average in polling by survey firm CinemaScore't know how it felt to . Pre-weekend forecasts had suggested an opening as high as $50 million.
'I couldn't be more excited,' Nikki Rocco, president of distribution for Universal Pictures, said of the debut weekend tallyence a harrowing reminder. The movie satisfied 'the need for a family film in the marketplace,' she said.
About 8 percent of sales came from giant IMAX screens, and 52 percent came from theaters equipped for 3De via the Baltic, she star. Both formats command higher ticket prices.
Before this weekend, the year's highest debut belonged to love story 'The Vow,' with $41.2 million.
The weekend's second-place film, 'Project X,' also beat projections, debuting with $20.8 million at North American (U.Sa fifth time after she won . and Canadian) theaters from Friday through Sunday.
The teen-oriented comedy tells the story of three high school students who plan an epic party that spins out of controlfter she won Berlin's Silver Be. The low-budget movie without big-name stars, which cost $12 million to make, drew in its target audience of young males.
Marketing on Twitter helped get people talking on the social networking site and 'propelled this movie well past anyone's expectations,' said Jeff Goldstein, executive vice president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros.
OSCAR BOOSTS 'ARTIST'
Overall domestic ticket receipts beat the same weekend last year by nearly 26 percent, the ninth straight weekly increase, according to the box office division of Hollywood.comhe movie Barbara at the 62nd Berlinale Internat. So far, 2012 ticket sales are running 19 percent ahead of last year.
In third place for the weekend, military drama 'Act of Valor' pulled in $13.7 millionrmants kept close watch on the country&#. The movie released by privately held Relativity Media has grossed $45.2 million domestically since its release last weekend.
Rounding out the top five on domestic charts, Denzel Washington thriller 'Safe House' pulled in $7.2 million and Tyler Perry drama 'Good Deeds' grossed $7.0 million.
Fresh off its Oscar wins, black-and-white silent film 'The Artist' gained 34 percent from last weekend to pull in $3.9 million domesticallyshortcuts' id='lw_1328980030_5'Nina Hoss/span f. The Weinstein Co/span was brought back to life in. expanded the movie to 1,756 theaters from 966 after the film won five Academy Awards including best picture class='yshortcuts' id='lw_13289. The film's total domestic take now stands at $37.1 million since its limited release in November.
The studio is 'very happy with these numbers,' said David Glasser, Weinstein's chief operating officerkers, friends and even spouses might betray them . 'You have to remember we have a silent, black-and-white movie,' he said.
Comcast Corp's Universal Pictures released 'Drinale International Film Festiv. Seuss' The Lorax' and 'Safe House.' 'Project X' was distributed by Time Warner Inc unit Warner Brost actress award for 'Yella' in. Lions Gate Entertainment released 'Good Deeds.'
(Reporting By Lisa Richwine; editing by Todd Eastham)
Friday, March 2, 2012
Scarlett Johansson to play Janet Leigh in "Making of Psycho"
LOS ANGELES, March 2 (TheWrap.com) - Scarlet Johansson is checking into the Bates Motel.
'The Avengers' star will play Janet Leigh in 'Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho,' a spokesman for the actress confirmed to TheWrap.
In a boon to the hormonal hordes, that means that the star will be re-enacting Leigh's famous shower scene='lw_1329081972_1'British. It also may require lathering up with chocolate syrup, which was used in the original black-and-white film to simulate blood.
Anthony Hopkins has been tapped to play Hitchcock and Helen Mirren will play the director's wife, Alma.
The Fox Searchlight project will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the 1960 horror classic, who plays Thatcher both as a domineering polit. It is based on Stephen Rebello's book of the same name, which traced the film's development, creation and popular reception.
Filming is expected to begin this year with Sacha Gervasi ('Anvil! The Story of Anvil') directing a script from John McLaughlin ('Black Swan').
In addition to playing Black Widow in next summer's 'The Avengers,' Johansson will play an alien in Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin.'
(Editing By Zorianna Kit)
'The Avengers' star will play Janet Leigh in 'Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho,' a spokesman for the actress confirmed to TheWrap.
In a boon to the hormonal hordes, that means that the star will be re-enacting Leigh's famous shower scene='lw_1329081972_1'British. It also may require lathering up with chocolate syrup, which was used in the original black-and-white film to simulate blood.
Anthony Hopkins has been tapped to play Hitchcock and Helen Mirren will play the director's wife, Alma.
The Fox Searchlight project will offer a behind-the-scenes look at the 1960 horror classic, who plays Thatcher both as a domineering polit. It is based on Stephen Rebello's book of the same name, which traced the film's development, creation and popular reception.
Filming is expected to begin this year with Sacha Gervasi ('Anvil! The Story of Anvil') directing a script from John McLaughlin ('Black Swan').
In addition to playing Black Widow in next summer's 'The Avengers,' Johansson will play an alien in Jonathan Glazer's 'Under the Skin.'
(Editing By Zorianna Kit)
Hindus protest bin Laden film shoot in north India
CHANDIGARH, India (Reuters) - Hindu radicals in India protested on Friday against the shooting of a film by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow on the hunt for Osama bin Laden on the grounds that the film-makers were portraying Pakistan on Indian soil.
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States was killed by U.SMy Week with Marilyn,'. special forces in Pakistan in May last year.
The film-makers, denied permission to film in Pakistan, converted parts of the Indian city of Chandigarh to look like the Pakistani city of Lahore.
But for right-wing Hindus, the use of India to portray sworn enemy Pakistan was too much.
'They have made Chandigarh like Pakistan, as if it is Pakistan,' said Vijay Bhardwaj, a leader of the radical Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Hindu group.
'We strongly oppose this and we will not let them put Pakistani flags here and we will not let them shoot for the film.'
Billboards with Urdu signs were put up on shops in a market in the north Indian city and auto-rickshaws were running with Lahore number plates, He will receive a BAFTA Fellow. Burqa-clad women and men dressed in traditional Pakistani clothes roamed the streets.
The small group of protesters shouted slogans and some of them were seen arguing with cast and crew members as police tried to intervene.
The protesters said the government should have denied permission to make the film on Indian soil.
Bigelow, who won an Oscar for her Iraq war movie 'The Hurt Locker,' was developing a film on the hunt for bin Laden before the al Qaeda leader was killed in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad.
The film, 'Zero Dark Thirty,' is due for release in late 2012.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan have fought three wars since winning their independence from Britain in 1947tar of silent movies whose career is destro. Suspicion between the nuclear-armed rivals lingers.
(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Bin Laden, the mastermind of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States was killed by U.SMy Week with Marilyn,'. special forces in Pakistan in May last year.
The film-makers, denied permission to film in Pakistan, converted parts of the Indian city of Chandigarh to look like the Pakistani city of Lahore.
But for right-wing Hindus, the use of India to portray sworn enemy Pakistan was too much.
'They have made Chandigarh like Pakistan, as if it is Pakistan,' said Vijay Bhardwaj, a leader of the radical Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) Hindu group.
'We strongly oppose this and we will not let them put Pakistani flags here and we will not let them shoot for the film.'
Billboards with Urdu signs were put up on shops in a market in the north Indian city and auto-rickshaws were running with Lahore number plates, He will receive a BAFTA Fellow. Burqa-clad women and men dressed in traditional Pakistani clothes roamed the streets.
The small group of protesters shouted slogans and some of them were seen arguing with cast and crew members as police tried to intervene.
The protesters said the government should have denied permission to make the film on Indian soil.
Bigelow, who won an Oscar for her Iraq war movie 'The Hurt Locker,' was developing a film on the hunt for bin Laden before the al Qaeda leader was killed in the Pakistani garrison town of Abbottabad.
The film, 'Zero Dark Thirty,' is due for release in late 2012.
Hindu-majority India and Muslim Pakistan have fought three wars since winning their independence from Britain in 1947tar of silent movies whose career is destro. Suspicion between the nuclear-armed rivals lingers.
(Writing by Matthias Williams; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Teen got 165,000 signatures protesting "Bully" rating
LOS ANGELES, March 1 (TheWrap.com) - Katy Butler, a 17-year-old Michigan high school student who has rallied 165,000 people against the MPAA's decision to give the documentary 'Bully' an R rating, has some advice for the ratings board: Get some better rules.
'They really need to think their ratings through a little more,' she told TheWrap Wednesday.
On Sunday, Butler launched a campaign on the website change.org to have the MPAA rate the documentary PG-13, rather than Ridely picked to take home best film by most indus. She wants the rating changed so that people younger than 17 can see the film -- and so that it can be screened in schools.
The MPAA gave the documentary an R because of language in the film - After the curtain rises on Sunday&#. 'Bully,' which tells the story of bullying in schools, shows young people directing extremely harsh language at others.
'Because it's rated R, the kids that are being bullied -- and the bullies also -- can't see this movie,' Butler saidy win is seen as adapte. 'Kids hear worse at school show since 2004 when it drew roughly 44 mil. .. (Repo. Kids know the language and they're being called these things and these words are being used in a derogatory way.'
She said that 'not being able to see it in a movie theater is ridiculous.'
Butler hasn't seen the movie -- though the Weinstein Company plans a special screening for her next week -- but has seen its trailer.
On February 23, Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is distributing the documentary, unsuccessfully appealed the MPAA's decision to give 'Bully' an R.
It's that language that resulted in the R rating, Joan Graves, chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration, said in a written statement.
'Bullying is a serious issue and is an important subject that parents should discuss with their children,' Joan Graves, who chairs the MPAA's Classification and Ratings Administration, said in a written statementil of awards website . 'The MPAA agrees with the Weinstein Company that 'Bully' can serve as a vehicle for such important discussion.'
The R rating, she said, does not reflect the quality of the filmin has won most every t. Rather, she said, it is meant 'to provide parents with adequate information on the level of content contained in the filmhter, but the best solut. The R rating does not mean that children cannot see the filmia Spencer/span as one. As with any movie, parents will decide if the film is appropriate for their child's viewing.
'School districts, similarly, handle the determination of showing movies on a case-by-case basis and have their own guidelines for parental approval.'
According to the MPAA's rules, since The Weinstein Company's appeal has been denied, the only way to switch the movie's rating is for the director to recut the movie and remove the offending language -- something the director, Lee Hirsch, is unwilling to do.
And something he shouldn't do, Butler said.
'If they took the language out of the movie, it wouldn't be as powerful as it is because with those words comes all the difficult emotion behind it,' she said.
'It wouldn't have the same baggage and it wouldn't deliver the same message.'
Butler said she received a telephone call from Hirsch, thanking her for the petition.
'I identify as a lesbian and in middle school I was bullied and harassed repeatedly and that was an absolutely horrible experience,' she saidn which span class='ysh. 'I don't want anyone else to have to go through this.'
She became an activist last year after a Michigan anti-bullying law included a clause that gave a religious exemption for bullyingrs at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts . After a petition she started on change.com began to gain steam, legislators removed that clause.
The movie 'Bully' is generating debate, and some of it suggests that the R rating is appropriate.
Casting director Angela Muts' id='lw_1330287667. Hutchinson issued a statement saying that the movie deserved the R rating, and the National Association of Theatre Owners told The Weinstein Company that 'the vast majority of parents surveyed have indicated that the type of language used in 'Bully' should receive an automatic 'R' rating.'
In a letter to Weinstein, NATO president and CEO John Fithian wrote, 'You recently released the award-winning movie 'King's Speech' and must know the language rules very well lure viewers, He hasn't been emcee o. You should not have been surprised at the rating for 'Bully.'
(Editing By Zorianna Kit)
'They really need to think their ratings through a little more,' she told TheWrap Wednesday.
On Sunday, Butler launched a campaign on the website change.org to have the MPAA rate the documentary PG-13, rather than Ridely picked to take home best film by most indus. She wants the rating changed so that people younger than 17 can see the film -- and so that it can be screened in schools.
The MPAA gave the documentary an R because of language in the film - After the curtain rises on Sunday&#. 'Bully,' which tells the story of bullying in schools, shows young people directing extremely harsh language at others.
'Because it's rated R, the kids that are being bullied -- and the bullies also -- can't see this movie,' Butler saidy win is seen as adapte. 'Kids hear worse at school show since 2004 when it drew roughly 44 mil. .. (Repo. Kids know the language and they're being called these things and these words are being used in a derogatory way.'
She said that 'not being able to see it in a movie theater is ridiculous.'
Butler hasn't seen the movie -- though the Weinstein Company plans a special screening for her next week -- but has seen its trailer.
On February 23, Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is distributing the documentary, unsuccessfully appealed the MPAA's decision to give 'Bully' an R.
It's that language that resulted in the R rating, Joan Graves, chairman of the Classification and Rating Administration, said in a written statement.
'Bullying is a serious issue and is an important subject that parents should discuss with their children,' Joan Graves, who chairs the MPAA's Classification and Ratings Administration, said in a written statementil of awards website . 'The MPAA agrees with the Weinstein Company that 'Bully' can serve as a vehicle for such important discussion.'
The R rating, she said, does not reflect the quality of the filmin has won most every t. Rather, she said, it is meant 'to provide parents with adequate information on the level of content contained in the filmhter, but the best solut. The R rating does not mean that children cannot see the filmia Spencer/span as one. As with any movie, parents will decide if the film is appropriate for their child's viewing.
'School districts, similarly, handle the determination of showing movies on a case-by-case basis and have their own guidelines for parental approval.'
According to the MPAA's rules, since The Weinstein Company's appeal has been denied, the only way to switch the movie's rating is for the director to recut the movie and remove the offending language -- something the director, Lee Hirsch, is unwilling to do.
And something he shouldn't do, Butler said.
'If they took the language out of the movie, it wouldn't be as powerful as it is because with those words comes all the difficult emotion behind it,' she said.
'It wouldn't have the same baggage and it wouldn't deliver the same message.'
Butler said she received a telephone call from Hirsch, thanking her for the petition.
'I identify as a lesbian and in middle school I was bullied and harassed repeatedly and that was an absolutely horrible experience,' she saidn which span class='ysh. 'I don't want anyone else to have to go through this.'
She became an activist last year after a Michigan anti-bullying law included a clause that gave a religious exemption for bullyingrs at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts . After a petition she started on change.com began to gain steam, legislators removed that clause.
The movie 'Bully' is generating debate, and some of it suggests that the R rating is appropriate.
Casting director Angela Muts' id='lw_1330287667. Hutchinson issued a statement saying that the movie deserved the R rating, and the National Association of Theatre Owners told The Weinstein Company that 'the vast majority of parents surveyed have indicated that the type of language used in 'Bully' should receive an automatic 'R' rating.'
In a letter to Weinstein, NATO president and CEO John Fithian wrote, 'You recently released the award-winning movie 'King's Speech' and must know the language rules very well lure viewers, He hasn't been emcee o. You should not have been surprised at the rating for 'Bully.'
(Editing By Zorianna Kit)
Animator praises unsung artists at heart of genre
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - When animator Fraser MacLean thinks about his work on movies such as 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit,' 'Space Jam,' and 'Tarzan,' he's reminded of the Chartres cathedral, southwest of Paris.
The 13th century Gothic church was idealized in 'F for Fake,' the 1973 Orson Welles film, during a monologue by the director.
'The premier work of man perhaps in the whole western world and it's without a signature: Chartres,' Welles said 'In the Land of Blood and . 'A celebration to God's glory and to the dignity of man.'
The anonymous artists of Chartres represent the idea, as MacLean put it: Art isn't about signing your name in the corner of the canvas.
MacLean began his career as an unknown artist, doing shading on the animated characters in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which combined live action and animation.
'That idea that you would surrender your own creative abilities and your own technical mastery to something that would just be a delight to the people that saw it ..inated for any Oscars this year, . in some ways is actually liberating,' he said.
MacLean, who grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, returned a decade ago and was surprised during his guest lectures at art colleges.
Students at some schools weren't required to do observational drawing2_1'Brad Pitt/span to span class='ys. Having a background in fine art drawing landed MacLean his first job with Disney UK.
At the same time, MacLean was hearing about animation companies looking for students with drawing skills and being unable to find them.
He decided to write 'Setting the Scene: The Art and Evolution of Animation Layout' about the importance of the layout department in animated feature films.
'The entire structure and choreography of all the action in the movie stems from the way that the layout artists develop what they find in the original story sketches,' MacLean said.
He presented the book alongside layout artist Roy Naisbitt at the 31st Anima film festival in Brussels last week.
First recognized as a separate department by Disney with 'Cinderella' in 1950, MacLean hit on a subject that made directors such as Brad Bird ('The Incredibles,' 'Ratatouille') and Pete Docter ('Up') unable to hang up the phone.
'A filmmaker often tries to convey a feeling, and attempts to do so in a sneaky way of which the audience isn't even conscious,' Docter wrote in the foreword of MacLean's bookthing of an eye-opening public debu. 'The way a subject is presented can be the difference between making a connection with the audience and having them fall asleep.'
MacLean also had access to Disney's Animation Research Library for the book, which was published in September.
One day, the Disney librarian opened a drawer and took out an original watercolor painting of Geppetto's workshop from 'Pinocchio,' Disney's second feature-length film from 1940.
MacLean said those early Disney films, including 'Snow White' in 1937, left an enormous impression on his mother, who died in 2008 soon after he proposed the book.
'My mother and father and their parents, they all stood in line to go to see Snow White when it came out,' he said328736132_1'Brad Pitt/spa. 'My mother, even though she had dementia, she could tell me what seat she was sitting in at (the) cinema in Aberdeen.'
Holding the painting in his hands, MacLean started crying.
The librarian assured him: That happens to a lot of people.
Seeing the artwork that was photographed in a movie with so much meaning to his parents was overwhelming.
'I still cannot tell you who painted that bit of artwork and I don't care.'
(Reporting By Eric Holmberg)
The 13th century Gothic church was idealized in 'F for Fake,' the 1973 Orson Welles film, during a monologue by the director.
'The premier work of man perhaps in the whole western world and it's without a signature: Chartres,' Welles said 'In the Land of Blood and . 'A celebration to God's glory and to the dignity of man.'
The anonymous artists of Chartres represent the idea, as MacLean put it: Art isn't about signing your name in the corner of the canvas.
MacLean began his career as an unknown artist, doing shading on the animated characters in 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which combined live action and animation.
'That idea that you would surrender your own creative abilities and your own technical mastery to something that would just be a delight to the people that saw it ..inated for any Oscars this year, . in some ways is actually liberating,' he said.
MacLean, who grew up in Edinburgh, Scotland, returned a decade ago and was surprised during his guest lectures at art colleges.
Students at some schools weren't required to do observational drawing2_1'Brad Pitt/span to span class='ys. Having a background in fine art drawing landed MacLean his first job with Disney UK.
At the same time, MacLean was hearing about animation companies looking for students with drawing skills and being unable to find them.
He decided to write 'Setting the Scene: The Art and Evolution of Animation Layout' about the importance of the layout department in animated feature films.
'The entire structure and choreography of all the action in the movie stems from the way that the layout artists develop what they find in the original story sketches,' MacLean said.
He presented the book alongside layout artist Roy Naisbitt at the 31st Anima film festival in Brussels last week.
First recognized as a separate department by Disney with 'Cinderella' in 1950, MacLean hit on a subject that made directors such as Brad Bird ('The Incredibles,' 'Ratatouille') and Pete Docter ('Up') unable to hang up the phone.
'A filmmaker often tries to convey a feeling, and attempts to do so in a sneaky way of which the audience isn't even conscious,' Docter wrote in the foreword of MacLean's bookthing of an eye-opening public debu. 'The way a subject is presented can be the difference between making a connection with the audience and having them fall asleep.'
MacLean also had access to Disney's Animation Research Library for the book, which was published in September.
One day, the Disney librarian opened a drawer and took out an original watercolor painting of Geppetto's workshop from 'Pinocchio,' Disney's second feature-length film from 1940.
MacLean said those early Disney films, including 'Snow White' in 1937, left an enormous impression on his mother, who died in 2008 soon after he proposed the book.
'My mother and father and their parents, they all stood in line to go to see Snow White when it came out,' he said328736132_1'Brad Pitt/spa. 'My mother, even though she had dementia, she could tell me what seat she was sitting in at (the) cinema in Aberdeen.'
Holding the painting in his hands, MacLean started crying.
The librarian assured him: That happens to a lot of people.
Seeing the artwork that was photographed in a movie with so much meaning to his parents was overwhelming.
'I still cannot tell you who painted that bit of artwork and I don't care.'
(Reporting By Eric Holmberg)
Ridley Scott, Japan TV team up on quake documentary
TOKYO (Reuters) - Filmmaker Ridley Scott and Fuji Television are teaming up to make 'Japan in a Day,' a documentary about how people spend the first anniversary of last year's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The project is dedicated to those who lost their lives or are still suffering from the March 11 disaster, which killed nearly 20,000 people and set off the Fukushima nuclear crisis, organizers said in a release.
The 'Gladiator' director's production company Scott Free, which he runs with his brother Tony, and Fuji will seek video footage contributed by anyone in Japan as well as globally, showing their lives on March 11, 2012, to be uploaded to the website: http://www.youtube.com/JapanInADay/
Fuji will also donate 200 cameras to people in the disaster-struck areas for the project.
The best entries, judged by the filmmakers, will be selected to complete a movie that will be released in theaters internationally, and Fuji will donate profits to victims in those areas.
Scott, who also directed 'Alien' and 'Thelma & Louise,' has been nominated for three Academy Awards in directing.
(Reporting by Chris Gallgher, editing by Elaine Lies and Christine Kearney)
The project is dedicated to those who lost their lives or are still suffering from the March 11 disaster, which killed nearly 20,000 people and set off the Fukushima nuclear crisis, organizers said in a release.
The 'Gladiator' director's production company Scott Free, which he runs with his brother Tony, and Fuji will seek video footage contributed by anyone in Japan as well as globally, showing their lives on March 11, 2012, to be uploaded to the website: http://www.youtube.com/JapanInADay/
Fuji will also donate 200 cameras to people in the disaster-struck areas for the project.
The best entries, judged by the filmmakers, will be selected to complete a movie that will be released in theaters internationally, and Fuji will donate profits to victims in those areas.
Scott, who also directed 'Alien' and 'Thelma & Louise,' has been nominated for three Academy Awards in directing.
(Reporting by Chris Gallgher, editing by Elaine Lies and Christine Kearney)
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