Life After PI Documentary

A documentary which tells the story of visual effects house Rhythm and Hues and their financial struggles while producing the special effects for two effects heavy academy award nominated movies.  Just before they won the award for their work for Life of PI they had to file for bankruptcy and lay off most of their staff.  This film shows how Hollywood has made it nearly impossible for visual effects companies to survive and the nomadic lifestyle and uncertainty that VFX employees face.  It is a sad affair that the studios need to correct especially since they lean on and rely on these companies since a large portion of the summer blockbusters are effects driven.  It isn't uncommon now for a feature to have 80% or greater of the film contain effects shots.

Avengers VFX Reel

ILM has released the show reel they have submitted for the Academy Awards which shows just how impressive the visual effects work they did for the Avengers.  When I originally heard that they were filming in Cleveland instead of New York it sounded like an odd choice because they were going to have to replicate the big apple, which sounded like unneccisary work.  All the shots flying through the city and between buildings would not have been possible in New York and the magnitude of destruction, it maske perfect sence why they choose to shoot the way they did.  The VFX are flawless in this movie and it really deserves this Oscar.  I won't be watching that boring shit to find out though.