Vicon, a motion capture (mocap) technology specialist for the entertainment, engineering, virtual reality and life science industries, has announced its partnership with the Technicolor Experience Center (TEC) in Los Angeles. The TEC has invested in 28 Vicon Vantage cameras, which will allow it to continue to develop content, platforms and technology for virtual reality, augmented reality and other evolving media applications.
“Vicon has a critically important role to play as part of the TEC community,” said Marcie Jastrow, SVP of Immersive Media at Technicolor and head of the Technicolor Experience Center. “Vicon is a leader in motion capture technology that ensures storytellers deliver experiences of the highest quality and artistic intent. Our partnership with Vicon represents another step in the continuum of the TEC’s vision to create the future of immersive experiences through collaboration with best-in-breed innovators.”
As immersive experiences continue to evolve, so do the technologies that help shape the stories being told. Vicon mocap technology is designed with today’s needs and tomorrow’s desires in mind to enable facilities like TEC to deliver stories in new and even more immersive ways. Intelligently designed to work cohesively with all aspects of animation and film production, Vicon Vantage offers TEC the most powerful processing algorithms and electronics, combined with industry-leading tracking and data fidelity. Vantage continuously monitors its performance with a host of sensors, which allow technicians visual feedback through the on-board camera display, in the software, and on Vicon’s Control app.
“As a company that’s driven by a passion for technology, it was ideal for us to partner with the Technicolor Experience Center, which is equally passionate about developing and creating immersive experiences,” said Jeff Ovadya, sales director at Vicon. “With our superior, powerful and affordable motion capture solutions, the TEC can develop one-of-a-kind immersive experiences with outstanding accuracy and clarity.”
Jennifer Kent On Why Her Feature Directing Debut, “The Babadook,” Continues To Haunt Us
"The Babadook," when it was released 10 years ago, didn't seem to portend a cultural sensation.
It was the first film by a little-known Australian filmmaker, Jennifer Kent. It had that strange name. On opening weekend, it played in two theaters.
But with time, the long shadows of "The Babadook" continued to envelop moviegoers. Its rerelease this weekend in theaters, a decade later, is less of a reminder of a sleeper 2014 indie hit than it is a chance to revisit a horror milestone that continues to cast a dark spell.
Not many small-budget, first-feature films can be fairly said to have shifted cinema but Kent's directorial debut may be one of them. It was at the nexus of that much-debated term "elevated horror." But regardless of that label, it helped kicked off a wave of challenging, filmmaker-driven genre movies like "It Follows," "Get Out" and "Hereditary."
Kent, 55, has watched all of this — and those many "Babadook" memes — unfold over the years with a mix of elation and confusion. Her film was inspired in part by the death of her father, and its horror elements likewise arise out of the suppression of emotions. A single mother (Essie Davis) is struggling with raising her young son (Noah Wiseman) years after the tragic death of her husband. A figure from a pop-up children's book begins to appear. As things grow more intense, his name is drawn out in three chilling syllables — "Bah-Bah-Doooook" — an incantation of unprocessed grief.
Kent recently spoke from her native Australia to reflect on the origins and continuing life of "The Babadook."
Q: Given that you didn't set out to in any way "change" horror, how have you regarded the unique afterlife of "The... Read More