Character animator Anders Beer has teamed up with Brickyard VFX co-owners Dave Waller and Geoff McAuliffe to launch General Gau, a hybrid animation/production company dedicated to creating custom character-based content. Based out of Brickyard’s Boston office, General Gau offers a specialized talent pool and customized internal pipeline to leverage in-depth, high quality character animation.
Beer, a Boston native, has a background in computer graphics and has focused on character animation throughout his career. He got his start at DreamWorks on character development for Shrek, and has since worked at such studios as Disney, Digital Domain, Sony Pictures Imageworks, Double Negative on character animation for video games and feature films. Beer recently moved back to Boston after working in London as animation supervisor on both Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy 2: The Golden Army and Greg Mottola’s Paul.
Brickyard just wrapped its first project with General Gau, a :30 titled “Goodnight” for Progressive Insurance. Directed by Jeffrey Fleisig of Uber Content for Arnold Boston, the spot showcases Beer’s character animation with a dream sequence cameo featuring a family of festive chipmunks and a feisty thieving squirrel. Beer served as animation director and CG supervisor on the job.
“We always used to turn character animation work away because it was something we just couldn’t do as well as we do visual effects,” said Brickyard’s Waller. “But we always knew if the right person came along, character animation would make perfect sense for Brickyard–and when we met Anders, and saw his body of work, we knew right away that he was our guy.”
Beer noted, “Character production has always been my focus but in big studios it can sometimes get tied up in bureaucratic logistics. With General Gau I can just really let the artistry drive it and have much more creative freedom. And being able to work with Brickyard as a partner in this effort is great because with the quick timeline of commercial projects, the type of work you can do is always changing and it keeps everything fresh.”
Brickyard maintains studios in Boston and Santa Monica.
“Se7en” Turns 30, Gets A Special Restoration From David Fincher For Its Re-Release
For David Fincher, seeing “Se7en” in 4K was an experience he can only describe as harrowing. That or a high school reunion.
“There are definitely moments that you go, ‘What was I thinking?’ Or ‘Why did I let this person have that hairdo’?” Fincher said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.
He’s OK with the film being a product of its time in most respects. But some things just could not stand in high-definition resolution.
“It was a little decrepit, to be honest,” said Fincher. “We needed to resuscitate it. There are things you can see in 4K HDR that you cannot see on a film print.”
Ever the perfectionist, he and a team got to work on a new restoration of the film for its 30th anniversary re-release. This weekend the restored “Se7en” will play on IMAX screens for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, and on Jan. 7, the 4K UHD home video version will be available as well.
The dark crime thriller written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman as a pair of detectives looking for a serial killer was somewhat of a career-reviver for Fincher, whose directorial debut “Alien 3” had not gone well. “Se7en” was not a sure thing: It was made for only $34 million (and only got that when Fincher managed to persuade studio execs to give up $3 million more). But it went on to earn more than $327 million, not accounting for inflation, and continues to influence the genre.
Fincher has over the years overseen several restorations of the film (including one for laser disc) but decided this needed to be the last. It’s why he insisted on an 8K scan that they could derive the 4K from. He wanted to ensure that it wouldn’t have to be repeated when screens get more... Read More