The Previsualization Society, a non-profit, interdisciplinary organization dedicated to the advancement of previsualization (“previs”), has been formally launched. Founded by previs practitioners for those who produce or use previs, the Previsualization Society will build a community to maximize the current and future capabilities as well as contributions of the previs medium.
The Previsualization Society includes members from many different disciplines and markets, just as the previs process does, and is already comprised of a number of charter members from the motion picture industry. The Previsualization Society will focus on producing and publishing information and resources to promote effective previs through key activities such as promoting standards, education, workflow development and practical knowledge exchange. As inspired by the recently completed ASC-ADG-VES Joint Technology Subcommittee on Previsualization, co-chaired by David Morin and Ron Frankel, The Previsualization Society will also provide a platform for ongoing interchange and learning among all contributors that engage with previs, which has become a more common practice and carries greater weight as content production continues to evolve in the digital age.
“When I started my career in previs 15 years ago, I used to always have to explain why productions might need previs,” said Previsualization Society president Colin Green, who is president/founder of the shop Pixel Liberation Front. “Now producers simply call saying ‘we need previs.’ Despite the popularity of the process, there are still many different views of what previs is, and how it should all work. The Previsualization Society will be a great way to bring expertise into a common forum for everyone to share.”
Membership in The Previsualization Society is open to previs professionals (previs supervisors and practitioners), associates (directors, producers, storyboard artists, cinematographers, art directors, production designers, editors, studio executives and other industry personnel) and academics (students and educators). General interest memberships will also be offered.
Founding members of the Previsualization Society are: Green; David Dozoretz, founder, director and VFX supervisor, Persistence of Vision (POV) Previs; Chris Edwards, CEO, The Third Floor; Ron Frankel, president/founder, Proof; Daniel Gregoire, owner, Halon Entertainment; and Brian Pohl, CEO of POV Previs.
The charter membership of Previsualization Society currently includes directors, cinematographers, visual effects supervisors, production designers, art directors, editors and technology developers, as well as previs artists and supervisors whose credits collectively span from pioneering previs on films like Judge Dredd, Mission: Impossible, the Star Wars prequels and Minority Report to recent movies such as Avatar, Star Trek, Alice in Wonderland, and Iron Man.
Funding for the Previsualization Society is provided through membership and sponsorship. A prime charter sponsor is Autodesk–, a leading provider of media and entertainment technology. Autodesk products include a family of 3D applications that are core tools for previs and pre-production of movies, commercials and video game cinematics.
Inquiries for membership in the Previsualization Society may be made through the Previsualization Society Website, www.previssociety.com. Applications submitted now will be considered for membership induction in January 2010. Also in January, the Previsualization Society expects to launch a purpose-built content site to be populated with public articles, professional forums, handbooks, tutorials, definitions, archives, real-world previs examples, databases and downloadable tools. The web portal will also offer targeted advertising, promotional and continuing education opportunities.
The Previsualization Society is headquartered in Los Angeles, with chapters in Europe, Latin America, Australasia and other regions.
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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