In the Best Visual Effects category of the Academy Awards, all five nominees–Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story–were created with help from Autodesk Maya and in some cases, additional Autodesk offerings including: Autodesk 3ds Max, the Autodesk Flame Family, the Arnold renderer and Shotgun Software. Outstanding visuals for all five films were produced by thousands of talented artists working out of visual effects studios across four continents, with work spanning previsualization, visual effects, virtual cinematography, post-production, color grading and more.
Additionally Autodesk recently scored an Motion Picture Academy Scientific and Technical Achievement Award. The honor was presented to Marcos Fajardo, Alan King and Thiago Ize for the Arnold renderer, a modern ray tracer designed to efficiently render the complex geometry in computer-generated imagery (CGI) animation and visual effects films. The technology was awarded for its highly optimized geometry engine and novel ray-tracing algorithms, which unify the rendering of curves, surfaces, volumetrics and subsurface scattering, and marks the 10th Sci-Tech Award presented to scientists, designers and technologies from Autodesk.
“The amazing display of artistry in the Oscar-nominated work each year consistently raises the bar, and we’re proud to have lent a hand in providing the technology for artists to bring amazing stories and visuals to audiences worldwide,” said Autodesk SVP Chris Bradshaw. “Autodesk congratulates all of this year’s nominees and appreciates the many studios that used Autodesk offerings to contribute to this year’s Academy Award-nominated films. And to see Arnold, our newest addition to Autodesk Media & Entertainment, earn a Sci-Tech is icing on the cake.”
Eleanor Adds Director Candice Vernon To Its Roster For Spots and Branded Content
Director Candice Vernon has joined production house Eleanor for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. She has already wrapped several jobs at Eleanor, which waited to announce her until they had a body of work together.
Via Eleanor, Vernon made history as the first Black director on a Febreze commercial. The “Small Spaces” campaign marks a major departure from Febreze’s typical blue-and-white world. The home of the “Revolving Door” commercial is a beautiful array of bold sunset hues, African prints, and African art.
Vernon said, “I asked myself, what feels right to me? What feels new? I wanted to bring an essence of not just Black Americans but the full diaspora. I wanted to make a statement that we’re not a monolith.”
Following the success of the “Small Spaces” campaign, Febreze brought Vernon back for a comedy-infused trifecta exploring the hilarious situations that call for an air freshening hero.
Febreze Brand VP Angelica Matthews said, “About two years ago, we realized the consumers that were the most loyal to Febreze were the African American consumers. And the more we learned, the more we realized the richness that we were really missing. So we said we have to go beyond just Black casting, we need to get Black directors that truly understand the culture that truly understand how to bring authentic performances out on screen. We really looked around the industry and noticed there’s actually a shortage of African American directors who have experience doing commercials. When we all saw Candice’s reel, we could all tell the passion for the craft, passion for really trying to help us from where we are to where we’re trying to go.”
Vernon brings a unique lens to... Read More