Creative software developer The Foundry applauds its customers and partners nominated for this year’s Academy Awards. The Foundry’s visual effects tools are behind numerous Oscar nominated films including La La Land, Arrival and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
According to The Foundry, every single film nominated for the Best Visual Effects Oscar at the 89th Academy Awards was made using its VFX software tools, making this the sixth consecutive year that The Foundry has achieved the feat. Notable winners from previous years that have used The Foundry’s software have included Ex Machina, Interstellar, Gravity and Life of Pi.
This year’s VFX nominees lineup, which includes Deepwater Horizon, Doctor Strange, The Jungle Book, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, have each used The Foundry’s tools to create award-worthy visual effects. The Foundry’s Nuke, Katana, Mari and Modo are just a few of the tools used to bring these highly acclaimed films to life through the creation of everything from spaceships to dancing wild animals. These films shine a light on the incredible talent of the people working in the visual effects industry today.
Tools owned by The Foundry have been previously recognized by The Academy in the form of multiple Scientific Technical Awards. Its tools Katana, Nuke and Mari–the tools behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’s infamous Death Star–have all been recognized by the Academy in previous years. The Foundry’s Sci-Tech award-winning motion estimation technology Furnace, which is fully integrated into Nukex and Nuke Studio, has also received Academy recognition.
Alex Mahon, CEO at The Foundry, said: “Recognition at The Academy Awards is the pinnacle for visual effects studios, and we’re proud to count such amazing organizations amongst our customers who are behind the nominated films. We continue to be inspired by the incredible artistry and technical prowess used to create some of the most incredible film visuals of all time. The Foundry is committed to continually advancing its software so that the visual effects industry can bring even more spectacular stories to life.”
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