By BY CAROLYN GIARDINA
SHERMAN OAKS, Calif.-The visual effects industry may be driven by creative people, but, according to Tom Atkin, executive director of the Sherman Oaks-based Visual Effects Society (VES), it still must operate as a business. So as part of VES’ 1999 agenda, Atkin said the group would explore ways to simplify some business steps in order to help the industry work more efficiently. One of the areas the group is exploring is the creation of a standard visual effects bid form for features, commercials and/or episodic TV.
"We don’t have finite answers," emphasized Atkin. "We are trying to [see] if there are enough common reference points to determine if we can propose a standard bid form." The aim would be to simplify the bidding process for both the client and effects company.
As models of success in this area, he cited the spot production bid form created by the Association of Independent Commercial Producers and the editorial bid form penned by the Association of Independent Commercial Editors. In fact, the AICE recently altered its bid form to reflect changes in technology and the post process (SHOOT, 11/6/98, p. 1). That revised form went into use in the commercial community last month.
A visual effects bid form, Atkin suggested, may "help clients compare bids with some form of standardization. … They are so varied, so different. Sometimes you can’t tell if it is for the same job."
Atkin explained that in visual effects circles he has heard chatter about the bidding process and how the budgets for effects-intensive projects could range in the millions [for features]. He added that, not unlike other businesses, some companies are said to bid low to get the job, then up the budget as the job goes into production. Budgets can also vary greatly because different companies may suggest different effects production techniques (e.g., CGI, models and miniatures).
Atkin said VES aims to determine if a more standard bid form might provide a "more common frame of reference," making it easier for clients to identify budget disparities. "It doesn’t mean the [production] solution will be the same. [But] the clients should be able to look at the different bids and understand them."
"Visual effects is one of the more complex production disciplines," Atkin noted. "The
challenge is to analyze if we can come up with a proper solution."
VES also intends to determine if it could suggest a standard method of gaining clearance to use clips for applications such as trade show demonstration reels. With no standard procedure in place, this tends to be a complex and time-consuming process. Atkin said VES furthermore wishes to look closely at the way feature film credits get compiled to see if it would be beneficial to try to standardize that process. "We see nothing but benefits. It would eliminate the series of negotiations that go on [with each project]," Atkin explained.
Atkin acknowledged that any of these potential efforts could take years to bring to fruition, but that VES feels they are worth exploring because, as he commented, "the relation between business, profitability and creative is more on [the effects community’s] mind than it used to be."
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