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Digital
Media FX Newsletter
Vol. 1, No. 5- May 15, 2001
Table of
Contents:
(1) Welcome
Message
(2) Tomb Raider Score Nightmares
(3) Final Fantasy Edited
After Negative Screening Comments
(4) Shrek's Four Million
Dollar Edit
(5) Top News Stories of the
Past Two Weeks
(6) Digital Media FX Opens
Shrek Movie Site
Welcome Message
Welcome to the fifth issue of the Digital Media FX (dFX) newsletter,
covering the world of animation and visual effects. This newsletter
is published on the 1st and 15th of each month with original animation/FX
content, insider news, and sneak peeks at new dFX features.
This issue
contains some interesting tidbits on Tomb Raider, Shrek and Final
Fantasy along with a sneak peek at Jim Hill's newest column. Enjoy!.
-- Joe Tracy
Tomb Raider
Score Nightmares
(by digitalmediafx.com) One of the major battles surrounding June
15's Tomb Raider release didn't take place in the film
- it took place behind the scenes.
Michael Kamen,
who had been hired to produce the score for Tomb Raider,
was let go at the last minute and replaced by Graeme Revell. Kamen
is a well-known composer who produced scores for movies like X-Men,
The Iron Giant, and all the Lethal Weapon movies to
name a few. Insiders state that the change was, in part, due to
poor communication between the directors/producers and Kamen over
delivery times of test scores and delivery of feedback on the
test scores.
Because Revell
was just hired on a few weeks ago (late April), he has been given
only 14 days to complete 100 minutes of music for Tomb Raider,
including the orchestra recording sessions in London! With such
little time, it is likely that some of the music will be synthesized.
In the past,
Revell has helped score films like Titan A.E., Blow, Red Planet,
and Spawn.
The Tomb
Raider soundtrack, coming out June 5, will feature rock songs
from various artists. According to Amazon.com, there will be two
versions of the soundtrack sold - one with explicit lyrics and
one without. There are no score selections on the soundtrack and
it is unknown at this time if Revell's last minute score will
ever be released on CD.
The visual
effects in Tomb Raider were accomplished by The Mill, which
won an Academy Award for "Best Visual Effects" with
last year's Gladiator movie.
Paramount
Pictures is cutting the distribution of Tomb Raider very
close. Tomb Raider is one month away, without a score,
and still pending a rating by the Motion Picture Association of
America. The score must still be edited into the film and the
film duplicated for over 2,500 theaters and mailed to theaters,
arriving in time for the June 15 launch.
Final Fantasy
Edited After Negative Screening Comments
(by digitalmediafx.com) Square Pictures has edited at least six
segments in Act 3 of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
after a test screening three months ago brought some negative
comments and criticism. Square Pictures assures, however, that
the edits have in no way altered the plot of the film.
While Shrek
is currently enjoying the media spotlight for its animation realism,
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within will soon dominate the
news for its photorealistic characters and for having one of the
longest realistic kisses ever between two animated characters.
The premiere
for Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within is scheduled for
July 9, only two days prior to the July 11 nationwide release.
Shrek's
Four Million Dollar Edit
(by digitalmediafx.com) A major decision had to be made during
the production of Shrek that cost DreamWorks $4 million
dollars - a move the company fully supported. The change was a
request by Mike Myers to alter the voice he had already recorded
for the character Shrek to a voice with a Scottish accent.
Myers told
The New York Post that he was surprised when DreamWorks approved
the request because DreamWorks had to throw out all the character
animation of Shrek in order to match the revised soundtrack,
costing the company about $4 million.
"Jeffrey
Katzenberg told me that this had never been done before in the
history of animation," Myers told the Post.
Top News
Stories of the Past Two Weeks
(digitalmediafx.com) Digital Media FX is updated 365 days a year
including Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. If you don't visit
daily you may have missed some important news. Here is a list
of what we consider the top five news stories (in order of importance)
of the past two weeks, including links to each story.
1.
DreamWorks
Announces New Animated Movie Productions
2.
Cartoon
Network Bans Select Bugs Bunny Cartoons!
3.
Monsters, Inc. Testing Better than Toy
Story in Screenings!
4.
Radio
Disney - "No Shrek Ads"
5.
Museum
to Auction Mickey Mouse Drawings on Saturday
Sneak Peek
- Jim Hill's New Column
(by digitalmediafx.com) As a subscriber to the dFX Animation and
FX newsletter, you are being granted advanced access to Jim Hill's
newest column - "The Write Stuff".
You can access
the article - 24 hours before it is announced on the Digital Media
FX Website - by clicking
here.
Thank you
for being a part of the Digital Media FX team through your daily
visits to www.digitalmediafx.com.
I hope that you've enjoyed this third edition of the Digital Media
FX newsletter and I look forward to providing you with continued
coverage of the animation and visual effects industries.
Best Wishes,
Joe Tracy, Publisher
Digital Media FX - The Power of Imagination
If you are
not currently a subscriber to the Digital Media FX newsletter,
then click
here for your free subscription which is delivered
on the 1st and 15th of every month.
All stories
in this newsletter are ©Copyright 2001 by Joe Tracy / Digital
Media FX and may not be reprinted in any form without the expressed
written consent of Joe Tracy. To request such consent, click
here, and provide details of which article you wish
to republish and the Website location where it will be published.
You will receive a response within 48 hours with whether your
request has been accepted and, if so, the proper credit wording
that must appear with the article.
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