Archive notice: This article was originally published on February 18, 2016. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Green Background with Plenty of Air
The Aircover Inflatables, known as Air Walls, have already been used for outdoor shoots on films such as “The Avengers”. Here you can see how the air walls work. It is a little reminiscent of a rubber bouncy castle:
Deliberately Shaken
Michael John Keesling’s Image Shaker is an optical system that emulates shaky shots in a variable and exactly repeatable way without the camera actually being shaken. Although the system was developed two decades ago, according to the Academy it still produces unique results compared with alternatives. “Saving Private Ryan” used the camera effect.
Remotely Controlled
ILM’s Light & Magic Geometry Tracker was also honoured. It allows CG characters to be controlled through an actor’s movements. The process was used for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. Read the interview with the editors of the J.J. Abrams film in the next issue of DP on February 22.
3D Prototyping
Laika became known for animated films such as “Coraline”, “ParaNorman” and “The Boxtrolls”, in which 3D-printed figures play the leading role. The US company has now received the Technical Achievement Award for its 3D prototyping system. It can print 3D facial models with consistent colours; the technology was most recently used for the Oscar-nominated animated film “Anomalisa”.
Review, Reference Monitors and More
Also among the winners: the Sony Pictures Imageworks Itview Media Review System, which can share footage worldwide; Dolby’s PRM reference colour monitors; the RV Review and Playback System from Tweak Software; and the texture-painting software Mari, which was developed for “Avatar”.
The complete overview of all awards can be found here.
