Special effects for five

Montreal-based DHD PostImage has recently been contracted for the animation/special effects on five feature films.

Three of the pix were awarded through Vancouver-based production/distribution company, Everest Entertainment. Greenlight Communications, the Toronto-based publicly-traded production company which acquired dhd last November and agreed to acquire controlling interest of Everest in May, will be producing the package, which includes Darkland, Ocean Boy and Managua. Greenlight’s John Lambert is exec producer on the effects, Everest producers are Rob Straight and John A. Curtis. The total special effects budget is $1.6 million to $2 million.

The other two films are Beyond the Stained Glass Window, and Quiet Rage, produced by Larry Applebaum and Cindy Bond Films. $500,000 is budgeted for the fx.

Opening for gods

In drama leagues, Norman Jewison, John Boorman, Peter Bogdanovich, et al are a tough act to open for, however that’s the task that fell to creative director Ron Tsang and senior animator Will Anielewicz of Dome Animation and Design. With a processing palette of grainy texture and softer edges, the duo opted for a filmic rather than digital-looking show opener for the Picture Windows half-hour anthology series produced by Yorktown Productions and Skyvision Partners.

The opening mirrors the premise of the series – bringing a work of art to life for the little screen.

The 50-second segment opens as a solar eclipse is about to blot out nyc, and paintings come alive. Animator Bret Culp created a 3D mockup of the Big Apple, which was used in tandem with an animated shadow to simulate the eclipse stealing across the cityscape.

The collective eye arrives at and enters an art gallery (a 3D set), and hones in on a sundial whose shadow is also skulking across frames. At the point of eclipse, the sun segues into Van Gogh’s The Sower, whence it melts down into a Renoir. Other clever canvas transitions follow (for which Anielewicz ended up using proprietary hardware and software he developed), and finally the show title is revealed by the hand of God and his/her digital disciples, who also included producer Connie Maudsley and animators Maryse Bouchard and Jeff Ertl (hand model).

Gamers alert!

Jim Maia, head of Interplay Production Canada, confirms the new sales office of the Santa Ana, Calif.-based publisher is looking for new product: entertainment and educational, cd-rom, floppy, or Windows, finished, semi-finished, beta or alpha versions – or just the gem of an idea.

And if someone has a product on another platform, Interplay will look at helping transfer platforms. Maia says Interplay is the largest producer of game software for the Mac in North America.

Eventually the Canadian operation will be looking at doing duplication and localizing packaging. If you’re curious, call (905) 623-0987.

Web records

Street Cents Online beat David Letterman at his own game – the Top 10 list. Late last month the Halifax-based cbc youth series jumped to third place (it’s since settled in at fourth) in a ranking of the best English-language Web sites, while Letterman’s came eighth. Street Cents was the only Canadian site selected in the survey by Brookline, Mass.-based Point Communications, and continues to outrank Dave, the White House, and The Real Beer Page.

Guess stupid pet tricks can’t compete with the allure of savvy investment tips, consumer reports (like the peanut butter taste test results) and the Street Census on overzealous commercials.

Check it out @: //www. screen.com/streetcents.html

* CityInteractive reports that Ontario Online/Election `95 had over 30,000 hits the day prior to the election, and that the online leadership debate, with over 300 participants at once during its peak, was the ‘third largest event in Internet world history.’

BitsÉ

ÉMarkham, Ont.-based Autodesk Canada is shipping the Windows 3.1 progeny of its Animator Pro 2D paint/animation package; the new multimedia software, Autodesk Animator Studio Release 1, has an srp of $965ÉFujinon has added two new 20x wide studio lenses to the product lineup for 1/2′ and 2/3′ camerasÉ