Mr. X shows some skin

Fast-growing Toronto-based FX shop Mr. X is seeing box-office success for its work on David Cronenberg’s A History of Violence, Four Brothers and The Greatest Game Ever Played, for which it contributed 157 shots, building CG environments and multiplying 150 extras into 10,000 golf fans. Dennis Berardi, Mr. X president and VFX supervisor, has also recently added producer to his resume, teaming with Don Carmody and Stan Winston for Skinwalkers, helmed by James Isaac. Mr. X will handle all the CG effects and animation for the werewolf thriller.

In addition, newly added VFX supervisor Evan Jacobs and the rest of the team will be going full-tilt in the recently expanded facility on projects that include Silent Hill, Silence (from Saw director James Wan), the animated Happily N’Ever After, Truth Justice and the American Way, 16 Blocks and Waist Deep.

www.mrxfx.com

Meteor still red hot

After intense CG work on the Brooklyn Bridge sequence of summer blockbuster Fantastic Four, Montreal-based FX house Meteor Studios was still flame-on in the fall.

The Discovery Channel-backed Alien Planet two-hour special, which includes one full hour of CG dinosaurs and other creatures that Meteor worked on, aired last month, and the shop has moved from previzing to a 140-shot rollercoaster sequence on the feature Final Destination 3 that could be the teen supernatural thriller’s showstopper. Horror flick Slither also has Meteor doing more than 20 shots for a potential marquee sequence for finish later this month.

Next up is the locally shot NBC miniseries 10.5: Apocalypse set to air in late November, featuring volcanic eruptions and CG faults.

‘It’s an earthquake that cuts America in half,’ says Meteor head of production François Garcia. ‘We’re having a lot of fun with it.’ Meteor will also get a piece of the ancient Greek feature 300, which it’s been previzing for several months. Studio production begins shortly in Montreal.

www.meteorstudios.com

Anthem becomes horror master

Vancouver-based Anthem Visual Effects is creating FX for Masters of Horror, 13 original one-hour movies airing in HD on Showtime in the U.S., produced by IDT’s New Arc Entertainment, Industry Entertainment and Nice Guy Productions. Horror-meisters tapped to helm segments include John Landis (An American Werewolf in London), John Carpenter (The Thing) and Don Coscarelli (the Phantasm series).

Anthem used the latest 2D and 3D technology on its Mac OSX network to animate and composite CG elements and matte paintings such as a psycho-killer’s cliffside lair, a disturbed woman’s impossibly large eyes, and post-apocalyptic death from the sky. The first episode premiers in Canada Oct. 29 on Scream.

www.anthemfx.com

Making the Switch back to the dark side

After a summer of digital gore on George Romero’s Land of the Dead, Toronto-based Switch VFX has changed gears with several MOWs, including Mayday for Paramount Television and CBS, as well as Playing House and Crazy for Christmas for Blueprint Entertainment.

FX supervisor Jon Campfens and his team have also begun work on 3D elements and character animation for the climactic sequence of alien plague pic Slither, from Gold Circle Productions and Brightlight Pictures.

In addition, Switch is wrapping production on Edgar Allen Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum, a stop-motion film for Ray Harryhausen Presents shot in 2K resolution using digital SLR still cameras, and exec produced by the legendary FX master.

Sister company Yowza Digital is in preproduction on a 26-episode live-action/animated children’s television series for a major broadcaster.

www.switchvfx.com

www.yowzaanimation.com

Eyes helps tell a dirty joke

Recent projects at Toronto video house Eyes Post include Paul Provenza’s hilarious doc The Aristocrats, which shows more than 100 comedians from George Carlin to Jon Stewart telling the same filthy joke. Also going through the shop are the kids feature Nothing But the Truth, the Toronto-shot NBC Universal series Kojak, ESPN’s poker drama Tilt and the ABC MOW Trump Unauthorized.

Eyes has added a second HD/2K ITK Millennium telecine suite to keep up with the Joneses and maintain its position as one of Canada’s largest film transfer and HD facilities.

Longtime VP and GM Diane Cuthbert may have left recently for rival Technicolor, but the remarkably durable post house has been a fixture for 15 years and promises to emerge with some exciting new announcements.

www.eyespost.com

Cine-Byte does DI

Toronto digital film service house Cine-Byte Imaging has been busy adding some impressive digital intermediates credits to its reel. After completing George Romero’s Land of the Dead for Universal, it did a DI and color correct on Deepa Mehta’s critically acclaimed Water. At the same time, its Northlight scanner was handling FX and DI duties on Brightlight Pictures’ adap of the popular video game Bloodrayne, which is already at the deliverables stage.

Gold Circle Films’ horror pic Slither is next up, while scanning and recording for FX has been ongoing for Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, Truth, Justice and the American Way, The Sentinel and Zack Snyder’s (Dawn of the Dead) sword-and-sandal epic 300.

www.cinebyte.com

SunTV gets a nip and tuck from Loopmedia

Toronto-based design firm Loopmedia helped SunTV eclipse former incarnation Toronto 1 with a complete rebranding. The new-look net launched its fall lineup in September with the tagline ‘fun to watch’ over dancing circles set to a funky backbeat, as a combination of 2D and 3D elements create motion while reinforcing the brand. Loopmedia will also develop station IDs for the channel’s sports, entertainment and lifestyle programming.

Also in the works is a design package for Inside Sports’ digi The World Fishing Network, which tackles the worldwide appeal of fishing. Loopmedia will design the logo and the full broadcast graphics package, while Corey Russell exec produces. Launch date is December.

www.loopmedia.com

Sound Dogs go wild

Toronto audio shop Sound Dogs bit into back-to-back Robert Rodriguez pics, first crafting sound design elements on Sin City and then providing edited background sound effects and elements for The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D, for which it also handled all foley recording.

They’re currently supervising post sound on Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain, having also worked with the helmer on Requiem for a Dream.

Additional work has included ADR, sound editing and final mix on Paul McGuigan’s recently wrapped Lucky Number Slevin, a full sound editing and design package for Rod Holcomb’s MOW Code Breakers, to air on ESPN in December, and Escape to Canada, the controversial doc from Albert Nerenberg that compares the legalization of marijuana and gay marriage in Canada. It debuted at the New Montreal FilmFest.

The Dogs have also launched a descriptive video service, providing both English and French audio tracks for the visually impaired. The first project was the animated Atomic Betty from Atomic Cartoons and Breakthrough Animation.

www.sounddogstoronto.com