Movies

Lights, Bots, Action! Former Car-Assembly Robots Find New Careers in Film Business

It’s great to see a startup hiring laid-off autoworkers — even if they aren’t human. Jeff Linnell (center) recently picked up three Fanuc s430iL industrial robots at fire-sale prices and reprogrammed them for jobs in TV advertising. Seems that the autobots (nicknamed Puck, Gilda, and Rosie) had transferable skills.Read More

Ultra Portable Drive Comes Pre-loaded with One Free Movie for Activation and Twenty Other Films for Purchase

Today, Seagate and Paramount Digital Entertainment announced their agreement to pre-load a selection of 500GB FreeAgent Go™ ultra-portable hard drives with Paramount movies. Beginning immediately, US customers who purchase specially-marked packages of the FreeAgent Go ultra-portable hard drive will be able to activate Paramount Pictures’ popular film, Star Trek (2009), for no additional fee.Read More

Don LaFontaine “In a world where…”

Don LaFontaine had nicknames like V.O.G. (Voice of God) and “Thunder Throat.” He projected the image of a giant man, despite being only 5’8 ½. His voice was one of the most recognizable and beloved movie trailer voices of all-time… the one everyone else still imitates.Read More

Studios are using virtual backgrounds from around the world

Founded in 1989 by distinguished cinematographer Sam Nicholson, Stargate Studios was conceived as a high tech production company offering visual effects and production services to the film and television industries. They have created some amazing chroma key greenscreen digital compositing, where studio sets can be used with virtual backgrounds from all over the world.Read More

Many of us recall HBO's 1983 "Starship" intro before their movies, but few have seen the old-school effects used

A look behind-the-scenes at the insanely complex model city built by New York-based Liberty Studios for HBO's 1983 on-air look. 6 model makers worked for 3 months casting nearly 100 unique buildings, all with working light bulbs and meticulous exterior detailing. The model was made in 3 sections, a city, the suburbs and county side, with a 16ft high airbrushed skyline as the backdrop.Read More

Researchers say the first cowboy to draw seldom wins the duel since the brain responds faster to danger

Have you ever noticed that the first cowboy to draw his gun in a Hollywood Western is invariably the one to get shot? Nobel prize–winning physicist Niels Bohr did, and arranged mock duels to test the validity of this cinematic curiosity.

Following Bohr's example, researchers have now confirmed that people move faster if they are reacting to another person's movements than if they are taking the lead themselves. The findings may one day inspire new therapies for patients with brain damage.Read More

Blockbuster is piloting a new movie-rental program that allows customers to load movies onto SD cards and play them back on mobile phones and TVs equipped with SD readers. The rentals cost $1.99.Read More

Kingston and Paramount unveiled an unusual deal today that will see the latter's movies made available on SD cards and USB flash drives. The partners haven't detailed the formats involved but say the movies will be available both in bundles as well as individually. Neither company has committed to a release date.Read More