Tag Archives: Bent Image Lab

Thanks to Orland Nutt and Ben Luce!

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orland

Orland Nutt screening Bear of Heaven

 

Quick thanks and a shout out to Orland Nutt and Ben Luce for their great presentations at the last meeting.  Powering through some technical difficulties with the presentation laptop being at a different aspect ratio from the screen that was being projected, Ben’s pixel art technique was well received by all.  “That’s how everyone is getting that retro 8bit look!” (or in Ben’s case, 16 bit – “Super Nintendo!”) was a phrase heard many times after the meeting.  It made for an explosive demo, if the “oohs” and “aaahs” were any indication every time Ben said, “Boom!”

Ben Luce demo

Ben Luce demo

And thanks to Orland for rolling with the punches when we couldn’t read his hard drive, and doing the presentation entirely from Vimeo clips.  He has some rare before/after footage from Bear of Heaven that hopefully will see the light of day somehow – we’re working on it!  In any case, unforgettable imagery from Orland and a huge thanks for taking the time out.

IMG_5770The Ebay Lounge was a great venue with the only flaw being we couldn’t figure out how to turn down the automated lights to help better view the projector.  A small glitch in an otherwise fantastic setup and the Ebay office may very well become the default for future meetings.

 

 

Next up – a big night of SideFX Houdini is being planned for April.  Will keep you informed…  watch this space!

The eBay Lounge

The eBay Lounge

Next VFX/PDX Meeting – Short Film Saturday (Nov 15) w/Lessons Learned, Proximity & More!

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FlyerA special program for the next VFX/PDX meeting – your short films!  It’s no secret that many of us visual effects and animation artist types are also filmmakers, and when a good idea presents itself we jump behind it full force.  We burn the midnight oil, sometimes outside of our day jobs, and do whatever we can to make it happen.  We roll up our sleeves and get it to the screen!

It’s with that mindset that I present to you our first ever “Short Film Saturday.”  A heavy dose of inspiration that should give us all that Vitamin D like boost we sorely need this time of year.  We’ll screen the films and then break out the microscope and find out what makes them tick.  Be ready for behind the scenes you’ll never see on any DVD-extras, and feel free to fire away once we get to the Q&A.

On the docket as this year’s headliners are Toby Froud’s Lesson’s Learned and Joshua Cox’s Proximity.

Lesson’s Learned is a practical puppet short about a young boy who receives an intriguing birthday gift from his father; a gift that will stay with him for the rest of his life.  After the screening, Director Toby Froud (with puppets!), VFX Supervisor Adam Sager, and Layout/Matte Painter David Manuel will present the visual effects from the film.  Adam and David are tremendously talented, and Toby steps into the spotlight with literally a lifetime of training – a family history of filmmaking that’s both rich and unique.  Watch the trailer here.

Proximity is Director Joshua Cox‘s tribute to a collection of his grandmother’s that inspired him to craft a story that is a “suspenseful romantic crime drama involving ceramic statues.”  Joshua is a talented filmmaker, and that all-encompassing title may be the one that best captures the many hats he’s able to wear:  Animator, Technical Director, Graphic Designer, Producer, on and on.  His skills will be on full display with this film, and I’m sure we’ll never look at grandma’s shelf quite as innocently again.  🙂  Full VFX breakown after the film.  Watch the trailer here.

Rounding out the program will be shorts from
Kameron Gates/House Special, A Tale of Momentum and Inertia
Paul DeSilva, A Spark at Darkest Night
James Chick, Legend of Baby Chick
Jacob Miller‘s Conception Trailer
and more films TBA.  If you were recently involved with or know of a locally crafted film that has a VFX component and you’d like to submit, please get in touch with J immediately.

All of this and more will be shown on the legendary OMSI Empirical Theater screen, what with it’s 4 stories of 4k projection + Dolby Atmos sound system bliss.  Worth noting that all of the films are safe for a younger audience, and that OMSI is graciously offering a $2 discount on admission to the museum and current Animation exhibit after the show – so feel free to bring any young, budding vfx artists in your clan and make a day of it!

Tickets are free and you can (and should!) reserve your spot over at Eventbrite now:
http://shortfilmsaturday.eventbrite.com

VFX/PDX Meeting:  Short Film Saturday!
Saturday, November 15th, 10am-12pm
OMSI Empirical Theater
1945 SE Water Ave, Portland, OR 97214

See you all there!

An Evening with Orland Nutt

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The Inimatable Orland Nutt

The Inimatable Orland Nutt

Be prepared for a wild ride as NW Film Center takes us on a journey through the mind of local compositor & filmmaker Orland Nutt, long time Bent Image Lab collaborator.  Orland will be showing a dense collection from over a decade of work, and premiering his latest work, Bear of Heaven.

Orland’s style is in a category of it’s own and he is undeniably one of Portland’s gems.  This is a rare event and a night not to be missed.  I can imagine it would be a daunting task to tease a 90 minute program devoted to his work, but here’s a trailer that offers up a glimpse nonetheless:
 

Orland Nutt 2014 Retrospective Trailer

 

Among the older highlights are: Escalator Meditation, an early abstract work; video letter movies from his Dear Peter series, which intimately share his worldview; and selections from his visually ornate poetry series including I Am Into Your Fire (which draws inspiration from, among other things, a classic scene from the original Star Trek TV series), where odd characters perform poems in fantastical settings.

Orland will be on hand to introduce the films.  Step out for this one!

Thursday, July 10, 2014 – 7:00pm
NW Film Center at the Portland Art Museum
Whitsell Auditorium
1219 SW Park Avenue
$9, $8 students

For more info or to purchase tickets, head on over to the NW Film Center page.

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