Life of pi, which won four academy awards last week, will be released on bluray, dvd and digital download on march 12. Unlike life of pi where the costar in the form of the tiger had to be kept behind an electrical fence, oscarwinning vfx supervisor bill westenhofer had no such restrictions this time around on wonder woman, which tells the origin story of the iconic amazon princess warrior. Life of pi visual effects protest controversy explained the. Though pi didnt realize it, his fathers lessons about life and animals would help him survive during his long, isolated period of hardship. Through interviews with 16 of the leading effects pioneers from. Bill westenhofer is a visual effects supervisor for rhythm and hues studios, for which he has worked since 1994. The only conclusion i could make was that this was a project we had been rehearsing for since the babe movies, really, he says.
Bill westenhofer is known for his work on life of pi 2012, the golden compass 2007 and men in black ii 2002. Sharma shines as 16yearold pi, whose life is changed forever when a startled zebra jumps into his. The writer has been told that pis life story would be a good subject for a book. The ominous playoff tune played for a full 20 seconds as. Life of pi is a 2012 american survival drama film based on yann martels 2001 novel of the same name. He then worked on many films such as life of pi, warcraft and wonder woman.
For director ang lees life of pi, the story of a spiritual indian boy stranded at sea with a tiger, oscarwinning visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer, who is nominated for this. Hear this uninterrupted statement from life of pi vfx winner. One day, pi finds human teeth in a trees fruit and comes to the conclusion that the island eats people. Culture film news oscarnominated visual effects company behind life of pi files for bankruptcy protection. Bill westenhofer has won two academy awards for achievement in visual effects, for the golden compass and life of pi, with a further oscar nomination for his work on the chronicles of narnia. Feb 25, 20 included in sunday nights academy awards was a second oscar for 1986 brookfield high school bhs graduate bill westenhofer for his work as visual effects supervisor for life of pi. Pi discovers a huge colony of meerkats who sleep in the trees and freshwater ponds. If anything, life of pi shows that were artists and not just technicians.
The movie will be directed by patty jenkins and so far only gal gadot and chris pine have been the confirmed cast members. The art and making of the film is more than a companion, it is a love letter to the film and gives beautiful insight into the work of patty jenkins and her team, production designer aline bonetto amelie, the city of lost children, costume designer lindy hemming the dark knight, casino royale, set director anna lynch robinson. How to create an oscarwinning tiger scene asia wsj. More sharma shines as 16yearold pi, whose life is changed forever when a startled zebra jumps into his lifeboat, forcing the pair overboard during a powerful storm. The book continues with pi ending in a shipwreck and having to share a lifeboat with a tiger. Later he would win both the bafta and the academy award for the 2007 release the golden compass, and 2012s life of pi in 20. Last night during the oscars, the academy organizers interrupted life of pi winner bill westenhofers speech just as he was about to address. Listen to bill westenhofer talk to mike seymour in our fxpodcast. Jan 17, 20 for director ang lees life of pi, the story of a spiritual indian boy stranded at sea with a tiger, oscarwinning visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer, who is nominated for this. Creating a tiger for life of pi the new york times. This started an uproar among many visual effects industry professionals, changing profile pictures on social media such as facebook and twitter to show the green key colour, in order to raise awareness for what is happening to the effects industry. In 2008, he received a visual effects oscar and a bafta award for his work on the golden compass.
Directed by ang lee, the films adapted screenplay was written by david magee, and it stars suraj sharma, irrfan khan, rafe spall, tabu, adil hussain, and gerard depardieu. Directed by ang lee, the films adapted screenplay was written by david magee, and it stars suraj sharma, irrfan khan, rafe spall, gerard depardieu, tabu, and adil hussain. If i was a numerologist i would be upset because i missed by 10 days being on the project for 3. Mar 07, 20 life of pi, which won four academy awards last week, will be released on bluray, dvd and digital download on march 12.
He then earned a bachelor of science in computer science and engineering from bucknell university in 1990. Vfx supervisor bill westenhofer on life of pi studio daily. Life of pi vfx supervisor on board for warcraft movie. Feb 20, 20 heres what life of pi looked like before visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer added the tiger and the oceans vastness. Connecticut grad wins 2nd oscar sunday for life of pi.
Included in sunday nights academy awards was a second oscar for 1986 brookfield high school bhs graduate bill westenhofer for his work as visual effects supervisor for. Nov 18, 2012 one of the costars in ang lees fable life of pi is a tiger named richard parker. Life of pi is a 2012 adventure drama film based on yann martels 2001 novel of the same name. This is a question that should be asked pierre buffin and preproduction department.
Wonder woman vfx supervisor will be life of pis bill. Interview with special effects supervisor bill westenhofer on life of pi. Thats because once he committed to shooting life of pi stereoscopically using the cameronpace 3d rig, the entire thrust of his movie rested on the believability of the bengal tiger, richard parker. On pushing the envelope of creating a digital tiger. Life of pi was as good as dead the film adaptation of yann martels 2001 novel, about a young boy stranded at sea with a ferocious bengal tiger, had been on the shelf for a long time. My contribution began in the test phase and the competition. There was a scene near the end when the tiger and pi have been at sea for a long time and theyre both starving and near death. Life of pi winning the oscar for visual effects youtube. Bill westenhofer visual effects supervisor freelance. Director ang lee and visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer.
Young shipwreck survivor pi suraj sharma shares a lifeboat with a bengal tiger by the name of richard parker in life of pi, director ang lees adaptation of the bestselling novel. Nov 23, 2012 life of pi was as good as dead the film adaptation of yann martels 2001 novel, about a young boy stranded at sea with a ferocious bengal tiger, had been on the shelf for a long time. Life of pi by yann martel is about an indian boy, pi, who gets shipwrecked with a tiger. Find books like life of pi from the worlds largest community of readers. Bill westenhofers oscar nomination for the visual effects in life of pi is his third academy award nomination and fourth bafta nomination. The first thing that director ang lee wanted to know was if a cg animal would be more or less real in 3d. Bill westenhofer, the oscarwinning vfx supervisor on ang lees life of pi, is on board as vfx supervisor for warcraft, a film based on the video games series the title is being produced by. He then earned a bachelor of science in computer science. Reviewers were puzzled, or damned it with faint praise.
Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. Those three films, which are just part of westenhofers substantial contributions to the industry, evidence the supervisors strong. Posted by tim hanley august 10, 2015 august 10, 2015 posted in movies, ww miscellany tags. In 2005, westenhofer supervised a team of 400 digital artists on the chronicles of narnia.
In the spring of 1996, my second book, a novel, came out in canada. Bill westenhofer is a freelance visual effects supervisor. Aug 10, 2015 posted by tim hanley august 10, 2015 august 10, 2015 posted in movies, ww miscellany tags. For director ang lee s life of pi, the story of a spiritual indian boy stranded at sea with a tiger, oscarwinning visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer, who is nominated for this years oscars, started with shots of actor suraj sharma alone on a lifeboat in a water tank against a blue screen. Mar 06, 20 life of pi, which won four academy awards last week, will be released on bluray, dvd and digital download on march 12. See the complete profile on linkedin and discover bills. Life of pi takes place in 1970s india where we get the story of pi growing up in a zoo.
The winners of bafta award for best special visual effects are chris lawrence 2014, timothy webber 2014, david shirk 2014 and more. Creating him required a team of meticulous artists. After all, most of life of pi takes place on a lifeboat at sea shot on stage in a. Oscarnominated visual effects company behind life of pi. Academy award, bill westenhofer, gal gadot, life of pi, patty jenkins, the golden compass, visual effects, wonder woman, wonder woman movie leave a comment on oscar winner bill westenhofer in as visual effects supervisor for wonder woman movie. Vfx supervisor bill westenhofer on tigers, the oceans and magical skies. At a time when visual effects movies are dominating the box office, that visual. Also ignore my pronunciation of the word sloth i can never bring myself to say it the proper way it just. One of the costars in ang lees fable life of pi is a tiger named richard parker. Topics about this book topics that mention this book.
Even though life of pi is a fictional book, the author included a lot of facts about animals that helped set the stage for the dramatic events that came later. Life of pi life of pi a novel authors note this book was born as i was hungry. Nov 26, 2012 the first thing that director ang lee wanted to know was if a cg animal would be more or less real in 3d. We didnt want our actor to get eaten, bill westenhofer, the visual.
Bill westenhofer is known for his work on life of pi 2012, the golden compass 2007 and gemini man 2019. Pi and richard parker stay here for a time, sleeping in their boat and exploring the island during the day. Bill westenhofer, who has worked on projects like life of pi will supervise the special effects in wonder woman. Check the winners of bafta award for best special visual effects presented under british academy film awards since 1983. I promised more looks at the nominated crafts people behind life of pi, ang lees 11 time nominated film based on yann martels best seller. The book life of pi, a contemplative story about a boy lost at sea with a. Heres what life of pi looked like before visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer added the tiger and the oceans vastness.
The jaws theme struck less than a minute into vfx supervisor bill westenhofers life of pi oscar acceptance speech. It would be rare these days to find a film that did not in some way depend on the magic of visual effects, from the raging computergenerated dinosaurs in steven spielbergs jurassic park, to the fantastical worlds of tim burtons alice in wonderland, and the photoreal tiger and ocean in ang lees life of pi. The lion, the witch and the wardrobe, which was nominated for an academy award for best visual effects. The interaction design foundation is a 17yearold nonprofit community founded in denmark. View bill westenhofers profile on linkedin, the worlds largest professional community.
He speaks to us now about buf work on life of pi how did buf got involved on this film. Visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer offsite link was no stranger to animal oriented projects when he came aboard ang lees life of pi. The storyline revolves around an indian man named piscine molitor pi patel, living in canada and telling a novelist. Visual effects supervisor bill westenhofer and animation. More than seven million copies soldthe beloved and bestselling novel and winner of the booker prize, life of pi. He is the winner of two oscars for best vfx for the golden compass and life of pi. As life of pi wins best visual effects oscar, the effects. His hometown is brookfield, connecticut, where he graduated from brookfield high school in 1986. The movie will be directed by patty jenkins and so far only gal gadot.
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