Tim Burton is directing a live-action Dumbo
Disney is on a live-action remake kick. It basically started with Tim Burton and his Alice in Wonderland remake. Since then Maleficent was successful, and Cinderella this weekend is expected to be a hit as well. With more live-action remakes in the works, Dumbo looks to be one of a collection.
I’m interested to see Burton’s take on this. He showed in Alice in Wonderland and Frankenweenie that he is maybe a little more family friendly now, but still has his signature creepy black and white quality. I can’t wait to see what that looks like with Dumbo.
It’s been said that Dumbo will be a hybrid of live-action with CG, which isn’t surprising since that is pretty much the norm in film now. I would expect Dumbo and his flying scenes to be almost all VFX.
The prospect of using a director who is well versed in animation, stop motion, computer animation and live action sets this film up for an interesting take. SlashFilm stated that this film will go beyond the original story of the animated Dumbo so I’m looking forward to a fresh take from the auteur that is Tim Burton.
WIRED took a behind the scenes look at the animation and Mo-Cap effects of Maleficent. It’s clear that human facial animation that is photo realistic is an extremely time consuming and exact process. I’m very grateful that they so specifically break down the process in this video. It’s a great incite into the process for those of us who haven’t yet had the chance to work on something like this personally.
Maleficent is out in theaters now.
Have any of our readers worked with this kind of facial animation? If you’d care to share your experiences, email us (theanimationforce at gmail) or message us in our ask box.
If You’re Not Following @Sketch_Dailies You’re Missing Out
Isaac Orloff, “Black Beard”
Created by Isaac Orloff, who is himself a great artist, Sketch_Dailies is a twitter account designed to inspire artists with daily challenges. Each day at 11:00AM PST, a new challenge is posted. Thousands of artists try their hand at the challenges, and when they @reply to Sketch_Dailies and hashtag the name of the challenge, their pieces can be retweeted by Sketch_Dailies.
Lissy Marlin, @LazyFish11 on twitter; “Bonnie and Clyde”
The twitter account is generating quite the following, promoting community among artists and fans of art alike. The amount of work, and the quality is staggering. It’s amazing to see what a hub of art this has created on the internet, and with the ability of quick communication through twitter, it’s really egging artists on to grow as individuals, and also to inspire each other.
Pernille Ørum, @pernilleoe on twitter; “Jessica Rabbit”
This week is “Outlaw Week” on Sketch_Dailies. You can check out the stellar art pieces already contributed by going to the account, and there’s still time to participate in this week’s challenges! Many artists contribute a day or two late and still get a retweet by Sketch_Dailies, so don’t be shy. And for those of you who just love inspiring, colorful, and textured art, be sure to take a look!
Matthew Beakes, @MatthewBeakes on twitter; “Black Beard”
I myself am very inspired by the work on Sketch_Dailies and plan to participate soon, if not sometime this week!
Amanda MacFarlane, @lifeanimated on twitter; “Maleficent”
I’m really looking forward to seeing more and becoming involved! I’ll be watching Sketch_Dailies…daily.