The AG_PunkWerks Blog

Back to Harv’s World

A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To VFX.   It all started in 1982 with a sketch in the corner of the Social Studies notebook (I probably was not paying attention anyway).  Originally an alien life form, not quite sure from where, but cute.  I’d already spent several years drawing Danger …

Lost Art of Laine Liska

An Accomplished VFX Artist Leaves A Clandestine Legacy   •   Richard Edlund, a close friend of Laine, kindly contributed this card, drawn by Laine for the Holidays. Thank you, Richard. • People working the visual effects field are often artists in many different disciplines. Many are cartoonists who draw …

Gorilla VFX: Episode 1 — Couch Clouds

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Gorilla VFX

The title is not spelled wrong. Guerrillas are crafty, live by the seat of their pants fighters on the front lines. Gorillas are rough,  hit-it-with-your-fists solvers of problems. Both of these are distinct VFX mind-sets we embrace. This series explores solutions to problems that are a little unorthodox, but effective. …

Full Starlog Magazine Archive Online

Kerry O’Quinn’s Penultimate Magazine Online Library. Unfortunately this archive is no longer available.  You can check Archive.org for any that show up.   In several boxes in my garage sit almost every copy of Starlog Magazine up to issue 100.  They are in various conditions, some tattered, some torn, all …

The VFX War: Part 3 — The Slight Heard Round The World

This entry is part 3 of 5 in the series The VFX War

Hollywood’s Juvenile Response to Brilliance. For 2014 the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences promises in a Variety article to “get the visual effects presentation right this year.” They are in reference to last year’s global debacle of a presentation after The Life of Pi was played offstage as …

Saving VFX: Part One — A Possible Way Forward

Splitting Up to Carry On. Government kickbacks are not the only concern weighing on the Visual Effects (VFX)  industry. We have innovated our way into solving everyone else’s problems, taking on the burden that used to belong to other departments. VFX have threatened the jobs of other parts of the …

Digital Makeup Joins The Stage February 2, 2014

Todd Masters and Johnathan Banta At The Digital Days Conference. The Digital Days Conference kicks off Saturday Feb 1, 2014. Todd Masters and Johnathan Banta (spelled wrong on their website) of MastersFX join a panel Sunday to talk about the convergence of practical and digital effects. Join us as we …

Adventures in Stereo 3D: Part 3 — A Stereo Markup Language

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Stereo3D Adventures

Scribbling is the Universal Language. If a picture is worth a thousand words, it is likely that two thousand words will be required to properly describe how to correct a problem in a stereo 3D converted image.  I have seen the notes go on for pages (dictated some of them …

Saving Mr. Binks

Focusing the Hatred of the Galaxy, a Digital Star is Born! There are long diatribes on the Internet tearing George Lucas to shreds for the creation of Jar Jar Binks.  Such vile hatred for a character in a movie —an individual that does not exist — is curious.  Normally this level of …

The VFX War: Part 2 — Fish In A Barrel

This entry is part 2 of 5 in the series The VFX War

We Are Eating Ourselves. It’s almost as if someone planned it. A Macivelian overlord sat down one day, scheming how to drive down prices, institute near slave-driven hours (without compensation as often as possible) by arbitrarily putting a date on a calendar, increase their profits, pay for no benefits, accept …

Adventures in Stereo 3D: Part 2 — The Hyper-Glyph

This entry is part 2 of 3 in the series Stereo3D Adventures

Updating the 1850’s French Innovation. In part one of this series about Stereo 3D, we discussed the use of stereo anaglyph images as a tool for stereo artists and supervisors, not just for novelty 3D prints, and late night 3D festivals on TV.  Lightweight, and easily viewable in many situations, …

The British VFX tradition — Poppa Day to Alien

poppa_day.mp4 Great British VFX Documentaries Online. From Poppa Day to Matte Painting in the 60’s and 70’s, Dennis Lowes webpage is an amazing documentary resource of visual effects in Britain. Want some in-depth information on the making of Alien you did not know? He has multiple interviews on video with …

The Best VFX Hot Sheet

Get Your Daily Feed…It’s Worth It Sure you can have a Google alert come your way for the VFX news of the day, but the best “Hot Sheet” out there is ILM model/monster maker Howie Weed’s Worth a Mention.  I am not sure how he gets the information, but it …

Adventures in Stereo 3D: Part 1 — The Rebirth of Anaglyph

This entry is part 1 of 3 in the series Stereo3D Adventures

Another French Innovation Probably one of the oldest methods of viewing stereo 3D content is Anaglyph.  Invented in the 1850’s by Frenchmen Joseph D’Almeida and Louis Du Hauron, it has seen little update over the years, other than varying the color of the lenses (mostly as an attempt to deliver better full-color images). …

MastersFX Digital Makeup Division

The Digital Makeup Initiative in practice at MastersFX for Season 4 of Falling Skies. Here is a link to their press release: MASTERSFX Perfects Practical/Digital Effects Mix for Emmy Nominated TV Series “Falling Skies” “The upgrade of MASTERSFX’s Digital Makeup division occurred in tandem with the launch of “Falling Skies.” Johnny Banta, …