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The Visual Effects Society (VES) is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, animators, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games.

Consisting of a diverse group of more than 2,400 members in 20 countries, the VES wants to enrich and educate its own members and members of the entertainment community at large through a multitude of domestic and international events, screenings and programs.

Mission[link]

The Visual Effects Society (VES) is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition.

Here is a snap shot of the Visual Effects Society:

• Members are more than 2,400 of the most talented artists, technologists and practitioners in the visual effects field
• Represented in 20 countries, including United States, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Turkey, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, and Brazil
• Produces the VES Awards Gala (February), Production Summit (October) and more than 25 educational events, reaching an international audience of 10,000+ annually
• 80% of members work in 2 or more media, including Features (70%), Television (50%), Commercials (50%), Music Videos (30%), Gaming (10%), and Special Venues (5%)
• Members hold top positions as Senior Management (15%), Director/VFX Supervisor (45%), Producer/Project Manager (20%) and Production Pipeline (20%)
• Nearly 50% of VES members are freelancers or independent contractors
• Membership currently consists of 20% women (and growing)
• VES members have garnered over a hundred of Oscar and Emmy awards
• More than 2/3 of members have 11+ years in the visual effects field
• VES Membership requires at least five years of full time production experience as a visual effects professional and the endorsement of two Visual Effects Society members, or having received one of the industry's top honors.
• VES circulates news and information to the international audience of 10,000+ including studios, visual effects companies, post houses, production companies, animators, game developers, advertising agencies, music video producers/directors, commercial producers, special venue production companies, hardware companies, software companies, media/publicity sources, schools/educational institutions, industry organizations, festivals, press and independent producers & directors from all media (approximately 70% US and 30% non-US)

VES Awards[link]

Since 2002, the VES Awards honors film, television, commercials, music videos and video games.

Winners[link]

Film[link]

• Best Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture:
  • 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers*
  • 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*
  • 2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • 2005: King Kong*
  • 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest*
  • 2007: Transformers
  • 2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button*
  • 2009: Avatar*
  • 2010: Inception*
  • 2011: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

• Best Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture:
  • 2002: The Sum of All Fears
  • 2003: The Last Samurai
  • 2004: The Aviator
  • 2005: Kingdom of Heaven
  • 2006: Flags of Our Fathers
  • 2007: Ratatouille
  • 2008: Changeling
  • 2009: Sherlock Holmes
  • 2010: Hereafter
  • 2011: Hugo*

• Best Character Animation in a Live Action Picture:
  • 2002: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers*
  • 2003: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King*
  • 2004: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
  • 2005: King Kong*
  • 2006: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest*
  • 2007: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
  • 2008: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
  • 2009: Avatar*
  • 2010: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
  • 2011: Rise of the Planet of the Apes

• Best Character Animation in an Animated Feature:
  • 2002: Stuart Little 2
  • 2003: Finding Nemo ("speaking whale")
  • 2004: The Incredibles ("Bob Parr/Mr. Incredible")
  • 2005: Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit ("Gromit")
  • 2006: Cars ("Mater")
  • 2007: Ratatouille
  • 2008: WALL-E
  • 2009: Up
  • 2010: How to Train Your Dragon
  • 2011: Rango

An * denotes a film that also won an Academy Award for Visual Effects.

Television[link]

• Best Visual Effects in a Television Series
  • 2002: Firefly - "Serenity"
  • 2003: Buffy the Vampire Slayer - "Chosen"
  • 2004: Star Trek: Enterprise - "Storm Front, Part 2"
  • 2005: Rome - "The Stolen Eagle"
  • 2006: Battlestar Galactica - "Exodus"
  • 2007: Fight for Life - Episode 4
  • 2008: Battlestar Galactica - BSG Space Battle (Season 4)
  • 2009: Battlestar Galactica - "Daybreak"
  • 2010: Caprica
  • 2011: Terra Nova

The VES 50[link]

In 2007, the Visual Effects Society unveiled their list of the 50 most influential films in visual effects. ^[1] Due to ties, there were actually 51 films in the list. The films were:

• 1. Star Wars (1977)
• 2. Blade Runner (1982)
• 3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
• (tie) The Matrix (1999)
• 5. Jurassic Park (1993)
• 6. Tron (1982)
• 7. King Kong (1933)
• 8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
• 9. Alien (1979)
• 10. The Abyss (1989)
• 11. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
• 12. Metropolis (1927)
• 13. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
• 14. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
• 15. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
• 16. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
• 17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
• 18. Titanic (1997)
• 19. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
• 20. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
• (tie) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• 22. Toy Story (1995)
• 23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
• 24. The Ten Commandments (1956)
• 25. The War of the Worlds (1953)
• (tie) Forrest Gump (1994)
• (tie) Citizen Kane (1941)
• (tie) The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
• (tie) 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
• 30. The Terminator (1984)
• 31. Aliens (1986)
• 32. Mary Poppins (1964)
• 33. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• 34. Forbidden Planet (1956)
• 35. Babe (1995)
• 36. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
• (tie) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
• 38. King Kong (2005)
• 39. Planet of the Apes (1968)
• 40. Fantastic Voyage (1968)
• 41. Jaws (1975)
• 42. Ghostbusters (1984)
• 43. Sin City (2005)
• 44. Superman (1978)
• 45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
• 46. The Lost World (1925)
• (tie) Return of the Jedi (1983)
• 48. What Dreams May Come (1998)
• 49. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
• 50. Darby O'Gill and the Little People (1958)
• (tie) The Fifth Element (1997)

References[link]

1. ^ http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/system/files/15/files/ves50revelfin.pdf

External links[link]

• Official website
• VES Awards

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v t e

A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Human societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members. In the social sciences, a larger society often evinces stratification and/or dominance patterns in subgroups.

Insofar as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis; both individual and social (common) benefits can thus be distinguished, or in many cases found to overlap.

A society can also consist of like-minded people governed by their own norms and values within a dominant, larger society. This is sometimes referred to as a subculture, a term used extensively within criminology.

More broadly, a society may be described as an economic, social, or industrial infrastructure, made up of a varied collection of individuals. Members of a society may be from different ethnic groups. A society can be a particular ethnic group, such as the Saxons; a nation state, such as Bhutan; or a broader cultural group, such as a Western society. The word society may also refer to an organized voluntary association of people for religious, benevolent, cultural, scientific, political, patriotic, or other purposes. A "society" may even, though more by means of metaphor, refer to a social organism such as an ant colony or any cooperative aggregate such as, for example, in some formulations of artificial intelligence.

Etymology and usage[link]

A half-section of the 12th-century Song Dynasty version of Night Revels of Han Xizai, original by Gu Hongzhong. The painting portrays servants, musicians, monks, children, guests, and hosts all in a single social environment. It serves as an in-depth look into the Chinese social structure of the time.

The term "society" came from the Latin word societas, which in turn was derived from the noun socius ("comrade, friend, ally"; adjectival form socialis) used to describe a bond or interaction among parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Without an article, the term can refer to the entirety of humanity (also: "society in general", "society at large", etc.), although those who are unfriendly or uncivil to the remainder of society in this sense may be deemed to be "antisocial". Adam Smith wrote that a society "may subsist among different men, as among different merchants, from a sense of its utility without any mutual love or affection, if only they refrain from doing injury to each other."^[1]

Used in the sense of an association, a society is a body of individuals outlined by the bounds of functional interdependence, possibly comprising characteristics such as national or cultural identity, social solidarity, language, or hierarchical organization.

Conceptions of society[link]

Society, in general, addresses the fact that an individual has rather limited means as an autonomous unit. The Great apes have always been more (Bonobo, Homo, Pan) or less (Gorilla, Pongo) social animals, so Robinson Crusoe-like situations are either fictions or unusual corner cases to the ubiquity of social context for humans, who fall between presocial and eusocial in the spectrum of animal ethology.

In anthropology[link]

Human societies are most often organized according to their primary means of subsistence. Social scientists have identified hunter-gatherer societies, nomadic pastoral societies, horticulturalist or simple farming societies, and intensive agricultural societies, also called civilizations. Some consider industrial and post-industrial societies to be qualitatively different from traditional agricultural societies.

Today, anthropologists and many social scientists vigorously oppose the notion of cultural evolution and rigid "stages" such as these. In fact, much anthropological data has suggested that complexity (civilization, population growth and density, specialization, etc.) does not always take the form of hierarchical social organization or stratification.^{[citation needed]}

Cultural relativism as a widespread approach or ethic has largely replaced notions of "primitive", better/worse, or "progress" in relation to cultures (including their material culture/technology and social organization).

According to anthropologist Maurice Godelier, one critical novelty in human society, in contrast to humanity's closest biological relatives (chimpanzees and bonobo), is the parental role assumed by the males, which supposedly would be absent in our nearest relatives for whom paternity is not generally determinable.^[2][3]

In political science[link]

Societies may also be organized according to their political structure. In order of increasing size and complexity, there are bands, tribes, chiefdoms, and state societies. These structures may have varying degrees of political power, depending on the cultural, geographical, and historical environments that these societies must contend with. Thus, a more isolated society with the same level of technology and culture as other societies is more likely to survive than one in closer proximity to others that may encroach on their resources. A society that is unable to offer an effective response to other societies it competes with will usually be subsumed into the culture of the competing society.

In sociology[link]

The social group enables its members to benefit in ways that would not otherwise be possible on an individual basis. Both individual and social (common) goals can thus be distinguished and considered. Ant (formicidae) social ethology.

Canis lupus social ethology

Sociologist Gerhard Lenski differentiates societies based on their level of technology, communication, and economy: (1) hunters and gatherers, (2) simple agricultural, (3) advanced agricultural, (4) industrial, and (5) special (e.g. fishing societies or maritime societies).^[4] This is similar to the system earlier developed by anthropologists Morton H. Fried, a conflict theorist, and Elman Service, an integration theorist, who have produced a system of classification for societies in all human cultures based on the evolution of social inequality and the role of the state. This system of classification contains four categories:

• Hunter-gatherer bands (categorization of duties and responsibilities).
• Tribal societies in which there are some limited instances of social rank and prestige.
• Stratified structures led by chieftains.
• Civilizations, with complex social hierarchies and organized, institutional governments.

In addition to this there are:

• Humanity, mankind, upon which rest all the elements of society, including society's beliefs.
• Virtual society, a society based on online identity, which is evolving in the information age.

Over time, some cultures have progressed toward more complex forms of organization and control. This cultural evolution has a profound effect on patterns of community. Hunter-gatherer tribes settled around seasonal food stocks to become agrarian villages. Villages grew to become towns and cities. Cities turned into city-states and nation-states.^[5]

Many societies distribute largess at the behest of some individual or some larger group of people. This type of generosity can be seen in all known cultures; typically, prestige accrues to the generous individual or group. Conversely, members of a society may also shun or scapegoat members of the society who violate its norms. Mechanisms such as gift-giving, joking relationships and scapegoating, which may be seen in various types of human groupings, tend to be institutionalized within a society. Social evolution as a phenomenon carries with it certain elements that could be detrimental to the population it serves.

Some societies bestow status on an individual or group of people when that individual or group performs an admired or desired action. This type of recognition is bestowed in the form of a name, title, manner of dress, or monetary reward. In many societies, adult male or female status is subject to a ritual or process of this type. Altruistic action in the interests of the larger group is seen in virtually all societies. The phenomena of community action, shunning, scapegoating, generosity, shared risk, and reward are common to many forms of society.

Types of societies[link]

Societies are social groups that differ according to subsistence strategies, the ways that humans use technology to provide needs for themselves. Although humans have established many types of societies throughout history, anthropologists tend to classify different societies according to the degree to which different groups within a society have unequal access to advantages such as resources, prestige, or power. Virtually all societies have developed some degree of inequality among their people through the process of social stratification, the division of members of a society into levels with unequal wealth, prestige, or power. Sociologists place societies in three broad categories: pre-industrial, industrial, and postindustrial.

Pre-industrial societies[link]

In a pre-industrial society, food production, which is carried out through the use of human and animal labor, is the main economic activity. These societies can be subdivided according to their level of technology and their method of producing food. These subdivisions are hunting and gathering, pastoral, horticultural, agricultural, and feudal.

Starting fire by hand. Bushmen in Botswana.

Hunting and gathering societies[link]

The main form of food production in such societies is the daily collection of wild plants and the hunting of wild animals. Hunter-gatherers move around constantly in search of food. As a result, they do not build permanent villages or create a wide variety of artifacts, and usually only form small groups such as bands and tribes. However, some hunting and gathering societies in areas with abundant resources (such as the Tlingit) lived in larger groups and formed complex hierarchical social structures such as chiefdoms. The need for mobility also limits the size of these societies. They generally consist of fewer than 60 people and rarely exceed 100. Statuses within the tribe are relatively equal, and decisions are reached through general agreement. The ties that bind the tribe are more complex than those of the bands. Leadership is personal—charismatic—and used for special purposes only in tribal society. There are no political offices containing real power, and a chief is merely a person of influence, a sort of adviser; therefore, tribal consolidations for collective action are not governmental. The family forms the main social unit, with most societal members being related by birth or marriage. This type of organization requires the family to carry out most social functions, including production and education.

Pastoral societies[link]

Pastoralism is a slightly more efficient form of subsistence. Rather than searching for food on a daily basis, members of a pastoral society rely on domesticated herd animals to meet their food needs. Pastoralists live a nomadic life, moving their herds from one pasture to another. Because their food supply is far more reliable, pastoral societies can support larger populations. Since there are food surpluses, fewer people are needed to produce food. As a result, the division of labor (the specialization by individuals or groups in the performance of specific economic activities) becomes more complex. For example, some people become craftworkers, producing tools, weapons, and jewelry. The production of goods encourages trade. This trade helps to create inequality, as some families acquire more goods than others do. These families often gain power through their increased wealth. The passing on of property from one generation to another helps to centralize wealth and power. Over time emerge hereditary chieftainships, the typical form of government in pastoral societies.

Horticultural societies[link]

Fruits and vegetables grown in garden plots that have been cleared from the jungle or forest provide the main source of food in a horticultural society. These societies have a level of technology and complexity similar to pastoral societies. Some horticultural groups use the slash-and-burn method to raise crops. The wild vegetation is cut and burned, and ashes are used as fertilizers. Horticulturists use human labor and simple tools to cultivate the land for one or more seasons. When the land becomes barren, horticulturists clear a new plot and leave the old plot to revert to its natural state. They may return to the original land several years later and begin the process again. By rotating their garden plots, horticulturists can stay in one area for a fairly long period of time. This allows them to build semipermanent or permanent villages. The size of a village's population depends on the amount of land available for farming; thus villages can range from as few as 30 people to as many as 2000.

As with pastoral societies, surplus food leads to a more complex division of labor. Specialized roles in horticultural societies include craftspeople, shamans (religious leaders), and traders. This role specialization allows people to create a wide variety of artifacts. As in pastoral societies, surplus food can lead to inequalities in wealth and power within horticultural political systems are developed because of the settled nature of horticultural life.

Ploughing with oxen in the 15th century.

Agrarian societies[link]

Agrarian societies use agricultural technological advances to cultivate crops over a large area. Sociologists use the phrase Agricultural Revolution to refer to the technological changes that occurred as long as 8,500 years ago that led to cultivating crops and raising farm animals. Increases in food supplies then led to larger populations than in earlier communities. This meant a greater surplus, which resulted in towns that became centers of trade supporting various rulers, educators, craftspeople, merchants, and religious leaders who did not have to worry about locating nourishment.

Greater degrees of social stratification appeared in agrarian societies. For example, women previously had higher social status because they shared labor more equally with men. In hunting and gathering societies, women even gathered more food than men. However, as food stores improved and women took on lesser roles in providing food for the family, they increasingly became subordinate to men. As villages and towns expanded into neighboring areas, conflicts with other communities inevitably occurred. Farmers provided warriors with food in exchange for protection against invasion by enemies. A system of rulers with high social status also appeared. This nobility organized warriors to protect the society from invasion. In this way, the nobility managed to extract goods from “lesser” members of society.

Cleric, knight and Peasant; an example of feudal societies

Feudal societies[link]

Feudalism was a form of society based on ownership of land. Unlike today's farmers, vassals under feudalism were bound to cultivating their lord's land. In exchange for military protection, the lords exploited the peasants into providing food, crops, crafts, homage, and other services to the landowner. The caste system of feudalism was often multigenerational; the families of peasants may have cultivated their lord's land for generations.

Industrial societies[link]

Between the 15th and 16th centuries, a new economic system emerged that began to replace feudalism. Capitalism is marked by open competition in a free market, in which the means of production are privately owned. Europe's exploration of the Americas served as one impetus for the development of capitalism. The introduction of foreign metals, silks, and spices stimulated great commercial activity in European societies.

Industrial societies rely heavily on machines powered by fuels for the production of goods. This produced further dramatic increases in efficiency. The increased efficiency of production of the industrial revolution produced an even greater surplus than before. Now the surplus was not just agricultural goods, but also manufactured goods. This larger surplus caused all of the changes discussed earlier in the domestication revolution to become even more pronounced.

Once again, the population boomed. Increased productivity made more goods available to everyone. However, inequality became even greater than before. The breakup of agricultural-based feudal societies caused many people to leave the land and seek employment in cities. This created a great surplus of labor and gave capitalists plenty of laborers who could be hired for extremely low wages.

Post-industrial societies[link]

Postindustrial societies are societies dominated by information, services, and high technology more than the production of goods. Advanced industrial societies are now seeing a shift toward an increase in service sectors over manufacturing and production. The U.S. is the first country to have over half of its work force employed in service industries. Service industries include government, research, education, health, sales, law, banking, and so on. It is still too early to identify and understand all the ramifications this new kind of society will have for social life. In fact, even the phrase "postindustrial" belies the fact that we don't yet quite know what will follow industrial societies or the forms they will take.

Contemporary usage[link]

The term "society" is currently used to cover both a number of political and scientific connotations as well as a variety of associations.

Western society[link]

The development of the Western world has brought with it the emerging concepts of Western culture, politics, and ideas, often referred to simply as "Western society. Geographically, it covers at the very least the countries of Western Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand. It sometimes also includes Eastern Europe, South America, and Israel.

The cultures and lifestyles of all of these stem from Western Europe. They all enjoy relatively strong economies and stable governments, allow freedom of religion, have chosen democracy as a form of governance, favor capitalism and international trade, are heavily influenced by Judeo-Christian values, and have some form of political and military alliance or cooperation.^[6]

Information society[link]

World Summit on the Information Society, Geneva

Although the concept of information society has been under discussion since the 1930s, in the modern world it is almost always applied to the manner in which information technologies have impacted society and culture. It therefore covers the effects of computers and telecommunications on the home, the workplace, schools, government, and various communities and organizations, as well as the emergence of new social forms in cyberspace.^[7]

One of the European Union's areas of interest is the information society. Here policies are directed towards promoting an open and competitive digital economy, research into information and communication technologies, as well as their application to improve social inclusion, public services, and quality of life.^[8]

The International Telecommunications Union's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva and Tunis (2003 and 2005) has led to a number of policy and application areas where action is required.^[9] These include:

• promotion of ICTs for development;
• information and communication infrastructure;
• access to information and knowledge;
• capacity building;
• building confidence and security in the use of ICTs;
• enabling environment;
• ICT applications in the areas of government, business, learning, health, employment, environment, agriculture and science;
• cultural and linguistic diversity and local content;
• media;
• ethical dimensions of the information society; and
• international and regional cooperation.

Knowledge society[link]

The Seoul Cyworld control room

As access to electronic information resources increased at the beginning of the 21st century, special attention was extended from the information society to the knowledge society. An analysis by the Irish government stated, "The capacity to manipulate, store and transmit large quantities of information cheaply has increased at a staggering rate over recent years. The digitisation of information and the associated pervasiveness of the Internet are facilitating a new intensity in the application of knowledge to economic activity, to the extent that it has become the predominant factor in the creation of wealth. As much as 70 to 80 percent of economic growth is now said to be due to new and better knowledge."^[10]

The Second World Summit on the Knowledge Society, held in Chania, Crete, in September 2009, gave special attention to the following topics:^[11]

• business and enterprise computing;
• technology-enhanced learning;
• social and humanistic computing;
• culture, tourism and technology;
• e-government and e-democracy;
• innovation, sustainable development, and strategic management;
• service science, management, and engineering;
• intellectual and human capital development;
• ICTs for ecology and the green economy;
• future prospects for the knowledge society; and
• technologies and business models for the creative industries.

Other uses[link]

People of many nations united by common political and cultural traditions, beliefs, or values are sometimes also said to form a society (such as Judeo-Christian, Eastern, and Western). When used in this context, the term is employed as a means of contrasting two or more "societies" whose members represent alternative conflicting and competing worldviews.

Some academic, professional, and scientific associations describe themselves as societies (for example, the American Mathematical Society, the American Society of Civil Engineers, or the Royal Society).

In some countries, e.g. the United States, France, and Latin America, the term "society' is used in commerce to denote a partnership between investors or the start of a business. In the United Kingdom, partnerships are not called societies, but co-operatives or mutuals are often known as societies (such as friendly societies and building societies).

See also[link]

Society portal

	Book: Society
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Effland, R. 1998. The Cultural Evolution of Civilizations Mesa Community College.
• Jenkins, R. 2002. Foundations of Sociology. London: Palgrave MacMillan. ISBN 0-333-96050-5.
• Lenski, G. 1974. Human Societies: An Introduction to Macrosociology. New York: McGraw- Hill, Inc.
• Raymond Williams, "www.flpmihai.blogspot.com", in: Williams, Key Words: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society. Fontana, 1976.

External links[link]

Look up Society in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Society

• Society at the Open Directory Project
• Definition of Society from the OED.
• Lecture notes on "Defining Society" from East Carolina University.
• Internet Modern History Sourcebook: Industrial Revolution
• "The Day the World Took Off" Six part video series from the University of Cambridge tracing the question "Why did the Industrial Revolution begin when and where it did."
• BBC History Home Page: Industrial Revolution
• National Museum of Science and Industry website: machines and personalities
• Industrial Revolution and the Standard of Living by Clark Nardinelli - the debate over whether standards of living rose or fell.
• Cliff Notes on Types of Societies
• Perceptions of Knowledge, Knowledge Society, and Knowledge Management

Visual effects (commonly shortened to Visual F/X or VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot. Visual effects involve the integration of live-action footage and generated imagery to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture on film. Visual effects using computer generated imagery (CGI) have become increasingly common in big-budget films, and have also recently become accessible to the Independent filmmaker with the introduction of affordable animation and compositing software.

Timing[link]

Visual effects are often integral to a movie's story and appeal. Although most visual effects work is completed during post-production, it usually must be carefully planned and choreographed in pre-production and production. Visual effects are designed and edited in Post-Production, with the use of graphic design, modeling, animation and similar software, while special effects are made on set, such as explosions, car chases and so on. A visual effects supervisor is usually involved with the production from an early stage to work closely with production and the film's director to achieve the desired effects.

Categories[link]

Visual effects may be divided into at least four categories:

• Models: miniature sets and models, animatronics, stop motion animation.
• Matte paintings and stills: digital or traditional paintings or photographs which serve as background plates for keyed or rotoscoped elements.
• Live-action effects: keying actors or models through bluescreening and greenscreening.
• Digital animation: modeling, computer graphics lighting, texturing, rigging, animating, and rendering computer-generated 3D characters, particle effects, digital sets, backgrounds.
• Digital effects (commonly shortened to digital FX or FX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated with or from photographic assets. Digital effects often involve the integration of still photography and computer generated imagery (CGI) in order to create environments which look realistic, but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture in camera. FX is usually associated with the still photography world in contrast to visual effects which is associated with motion film production.
• Amateur VFX Animation which are VFX made by budding VFX artists. e.g. Fancock 4 and LTS

See also[link]

• Animation
• Bluescreen
• Compositing
• Computer-generated imagery
• Front projection effect
• Matte painting
• Physical effects, another category of special effects
• Optics#Visual effects
• Rear projection effect
• VFX Creative Director

Further reading[link]

• The VES Handbook of Visual Effects: Industry Standard VFX Practices and Procedures, Jeffrey A. Okun & Susan Zwerman, Publisher: Focal Press 2010

• T. Porter and T. Duff, "Compositing Digital Images", Proceedings of SIGGRAPH '84, 18 (1984).
• The Art and Science of Digital Compositing (ISBN 0-12-133960-2)
• McClean, Shilo T. (2007). Digital Storytelling: The Narrative Power of Visual Effects in Film. The MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-13465-9. 
• Mark Cotta Vaz; Craig Barron: The Invisible Art: The Legends of Movie Matte Painting. San Francisco, Cal.: Chronicle Books, 2002; ISBN 0-8118-3136-1
• Peter Ellenshaw; Ellenshaw Under Glass - Going to the Matte for Disney
• Richard Rickitt: Special Effects: The History and Technique. Billboard Books; 2nd edition, 2007; ISBN 0-8230-8408-6.
• Patel, Mayur (2009). The Digital Visual Effects Studio: The Artists and Their Work Revealed. ISBN 1-4486-6547-7. 

External links[link]

• Take Five Minutes to Watch 100 Years of Visual Effects by Rosa Golijan - Gizmodo.com - August 27, 2009

Joe Letteri (born 1957) is a senior visual effects artist, winner of four Academy awards, four BAFTA awards and four VES awards. He is the current Director of the Academy Award-winning Weta Digital, having joined the company in 2001. He has been the visual effects supervisor of several movies, his latest work being Rise of the Planet of the Apes.^[1] He attended Center High School (Pennsylvania) in 1975 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981. He gave the keynote address at UC Berkeley's December Convocation on December 19, 2010.

Filmography[link]

• Man of Steel (film) (2013) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital) ^[2]
• Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• Avatar (2009) (senior visual effects supervisor) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• The Lovely Bones (2009) (senior visual effects supervisor)
• The Water Horse (2007) (visual effects supervisor)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) (senior visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• King Kong (2005) (senior visual effects supervisor)
• I, Robot (2004) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• Van Helsing (2004) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) (visual effects supervisor: Weta Digital)
• Magnolia (1999) (visual effects supervisor)
• Jack Frost (1998) (visual effects supervisor)
• Star Wars (1997) (visual effects supervisor: ILM) (1997 special edition) (as Joseph Letteri)
• Daylight (1996) (co-visual effects supervisor)
• Mission: Impossible (1996) (associate visual effects supervisor)
• Casper (1995) (CG supervisor)
• The Flintstones (1994) (computer graphics artist)
• The Meteor Man (1993) (CG animator)
• Jurassic Park (1993) (computer graphics artist)
• Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) (CG animator)
• The Abyss (1989) (computer graphics technical director: ILM) (special edition)

Awards and nominations[link]

Academy Award[link]

• 2010 Oscar - winner for Best Visual Effects - Avatar (2009)
• 2006 Oscar - winner for Best Visual Effects - King Kong (2005)
• 2005 Oscar - nomination for Best Visual Effects - I, Robot (2004)
• 2004 Oscar - winner for Best Visual Effects - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• 2003 Oscar - winner for Best Visual Effects - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

BAFTA[link]

• 2011 BAFTA Film Award - nomination for best Special Visual Effects - Rise of the Planet of the Apes and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011)
• 2010 BAFTA Film Award - winner for best Special Visual Effects - Avatar (2009)
• 2006 BAFTA Film Award - winner for best Achievement in Special Visual Effects - King Kong (2005)
• 2004 BAFTA Film Award - winner for best Achievement in Special Visual Effects - The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
• 2003 BAFTA Film Award - winner for best Achievement in Special Visual Effects - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

See also[link]

• Visual effects
• Weta Digital
• Industrial Light & Magic

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joe Letteri at the Internet Movie Database
• Awards for Joe Letteri at the Internet Movie Database

This article about a cinematographer is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

José Antonio Domínguez Banderas (born 10 August 1960), better known as Antonio Banderas, is a Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. He began his acting career at age 19 with a series of films by director Pedro Almodóvar and then appeared in high-profile Hollywood films, especially in the 1990s, including Assassins, Evita, Interview with the Vampire, Philadelphia, Desperado, The Mask of Zorro, Spy Kids, the Shrek sequels and Puss in Boots.

Early life[link]

Banderas was born in Málaga, Andalucía, Spain, in 1960, to Ana Banderas, a school teacher, and José Domínguez, a police officer in the Guardia Civil.^[1][2] He has a younger brother, Javier. Although the family name is Domínguez, he took his mother's surname as his stage name.^[3] As a child, he wanted to become a professional football player until a broken foot sidelined his dreams at the age of fifteen. He went on to enroll in some drama classes, eventually joining a theater troupe that toured all over Spain. His work in the theater, and his performances on the streets, eventually landed him a spot with the National Theatre of Spain.^[4]

Career[link]

Early work, 1982–90[link]

His acting career began at the age of 19,^{[citation needed]} when he worked in small theatres during Spain’s post-dictatorial cultural movement known as the 'Movida'.^[5] While performing with the theatre, Banderas caught the attention of Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, who cast the young actor in his 1982 film debut, Labyrinth of Passion. Five years later he went on to appear in the director's Law of Desire, making headlines with his performance as a gay man, which required him to engage in his first male-to-male onscreen kiss. After Banderas appeared in Almodóvar's 1986 Matador, the director cast him in his internationally acclaimed 1988 film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. The recognition Banderas gained for his role increased two years later when he starred in Almodóvar's controversial Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! as a mental patient who kidnaps a porn star (Victoria Abril) and keeps her tied up until she returns his love.^[4] It was his breakthrough role in Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, that helped spur him on to Hollywood.^[6] Banderas' having become a regular feature of Almodóvar's movies all throughout the 1980s, Almodóvar is credited for helping launch Banderas's international career.^[7]

Breakthrough, 1991–94[link]

In 1991 Madonna introduced Banderas to Hollywood in the documentary film Madonna: Truth or Dare. In the film, Madonna says she wants to seduce Banderas even though she knows he was married.

The following year, still speaking minimal English, he began acting in U.S. films. Despite having to learn all his lines phonetically, Banderas still managed to turn in a critically praised performance as a struggling musician in his first American drama film, The Mambo Kings (1992).

Banderas then broke through to mainstream American audiences in the film, Philadelphia (1993), as the gay lover of AIDS-afflicted lawyer Andrew Beckett (Tom Hanks). The film's success earned Banderas wide recognition, and the following year was given a role in Neil Jordan's high-profile adaptation of Anne Rice's Interview with the Vampire, which allowed him to share the screen with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.^[4]

Worldwide recognition, 1995–present[link]

He appeared in several major Hollywood releases in 1995, including a starring role in the Robert Rodriguez-directed film Desperado and the antagonist on the action film Assassins, co-starred with Sylvester Stallone. In 1996, he starred alongside Madonna in Evita, an adaptation of the musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber and in Tim Rice in which he played the narrator, Che, a role played by David Essex in the original 1978 West End production. He also made success with his role as the legendary masked swordsman Zorro in the 1998 film The Mask of Zorro.

In 2001, he collaborated with Robert Rodriguez who cast him in the Spy Kids film trilogy. He also starred in Michael Cristofer's Original Sin alongside Angelina Jolie the same year. In 2002, he starred in Brian De Palma's Femme Fatale opposite Rebecca Romijn-Stamos and in Julie Taymor's Frida with Salma Hayek. In 2003, he starred in the last installment of the trilogy Once Upon A Time In Mexico (in which he appeared with Johnny Depp and Salma Hayek). Banderas' debut as a director was the poorly-received Crazy in Alabama (1999), starring his wife Melanie Griffith.^[8]

In 2003, he returned to the musical genre, appearing to great acclaim in the Broadway revival of Maury Yeston's musical Nine, based on the film 8½, playing the prime role originated by the late Raúl Juliá. Banderas won both the Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk awards, and was nominated for the Tony Award for best actor in a musical.^[9] His performance is preserved on the Broadway cast recording released by PS Classics. The following year (2004), he received the Rita Moreno HOLA Award for Excellence from the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA).

Banderas in June 2007

His voice role as Puss in Boots in Shrek 2, Shrek the Third and the last film in the Shrek franchise, Shrek Forever After, helped make the character popular on the family film circuit. In 2005, he reprised his role as Zorro in The Legend of Zorro, though this was not as successful as The Mask of Zorro. In 2006, he starred in Take the Lead, a high-set movie in which he played a ballroom dancing teacher. That year, he directed his second film El camino de los ingleses (English title: Summer Rain), and also received the L.A. Latino International Film Festival's "Gabi" Lifetime Achievement Award on 14 October.^[10] He hosted the 600th episode of Saturday Night Live (during season 31).

He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on 6801 Hollywood Blvd. in 2005.

In 2011, the horror thriller The Skin I Live In marked the return of Banderas to Pedro Almodóvar, the Spanish director who launched his international career. The two had not worked together since 1990 (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!). In The Skin I Live In he breaks out of the "Latin Lover" mold from his Hollywood work and stars as a calculating revenge-seeking plastic surgeon following the rape of his daughter. According to the Associated Press Banderas' performance is among his strongest in recent memory.^[7] He again lent his voice to Puss in Boots, this time as the protagonist of the Shrek spin-off family film, Puss in Boots. This film reunited Banderas with Salma Hayek for the sixth time.^[11]

Business activities[link]

He has invested some of his film earnings in Andalusian products, which he promotes in Spain and the US.^[12] He owns 50% of a winery in Villalba de Duero, Burgos, Spain, called Anta Banderas, which produces red and rosé wines.^[13]

He performed a voice-over for a computer-animated bee which can be seen in the United States in television commercials for Nasonex,^[14] an allergy medication, and was seen in the 2007 Christmas advertising campaign for Marks & Spencer, a British retailer.^[15]

He is a veteran of the perfume industry. The actor has been working with fragrance and beauty multinational company Puig for over ten years becoming one of the brand's most successful representatives. Banderas and Puig have successfully promoted a number of fragrances so far – Diavolo, Diavolo for Women, Mediterraneo, Spirit, and Spirit for Women. After the success of Antonio for Men and Blue Seduction for Men in 2007, launched his latest Blue Seduction for Women the following year.^[16]

Personal life[link]

Banderas with Melanie Griffith at the Shrek Forever After premiere.

Banderas divorced his first wife, Ana Leza, and on 14 May 1996, married American actress Melanie Griffith in a private, low-key ceremony in London.^[5][17] They had met a year earlier while shooting Two Much.^[18] Both Griffith and Banderas were married to other people when they first met.^[5] They have a daughter, Stella Banderas, who appeared with her parents in the 1999 film Crazy in Alabama, in which Griffith starred and which Banderas directed.^[12] In 2002, the couple's dedication to philanthropy was recognized when they received the 'Stella Adler Angel Award' for their extensive charity work.^[5]

In 1996, Banderas appeared among other figures of Spanish culture in a video supporting the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party lists in the general election.^[19]

He is a long time supporter of the Málaga CF.^[20]

He is an officer (mayordomo de trono) of a Roman Catholic religious brotherhood in Málaga and travels, with his wife and daughter, during Holy Week to take part in the processions,^[21] although in an interview with People magazine Banderas had once described himself as an agnostic.^[22] In May 2010, Banderas received his honorary doctorate from the University of Málaga in the city where he was born.^[6]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Director and producer[link]

Theater[link]

See also[link]

• List of celebrities who own wineries and vineyards

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Antonio Banderas

• Antonio Banderas appointed Goodwill Ambassador at Bay Ledger
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the TCM Movie Database
• Antonio Banderas at the Internet Broadway Database
• Antonio Banderas at Emmys.com