3D Update

Recently in the news there has been some debate among directors/media about the viability of 3D in the long-term. While I have asserted and will continue to assert that 3D only offers a limited amount of commercial success--particularly in the short-term--I think that James Cameron makes some good points on the viability of this new medium in cinema. While I don't necessarily agree that 3D in any way has an effect on cognitive ability development in children like director Cameron would have you believe, I do find it an interesting development in the world of cinema on a very general basis.

Article: here

The Art of Drew Struzan

A kind of side-obsession I have is with movie posters. It's considered a lost art, mourned by a lot of older people in the industry. Artwork by Drew Struzan is of particular interest to me. His autobiographical book put out this year is pretty incredible. You can check out his own website here, which features a lot of the work you'll see in his book, which I highly recommend (here).

Check out some of my favorites from Drew's collection after the break, including these three from his work done on the Back to the Future Trilogy.

New post, New Year (Star Wars IV - A New Hope, Star Wars V - Empire Strikes Back)

I recently ran into a blog article about Gary Kurtz--second unit director of the first two original Star Wars movies. The article talked about how Kurtz made the decision to depart with the franchise after Empire Strikes Back. He spoke to how Lucas changed the entire film after they had agreed to and written more subdued, bitter third script. Lucas decided to indulge the franchise's fans with a third film that ended on a more optimistic note. Interestingly, Kurtz's version had Han Solo dying in the middle of the third film, but he asserts that Lucas and the film's producers overrided him due to the massive income in the franchise's toy sales.

Article below:
Did ‘Star Wars’ become a toy story? Producer Gary Kurtz looks back