Raph's Girl
03-01-2006, 01:56 PM
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060301/film_nm/dykstra_dc
Oscar-winning special-effects maven John Dykstra is set to make his directing debut on "Tortoise and Hippo," a film inspired by a photo that circulated following the Asian tsunami.
The snapshot documented a baby hippo and 100-year-old tortoise comforting each other at a wildlife sanctuary after being rescued from the Indian Ocean.
"The actual event that inspired the movie captured the imagination of the world," said Alex Schwartz, executive VP production at Walden Media, one of the producers of the film.
"We're going to create a movie inspired by it that we hope can tell a story everyone can relate to, which is that you can be different but still belong to the same family."
One of the director's main challenges will be depicting the tsunami onscreen, which brings with it computer-graphic and storytelling challenges.
"The tsunami is a critical component in the telling of this story," Dykstra said. "It's a sensitive storytelling issue."
Walden Media is coming off the worldwide box office hit, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe." As with that film, "Tortoise and Hippo" will present stylized animals existing in a human world. "Narnia" director Andrew Adamson is in final negotiations to produce the live-action and photo-real computer-animated film.
Walden Media, which is partnered on the project with Relevant Entertainment, is aiming for a 2007 release. Relevant has a publishing deal for a tie-in book with the children's division of Penguin Books.
Dykstra's cinema-technology prowess dates back to 1977 on
George Lucas' "Star Wars," for which he built the first computer-operated motion-control camera system and won an Oscar for best visual effects. He since has been nominated three times and won best visual effects last year for "Spider-Man 2."
"It's funny because I've gone through a long career that started in '75," Dykstra said. "I've had the opportunity to direct a couple of movies, and I've directed lots of commercials. But I'd say since '85, directing a feature is something that I wanted to do; I just haven't understood the movies offered to me, or it was a case where the visual effects came before the story, which never interested me."
Here's some images of the turtle and hippo: Awwww...I wanna see this movie! :o
http://static.flickr.com/41/94698902_5679fc22d8.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698883_a0eecf454e.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/30/94698873_7b0d2e869e.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/12/94698854_313477bd8c.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698831_cfca41cdd3.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/30/94698823_b52f315233.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698796_0ec4ab0d08.jpg
Oscar-winning special-effects maven John Dykstra is set to make his directing debut on "Tortoise and Hippo," a film inspired by a photo that circulated following the Asian tsunami.
The snapshot documented a baby hippo and 100-year-old tortoise comforting each other at a wildlife sanctuary after being rescued from the Indian Ocean.
"The actual event that inspired the movie captured the imagination of the world," said Alex Schwartz, executive VP production at Walden Media, one of the producers of the film.
"We're going to create a movie inspired by it that we hope can tell a story everyone can relate to, which is that you can be different but still belong to the same family."
One of the director's main challenges will be depicting the tsunami onscreen, which brings with it computer-graphic and storytelling challenges.
"The tsunami is a critical component in the telling of this story," Dykstra said. "It's a sensitive storytelling issue."
Walden Media is coming off the worldwide box office hit, "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe." As with that film, "Tortoise and Hippo" will present stylized animals existing in a human world. "Narnia" director Andrew Adamson is in final negotiations to produce the live-action and photo-real computer-animated film.
Walden Media, which is partnered on the project with Relevant Entertainment, is aiming for a 2007 release. Relevant has a publishing deal for a tie-in book with the children's division of Penguin Books.
Dykstra's cinema-technology prowess dates back to 1977 on
George Lucas' "Star Wars," for which he built the first computer-operated motion-control camera system and won an Oscar for best visual effects. He since has been nominated three times and won best visual effects last year for "Spider-Man 2."
"It's funny because I've gone through a long career that started in '75," Dykstra said. "I've had the opportunity to direct a couple of movies, and I've directed lots of commercials. But I'd say since '85, directing a feature is something that I wanted to do; I just haven't understood the movies offered to me, or it was a case where the visual effects came before the story, which never interested me."
Here's some images of the turtle and hippo: Awwww...I wanna see this movie! :o
http://static.flickr.com/41/94698902_5679fc22d8.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698883_a0eecf454e.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/30/94698873_7b0d2e869e.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/12/94698854_313477bd8c.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698831_cfca41cdd3.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/30/94698823_b52f315233.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/35/94698796_0ec4ab0d08.jpg