Zeb Blog - Dreamworks

Kung Fu Panda Latest Trailer

Zeb — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:43:00 -0700

I just figured out that a new trailer came out for Kung Fu Panda, 3 weeks ago .

Well I was in vacation at this time which is why I didn't post about it. Anyway, I was happy to see that one of my shot is in this trailer (TaiLung, the lepard jumping in slow motion toward the cam, at 1:00). It's always cool to see a shot you've worked on in a trailer, so I decided to mention it :D (happy lighter) I wanted to show the trailer embedded in the post but if you want a better quality than the poor YouTube compression just go see the trailer on the official website.

Movie will be released on june 6th... 10 more days

From Kung Fu Panda to Madagascar

Zeb — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Kung Fu Panda comes to its end of production, another two weeks to fix the last small technical problems and give a hand on a few extra shots. And the least I can say is that the final movie will be a great success, all the ingredients are here and everybody in the studio believes fervently in this success However a slight disappointment that the project was not realized in 3D stereoscopic: indeed we have had the right to a projection last week showing a sequence of Kung Fu Panda and two other from Monsters Vs Aliens.The sequence of Kung Fu Panda was very dynamic and the addition of the stereoscopic 3d was extremely impressive.

To add another layer of positiveness here is a great short review from Cartoon Brew on Kung Fu Panda, it's a great surprise to get such feedback from them as they're usually really tough on Dreamworks movies.
This film is perhaps a turning point for the studio, I think the following films "How to train your dragon "or" Master Mind "have the potential to get extremely good critics from both the public and the pros as well. Arriving at the end of this project, Dreamworks has renewed my contract and I'll start in mid-May on Madagascar, The crate escape. This project would be for a really short term because the film is scheduled to be done in mid-September for a release in the USA in November 2008.

I am quite pleased to avoid Monsters vs. Aliens for a time because of the complexity of the project, but it is highly probable that I'll join their team right after Madagascar is done. I'm not going to complain, I like that projects are turning around quickly, just hope that the pace will not be absolutely crazy. To give a preliminary taste of what will be the film here is a short video presented by Ben Stiller:

Monsters Vs Aliens at Showest

Zeb — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 10:00:00 -0700

Las Vegas is hosting Showest which is a conference promoting movies to the key people in the film industry (distributors, producers etc ...) On this occasion Dreamworks has decided to show a final sequence of Aliens vs. Monster in exclusivity and in 3D stereoscopic format. Kung Fu Panda will also be broadcast in its entirety at almost final stage.

This is an opportunity to reveal a little more about the content of this delirious movie.

Here is the official pitch : When California girl Susan Murphy is unexpectedly clobbered by a meteor full of outer space gunk, she mysteriously grows to 49-feet-11-inches tall and is instantly labeled a “monster” named Ginormica. The military jumps into action, and she is captured and held in a secret government compound. The world learns that the military has been quietly rounding up other monsters over the years. This ragtag group consists of the brilliant but insect-headed Dr. Cockroach, Ph.D.; the macho half-ape, half-fish The Missing Link; the gelatinous and indestructible B.O.B.; and the 350-foot grub called Insectosaurus. Their confinement time is cut short however, when a mysterious alien robot lands on Earth and begins storming the country.

The film is clearly a 2nd degree humor movie inspired from the B movies from the fifties, and humor ranges from a Monty Python to Jim Abrahams movies (not a big fan of that last reference, but I think that might work well as an cartoony movie)

I was lucky enough to see two sequences already, unfortunately, not in stereo, I'm eager to have a screening ( probably next month). And I must say that the result is visually very good. And I have to confess that I smiled many times and laugh instantly at many stupid jokes :). I can't wait to know whether this will be the next project for me after Kung Fu Panda or not.

Here is the voice casting : Reese Witherspoon plays Ginormica (the giant 50 feet woman), Hugh Laurie of Dr House is the insect scientist, Kiefer Sutherland is voicing the General and Stephen Colbert in the role of the President

The movie release is scheduled for March 27, 2009 in the USA.

The Kung Fu Panda Artbook

Zeb — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:32:00 -0800

The movie is far from being released but you can already pre-order the Kung Fu Panda Artbook

This artbook is full of great character designs done by Nicolas Marlet, and have a lot of amazing concept arts for the backgrounds. The cover is very stylized and just to let you know that style is matching the 2d animation introduction that open the movie. As I've already seen it at an advanced stage I can tell you this introduction will be Amazing!!! Thanks to Mr James Baxter.

You can also take a look at the Official Website to discover the latest Trailer and find more goodies about the movie ( the website has been completely updated last week)

Take a glimpse at Dreamworks campus

Zeb — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 01:00:00 -0800

To clarify, there are two facilities/location working on Dreamworks projects and they work collaboratively.

Dreamworks / PDI, which is located in RedWood City (San Francisco area) which has done Shrek (1, 2 and 3), Antz, and Madagascar. Dreamworks Animation, which is located in Glendale (Los Angeles area) which has done Prince of Egypt, El Dorado, Sinbad, Spirit, Shark Tale, Flushed away, Over the Hedge and Bee Movie.

I work in Glendale, the campus is a great working place, very pleasant and relaxing. There are ping-pong tables, foosball game and other video games room ...

Here are some pictures of Dreamworks Animation and my office which is pathetically empty.

Upcoming Dreamworks features after Kung Fu Panda

Zeb — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 10:11:00 -0800

I can't give much informations on these topics due to confidentiality clause. But on the other hand I can summarize the official pitches and express my hopes regarding the most promising projects. For sure all the movies following Kung Fu Panda will be in stereoscopic 3d.

Madagascar, the crate escape (November 2008)

The first one wasn't my favorite movie, but I have to admit that the designs of the characters are still very good and this delirious collection of characters grows considerably. However, many believe that this second opus would be even better than the first, filling a number of story gaps left unanswered from Madagascar 1.

Monsters vs. Aliens (March 2009)

Delirious parody of classic horror series Z. I like that subject, and the humor ( at least from the sequences I've seen) . All the artwork that adorn the walls of the lighting department really make me want to work on this movie :).

How to train your dragon (November 2009)

Base on a book by Cressida Cowell (that I have not read). The film is about dragons... of course , but also Vikings. The dragons designs by Nicolas Marlet are fantastic and the entire artistic direction makes me dream I'm already working on that one :), My favorite project so far.

Shrek goes fourth (Spring 2010)

Well no comments there. You might already have heard about this guy, aren't you ?

Master Mind (Fall 2010)

A parodied super hero story . Not much infos on the film yet. From the directors of the short film "first flight".

Crood Awakening ( no release date yet)

I do not know much this project, but the mere fact that John Cleese (to Monthy Python) participates to the writing sounds really good to me. The subject of the film: prehistory, a tribal chief is facing competition to lead his tribe ... ( IMDB tells you more)

Kung Fu Panda Trailer

Zeb — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 14:50:00 -0800

Here we go, Bee movie has been released in US for 3 weeks now, and it's doing well ( better than I thought). No break for me after the show, I directly jumped on the next project which is Kung Fu Panda. Dreamworks opened a nice website for the movie and you can find many thing there : trailer, wallpapers, descriptions of the characters etc.

That movie is a lot smoother to work on for me and apparently for everyone in the lighting dept. It's really nice to work on a slow pace and have time to polish the shots. The whole studio feel pretty strong about the success of the movie, and after seeing the last screening I have to say that it would be probably the best movie Dreamworks have made for a while, we finally have a feature which is not constantly referencing about pop culture :).

The movie will release in June 2008. Starring Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman.

Bee Movie Releasing November 2nd

Zeb — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 01:26:00 -0700

Dreamworks animation is releasing its next feature beginning of November in US Voices talents are Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock...

That's the first feature I ever worked on , I learnt a lot during those 4 months but it's been tough to learn all Dreamworks proprietary softwares at the end of a production. Anyway The next project I will work on is Kung Fu Panda and will release in May 2008 so look forward to this one too :).