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Daron James Along with its record setting box office numbers and four Oscar nominations, “Avatar: The Way of Water” brings a “Metkayina” wave of impressive next-gen technology that will undeniably set new industry standards in motion capture, animation and underwater photography.  The original facial motion capture rig that also impressively immersed Andy Serkis as Gollum and Caesar, received an overhaul. Not only physically but also in the way the software replicates a performance.  “We looked at how the muscles in the face, eyes and lips are all related and created a neural network that maps all the connections between them,” says senior VFX supervisor Joe Letteri. “This gave us this sympathetic motion in the actor’s face which allowed us to translate the performance to the character and make each frame more believable.” 

Karen Idelson The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences handed out its Technical Achievement awards on Friday night, with Sébastien Deguy, Christophe Soum, Sylvain Paris and Nicolas Wirrmann for Adobe Substance 3D Designer software among those honored. It was the first time since 2019 that the awards were given. Iain Neil received the Gorden E.

The U.S. Copyright Office has decided that a comic book created with an artificial intelligence program can have a copyright registration. But the office also said individual AI-generated images couldn’t be granted protection, according to a Wall St. Journal report.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer After struggling to re-create the magic of the “Harry Potter” film franchise with the lackluster spinoff trilogy “Fantastic Beasts,” Warner Bros. has finally struck galleons anew with its latest piece of Wizarding World IP: video game “Hogwarts Legacy.” The action role-playing game, produced by Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software, has clicked with Potterheads since its Feb. 10 release. Sales figures are yet to come, but it’s clear from the buzz factor and other measures — including sales charts in Japan, the U.K. and Europe — that fans are engaged. For one, the arrival of the game spurred the highest traffic in the “Harry Potter” community on fan platform Fandom in more than seven years.

Berlinale Series Market’s annual project pitching event, “Tipping Point” walked off Tuesday morning with the Series Mania Award. The prize is an invitation to the production’s team to present again at the industry centrepiece at next month’s Lille-based get-together, the Series Mania Forum’s Co-Pro Pitching Sessions. “Tipping Point” joins 15 other projects as a sixteenth project presented out of competition in partnership with the Berlinale Co-Production Market.  Set in the extraordinary Svalbard – an archipelago half way between the northern coast of Norway and the North Pole, it  turns on a feisty young eco-activist at constant odds with her father, an oil exec, until he is murdered. Teaming with some of his friends to investigate his death, she discovers another man from the one she knew, as she chases a stolen software which could solve climate crisis or destroy the world.

Marta Balaga Berlinale’s Co-Pro Series title “Tipping Point” heads to the end of the world – Svalbard – to tell a story of a young activist at war with her oil exec father, until he is murdered.  Chasing a piece of stolen software which can be used either to destroy the world or improve it, just like the atomic bomb, she is investigating his death. A ReelMedia (Finland) and Maipo Film (Norway) production, it’s set to start shooting in 2024.  “In Svalbard, there are scientists, spies, military attaches, environmentalists, miners. Polar bears and even a statue of Lenin, because no one bothered to take it down. You can’t make it up,” laughs head writer Brendan Foley, promising the location will keep the tale “contained.”

Those who use Windows 10 or Windows 11 have been issued a warning to make sure that their computers are up-to-date following a recent upgrade.

The latest Samsung Galaxy S23 devices went on sale in UK retailers today (February 17) and are the first big tech drop of the year so far. As the S23 series overtakes the newest range of smartphones, Currys has dropped the price of the older S21 model.

Love Island fans have said they have a 'weird feeling' after picking up on remarks made by one of the new islanders who will be calling the main villa home following the dramatic Casa Amor recoupling. The original contestants were split earlier this week when the girls were sent off to a secondary villa for the annual relationship test.

since it filed suit in November 2021.Dominion says Fox defamed it by allowing guests like attorney Sidney Powell and Trump advisor Rudy Giuliani to repeatedly appear in the weeks after the Nov. 2020 election, suggesting that Dominion’s software was compromised to digitally tilt the election to Biden.A necessary pillar of any defamation case is showing “actual malice” – meaning the plaintiff must be proven to have known it was spreading harmful untruths.

An attorney for Josh Duggar is seeking to reverse his conviction for downloading child pornography. Attorneys for both Duggar and the U.S.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief As the Berlin Film Festival and its accompanying European Film Market get under way at near normal levels for the first time since 2020, some things that seem new and different may not be. The ticketing system for festival and EFM badge holders has moved online and represents a new and frustrating institution for many participants this year – but it was in fact introduced in 2022, when the festival operated at a COVID-impacted smaller scale and the official market was held entirely online.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Giant screen systems company Imax has struck an expanded deal with Indonesia’s leading cinema operator to instal an additional ten Imax Laser-equipped theaters. When fulfilled, the agreement will mean the doubling of the Imax and Cinema XXI footprint in the populous southeast Asian country. The first four of the new systems will be located at the Summarecon Mall in Bandung, the Icon Bali in Denpasar, the Aeon Mall in Deltamas and the Thamrin Nine complex in Jakarta. The rollout of the additional six theatres will continue into 2027.

Internet Explorer users could be blocked from using the browser as Microsoft releases a major update to permanently disable its software.

A student used online bot system ChatGPT to write an essay for university and was shocked to discover it had passed with a 2:2 grade. Pieter Snepvangers was curious about whether or not the artificial intelligence app would be clever enough to write university-standard essays and if so, could be used to cheat on future assignments, the Mirror reports.

A Scots council at the centre of a child protection storm has branded "twisted" after claiming primary kids who saw images of a sex act on a school laptop weren't exposed to pornography.

The Motion Picture Association is upgrading a platform and services that assess content security safeguards of producers and their suppliers.

Experts have issued a warning over smart speakers, as they say that the devices are 'always on, always listening and sometimes watching'. Smart speakers - which primarily play music - are clever devices which can source information from the web and can even do your online shopping for you.

A Scottish council has launched an investigation after children were reportedly exposed to hardcore porn on school-issued laptops. Kids at a primary school in the Highland Council area saw the X-rated images after clicking on an advert in a webpage in their classroom.

A double murder accused wept as he told a jury how he was “apocalyptically angry” in the moments before he repeatedly struck a mum with a hammer.

A list of popular apps have been removed from the Google Play store as Android owners are being urged to delete them immediately.

A new crop of faces has been revealed for the upcoming season of Survivor.

Aberdeen are looking for their 26th permanent manager after the axe fell yet again at Pittodrie with Jim Goodwin the latest to fail to meet the expectations in the north east.

Disney CEO Bob Iger has joined with four other prominent businessmen to take a small stake in venture firm Thrive Capital.

The Walt Disney World attraction Flight of Passage features some creatures in this movie and the beach setting. Was that ride priming the pump for “Avatar: The Way of Water?”We knew what we were doing on the movie and at Lightstorm, my company, a lot of the creative people that were about to move onto “The Way of Water” worked on the ride Disney’s group, Imagineering. We actually merged the two groups together, the Imagineering team with the robotics and the show ride staff, and our team for the film software and the design.People that go to this movie who have been on the ride are going to say, “Oh yeah.”“Oh yeah, I’ve seen some of this stuff.” Yeah.

Trying to make a good first impression during a job interview can be very difficult.

The jaw-dropping future is here!

The government of Belarus has passed a law that permits the use of media and intellectual property, such as computer software, in the country without the consent of copyright holders from “unfriendly” foreign nations.

Amazon has issued a stark warning to all of its customers to be aware of cyber thieves during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year.

Android users have been warned to check any apps that they've recently downloaded from the Google Play store as they contain malicious software.

Doctors were forced to keep patient records on pieces of paper and emails after a huge cyber attack crippled critical Scots NHS systems.

When moviegoers head to theaters to experience Indiana Jones 5, they will see a “de-aged” Harrison Ford, according to director James Mangold.

Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions has ended and after six games the winner was crowned. Amy Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California, won the tournament beating Andrew He and Sam Buttrey.

Mike Gauyo (Insecure, Ginny & Georgia) and co-showrunner of ALLBLK network series Send Help, with industry training platform Stage 32 open submissions for the third year of the Black Boy Writes & Black Girl Writes Mentorship Initiative under the Black Boy Writes Media banner. 

A new intern position will allow a young person to gain experience in peatland restoration.

John Fetterman is a trust fund kid. He took money from his parents deep into middle age when he decided finally what he would like to do with the rest of his life, which is to be the U.S. senator from Pennsylvania.The problem is fate intervened and he can now no longer speak.