February 24, 2012

Animated Short “Tangled Ever After” With “Beauty and the Beast” 3D


Walt Disney Pictures has announced that "Tangled Ever After," the short film follow-up to their 2010 hit animated feature “Tangled” will be an added attraction to “Beauty and the Beast” 3D when it opened in the Philippines  February 22.

By popular demand, directors Nathan Greno and Byron Howard are bringing back some of Disney’s most beloved characters when "Tangled Ever After" picks up where "Tangled" left off. The Kingdom is in a festive mood as everyone gathers for the royal wedding of Rapunzel and Flynn. However, when Pascal and Maximus, as flower chameleon and ring bearer, respectively, lose the gold bands, a frenzied search and recovery mission gets underway. As the desperate duo tries to find the rings before anyone discovers that they’re missing, they leave behind a trail of comical chaos that includes flying lanterns, a flock of doves, a wine barrel barricade and a very sticky finale. Will Maximus and Pascal save the day and make it to the church in time? And will they ever get Flynn’s nose right?
 
 
"Tangled Ever After" is the perfect accompaniment to "Beauty and the Beast", which is returning to the big screen in Disney Digital 3D and introducing a whole new generation to the Disney classic with stunning new 3D imagery. “Beauty and the Beast” was nominated for six Academy Awards, winning Oscars for Best Song, by the renowned Alan Menken and Howard Ashman, and Best Original Score (Menken).

“Beauty and the Beast” 3D is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures

February 23, 2012

Cyndi Lauper, coming back to Manila!

cyndi-lauper-live-in-manila
Cyndi Lauper, the original pop superstar is coming back to Manila on March 17, 2012, 6pm to perform and be back in 80's at  Smart Araneta Coliseum, Cubao, Quezon City. Let's sing, dance and reminisce on her hit songs like Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, Money Changes Everything, She-Bop, True Colors, Time After Time and lots more!

Cynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper (born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, actress. Cyndi Lauper was one of the biggest stars of the early MTV era, selling five million copies of her debut album, She's So Unusual, as well as scoring a string of four Top Ten hits from the record, including the major hits "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time."  She's one of the most distinctive images of the early '80s because of her girlish voice and gleefully appearance. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album. The Top 5 hits "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun", "She Bop", "All Through the Night" and number-one single "Time After Time" became some of the most important and influential singles of the 80s.




Ticket Prices:
Patron A – P 5,500
Paton B – P5,000
Lower VIP – P4,500
Lower Box – P4,000
Upper Box A – P2,500
Upper Box B – P1250
Gen Ad – P750
Call Ticketnet at 911-5555 or visit your nearest TICKETNET outlets in all SM Dept. Stores.


Apl.de.ap solo album to feature Bruno Mars, Charice


Apl.de.ap is working on his solo album, which will count with the participation of  Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Fil-Am    Bruno Mars, International pop star Charice  and Filipino Youtube discovery Arjohn Gilbert.

Apl.de.ap gave this announcement during an interview at San Miguel Corporation, in Ortigas Center, where he formally signed a contract of sponsorship with the brand San Miguel Beer.

The deal will have apl appearing in an SMB Pale Pilsen TV commercial with TV host/actress Kris Aquino.



The agreement includes Apl’s appearance at a television advertisement, and besides, SMB and San Miguel Foundation will make a partnership with Apl at his project. Apl’s project aims to build 10.000 classrooms for Philippine poor children (We Can Be Anything).

Apl.de.ap comes back to the US on Sunday, but it’s expected that he will come back to Philippines to work at his solo album.


Check this out and enjoy this video.

WeCanBeAnything is an education advocacy campaign, born of a partnership between the Apl.de.Ap Foundation (AdAF) and the Ninoy and Cory Aquino Foundation (NCAF).

The campaign was conceived after apl.de.ap (a.k.a. Allan Pineda), the Filipino-American member of the world-famous Black Eyed Peas, expressed his desire to help improve the education situation in the Philippines.


Black Eyed Peas - The Apl Song

Lapit mga kaibigan at makinig kayo
Ako’y may dala-dalang, balita galing sa bayan ko
Nais kong ipamahagi ang mga kwento
Ang mga pangyayaring nagaganap
Sa lupang pinangako

[English Translation:]
(Come closer my friends and everyone listen
I brought news from my homeland
I’ll tell you how we live and what goes on
From my beloved homeland.)

Every place got a ghetto this is my version
Check it out…
Listen closely yo, I got a story to tell
A version of my ghetto where life felt for real
Some would call it hell but to me it was heaven
God gave me the grace, amazin’ ways of living
How would you feel if you had to catch your meal?
Build a hut to live and to eat and chill in.
Having to pump the water outta the ground
The way we put it down utilizing what is around
Like land for farming, river for fishing
Everyone helpin’ each other whenever they can
We makin’ it happen, from nothin’ to somethin’
That’s how we be survivin’ back in my homeland

[Chorus]

Yo, its been a while but…
I been back home to my homeland, (check it out) to see what’s going on
Man it feels good to be back at home
And it’s been a decade, on the journey all alone
I was fourteen when I first left Philippines
I’ve been away half my life, but it felt like a day
To be next to my mom with her home cooked meal
Meant I felt complete, my emotions I feel!
Now life has changed for me in the U.S
But back at home man, life was a mess…
I guess sometimes life’s stresses gets you down
On your knees, oh brother I wish I could have helped you out…

February 22, 2012

"Titanic 3D" Experience it like never before

image
Directed by James Cameron, the original release of Titanic remained the highest-grossing film of all time for 12 years, until Avatar (also directed by Cameron) surpassed its record in 2010.
The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Cal Hockley (Rose's fiancé)

This 1997 blockbuster film Titanic is coming back to theaters on April 6, 2012 in 3D.


Storyline:
84 years later a 100-year-old woman named Rose DeWitt Bukater tells the story to her granddaughter Lizzy Calvert, Brock Lovett, Lewis Bodine, Bobby Buell, and Anatoly Mikailavich on the Keldysh about her life set in April 10th 1912, on a ship called Titanic when young Rose boards the departing ship with the upper-class passengers and her mother, Ruth DeWitt Bukater, and her fiancé, Caledon 'Cal' Hockley. Meanwhile, a drifter and artist named Jack Dawson and his best friend Fabrizio De Rossi win third-class tickets to the ship in a game. And she explains the whole story from departure until the death of Titanic on its first and last voyage April 15th, 1912 at 2:20 in the morning. 

‘Beauty and the Beast’ 3D


One of the most popular and enduring romantic adventures the world has ever known became one of the most ambitious and entertaining animated motion pictures ever brought to the screen with Walt DisneyPictures’ 30th full-length animated feature, ”Beauty and the Beast” which is coming to Philippine theaters for the first time in 3D.

This classic fairy tale about a beautiful young girl and her encounter with an enchanted beast has long fascinated and intrigued storytellers, filmmakers and their audiences. Through the artistry and imagination of the Disney creative team, an inspired song score by two Academy Award winning songwriters and the contributions of an enormously talented vocal ensemble, this age-old fantasy took on exciting new dimensions that are only possible through the magic of animation.

The “Beauty and the Beast” story is indeed “a tale as old as time” with variations on the central theme going as far back as Greek mythology. In 1550, Italian author Giovan Straparalo wrote the first account of the story as it is generally known. The tale grew in popularity during the 18th century with books by French authors Madam Le Prince De Beaumont and Madame Gabrielle di Villeneuve. In 1946, acclaimed French director Jean Cocteau used cinematic imagery and lyrical expression to bring this story imaginatively to the big screen (“La Belle et la Bete”).

“Doing your own version of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ is as much a tradition as is the story itself,” says producer Don Hahn. “Part of the fun is that each generation and culture adapts this story to be its own. The themes––you can’t judge a book by its cover, and beauty is only skin deep–– are as relevant today as ever.”

Screenwriter Linda Woolverton agrees, “The lessons of this story are truly timeless, especially for kids growing up today. It tells them to look beyond the surface and beyond materialism and that what is in their hearts and souls are the things that really matter.”

The release of “Beauty and the Beast” in 3D comes at a time when both the art of animation and the 3D process are enjoying their greatest popularity.    

Through the magic of Disney and the leaps in modern computer animation technology developed at the Walt Disney Animation Studios, a team of artists, under the guidance of stereographer Robert Neuman, found a way to breathe more dimensional life into “Beauty and the Beast” by turning it into an eye-popping 3D experience.

Numerous and dramatic challenges awaited Neuman and his team. In discussing the complications of making “Beauty and the Beast” into a 3D film, Neuman emphasizes that because there was no dimensional reality in which to put a second camera, he and his team had to invent a brand new set of computer tools that would allow the filmmakers to sculpt depth into the existing images and thereby create a second eye in order for the 3D to be achieved.

“In making a live-action film a director could simply add a second camera to get thesecond eye view,” Neuman says of the task that he and his team faced. He explains that the 3D conversion technique they came up with – pixel displacement – enables the artists to take each image and create a “depth map” that corresponds to that image. “The depth map is simply a grayscale image that allows our artists to sculpt out a relief map – the depth map – of the image. We’re then able to take that, apply it to the original image and displace the pixels to create a second eye view,” he says.

All of the filmmakers and artists who have been involved with the 3D transformation of “Beauty and the Beast” are in unanimous agreement that they take pride in being part of the great legacy of this iconic film. As stereographer Robert Neuman says, “It’s amazing to be able to take these great movies like ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘The Lion King’ and give audiences a new way to see them again. Even if they’re seeing it for the first time, or the one-hundredth time, this is a whole new experience for audiences.”

The computer gives the filmmakers total control over that illusion. Objects that are close up, such as Belle and the Beast dancing, can create a very intimate environment, as though the audience is sitting right there in the scene. Or if a spectacular shot is required, perhaps of the countryside with Maurice going off to sell his inventions, that epic shot is given a more gentle treatment of 3D. Many factors are at play and the story is enhanced by that 3D decision-making. Stereographers like Robert are crucial to the process.

Take for example the famous ballroom sequence. Although spectacular in its original form, Neuman and his team of artists were able to enhance what was already one of animation’s most memorable scenes. “We use 3D to support the storytelling narrative,” Neuman says. “Like any other aspect of film, such as the music score, 3D is used to enhance big emotional moments and to help build up to the emotional climax. For those big moments we expand the 3D. We put more of the three-dimensional effects into it. For the ballroom scene it was vital to have the right sense of scale. We had to show the grandeur, the majesty of this ballroom. The key to it was to enforce the sense of perception of scale.”

Neuman further explains that the “Be Our Guest” number was especially suited to 3D. “Although it was a bigger challenge than the ballroom sequence because there were shots that had hundreds of levels and every level of artwork requires dimensionalizing, if you look at the original staging, the way the things are blocked and choreographed, you see that it already has a sense of dimensionality.”

The filmmakers agree that the techniques that enabled them to create “Beauty and the Beast” in 3D is so new that this could not have been done just five years ago. “The first time we ever did a dimensionalization was on ‘The Nightmare Before Christmas,’” Don Hahn says. “It was hard, very labor-intensive work. The results however were great, but it took a long time and was very expensive. It still takes a long time and it’s very expensive!” Hahn says.

“Beauty and the Beast” was the first hand-drawn film to be dimensionalized into 3D. Disney is the leader in the new technology and regardless of how sophisticated it is, as Hahn says, “It’s important for people to know that it’s not as simple as pushing a button or putting a quarter in a machine and a 3D movies out. It’s all about great artists like Robert Neuman and his crew who must make important creative decisions.”

Opening February 22 across the Philippines, “Beauty and the Beast” is distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures International through Columbia Pictures.

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