by Lidia Paulinska | Nov 8, 2015
In 1983, a long time before Hollywood audiences fell in love with Computer Generating Imagery, also commonly known as “CGI”, the first experiment in a commercial motion picture film that combined live action and archival footage took place. This happened in Woody Allen’s groundbreaking film, “Zelig”, which he wrote, directed and starred in. Allen was the first filmmaker to use CGI in his production, which would be the beginnings of CGI, which would transform films into places we’ve never been before. CGI would forever assist the filmmaker in making his historical storytelling credible to all audiences.
“Zelig”, which is no doubt one of his most brilliant storytelling gems from Allen’s catalog of films is about a freak documentary about Leonard Zelig, who has paranormal abilities, like a chameleon who changes himself just by looking at someone; for example, in a presence full of Chinese people, he would change right before your eyes and become Chinese. The culmination scene is when Leonard one day disappears all of the sudden under unclear circumstances, and the psychologist, played by Mia Farrow, who is in love with him, and has been desperately searching for him until she saw him in the movie theatre movie screen, that was screening news from the world. At that moment, Leonard is standing amongst the crowd of people saluting the Adolf Hitler in Nazis Germany. Here is a beginning of a new computer technique that allowed Leonard to be pasted in the archive footage of that time.
The next major motion picture production using CGI was “Forrest Gump, directed by Robert Zemeckis, a story about a not very intelligent man that by accident became involved in historical events. The film won six Academy Awards, and many scenes would be never forgotten, as well as memorable quotes: “Life is like a box of chocolates…you never know what you’re gonna get.”. Forrest Gump was full of historical figures like JFK, Nixon or Elvis Presley. After the critical and commercial artistic success of “Forrest Gump”, CGI became the King of Hollywood.
“Zelig” was a black and white movie because the computer technology did not advanced to the point to solve matching colors. Ten years after “Zelig” was made, Forrest Gump made that possible.
However, computer technology is not that simple that can be seen from outside. It takes time and effort to build it. The producers of the last American hit, “Avengers”, were sharing their challenges, especially with the battle scene on the street of the city. The main characters were created in the computer and then carefully applied to match against the panoramic view of New York where the film was shot. Matching the colors became the ultimate challenge to the point that was easier to build the city on the computer. The production took one year.
Nothing easier is with animation movies that seem to be under full control of graphic computer designers. Building the reality using the CGI has the limitations as movement, gestures and mimic of the human face. But there are no doubts that technology is more and more advanced.
However, manipulation with computer images would not replace what is cinema about – the story.
The new HBO production “Hemingway and Gellhorn”, which was first aired on HBO on May 2012, utilized the archive footage from the domestic war in Spain, the Japanese invasion in China, and finally the Hemingways’ home in Cuba. Directed by Philip Kaufman, film is a saga about Hemingway and his third wife, Martha Gellhorn, starring Cliff Owen and Nicole Kidman.
According to the movie it was Hemingway, who made Gellhorn a full pledge war correspondent (describe what you see your own eyes, Gellhorn) and had a big influence on her writing. In exchange she was credited for inspiring him to write a novel “For Whom the Bell Tolls”. Serving as a reporter in Spain in 1936 was just beginning of her carrier which she became dedicated to the rest of her life. She went to Spain, China, Finland, Hong Kong, Burma, Singapore and Britain. She became more obsessed with it that Hemingway who, while she was away, stayed in their house nearby Havana, Cuba and was sending angry letters to her “Are you a war correspondent or my wife?”.
Now nearly everything that Hollywood produces is mainly CGI, most of them sacrificing the stories. However, CGI, can truly enhance films. They are essential tools that need brilliant filmmakers who have a real historical story to tell, like Woody Allen, Robert Zemeckis, or Philip Kaufman.
by Lidia Paulinska | Nov 8, 2015
In the last five years, the word “smart” was used to describe a device that combines few functions; the primary function connected to the internet. For example, a smartphone or smart TV. However, smart means much more than that. This word is associated with the ability to analyze and make decisions. That’s why in the not too distant future these devices will be equipped with some intelligence and calling them smart will be precise and accurate.
The foundation is there. Two significant events took place during the last three years. In 2011, the computer machine called “Watson”, invented by IBM, won the American television show “Jeopardy”. For the first time, the machine defeated the human in a contest of mind exercises. IBM tends to challenge the existing technology about once a decade. In 2006, a few engineers noticed that Ken Jennings was accumulating long victories on “Jeopardy”. They thought it would be interesting to make a computer system that could challenge the best human expert in the show. The challenges for the computer were: working with human languages, applying probabilities to the responses, selecting the best answer, all within the 3 seconds allowed for a buzz-in and before the human contestants.
After 5 years of development, Watson was ready to pick up the fight and win!
The second event took place in 2012, when a driverless Google car completed over 300.000 driving miles (500.000 kilometers) accident free. As a result, three U.S. states: California, Nevada and Florida have passed laws permitting driverless cars on their roads. In March 2012, Google posted a YouTube video showing a Morgan Hill, California, resident, Steve Mahan being taken aboard on the self-driving Toyota Prius. In the video, Mahan who is 95% blind was taken from his home to the dry cleaners and then back home.
Creating artificial intelligence is possible by using many sensors that are built into a device. Those sensors collect the data and based on the information the computer system makes the decisions. The more sensors that are built into the device, the more factors are analyzed; therefore more precise and accurate decisions are made.
In addition, the sensors that are built into the cars collect and provide the information not only about consumption of gas or malfunction but also defines the drive style based on analyzing many factors. So if the owner of the car will allow the insurance company to have access to this information, he or she can claim a better insurance package.
In the near future, this data will become the new currency.
by Lidia Paulinska | Nov 7, 2015
As part of a valuable cultural service, Fathom Events presented Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners,The Importance of Being Earnest at selected theaters in the U.S. for a one-night-only screening November 3, 2015. The performance was a filmed live production on October 8th, 2015 at London’s Vaudeville Theatre in commemoration of the play’s 120th anniversary.
As an iconic “comedy of manners” and one of the funniest plays in the English language, “Earnest” exaggerates the absurd superficiality of upper-class Victorian society, emphasizing the “importance of being earnest,” with “earnestness” having the connotation of intense conviction, dependability, and unflappable honesty. Being earnest was an integral part of the moral code of honor nominally practiced by upper-class Victorians. However, in practice, Wilde reminds us, “In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity is the vital thing.”
The primary comic conceit in Wilde’s play deals with his clever use of the word earnest used both as an adjective in the afore mentioned sense, and Ernest as a noun…capitalized, minus the “a”, and being a proper man’s name. The confusion and interchangeability of the names between the two main characters, Algernon and Jack, the latter professing to be “…Ernest in town and Jack in the country,” forms the core of the play’s driving force of satire and duplicity, and an irony based on the characters’ violation of the very essence of being earnest through their abiding dishonesty. Jack is certainly not earnest when he pretends to be Earnest in the city but “Jack” in the country and the wit continues unabated throughout this Victorian romp.
Deftly directed by Adrian Noble (Amadeus, The King’s Speech) with a pitch-perfect cast featuring the incomparable David Suchet (Agatha Christie’s Poirot), as the irrepressible, irascible Lady Bracknell, The Importance of Being Earnests is rollicking high farce and wit at it’s very finest. Algernon is in love with Cecily, Jack is smitten by Gwendolyn, and both are forced to adopt the names “Ernest” because the objects of their affections cannot tolerate a man with any name other than “Ernest.”
Ironically of course, they forego the moral code of honesty associated with earnestness in order to satisfy their romantic interests. However, all is resolved in the end and the two couples are joined to live happily ever after.
In the final scene of the play, Lady Bracknell comments to Jack, “My nephew, you seem to display signs of triviality,” to which Jack replies as he and Gwendolyn happily exit stage left arm-in-arm, “On the contrary, Aunt Augusta, I’ve now realized for the first time in my life the vital Importance of Being Earnest.”
Curtain.
Review by Lidia Paulinska and Hugh McMahon
by Lidia Paulinska | Oct 23, 2015
“Revelations,” Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s great masterpiece of modern American dance, was presented last evening along with three other spirited works for a one-night-only screening at selected cinema’s throughout the country, compliments of Fathom Events and Lincoln Center at the Movies: Great American Dance Series.
Alvin Ailey (1931-1989) founded AAADT in 1958 in New York City and it rightfully enjoys the distinction of being the first predominantly African-American modern dance company in the world. Ailey once remarked that he believed America’s richest treasures are to be found in our African-American cultural heritage … “sometimes sorrowful, sometimes jubilant, but always hopeful,” and indeed nowhere else in the vast panoply of the American dance tradition is that assessment more profoundly expressed than in his magnificent “Revelations,” Ailey’s 1960 paean to the rich spiritual tradition of the African-American experience in the gospel South.
“Revelations” is at once ritualistically soulful and rhythmically complex, incorporating as it’s musical motive force an array of deeply moving and spirited African-American gospel music and holy sermon blues reflecting the Black experience in America.
Ailey once described “Revelations” as a visceral recollection of a childhood in rural Texas during the Great Depression. It is a dance of deep human compassion, moving by turns from mournful oppression and sin (“Baked and I Been Beaten”) to redemption (“Fix Me Jesus”) and finally to ecstatic jubilation (“I Wanna Be Ready”), fostering a sense of reverent and rapturous community and inviting the audience to join in the redemptive celebration at evening’s end. And it is perhaps this vital sense of community, the immediacy of the connection Ailey creates between performer and audience,that has contributed to the enduring success of this masterpiece for fifty-five years … and running.
Complimenting this thematic content, one will find in the very make-up of the ensemble a communal structure. For example, what will not be found in Ailey’s troupe of highly trained performers is a prima ballerina or her male counterpart, a premier danseur, “star” principal dancers like those found in classical ballet companies such as the New York City Ballet or the Bolshoi, whose traditions and techniques date back to the 17th Century royal courts of Europe.
Another distinguishing feature of AAADT and modern dance in general which dramatically sets it apart from the classical tradition is not only a more “democratic” sense of ensemble, but also it’s musical sources (by contrast, the ballet typically utilizes works by such composers as Bach,Tchaikovsky, and others). Most obviously however is Ailey’s basic movement techniques and patterns, emphasizing linear line, horizontal “grounded” movement, and intertwining body images as opposed to the two dominant values found in classical ballet: jumps and leaps or so-called ballon, creating the illusion of the dancers momentarily floating in the air, and the tradition of performing with “turned out” hips and legs with the full weight of the body concentrated on the tips of fully extended feet, creating an unmistakable vertical line.
The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre’s iconic “Revelations” has been best described by The New York Times as being one of the great works of the human spirit.” It stands resolutely for what is good about America and humanity in general, and for this reason alone it’s immortality is assured.
Review by Lidia Paulinska and Hugh McMahon
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 30, 2015
This is just a beginning of our journey with wireless. It is taking over very quickly. It has transform the world and our economy. Wireless is what we relate to and interact with the world. Wireless is undeniable platform of the future for innovation.
In 1926 Nikola Tesla uttered these visionary words. “When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. And the instruments through which we shall be able to do this will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone.”
Today, 90 years after Tesla’s prediction, wireless has revolutionized our world. Every morning more than one of third of us reach for our smartphone. 81 % of us keep our phone by our side all day long. Wireless is taking over. 75 % of our social network time is spent on mobile devices. Mobile influenced sales in stores has reached nearly $600 Million. Additionally, 6 out of 10 smartphone users looked up a health condition on the phone in the past year, so it is not just for retail.
Does anyone remember how our office desk was crowded in the past? It looked like a cluster of equipment including a computer, a keyboard, a mouse, fax machine and phone; along with necessary things as such: a contacts book, a calendar, a calculator and others? On the wall above a desk was a board with emergency contact information and a schedule for the week, finishing the office décor was a hanging memorable picture? Nowadays, the memories are faded. Today our desk cluster is replaced by smartphone with hundreds of applications.
Did you know that all the photos ever taken on film are outnumbered by digital pictures taken just this year?
And today we are standing on the crest of another revolution. Wireless not just connect the people, wireless will be connecting everything. A remarkable 4G platform already gave us a glimpse for the future by introducing us to Internet of Things. Today nearly quarter of mobile traffic comes from something other than a phone. At The CTIA conference in Las Vegas this year an introduction to 5G was taken place what means more wireless data traffic. Soon 99 % of the objects in our physical world will be wirelessly connected.
This will have machines talking to each other to bring together the comfort of our home, automobile, work, play, entertainment, hobbies, shopping, health and provide information on what to do next. The wireless revolution is just starting as it shifts from people as the communication starters to products and appliances that need to talk 24/7 and update all the devices that will be needed next based on your activity. Mobile, health, connected home, and energy drive the next marketplace for the wild world of wireless.
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 21, 2015
September 2015 – At the CTIA Super Mobility event in Las Vegas we met with the representatives of Lunatik and had a chance to see their new products for support of the Apple iWatch. The company has been around for several years making innovative protection products for the mobile marketplace all with a high degree of style and precision manufacturing. The Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Scott Wilson, is an American entrepreneur and award-winning designer, best known for simultaneously sparking the crowdfunding and wearables movements with his 2010 TikTok+Lunatik Kickstarter project.
The premier product they were showing us this year as the new Epik case and band for the current 42mm Apple watch. The Epik watch kit products are available in two different basic materials, a polycarbonate case and an aircraft grade aluminum versions. The aluminum version, which we tested, is available in both a base “silver” aluminum color and a black coated aluminum version. We tested the black version with the black leather band, the watch kit is also available with a metal link bracelet.
As the watch kit is designed for the fairly large 42mm Apple watch, the kit is fairly heavy (36g) and adds additional dimension to the watch. The black powder coated design with the black leather band is targeted at the male user community and makes a strong visual statement. It is also targeting use by physically larger individuals (over 5’8”) who have a large frame and wrist size to allow the 2.17” case to sit flat on their arm. 
To supplement the aluminum case, the kit features stainless steel buttons, control/scrolling crown, and assembly screws for strength and durability. The watch kit does not include a top cover for the watch to minimize bulk, but is compatible with the majority of edge-to-edge screen protection products that are approved for the iWatch.
The retail box comes with an installation guide in the box that has both illustrations and words. It however, does not include directions on how to remove the watch module from the original band provided by Apple, but that step should be self-explanatory.
The watch kit has a number of subtle design elements, beveled edges, smooth corners, rolled lips on the top of the case and smooth easy to make adjustments and action on the strap and the connection to the case. The design is not just functional but enhances the artistic design to a standard format digital watch. The watch kit is currently available direct from Lunatik and other retail outlets.
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 15, 2015
September 2015 – There were many booths with phone & tablet accessories at CTIA 2015 show but some of those accessories deserve to be noticed. The retractable headphone case for iPhone 6 produced by Turtle Cell is one of the interesting high quality products with a good price point. The product is already at the market for the iPhone and will soon be available for the Samsung Galaxy S6. The case has a high quality finish and feel with an easy to grip pattern in four colors: gold, silver, black and red. It is a solid feeling design and its integrated kickstand is easy to operate. For the audio connection it has a button for the headphone control. It has a switch to disconnect the headphones while still in the case that let you use the iPhone as a speakerphone or hold it against your head as normal. Sound quality is exceptional from the earbuds due to the design with neodymium driver which offers a full 20kHz response, full CD sound range. For 
normal phone applications, it delivers a clear voice while talking. The package mentioned that the product is drop resistance but there is no certification rating. The retail box consists of: a case with headphones, instructions, extra ear tip, photos on the box how to use it and a quick illustration guide without words. Overall, the Retractable Headphone Case for iPhone 6 produced by Turtle Cell is very well made, feels good to the touch and deliver good sound to the ears.
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 1, 2015
August 2015, Siggraph – Two panelists came from Amsterdam to attend Siggraph 2015 and at the Lenovo’s panel share discussion about their new project. Tim Geurtjens and Gijs Van Der Velden are co-founders of MX3D, a company researching and developing groundbreaking robotic 3D printing technology. They developed 3D large scale printers that allowed printing large structures and different materials including plastic, stainless steel and aluminum. Tim and Gijs recently came up with an ambitious plan to build a steel bridge over the canal in Amsterdam. Geurtjens confessed that idea of building a bridge using 3-D printing techniques started with frustration about the 3D printing market. “We use 3D printers all the time, but they make only the small parts. We asked the companies that manufacture 3-D printers to develop printers for large parts but the companies were not interested in developing them” said Guertjens, “so we decided to do it on our own.”
Tim and Gijs discussed their plan to build a 3D printed steel bridge over the canal in Amsterdam. “We want to show the world what that technique could do”. The founders of MX3D are getting government support for this project as the city officials are really interested in presenting Amsterdam as an innovative and progressive city. Even though they invented the technology, they estimate that it will take them a year to understand fully, the capacity and the limits of their technology in an outdoor application and do a design. The starting date is set for spring 2017 and with an estimate to take 3-4 months to print the bridge. The most interesting thing about this 3-D image technique is that we can not only print the building as a new object, but we can use the multi-robots in the system to build in place from an existing structure. In that case, the projects can be of unlimited size” said Geutjens.
Using these 3D printing techniques, it is possible to recreate things. Geurtjens sees the printers as an extension of the existing techniques. Currently, there is a Chinese company that is us using additive manufacturing to print buildings, but it is more efficient and most appreciated, if we use the technology to create additional decorative pieces. It is well known that decoration is the heart of architecture. The use of computers and printers allows these designs to be extravagant, as it does not matter how complex the pieces are. Why use traditional techniques if we can add to them with the time and money consuming details?
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 1, 2015
August 2015, Siggraph – Chris Edwards is the Founder and CEO of The Third Floor, the world’s leading pre-visualization studio services up to 40 major studio feature films each year. He is also Co-Founder/CEO of The VR Company. In addition to the two companies, he has extended his qualifications into the content area. Over the last 10 years he has been building a massive database of 3D assets, and servicing the world’s top Directors. He began his career in digital cinematography at Disney Studio and then he worked for George Lucas at Skywalker Ranch. His credits include Marvel franchises like Avengers and X-Men, the new Godzilla and Gravity.
“In the previsualization studio, we are working in real time to create scenes ahead of production, so a director can try one and have other options to choose from” said Edwards. . He explained that his company helps incubate concepts and package production for VR. The studio is experimenting with master layer imagery, which is combining CGI with live action photography for VR.
“Every time you go to see the Broadway play you feel like you are transformed by this amazing experience. We need to bring back that kind of language. Before we had cinema”, he continued, “we had a rectangle on the wall to display, dream, and still entertain us. That was called theater or play or some performance. It usually happened in front of the audience. The actors stayed sometimes on the front, or they go around. When you see Cirque du Soleil they come from above. The director uses all the tricks that work: sound design, blocking the characters and how they move around you, and lighting.”
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 1, 2015
August 2015, Siggraph – David Karlak, a filmmaker based in Los Angeles, sees VR as an extension of the dreams that we have always had. He predicts that beyond VR, there will be additional technologies that will give us more immersive experiences. These experiences will include characteristics and senses from the physical world, such as smell. The opinion of the panel was that VR is not a necessity to be pushing innovation, but it is instead a wish fulfilling technology. For now, access to VR is not affordable to 99% of the world, but over time it will be more popularized and democratized.
Karlak has been exploring the confluence of virtual reality and science fiction cinema. He directed the short film “Candidate” that created a lot of buzz in the industry. Following this success, he raised funds on Kickstarter for his next project “Rise”, a film about a robot revolution in the future, told from the perspective of the robots. He sold the original story concept to Warner Brothers. Soon after sale of “Rise”, he sold a second original pitch titled “Outliers” to 20th Century Fox.
When he talked about VR he reminded the audience about the scene from “Reservoirs Dogs” by Quentin Tarantino. There was a scene in the film where all the characters were sitting on the table and the cameras was on a dolly which was rotating from one character to another. Having that camera calling out the characters in that moment is like having a camera on the table. “It actually make things simpler”, said Karlak . ”There is more emphasis on blocking of your actions in oppose to blocking of the camera. The camera in some ways disappeared leaving the viewer deeply immersed in the dialog and action of the scene.” He sees VR as alternative to Facebook or Instagram. People instead on spending time posting on social media, they will be “physically immersed” and connected in VR.
by Lidia Paulinska | Sep 1, 2015
August 2015, Siggraph – Allen Bolden, CGI artist and visual effects veteran with credits including “Marvel’s The Avengers,” “Iron Man” and other blockbuster productions, agreed that everyone has a dream or story in their head. He recently developed a real time intelligence system named Tina to help those dreams or stories to get out to the screen. He worked on that program for the last 10 years and now gets “textual input, visual output”.
“My team”, explained Allen, “took all those tedious things and put it into this simple program. For example, if we type “bowl on the table”, the software creates a CGI image of a bowl and of a table. The beauty is the more you work with Tina, she learns more about you and your preferences. Tina is an intelligent work companion that is handy and works with us towards our goals. People see things in subjective ways, so the CGI image can be different from what they expected. There is a way to change the image and improve program to make the image the way we like it.
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