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Finale for Final Fantasy Studio

Posted by timothy on from the roll-credits dept.

polar_bear` writes: "Looks like the folks who animated 'Final Fantasy' are on their way out of business. Salon has the scoop. Despite being visually stunning and fairly entertaining, it didn't manage to bring in enough bucks to cover production -- even though Aki Ross was hot enough to make Maxim's 'Hot 100' for 2001. Square Co. is looking for a buyer for the Honolulu-based movie production unit. Anybody have several hundred million dollars I could borrow?"

4 of 162 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Why setup a production house on an island? by Guppy06 · · Score: 5, Informative

    "But why did they have the whole org on an island in the Pacific?"

    Because it's cheaper to fly to Hawaii from either side of the Pacific than to cross it. Travel time from the contiguous US and from Japan is about the same.

  2. FF in name only... by gnovos · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My problem with the movie was that there was the *name* Final Fantasy, but had none of the elements of a typical Final Fantasy game. Where were the swords? Where were the airships, the "Guardian Forces" or "Aeons" (or whatever they are called), where was the magic? The Chocobos?

    --
    "Your superior intellect is no match for our puny weapons!"
  3. how it all came together - from a 3d person's POV by the_tallman · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I am a 3d modeler/animator by trade and I have to say that Final Fantasy is exactly what I've been waiting for. Too many 3d animation movies are geared towards kids because of the cost of making one of these films. They only way they can guarantee that a 3d animated movie will cover its costs is by developing it for the largest market available - children. The 3d environment offers something that no other medium offers - photo realism without the constrains of the physical world. Stop animation comes close to this but in the end you're still held back by having to support your model's weight through trickery. The 3d environment can be a place for the wildest fantasies we can imagine to be visually realized. Unfortunately movie studios still have to be worried wether or not the main character will make the side of a Burger King cup.

    I think Final Fantasy fell flat in the method that they used for animating the characters. Traditional 3d animation studios such as Pixar and Dreamworks videotape the actors saying their lines. The actors' key facial poses are then incorporated by the lead animators into the library of expressions. When you watch Scully from Monsters Inc. smile; it looks and acts like John Goodman for a reason. This also helps the character fit the voice. The Final Fantasy team had three actors fill the shoes of one character. The voices were done by the big name actors (ie Steve Buscemi), the body motion was done with motion capture for the most part, and the facial expressions were done by the lead animators looking at themselves in mirrors. The characters fall flat, to me, as a result.

    I would really like to see some sci-fi or horror brought to the screen via 3d animation but for now I think we're stuck with whatever fits on a Happy Meal. Our only hope is mid range budget studios similar to those of the 70's that produced great original horror movies such as "Phantasm" and 'Night of the Living Dead". They are the only film makers with enough freedom and money to do what they want, and do it well.

    --
    There is no graceful way to eat an egg salad sandwich.
  4. CGI existed before the 60s... by wadetemp · · Score: 5, Informative

    You're somewhat misinformed then. Some of the first computer generated images were produced in the early 50s on vectorscopes, and were used in the first CAD at that time. By the 60s, CGI was used for movie intros (Vertigo, 1961.) The first computer art competiton was in 1963, as was the first computer generated film. For more info, see the historical timeline of computer graphics and animation.