The Oscars Are Coming ...

Selflessly and without hope of praise or adulation, The Optimist has been trekking back and forth to the Cinema in a bid to see this year's Oscars forerunners - so that you, readers, can enjoy this award favourites special. Please, don't thank me.

21st Century Artistry

The Great Gatsby VFX from Chris Godfrey on Vimeo.

Continuing The Optimist's obsession with all things Gatsby (just finished reading the book - glorious, as expected) it was impossible not to post this video showcasing some of the film's extraordinary visual FX and the unseen trickery that goes into making them. (Be warned, there are a few very subtle spoilers in there.) Anyone who's seen Gatsby will know that Luhrmann's heavily stylised backdrops dominate the film but the CGI goes further than you might think - it seems a lot of the less ostentatious sets were illusions too. Isn't it incredible the level of detail that can be created artificially these days? It must be said that while I'm still a strong advocate of in-camera effects, some VFX artists truly live up to their title.

The Great Gatsby

I've long been a fan of Baz Luhrmann's work and after repeated watchings of the trailers for his adaptation of classic American novel The Great Gatsby, I was expecting a film with the director's trademark visual flamboyance. Suffice to say, I was far from disappointed on this front. Gatsby is, in a word, gorgeous.