Learn The POPOLOGICAL Cinema Effects!

Technology advanced an incredible amount from 2000 to 2010,

camera phones, digital music, blu-ray discs, and of course, Youtube were all invented and developed in this decade. This rapid advancement in technology allowed the VFX industry to evolve quickly too. Here are the Top 10 Innovations of the Naughties!

Cinesite, Digital Color Grading.

Color Grading isn't a new technique, old analog systems were used to provide color continuity throughout the film or to change the environment of a scene, for example, filming a scene at midday and then altering the color grading to make it an evening scene. In the Year 2000, the Coen Brothers produced and directed the film, O Brother, Where Art Thou? Although it was filmed in spring, the Coen Brothers wanted a sepia-tinted autumnal look and feel to the movie. After several unsatisfactory attempts to achieve this physically using chemical processes, they opted to try it digitally.

ILM, Water Simulation.

Water is an incredibly complex fluid and therefore very challenging for a VFX artist to simulate. You can treat it like particles, calculating each individual droplet, however, this isn't possible when simulating large bodies of water because the calculations would just be ridiculous. So when simulating a large body of water you treat it like a mesh, making it ripple, rise and fall, or ebb and flow, but this method doesn't work when a wave breaks or it's windy, because that is when you expect the water to act like particles and create droplets, spray, or mist.

Weta Digital, Crowd Simulation.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy pushed the VFX envelope in many ways but perhaps the biggest industry changer was the creation of Massive. Before Massive, crowds, armies or just general agglomerations of people were either hired extras or CG assets with little or no detail and very little animation, however, for LOTR, Peter Jackson wanted huge armies of soldiers, all fighting independently. To overcome this problem Weta Digital created a software called Multiple Agent Simulation System In Virtual Environment or Massive. Square pictures, Motion Capture. Motion-capture is a technique where an actor wears a motion-capture suit that has tracking markers, their performance is filmed by various different cameras in order to be able to triangulate the position of each marker on the suit. This motion data is then transferred to a CG puppet which then moves exactly as the actor had.

ESC Entertainment, Universal Capture.

In the early 2000s, motion capture wasn't particularly advanced, they could track body movements and translate them to a CG puppet but hand movements and facial expressions couldn't be tracked so easily. This was a problem for the Wachowski brothers who had planned a scene where 100 Agent Smiths fight with Neo.

Sony Pictures Imageworks, Painted Marker Motion Tracking.

In 2004, Warner Bros released The Polar Express, the film had a 100% digital cast almost completely animated by using motion capture. This was made possible by Sony Pictures Imageworks and the first time Painted Marker Motion Tracking was used on a full-length feature film. Here, dots are painted on the actor's face in key positions, in order to capture their performance and emotions.

Digital Backlot. The technique of Chroma Keying,

which is using a blue or green screen to layer one plate of the actor's performance over a secondary plate of a set or background, isn't new, it's been around since the 1930s, but, the technique of creating digital matte paintings or artificial environments for the background plate, or what known as a Digital Backlot, is a lot more modern. Digital Backlots only started to become popular once we had the technology to make them credible.

ILM, IMOCAP.

The second and third Pirates of the Caribbean films required the whole of Davy Jones's crew to be CG monsters, However, the problem was, that these "CG monsters" also had to interact with "normal" actors so ILM decided it needed to use motion-capture, but this also proved problematical. The main problems motion capture had, was that it either had to be done completely separate to principal photography or a long time had to be spent on set rigging up cameras and lighting.

Weta Digital, Facial Performance Capture.

On the 2009 film, Avatar, lead VFX house Weta Digital basically took every VFX innovation on our list and "one uped" it. Digital backlots, Motion-Capture and Simulations, all had to evolve to create this masterpiece. One of the reasons it was a box office hit was that we could empathise with the characters and this was because we could recognise them and their human traits.

Two Powerful girls...

I am so grateful to be a part of making this video happen! And for the opportunity to repeatedly collaborate with the incredibly talented people at the world-class facility that is CHOP, as well as Director, Scott Whitham and Editor, Billy Wood. If you haven't heard about the amazing story of the separation of conjoined twins Addy and Lily and their wonderful parents Dom and Maggie, check it out here! #ChildrensHospitalofPhiladelphia

The Young Medical Genius

Akrit Jaswal (born April 23, 1993) is an Indian adolescent who has been hailed as a child

prodigy who has gained fame in his native India as a physician, despite never having

attended medical school. He gained fame for performing surgery at the age of seven. He

is a Hindu Rajput of Jaswal clan from Punjab.

According to his mother Raksha Kumari Jaswal, Akrit was an early starter, skipped the

toddler stage and started walking. He started speaking in his 10th month and was reading

Shakespeare at the age of 5. At 7, he performed an operation on a 8 year old girl whose

fingers were fused together after being burnt. Akrit developed a passion for science and

anatomy at an early age. Doctors at local hospitals took notice and started allowing him to

observe surgeries when he was 6 years old. Inspired by what he saw, Akrit read everything

he could on the topic. When an impoverished family heard about his amazing abilities, they

asked if he would operate on their daughter for free. Her surgery was a celebrated success.

After the surgery, Akrit was hailed as a medical genius in India. Neighbors and strangers

flocked to him for advice and treatment. At age 11, Akrit was admitted to a Punjab

University. He's the youngest student ever to attend an Indian university. That same year, he

was also invited to London's famed Imperial College to exchange ideas with scientists on

the cutting edge of medical research. Akrit says he has millions of medical ideas, but he's

currently focused on developing a cure for cancer. "I've developed a concept called oral

gene therapy on the basis of my research and my theories", he says, "I'm quite dedicated

towards working on this mechanism."

Growing up, Akrit says he used to see cancer patients lying on the side of the road because

they couldn't afford treatment or hospitals had no space for them. Now, he wants to use his

intellect to ease their suffering. "[I've been] going to hospitals since the age of 6, so I have

seen firsthand people suffering from pain," he says. "I get very sad, and so that's the main

motive of my passion about medicine, my passion about cancer." Currently, Akrit is working

toward a bachelor's degree in zoology, botany and chemistry. Someday, he hopes to

continue his studies at Harvard University.

He became India's youngest university student and is currently studying for a BSc in a

Punjab University, Chandigarh, India. He possesses books such as Gray's Anatomy, and

textbooks on surgery, anaesthesia, anatomy, physiology, cancer, and others. Akrit claims to

have mastered them with his daily habit of studying for an hour.

He has an estimated IQ of 146 from a single test.

Akrit Jaswal is considered to be a reincarnation in his local village. He is consulted by

neighbours and people from surrounding areas regarding ailments, prescriptions and

courses of treatments. He claims to have been working on a cure for cancer for several

years, based on theories of oral gene therapy. However, his work towards a cure for cancer

was criticised by British doctors and researchers since they claim his understanding on the

topic was vague.

In his spare time, Akrit enjoys playing and watching cricket.

Sponsored and mentored by Mr B. R. Rahi, Chairman of Secondary Education in

Dharamshala, Akrit joined Chandigarh College at the age of 12. According to AcchiKhabre,

he is the youngest student ever accepted by an Indian University. His keenness to find a

cure for cancer brought him global attention and admiration. The ‘Firecracker Films’ in 2005

investigated his story and invited him to London to perform tests. They also asked ‘Team

Focus,’ an organization, to assess the intelligence of the 12-year-old boy. He was featured

on The Oprah Winfrey show as ‘ the little genius.’ There were concerns raised about Akrit’s

fame as a child that may actually have been harmful to him, leading to too much pressure

on him as a child. Akrit denied these claims.

Akrit showed interest in science and anatomy as a child. Since he visited hospitals on a

daily basis, he know the pain of patients. He wants to find a cure for cancer and working

towards it. The Chairman of Secondary Education in Dharmasala, mentored and sponsored

him. He joined Chandigarh College University of Punjab at 12, to pursue his degree. He is

the youngest student accepted by Indian university. At 17, he did his Masters degree in

Chemistry. Now, he is studying Bio Engineering at IIT Kanpur. He is focused, confident and

his research to find cure for cancer continues. We wish him a great success in his life!