What a night!
The highly acclaimed ‘Life of Pi’ won an Oscar for visual effects!
The revered statue a.k.a ‘the golden blunt-object which will forever be a weapon against self-doubt’ by the lovely, emotionally-choked Anne Hathaway; (who won best supporting actress for Les Miserables); however, showed that even the winning of the industry’s highest Academy Award does not have the power to shield one from the from the cruel realities of show business.
The oxymoron situation of a losing winner was obvious during the acceptance speech of the visual effects team of LA-based Rhythm & Hues for ‘Life of Pi’.
As Oscar-winning supervisor Bill Westenhofer tried to draw attention to the plight of the beleaguered visual effects industry (in the wake of Rhythm & Hue’s own recent bankruptcy incident), he was promptly cut off by the music band’s foreboding tune of ‘Jaws’.
Not funny at all.
Considered an industry leader, with worldwide offices including Cyberjaya and Mumbai – Rhythm & Hues filed for US’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection recently.
This is despite their dedication and world-class visual effects as seen in highly successful films including The Lord of the Rings trilogy, 300, The Hunger Games, The Golden Compass, Babe… the list goes on.
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| The R&H cast on Oscar night: happy-happy but sad, too |
The harsh reality of the visual effects industry is only more jarring amongst the hundreds of visual effects artists employed behind the scenes to support the glittery and glamorous movie industry.
As more and more are increasingly being laid off or faced with the uncertainty of a non-existing monthly pay cheque, emotions are running high with feelings of unfair treatment.
Although Rhythm & Hues was brushed aside at the Oscars, there is no doubt that the event became an important platform to send out an SOS signal of a distressed California-based visual effects industry which is increasingly losing the battle to cheaper, overseas alternatives.
IT BYTES BACK! Says: Hollywood needs to wake up to the bad news knocking at their door. The production of visual effects is art by artists who deserve better treatment than just providing the surreal background for blockbuster movies.
