Animation and VFX at the Oscars, marketing misconceptions, and extension updates...all in this week’s creative news round-up.
'Coco' and 'Blade Runner 2049' score animation and VFX Oscars success
At the 90th Academy Awards, Disney-Pixar’s Coco took home Best Animated Feature, while Blade Runner 2049 won Best Visual Effects.
Coco's producer Darla K. Anderson said the film was proof that "art can change and connect the world." It's the 10th time in 11 years the Walt Disney Company has won Best Animated Feature.
Blade Runner 2049 edged out the favourite, War for the Planet of the Apes, to win for its VFX. Roger A. Deakins also claimed Best Cinematography for his work on the film.
Oscar award-winner Spike Jonze has directed a new four-minute short film for Apple's HomePod speaker, which features music, dance, and engaging visual effects.
'Welcome Home' stars English musician and dancer FKA twigs, who discovers the ability to extend her apartment through rhythmic telekinesis.
Jonze is no stranger to intelligent personal assistants like Siri. His 2013 film Her followed Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who developed a romantic relationship with an intelligent computer operating system known as Samantha (Scarlett Johansson).
According to a report by Salmat, marketers are out of touch with how consumers research their purchasing decisions.
While marketers believe company websites (50%) and social media (47%) are the top two consumer channels, purchase decisions are in fact more heavily influenced by recommendations (72%) and search engine results (48%).
“There is a clear disconnect between what channels marketers think consumers are engaging with, and what consumers are actually using," Salmat Head of Sales and Marketing Andrew Lane said.
An update to the popular After Effects extension Overlord promises a range of impressive new features.
The most noteworthy is support for the transfer of gradient strokes and fills from Illustrator to After Effects.
Also featured in the latest release are new fill and stroke colour updating, clipping mask support, better vertical alignment and leading for text.