Films
The Mind's Eye: A Computer Animation Odyssey (Miramar Images, Inc., 1990) was the first effort by director and co-producer Jan Nickman which served as a demonstration of computer animation when the art-form was still in its relative infancy. It is composed of a sequence of segments ambitiously chronicling the formation of Earth ("Creation"), the rise of human civilizations ("Civilization Rising"), and the technological advances of humanity from the advent of agriculture to the future exploration of the cosmos. The video speculatively concludes with a segment of what might be the next sentient species to arise on Earth, as well as the CGI short Stanley and Stella in: Breaking the Ice. The soundtrack was composed by James Reynolds. The sales of this video were RIAA certified as "Multi-Platinum" and reached as high as #12 on Billboard's video sales chart.
Beyond the Mind's Eye (Odyssey Visual Design, 1992) featured the efforts of Jan Hammer and included the first vocal tracks in such segments as Too Far and Seeds of Life, a sequence themed around planet-colonizing seeds featuring the noted Panspermia by computer graphics artist Karl Sims. The DVD version included both the vocal version of Seeds of Life (sung by Chris Thompson) that blended the animation segment and footage of Hammer and his "band" performing (composed of four Jan Hammers), with an instrumental version of the same track. Beyond the Mind's Eye also features a heavily edited version of the CGI sequences from The Lawnmower Man. The DVD contains 11 segments. The sales of this video were RIAA certified as "Multi-Platinum" and reached as high as #8 on Billboard's video sales chart.
The Gate to the Mind's Eye (Odyssey Visual Design, 1994) continued the trend of vocal tracks, along with music by Thomas Dolby. Five of its nine segments include vocal tracks: Armageddon, a sequence depicting massive devastation; Neo, an astronomy-themed song; Valley of the Mind's Eye, a song about the progress of human technology; Nuvogue, the first jazz track in the series; and Quantum Mechanic created by award winning 3D animator Beny Tchaicovsky and starring guest vocalist Dr. Fiorella Terenzi.
Odyssey Into The Mind's Eye (Odyssey Productions, 1996) features a soundtrack by Kerry Livgren and two more vocal tracks, One Dark World (sung by Darren Rogers) and Aspen Moon (sung by Livgren's nephew Jacob). Odyssey Into The Mind's Eye also features versions of CGI sequences from Johnny Mnemonic and Ecco: The Tides of Time. Released on VHS and DVD by Sony Music.
Read more about this topic: Mind's Eye (series)
Famous quotes containing the word films:
“The cinema is not an art which films life: the cinema is something between art and life. Unlike painting and literature, the cinema both gives to life and takes from it, and I try to render this concept in my films. Literature and painting both exist as art from the very start; the cinema doesn’t.”
—Jean-Luc Godard (b. 1930)
“Science fiction films are not about science. They are about disaster, which is one of the oldest subjects of art.”
—Susan Sontag (b. 1933)
“Right now I think censorship is necessary; the things they’re doing and saying in films right now just shouldn’t be allowed. There’s no dignity anymore and I think that’s very important.”
—Mae West (1892–1980)