Intel, DreamWorks Animation Form Alliance
Companies Try to Change 3-D Filmmaking With Monsters vs. Aliens
Computer company Intel Corporation and DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. announced on Tuesday that they are forming a strategic alliance. Their goal is to try to revolutionize 3-D filmmaking technology for such upcoming DreamWorks films as Monsters vs. Aliens.
Intel and DreamWorks Go 3-D
In order to meet the software capacity demands involved in making 3-D animated films, Intel will provide DreamWorks Animation with their latest high-performance technologies, including computer chips with multiple processing cores. Intel's software engineers will also help to optimize DreamWorks' animation programs for use with these processors.
For its part, DreamWorks will switching their computer infrastructure to an entirely Intel-based network in order to provide their animators with the highest quality system they can get their hands on.
"Our objective is to significantly heighten the moviegoing experience using DreamWorks Animation's ground-breaking 3-D filmmaking tools," said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg in the studio's press release. "Technology plays a significant role in enabling our artists to tell great stories. By utilizing Intel's industry-leading computing products, we will create a new and innovative way for moviegoers to experience our films in 3-D."
"This alliance unites the best in computer-generated moviemaking and computing performance to deliver a new level of in-theater entertainment," responded Intel president and CEO Paul Otellini. "The high level of inventiveness at DreamWorks Animation has positioned it as a leader in entertainment technology, and incorporating the Intel platform allows them to deliver incredibly rich digital 3-D content to the big screen -- raising the bar for the industry as a whole."
Monsters vs. Aliens First 3-D Animated Film
The first film made in 3-D will be 2009's Monsters vs. Aliens, starring the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Paul Rudd and Hugh Laurie. DreamWorks has committed to producing all future CGI animated movies in 3-D, including How to Train Your Dragon (due March 26, 2010), Shrek Goes Fourth (due May 21st, 2010) and Master Mind, due November 5th of that year.
Here's the synopsis for Monsters vs. Aliens, modified from IMDb:
"When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California girl named Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) on her wedding day, she grows to be 49-and-a-half feet tall. Susan is then taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters: Dr. Cockroach PhD (Hugh Laurie), the blobby B.O.B (Seth Rogen), and the half-man, half-fish Missing Link (Will Arnett).
"Under the guidance of General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland), on a desperate order from The President (Stephen Colbert), the motley crew of monsters is called to fight an alien invasion, and save the world from destruction!"
Monsters vs. Aliens, comes out on March 27, 2009.
