'Picture Gallery' - The Moving Picture Company Showreel (1985)

[zer05ummedia]

I love this! I remember it so clearly - it's probably directly responsible for me ending up in my career as a teacher of video post production.

Is there any chance of the music being released?

[thehumancartoon]

@zer05ummedia I don't think so - it was such a long time ago. Glad to hear it inspired you though ;-)

[peshozmiata]

Oh man, i've been trying to find this for ages! The music is just great and the visuals are very nicely stylized. Are Tim Green and Ian Garland still making music?

[thehumancartoon]

@peshozmiata Tim is a cameraman and Ian is an editor/director, but I think he may still dabble in music....

[peshozmiata]

@thehumancartoon Do you by chance know what type of software/hardware was used in the making of the CG scenes?

There is a channel here on YouTube called "VintageCg" that has a lot of these early 3d graphics pieces with some behind the scenes stuff too. I was initially hoping to find "Picture Gallery" in there, so i'm glad it was uploaded here after all :)

[thehumancartoon]

@peshozmiata I think most of it was the Bosch FGS 4000 - I can't remember if we had the Alias or Wavefront back then but we may have. You might want to check out The Making of Monkey Business on my channel if you're into early CG (the film is on there as well)....

[peshozmiata]

@thehumancartoon Thanks!

[dougiesnr2012]

wow - my dad worked at Moving Picture Company from the start and i remember him bringing this home to watch one evening and being blown away by the visuals and the music - from what i remember the music was created by a guy who was a runner at the time.......i ended up working there for a bit myself before heading off to do my own thing but have ended up back in good old soho working in ad land for the last 15 years - often walk past the old studio in Noel Street which is full of great memories.

[thehumancartoon]

@dougiesnr2012 Glad you found it. Dougie actually worked on it - all the live action scenes were shot in the studio. Tim who did the music with Ian was my assistant in the motion control studio at the time. MPC is a much different place now, and you're right Noel Street is full of great memories... :-) P

[noisecrime]

Ok watched this about ten times now ;) Love the music, amazed that the gallery is just a model, always thought it was some real place somewhere. Motion control is very fluid and love the way it pulls/pushes you through the demo. Not sure why but I always smile at the bit near the end when the clear plastic sculpture flips over as the camera passes by. Truly excellent work for the time.

[thehumancartoon]

@noisecrime Really glad you enjoyed it. I always liked the sculpture and the diver best...

It was a special time back then - a mixture of tried and tested film SFX plus a host of new techniques and gear that seemed to evolve on a daily basis. I was very fortunate as a (young) SFX cameraman to be able to work on stuff like this, I really don't think anyone is doing such truly mixed-media stuff these days, we tend to reach for the 'Maya button' whenever anything tricky is needed now.

Peter

[noisecrime]

Should also say that this and a few other early pioneers in cgi really helped shaped my future as a general/graphics programmer.

[noisecrime]

thanks for posting this. I remember watching it on something like Saturday superstore with Fred Harris and being blown away. I still have it on video somewhere ;) Even after all these years I still enjoy watching it, I think the 'little story' of things happening whilst the night watchman isn't watching helps to keep it 'grounded'.

[lostinspacecrew]

wow!!! another blast form the past ! thanks pete! i remember doing the flying ray and the bit where the break dancer breaks up into cubes and pours into the painting. maybe some of the maze and some flying 3d objects..

[thehumancartoon]

@lostinspacecrew I know - I only found this one about a month ago, Ian, who did the music with Tim (my assistant) put it on facebook...

Happy days eh Christian?

Px

[lostinspacecrew]

@thehumancartoon yeah days of innocence and endless opportunities!!

[thehumancartoon]

@lostinspacecrew Wasn't it. Sort of sad in a way that these days absolutely anything is possible - can you imagine trying to make Inception or Avatar back in 1987?

[TrueSoreThumb]

Wow, the breakdancer who looked like he was made out of 3D Cylinders was pretty spectacular.

Cool :D

[thehumancartoon]

@TrueSoreThumb - and we did it more than a quarter of a century ago!!!! I always liked the David Hockney style swimmer diving across from one painting to another ;-)