Shannon Thomas Online Portfolio

Fox Exec. Tom Rothman Excited About Avatar

2008-10-05T13:18:00.002+13:00

Here is a recent article about Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman discussing their 2009 lineup and Avatar.

Link

Viacom Backing 100% of Tin Tin Budget

2008-09-21T13:48:00.003+12:00

Last week it looked as if Paramount was going to let Tin Tin fall through the Hollywood sinkhole like they did with HALO last year. Apparently, that is no longer the case.

Last week's LA Times article.

Variety Article Talks Avatar Status and Budget...

2008-09-06T11:49:00.001+12:00

Here is an article that discusses the status of Avatar and the concerns of its FOX execs.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117991656.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Vacation Pictures!

2008-07-20T16:53:00.005+12:00

We've just recently returned from our lastest 3 week trip to Hawaii, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco. Click on the links to see our photos.

Some of the highlights were:

Hawaii - Snorkling in Molokini, took a bike ride down haleakala crater, surfing in Waikiki, shark diving in Oahu, golfing at fabulous Kapalua, driving around the island, relaxing in the sand and sun.

Pittsburgh - 4th of July Golf Trip to OglebayGolf Resort in West Virginia, visiting Fallingwater, catching up with family and friends.

San Francisco - visiting Lucas Animation at Skywalker Ranch, Jessica's Birthday in Napa Valley, Roger and Carrie's Wedding.

This was the first vacation where it actually felt longer then the 3 weeks we spent back home. I'm back now in New Zealand, back to work with all my friends. Jess gets back in a week.

Life is good.

Trailer : The Day The Earth Stood Still

2008-07-17T20:03:00.002+12:00

Here is the first trailer for a new film I've been working on. I helped with the Giants Stadium destruction scene. This film is a remake of the classic 1951 version and comes out in December.

Enjoy.

Inside the Weta Cave

2008-06-15T11:34:00.002+12:00

The Weta Cave screens a first-ever behind-the-scenes look at Weta and interviews with Weta co-founders Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, Tania Rodger and Jamie Selkirk. We give you exclusive insight into the creativity and imagination that goes into crafting the art of Weta.

In the mini-museam, you come face to face with some of the characters, props and displays from your favourite movies. Read the stories of how they were brought to life and learn about the artists who created them. Entry to the Weta Cave with its museum and film screening is absolutely free.

Watch the video interview with Richard Taylor here.

Weta Talks Prince Caspian

2008-06-15T11:21:00.002+12:00

Here's the link to a recent article discussing some of our work for Price Caspian. And I found this image online which is of the white witch sequence that I worked on.

Zoe Saldana : Avatar Interview

2008-05-28T20:54:00.002+12:00

Recently Zoe Saldana, the female lead in Avatar, was interviewed about her experience with the film. She hints on her training, working for James Cameron, Weta, and the 3 minute clip she's seen on the film. Read it here.

PJ and Del Toro Discuss The Hobbit

2008-05-25T14:05:00.002+12:00

Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro answered live questions from fans in a huge chat event this morning. Close to 6,000 fans asked almost 4,000 questions before the chat started and then asked another one quoestion per second during the hour the chat was running.

Prince Caspian Hits Theaters!!!

2008-05-18T20:06:00.002+12:00

Reviews are in for the Narnia Sequel and so far it's been well reveived. It hasn't openned yet down here and we haven't had our Weta screening yet so let me know if you see it and what you think.

Here are a few Reviews:
IMDB
Movies.com
RottenTomatoes

It's Official: Del Toro to Direct Hobbit Films, Weta to do the Effects!!!

2008-04-25T19:34:00.003+12:00

Today it was announced that director Guillermo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) will direct both Hobbit films. Peter Jackson broke the news today in Hollywood and with remain executive Producer and New Line Cinema will oversee production of both films. Del Toro will be moving to New Zealand for the next 4 years so apparently, Weta will be doing the effects.

Read the full article here.

New Prince Caspian Trailer Online

2008-04-24T19:22:00.003+12:00

There is a new Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian trailer online. Just in time before the film hits theaters on May 16th.

They even included some of the new ice shots.

See it here.

Sydney, Australia

2008-03-22T18:41:00.002+13:00

Jessica and I just got back from a long weekend trip to Sydney, as we always do... we had a wonderful time. I had bought her tickets to the Jack Johnson concert as a Christmas present so we've been waiting for a while to go.

We only had 4 days but we cramed in as much as we possibly could. First thing, the weather there is perfect, it was like Southern California or Florida. Other then the concert, we took a day trip to the scenic Blue Mountains, visited the Aquarium, went to a comedy show at the Opera House, spent some time with a few of her friends at Manly Beach, and also did a little surfing at the famous Bondi Beach.

Sydney is just gorgeous, it's kinda like Aukland, San Diego and San Fancisco combined, but the buildings have a unique style of architecture and I love their public transportation system. We definately wanna go back, possibly this year for New Years.

Hope all is well with everyone else out there.

:-)

Some Recent Work...

2008-01-12T15:49:00.000+13:00

Two new trailers have come out that I've recently worked on. One is the new Narnia film, "Prince Caspian," and the other is "Jumper."

For Narnia is modeled the ice wall along with my buddy Florian. It came out alright after a lot of back and forth and although it's only seen here for a few frames, it's in the film quite a bit. "Caspian" comes out in theaters on May 16th.

For "Jumper" I modeled the digital double character Griffin. The character teleports throughout the whole movie so it actually gets quite a bit of air time. Nothing too complex but it was fun to do. This film stars Samuel Jackson, Hayden Christiansen, Diane Lane and Jamie bell. It comes out on February 14th.

My Holiday

2008-01-05T18:48:00.001+13:00

Well it’s been one heck of a break for me. I had such a wonderful time traveling all over the U.S. and seeing all of my family and friends. I feel very fortunate to still be in touch with so many people all over the country and thank everyone for making time to hang out during the busy holiday season. For those of you who I didn’t get to meet up with, I’m sorry and I hope to see you the next time I’m there, and hey, if you’re ever in Wellington let me know.

Here’s a recap:

Los Angeles was awesome; finally getting to spend time with my girlfriend was just so nice. We had fun everyday, getting to share some much needed non-vacation, run of the mill, everyday time together was much needed. We also spent Thanksgiving with her family which was wonderful, the food was incredible and I was able to meet a lot more of the extended family. The day after Turkey Day Jess’ dad took me golfing to an amazing course, I played well, though it was more fun just playing again though. Jess and I also got caught up on some movies, some of the better ones were: Juno, Dan in Real Life, Rendition, and Grace is Gone. We also went to some concerts, spent time at the beach, and spent time with her friends and family, it was great.

After 3 weeks in LA, I headed north to San Jose and San Francisco. I spent a few days catching up with my buddy Ed, we saw a new Circe du Solei, show, “Kooza,” and a Sharks hockey game.

San Francisco was of course a blast, being back in my favorite city and getting to see the old crew was kind of surreal, everyone is just doing so well…amazing what changes in a year. Congrats to Roger and Carrie on the engagement and thanks again to Landis and Anna for their hospitality. I also got to do a little networking with some other friends at Sony Imageworks, IM Digital, Lucas Animation, and Pixar. And Tom, don’t fret…you’re model is coming soon, promise!

I then headed to Pittsburgh for Christmas with my family. Last year I didn’t really have a Christmas since I was stuck out here, I was so happy to be home for the holidays. It was pretty cold, no snow though, bummer, it never feels like Christmas without snow. I spent some much needed quality time with my brother and family. We ate lots of great food and had lots of laughs. Some of the highlights here were seeing my Grandpap on Christmas, watching Penguin games with my brother, watching old family video of my brother and me when we were kids, and playing hockey with my old college friends.

It was now time to head back to Los Angeles for one more week with Jessica. We celebrated our Christmas together one of the presents were 2 tickets to “Wicked.” That was absolutely amazing, if you are a fan of the Wizard of Oz, you owe it to yourself to see this play. We then headed to San Diego for New Year’s and celebrated at the annual Big Night San Diego. We had so much fun dancing the night away. After spending a little more time together and with her family I headed back the Air New Zealand terminal that I now know so well.

All the best in the New Year everyone, stay in touch.

Monday it’s back to work; it is bad that I’m looking forward to it?

Weta - Year One

2007-12-08T08:36:00.000+13:00

Today I left New Zealand, exactly one year to the day of my arrival. I am returning to the States for a 2 month holiday with a ton of priceless memories, loads of experience, and a much broader view of the world. In this past year I’ve been fortunate to work on a bunch of new films, I’ve made lots of new friends, and I’ve traveled all over the country as well as visited the Caribbean and Fiji…it’s a big change from serving Margarita’s at Chevy’s and eating Ramon Noodles every night.

On this 2 month hiatus, I look forward to spending some quality time with my girlfriend and her family, enjoying the winter holidays that I missed last year, and catching up with my family and friends who I’ve missed while I was 10,000 miles away.

I am returning for an additional 6 months to continue working on Avatar and enjoy the all too short New Zealand summer. I also plan on taking a trip to Australia in March. Hopefully, this year, I’ll have a few more visitors than last year.

I hope to see as many people as I can before I come back here in January.

Here is my itinerary.

Nov. 20 – Dec. 9th – Los Angeles
Dec. 10 – Dec. 16 – San Jose/San Francisco
Dec. 17 – Dec. 28 – Pittsburgh
Dec. 29 – Jan. 5th – Los Angeles/San Diego
Jan. 7th – Back in NZ

Happy Holidays!

Avatar Begins Filming in Wellington

2007-10-17T22:54:00.001+13:00

http://stuff.co.nz/4240081a1860.html

Avatar Update...

2007-10-03T19:41:00.000+13:00

Here is an article with some updates on Avatar. Also, one of my favorite actors, Givovanni Ribisi, just joined the cast.

Fiji Time

2007-09-10T20:38:00.000+12:00

Just got back from my week long stead in Fiji. Jess and I met up in Nadi last Sunday afternoon and headed from there to Pacific Harbor on the South Coast of the main Island. It was wonderful to spend some quality time together again especially in such a warm and beautiful untouched place.

Fiji is a 3rd world country and actually very poor, but tourism allows for much of its income and the resort areas are very nice. We staying in a little private "bure" on the beach full with bamboo siding, ocean views, hammocks, swimming pool, jacuzzi, and a great little bar. Fijians are just so friendly, some of the nicest peeople I've ever met. Here's a link to where we stayed.

Some of the trip highlights were Zip Lining through the jungles atop 100ft. platforms over rivers and streams, snorkling on a private island off the coast, and my fave was white water rafting through the Navua Gorge.

After that we had to fly to Aukland and spent 2 days in New Zealand on the North Island. Friday we met up with Jess' friend Esther who she travelled across Europe with 4 yrs ago. Then we took the scenic drive to beautiful Coromandel. We stayed at a wonderful little cottage then went back to Aukland the following day. There we went to Aquarium and saw seahorses, 6ft. stingrays, penguins, a few sharks and some sea turtles.

The Highlight in our New Zealand stay was when Jessica surprised me with the Mac Daddy Suitte at the Heritage Hotel downtown, it...was...awesome! She even had them bring us a nice Resiling to kick off the night. It was all in light of our one year anniversary.

As alwasys, it was hard leaving eachother, but at least I'll be back in the States for the holiday this year.

See you in 10 weeks.

Mt. Ruapehu Ski Trip...

2007-07-22T15:33:00.000+12:00

This past weekend I went skiing with a big group of people from work. Mt. Ruapehu is a volcano right next to the Tongoriro Crossing which we hiked a few months back. I'm by no means the best skiier in the world, I think I've gone about 3-4 times my whole life and i was quite rusty. It was very strange skiing on a volcano becuase there are no trees, no borders, no real ends to the trails. So we would often cut back and forth or make our own new trails. Additionally, there were also large volcanic rocks everywhere for us to avoid.

I also found it surprising that my Steeler hap caused a stir as I met a few kiwi fans of my hometown team, small world.

Here are some pictures:

View.jpg

skiLift.jpg

SkiTrails.jpg

ViewfromTop.jpg

:-)

9 Planes, 2 Weeks...

2007-07-04T11:30:00.000+12:00

Hey all,

I just returned from my fabulous holiday to the Bahamas for a Wedding Cruise, College Graduation and visit back home to PA. I haven't been back to the States since before last Thanskgiving so I was really excited to see everyone again. It's such a long way to come back so I wanted to visit as many people as possible in my only trip back from New Zealand.

Jess and I started the trip by attending her sister's college graduation from Cal Poly...those kids are sure smart, and they really know how to party too. It was nice getting to spend some time with her and her family again. After that we raced back to LA to catch our flight

My best friend Jamie was getting married and all the Krumbs attending a week long cruise of the Caribbean, I couldn't miss out. Jamie and Heidi didn't know I was attending either so it was a great surprise.

We had the best time, in all we visited St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. John, and the Princess Cays, Bermuda. The highlight of the cruise was when Jess and I snorkled with sea turtles, priceless. Free room service wasn't bad either.

After the cruise Jess and I visited my family back in Pittsburgh and got to meet the Fockers. As alwasy we had a blast. I even managed to squeeze in a round of golf with my bro.

After that, I headed back to LA for a few days to relax with Jess and met a few friends for lunch to catch up. It was nice being back to where it's summer in June....I miss the sun.
I'm back to reality now, in all I was on 9 planes, covered about 20,000 miles,
I saw as many people as I could, for those of you I missed, I'll try to catch up with when I return for the holidays.

All the best!

Maya 8: The Complete Reference - AVAILABLE NOW!

2007-06-04T19:51:00.000+12:00

Hey all, The Maya book that I worked on a little whiles back was released. I was the Text Editor and was also fortunate enough to get some of my artwork published in there as did my buddys Landis and Roger.

It should be in most Barnes and Noble's and Border's but you can get of of Amazon.com for about 40$. It was a blast working with my old teacher and its great to see all the hard work completed. My hats off to you Tom and the countless hours he poured into it.

Hope you all enjoy it.

Shannon

New Site Changes...

2007-05-13T20:22:00.000+12:00

Hey all,

I decided to revamp my site this past week. I redid the title section and also gave the 3D page a make over, removing some work and adding some of my film work. I only added Happy Feet for now, I'll add Night at the Museum once I can rip the DVD. Let me know what you think.

I'm also going to start a new personal model for a buddy of mine's new project. I'm not sure I can say much other than its an organic model at this point.

Well, hope you all like and I should post some Museum stuff soon.

Enjoy.

New Zealand Photos Uploaded...

2007-05-06T16:28:00.000+12:00

Hey all,

I finally loaded all of my South island trip onto the New Zealand section of my website. It took awhile, sorry, but I've been too busy surfing on all my free time. But now that the weather is turning bad, I had a weekend to get all these done.

I basically just made a map of our itinerary and highlighted the best places we stopped. So click around on the map to see the photos.

Click here and enjoy.

More Tongariro Pictures...

2007-04-25T22:27:00.000+12:00

Enjoy!

EmeraldLakes.jpg

Mt.-Ngauruhoe02.jpg

ThroughTheSteam.jpg

Pano01.jpg

RedCraterPano.jpg