NEWS

Even as Hugo took home five Academy Awards, the home video edition of the Martin Scorsese film has been garnering kudos of its own. Entertainment Weekly lauded the “in depth” bonus features created by EMC West:

There are fascinating featurettes about the creepy history of automatons, a blow-by-blow look at the miniatures used for Hugo‘s cool derailing-locomotive sequence, and best of all, a deeper study of Georges Méliès, the pioneering French filmmaker at the heart of the movie (he’s played by Ben Kingsley). This is where Scorsese, the infectious rat-a-tat-tat extoller of cinema, is at his best. Watching clips from turn-of-the-century films like A Trip to the Moon and Kingdom of the Fairies through Scorsese’s eyes makes them seem more like Méliès magic tricks than movies.
— Entertainment Weekly

And critic Glenn McDonald even made Hugo a case study in the kind of extras that make a movie worth owning:

The DVD/Blu-ray combo pack … includes five excellent featurettes that explore details of the film’s production and elements of cinematic history. … This stuff is gold, and you can’t get the full extras package in any downloadable bundle.
— Glenn McDonald, Yahoo! Digital Crave

• See a clip from the automaton documentary “The Mechanical Man at the Heart of Hugo”.

• Watch a clip from “Shoot the Moon: The Making of Hugo”.

EMC West made quite a splash online recent when a clip from one of our pieces for the Lady and the Tramp Blu-ray went viral (BoingBoing link). “Diane Disney Miller: Remembering Dad” revealed Walt Disney’s secret apartment inside the firehouse at Disneyland to the public for the first time — and through the eyes of the person who knows it best: Walt’s daughter Diane.

This is just one of EMC’s many recent bonus features for a Disney animated classic that’s nabbing rave reviews. Upcoming and completed projects include a re-creation of Walt’s lost Native American film Hiawatha for the Pocahontas Blu-ray, narrated by animator and director Eric Goldberg; Louis Prima’s deleted song “Peoplitis” for The Rescuers, introduced by Ron Clements; and an alternate opening to The Aristocats, containing an amazing lost Sherman Brothers song, hosted by Richard Sherman himself.

Aladdin, Mulan, The Lion King… a key part of Disney’s diamond treatment is EMC West bonus features. Animators know how to make images come to life, and EMC West knows how to make the amazing work that animators do come alive in funny, fascinating, jaw-dropping bonus features!

After more than a decade away from the big screen, The Muppets are back in The Muppets, a movie written by and starring Jason Segal, self-confessed Muppets mega-fan. Fellow Muppet-lover, EMC Producer Charlie Visnic, was on set for 30 days of principal photography to capture all the celebrity cameos and Muppet hijinx.

For the film, EMC West produced both marketing materials and DVD/Blu-Ray bonus features in true Muppet-style. The Muppets was an international blockbuster, and a sequel is already in the works. On March 20, 2012, the movie was released on DVD and Blu-Ray and became a home video smash hit as well. Here’s what the critics are saying:

The feature film is a definite win. However, the Wocka Wocka Blu-ray value pack is an even bigger win for fans. There are several hilarious featurettes included that feel like mini-segments from The Muppet Show.
—BuzzFocus.com

I love these special features. Every last one of them only makes you love the film even more, which is what special features should do.
—Rich Knight, Cinema Blend

The extended blooper reel is fantastic and earns its name, “The Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History––We Think).” The behind-the-scenes glimpses are very playful … The Muppets never fails to entertain, whether it’s the actual film or the bevy of special features and deleted/extended scenes!
—Hypable.com

EMC West has remained involved with the Muppets’ busy promotional schedule, recently filming and editing a Swedish Chef cooking video and producing a Kermit the Frog Spanish Language Press Day. ¡Viva los Muppets!

• Watch the EPK featurette.

• Watch a clip from “Scratching the Surface: A Hasty Examination of the Making of The Muppets”.

The beloved Disney classic gets a new life on Blu-Ray, with a collectible Diamond Edition.  EMC West has been working for more than a year preparing bonus features that will knock your glass slippers off.  Producer Ted Nicolaou and the family of Mary Alice and Ken O’Connor bring you the touching true story of the woman who inspired the Fairy Godmother, and who later, thanks to her good works in the community, came to be known as The Real Fairy Godmother.  Nicolaou also directed a special expedition to Disney World to reveal the true incredible story behind the making of the Cinderella Castle.

The most acclaimed filmmaker of our time, Martin Scorsese, tackles a children’s movie for the first time. EMC West’s camera crews were there to document the master and his brilliant collaborators, including stars Sir Ben Kingsley (Schindler’s List), Chloë Moretz (Kick-Ass), Asa Butterfield (The Boy in the Striped Pajamas), Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) and Emily Mortimer (Shutter Island). The movie features stunning recreations of the work of early film pioneer George Méliès in what is sure to be regarded the cinephile Scorsese’s love-letter to the magic of filmmaking.

If you pick up a copy of the Caldecott Medal-winning book by Brian Selznick upon which it is based, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, you’ll find a story about an orphan who lives in a Paris train station, a clockwork automaton, and a mystery that goes back to the very origins of the cinema. EMC West explores all these exciting facets on the DVD/Blu-ray bonus features for the film.

From the minds of master filmmaker Martin Scorsese and bestselling novelist Dennis Lehane comes a dark tale of an escaped psychiatric patient and a sinister conspiracy at the remote Ashecliffe Hospital.  In addition to producing EPK footage for the film, EMC West created two bonus features exclusive to the Blu-Ray release…

“The two special features Shutter Island includes do more for the film than most two-disc special editions. Both are so well produced and informative that you could not ask for anything more.” – thereelplace.com

“Behind the Shutters” features interviews with Scorsese, Lehane and cast members which delve into what drew them to tell the surprise-twist story of U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo).

“Scorsese, DiCaprio, Ruffalo and others take the viewer back and show them subtle clues sprinkled throughout the film. It’s pretty great.” – Collider.com

“Into the Lighthouse” documents the real historical background upon which the story draws and features an interview with the world-renowned psychiatrist Dr. Gilligan, who consulted on the film.

“Gilligan provides a fascinating and downright shocking history lesson of the school of medical thought at the time.” – Richard Lam, Suite101.com

• View a clip from “Behind the Shutters”, the ‘making-of’ documentary for Shutter Island.

The “Get on the Grid” promotional sweepstakes, with T.V. spots created by EMC West, was a huge success at driving audiences to theaters for this estimated $172M box office champion.  Worldwide this franchise reboot has earned nearly $400M!

To build excitement in EMC West’s promos, editor Nathan Aceves used a uniquely rhythmic edit in perfect harmony with the acclaimed score for the film by Daft Punk.  Graphics artist Gage Ullman created custom “Tron-ized” 3D logos for TBS, TNT and TruTV and seamlessly integrated them into footage from the film, tracking with camera moves to create a fifteen second spot that conveys more information than a traditional thirty second spot.

• Check out the spot!

The creative brief for the new release of Bambi was to take the popular “Inside Walt’s Story Meetings” bonus, pioneered by EMC West for the previous 2005 Platinum Edition, expand it and make it interactive.  Working with disc programming specialists at San Francisco-based MX Productions, EMC West created a seamless branching experience with all-new content and helped to create the definitive HD-viewing experience of this animation classic.

Just like Disney’s latest Alice in Wonderland Blu-ray release, they once again provide an impressive feature length supplement. This time it’s a feature called “Inside Walt’s Story Meetings” which takes original transcripts from story meetings between Walt and his team of filmmakers, which are then re-enacted in time with the film.
–RopeofSilicon.com

I thought this was an absolutely ingenious innovation … adding life to the concept of the audio commentary.
—DVDTalk.com

This feature has proved so popular that an “Inside Walt’s Story Meetings” was created for the new Lady and the Tramp Diamond Edition Blu-Ray.

EMC West’s expertise in animation documentaries is undeniable after watching the 157 minute interactive documentary “Beyond Beauty: The Untold Stories Behind the Making of Beauty and the Beast”, a compelling look at how Beauty and the Beast went from a story Walt Disney himself could not crack into a high-pressure development process into the first animated feature to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award and a hit Broadway musical.  Featuring interviews with the new crop of legendary animators who took over for the Nine Old Men as well as studio heavyweights like Jeffrey Katzenberg and Don Hahn, this documentary had critics gushing…

“While this plays, there are pop-ups that allow you to branch off into a separate features like the history of Disney animation, the concept art of the film, or the film’s venture onto Broadway. Should you choose to watch one of these, the person in the documentary seamlessly recognizes you have chosen this and gives you an introduction to the video. This is really well done and makes for a great interactive experience.” – cgchannel.com

“Everything contained in this lovingly-put-together feature is interesting, thought-provoking, and all-together exciting!” – highdefdigest.com

“If you’re a fan, you’ll also want to checkout the “Beyond Beauty” documentary. As behind-the-scenes, making-of type documentaries go, this is about as in-depth as I’ve seen.” – hometheaterblog.com

EMC West also produced a 20-minute special “Composing A Classic: A Musical Conversation with Alan Menken, Don Hahn & Richard Kraft” in which Alan Menken uses both his voice and his piano to tell the story of how he composed the Oscar-winning songs and score.

“My favorite feature has to definitely be … the featurette “Composing A Classic“.” – highdefdiscnews.com

‘Wherefore art thou… Gnomeo?’

Take the music of Elton John, the director of Shrek 2 (Kelly Asbury), Shakespeare’s classic love story and garden full of gnomes and what do you get?  Gnomeo & Juliet!  This Rocket Pictures / Touchstone release was a sleeper hit, winning the box office on Oscar weekend and going on to earn nearly $100M domestically.

EMC West was behind the EPK marketing materials for the film, with crews capturing the stars James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Ozzy Osbourne and more as they recorded voice tracks over nearly two years of production.  The same footage became the basis for a unique trio of DVD/Blu-ray bonus features, set to be released May 24.

“Elton Builds A Garden” explores the contributions of the pop piano man, who not only contributed new and catalog songs to the film, but also helped produce and guide the story and the animation.

“Fawn of Darkness” is a hilarious peek inside the recording sessions with Ozzy Osbourne, complete with subtitles!

“Frog Talk with Ashley Jensen” shows why the Brit comedienne inspired the animators to give her character a big mouth.  As Nanette the Frog, Jensen gabbed away with the show — even when speaking Japanese!

• Watch the EPK Production Featurette created by EMC West.

The story of Woody, Buzz and the gang comes full circle in PIXAR’s billion dollar box office sensation Toy Story 3.  Not only were EMC’s camera crews the ones trusted behind the scenes of the making of the film, but for the first time ever a PIXAR home video release includes a bonus feature not created in-house by PIXAR.

In “The Gang’s All Here”, producer Charlie Visnic captured the reunion feeling as the all-star cast of the Toy Story films (Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusak) gathered with new all-star talent (Michael Keaton, Whoopi Goldberg, Timothy Dalton) to tell this final chapter.  Fans get the rare treat of seeing Tom Hanks and Tim Allen interacting as they lay down their tracks.

But that’s not all EMC West and producer Charlie Visnic did for Toy Story 3.  To help introduce audiences to some of the new toys featured in the film, a series of featurettes were created.  Visnic and EMC West’s crew filmed director Lee Unkrich introducing the film and the new characters against a green screen, the elements of which were used as fun, compelling scene transitions that kept the pace of pieces moving along.

• Check out EPK featurette for Toy Story 3 created by EMC West!

Reviewers were floored by EMC West’s pioneering bonus feature “Through the Keyhole: A Companion’s Guide to Wonderland” for the latest Blu-ray release of Disney’s psychedelic classic Alice in Wonderland.  This hybrid of documentary and feature commentary brings the story of author Lewis Carroll and the real Alice who inspired him to life, and shows the parallels to Walt Disney’s life which attracted him to the story.

“The real gem is a feature-length HD picture-in-picture track that pops up all sorts of rare and, yes, wonderful stills, archival footage, drawings, and factoids about the film, Disney, and Carroll. Watching the film in this mode really makes you appreciate it more.

Bottom Line: Disney’s animated “Alice in Wonderland” has never looked better, and the PIP track on this Blu-ray is one of the best I’ve seen.” – DVDtown.com

• Watch a clip from “Through the Keyhole”.

EMC West also produced all of the introductions with voice actress Katherine Beaumont as well as the 13-minute documentary about the film which is also featured on the latest DVD release, “Reflections on Alice”.

Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds’ hit romantic comedy was another success story for EMC West who produced the EPK as well as DVD/Blu-ray bonus features.  EMC’s ‘behind-the-scenes’ featurette helped warm up audiences to the concept of Sandra Bullock as a workaholic boss who has the tables turned on her by her assistant when she must pretend to be in love with him to earn a green card.

The Proposal became one of 2009’s top comedies, earning more than $160M domestically at the box office.  For the home video release, EMC West produced commentary tracks, the Alternate Ending as well as two fun bonus videos: a “Blooper Reel” and “Alaskachusetts,” a how-they-did-it piece which shows the movie secrets behind making a town Maine double for the Alaskan setting of the film.

• Watch a clip from The Proposal‘s blooper reel.

• Watch the production featurette EMC West created for The Proposal‘s EPK.