Mile High Comics has a four page preview of “Mastermind Excello,” a comic book story written by Greg Pak for the anthology book “Amazing Fantasy” #15. Click here to view the pages.
And starting November 30, feel free to vote at Marvel.com for “Mastermind Excello” — if it wins the online poll, Marvel will commission a “Mastermind Excello” miniseries.
Finally, writer Greg Pak will appear in person at a signing in New York City on November 30 from 6 to 8 pm at Jim Hanley’s Universe, 4 W. 33rd St. (at 5th Avenue) in Manhattan. Also in attendance will be writer Dan Slott, editor Mark Paniccia, and artist Khary Randolph.
TheFourthRail.com loves “Mastermind Excello”
Don MacPherson of TheFourthRail.com has reviewed “Amazing Fantasy” #15, the anthology comic book featuring stories from six Marvel writers. Here’s what he has to say about “Mastermind Excello,” written by Greg Pak:
The shining star of this issue is Greg Pak’s “Mastermind Excello,” featuring a genius teen’s efforts to live life on the lam, out of the hands of those who would try to control him and put his brain to nefarious use. Pak cleverly compares this being of pure brains to a being of pure brawn, but despite being at opposite ends of the power spectrum, they have a lot in common. Miyazawa’s art is a great choice for the property, as the artist captures the main character’s youth and almost mischievous nature quite well. More importantly, he also manages to turn his wholly non-visual powers into a dazzling display (no doubt thanks to some direction from the writer).
“Amazing Fantasy” #15 goes on sale Wednesday, November 30. Marvel will run an online poll to determine which of the characters will get his or her own miniseries — feel free to vote for “Mastermind Excello” at Marvel.com.
“Robot Stories and More Screenplays” interview and book review at StrangeHorizons.com
Gwenda Bond interviews Greg Pak and reviews “Robot Stories and More Screenplays” this week at StrangeHorizons.com.
Click here to read the interview.
Click here to read the review.
Click here to buy “Robot Stories and More Screenplays” online at Amazon.com
Editor Mark Paniccia talks about “Planet Hulk”
In a Newsarama interview, Marvel editor Mark Paniccia talks more about “Planet Hulk,” the upcoming “Incredible Hulk” storyline written by Greg Pak. The article features several new pages of preview art from the briliant Carlo Pagulayan. Click here for the article.
In FCP, “Color Corrector” better than “Brightness and Contrast” for adjusting brightness and contrast
While working in Final Cut Pro on a new short film, I discovered that, strangely enough, the “Color Corrector” tool works far better than the “Brightness and Contrast” filter for adjusting the brightness and contrast of an image.
The Brightness and Contrast filter can be found at Effects > Video Filters > Image Control > Brightness and Contrast (Bezier). I could use the Brightness setting to lighten an image, but the image would appear washed out. And when I used the Contrast setting to fill in the blacks, the colors would begin to blow and the image would begin to look almost solarized.
The Color Corrector tool can be found at Effects > Video Filters > Color Correction > Color Corrector. Tweaking with the “Whites,” “Mids” and “Blacks” settings gave me the kind of control I needed to brighten the image and adjust the contrast without degrading the image.
System: Macintosh G4 533 MHz Dual Processor running FCP HD 4.5
Six preview pages of “What If: Submariner” now online
IGN has six preview pages of the upcoming comic book “What If: Submariner,” written by Greg Pak with pencils by David Lopez. From the article:
“Namor is the ruler of Atlantis ó but his father was a surface-dwelling human,” explains editor Mark Paniccia. “We’re using our What If? story to explore Namor’s human heritage, to imagine how his life and the course of history would have changed if he had been raised by his father on land rather than his mother in the sea.”
The book hits comic book stores on December 14. To read the full article and see the preview pages, visit IGN.
In FCP, “Color Corrector” better than “Brightness and Contrast” for adjusting brightness and contrast
By Greg Pak
While working in Final Cut Pro on a new short film, I discovered that, strangely enough, the “Color Corrector” tool works far better than the “Brightness and Contrast” filter for adjusting the brightness and contrast of an image.
The Brightness and Contrast filter can be found at Effects > Video Filters > Image Control > Brightness and Contrast (Bezier). I could use the Brightness setting to lighten an image, but the image would appear washed out. And when I used the Contrast setting to fill in the blacks, the colors would begin to blow and the image would begin to look almost solarized.
The Color Corrector tool can be found at Effects > Video Filters > Color Correction > Color Corrector. Tweaking with the “Whites,” “Mids” and “Blacks” settings gave me the kind of control I needed to brighten the image and adjust the contrast without degrading the image.
System: Macintosh G4 533 MHz Dual Processor running FCP HD 4.5
Video darkens when converting to MPEG-2 for DVD production — problem and solution
By Greg Pak
I recently noticed that my new short film looked considerably darker on DVD than in Final Cut Pro. I hadn’t seen this problem with DVDs I’d made of other projects I’d cut in Final Cut Pro.
The problem: The project was shot with the Panasonic DVX100 in 24P. The sequence in Final Cut Pro was set at 23.98 frames per second. I had been exporting this sequence directly to NTSC MPEG-2 for the DVDs. Apparently, FCP makes images darker and more contrasty when exporting from a 23.98 fps sequence to an NTSC MPEG-2.
The solution: I exported the 23.98 fps sequence to a 29.97 fps DV/DVCPRO – NTSC Best Quality QuickTime file. I then cut that QuickTime file back into a 29.97 fps FCP sequence and exported to MPEG-2. And now there’s no noticable darkening of the image.
I did notice that the process of exporting the 23.98 fps sequence to the 29.97 fps DV/DVCPRO file seems to have affected the colors very slightly, making them a touch warmer. It’s a faint enough adjustment that it doesn’t bother me — and it’s vastly preferable to the darkening which had been happening before.
System: Macintosh G4 533 MHz Dual Processor running FCP HD 4.5
Greg Pak to write “Incredible Hulk” comic book series
Marvel Comics has announced that Greg Pak will be the writer of the “Planet Hulk” storyline, which begins in Issue 92 of “The Incredible Hulk.” Visit Newsarama to read the press release. Here’s an excerpt:
“‘Planet Hulk’ thrusts the Hulk into a savage world in which a corrupt empire uses the spectacle of bloody gladiatorial combat to distract its citizens, discipline its slaves, and dispose of its enemies,” says Pak. “In a world in which might makes right and he who wins in the arena has the chance to influence thousands, what path will the Hulk take? Will the monster become a hero? Or will he become the worst tyrant the universe has ever seen?”
Interior pencils are by Carlo Pagulayan; covers are by Ladronn.
SciFiDimensions.com interviews Greg Pak
John C. Snider at SciFiDimensions.com has interviewed Greg Pak about “Robot Stories,” the new “Robot Stories and More Screenplays” paperback, and Pak’s comic work. Click here to read the interview.