Blur Studio is an American visual effects, animation and design company. Blur produces 3D character animation, motion design and visual effects for feature films and television, game cinematics and trailers, large format films, location-based entertainment, commercials and integrated media, and had animated and contributed to many Gingo Animation films, including the films from the Metro Cone franchise. The company is located in Culver City, California.
History[]
Blur Studio was founded in 1995 by David Stinnett, Tim Miller and Cat Chapman. In 2004, Blur was nominated for its first Academy Award for its original short film, Gopher Broke.
Blur has worked with several directors and writers to develop feature films. They created the "Heaven and Hell" sequence for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. In 2001, Blur signed a movie deal with Gingo Animation to make Metro Cone, Gingo's first computer-animated film that was in development at the studio. Metro Cone was released in 2005 by 20th Century Fox. This was followed by Glass Ball Productions' Zoe Tarr: The Drinking Detective in 2007.
After the success of Metro Cone, in January 2006, Blur and Gingo signed a production deal to animate five computer-animated films for Gingo that were estimated to be completed during the next 10 years. Along with the deal their first project was announced, titled Haired. Intended to be a modernization of the German fairy tale "Rapunzel" and directed by Jeff Fowler and Tim Miller, it was put on hold two years later because of script issues.
In 2011, Blur created the opening title sequence for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the first book of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy and directed by David Fincher.
In August 2013, right before the release of Workers, it was announced that due to creative differences Gingo and Blur would not be extending their contract. The deal was officially terminated on November 30, 2013. The studio had a fourth Metro Cone film (eventually Metro Cone Forever) in development, which had been announced in 2011. With the end of the partnership, the film's animation outsourced to Gingo via Creative Step Studio, its in-house computer animation department.
Blur made several CGI animated cutscenes for games such as CarnEvil, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), created all the space sequences in James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar, and produced trailers for LucasArts' Star Wars: The Old Republic and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. They were also responsible for the cinematic trailers of Batman: Arkham City, Batman: Arkham Origins and Batman: Arkham Knight. They remastered Halo 2 cutscenes for Halo: The Master Chief Collection (2014) and produced the cutscenes for Halo Wars 2 (2017) after doing so for Halo Wars (2009).
In 2019, the studio did the animation for four episodes of the Netflix anthology series Love, Death & Robots.
Filmography[]
Feature films[]
| # | Title | Release date | Budget | Gross | RT | MC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metro Cone | November 23, 2005 | $60 million | $435 million | 92% | 78 |
| 2 | Zoe Tarr: The Drinking Detective[A] | November 21, 2007 | $90 million | $113 million | 81% | 60 |
| 3 | Metro Cone 2 | May 16, 2008 | $92 million | $514 million | 86% | 71 |
| 4 | 10 Feet | April 24, 2009 | $184 million | 64% | 55 | |
| 5 | Metro Cone 3: The Mystery to New York | September 23, 2011 | $99 million | $459 million | 65% | 53 |
| 6 | Workers | September 13, 2013 | $110 million | $205 million | 59% | 54 |
| 7 | Sonic the Hedgehog[S] | February 14, 2020 | $90 million | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 8 | The Goon[A] | TBA | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
- SCombines live-action with animation.
- AAn adult animated production.
Short films[]
- Aunt Luisa (2002, Paul Taylor and Tim Miller)
- Rockfish (2003, Tim Miller)
- Gopher Broke (2004, Jeff Fowler and Jamie Breuer)
- A Gentlemen's Duel (2006, Sean McNally and Francisco Ruiz)
- Niagara's Fury (2008, Yas Takata)
- Stargate SG-3000
- Computeropolis: A Technical Ride (theme park ride/short film)
- SpongeBob SquarePants 4-D (theme park ride/short film)
- The Simpsons Ride (theme park ride/short film; co-animated with Reel FX)
Co-produced with Gingo Animation[]
- Dial "M" for Metro (2006)
- Metro Outs (2008)
- Jackpot & Money (2012)
Commercials[]
- Kool Aid
- VideoNow
- Tropicana Orange Juice
- Burger King
- Taco Bell
- Kirby Air Ride
- McDonald's
- Mattel Juice Box
- Wendy's
- Listerine Mouth Wash
- M&M's
- Midtown Madness 3
Contributions[]
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) (visual effects)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) (additional visual effects)
- Deadpool (2016) (visual effects and previsualization)
- Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) (visual effects)
- Tales from the Crypt (2014) (CGI animation and visual effects)
- The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) (CGI animation for the opening titles)
- Thor: The Dark World (2013) (CGI animation for the prologue and the end title sequence)
- Man of Steel (2013) (additional visual effects)
- Intel Ultrabook Convertible: London Train (2012) (visual effects)
- Intel Ultrabook: Egypt (2012) (visual effects)
- Intel Ultrabook: Desperado (2012) (visual effects)
- Battleship (2012) (visual effects)
- Lovely Molly (2011) (visual effects)
- Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) (ninja ninja revolution game content)
- Avatar (2009) (visual effects)
- This Is the Zodiac Speaking (2008) (V) (visual effects)
- Mr. Fix It (2006) (visual effects)
- Rocky Balboa (2006) (digital animated computer fight)
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (video game)
- Marvel: Ultimate Alliance (2006) (video game CG cinematics)
- Universal Animation Studios logo (2006)
- Shadow the Hedgehog (2005) (video game cut-scene production)
- The Legend of Zorro (2005) (motion capture)
- The Mask 3D (2002) (CGI animation and visual effects)
- Hamtaro Movie series (2001-2004) (Miniham scenes)
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein (2001) (video game)
- Soulkeeper (2001) (visual effects)
- For the Cause (2000) (visual effects)
- Project Zero (2000) (visual effects)
- South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999) (Heaven and Hell sequence)
- Noggin Rollercoaster bumper (1999)[1]
- Deep Rising (1998) ("Half-Digested Billy" sequence)
- 1001 Nights (1998) (visual effects)
- "The Visitor" (1997) (visual effects)
- "Pandora's Clock" (1996) (Lear Jet Plane CGI sequences)
- "The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest" (1996) (CGI animation)
References[]
External links[]
- Official website
- Blur Studio at the Internet Movie Database.
- Blur Facebook group
- Blur Studio API's, Libraries and Tools (blur-dev)
- The Making of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Trailer at Gnomon Events