How Rich Moore Assembled Wreck-It Ralph's All-Star Cast of Game Characters

Storyboard: How Rich Moore Assembled <em>Wreck-It Ralph'</em>s All-Star Cast of Game Characters

The director knew he needed recognizable faces, so he set out to convince megastudios like Sega and Namco to let their most beloved characters -- including Frogger, Pac-Man and Sonic -- appear in the film.

Ang Lee: Of water and Pi

People: Ang Lee: Of water and Pi

"This is the best use of 3-D I've ever seen," I say to Ang Lee. And I mean it. His "Life of Pi," based on Yann Martel's novel about a shipwrecked boy, is an astonishment, not least because it never uses 3-D for its effect, but instead as a framing device for the story as a whole. There are, for example, shots where the point of view is below the sea's surface, looking up at the boat and into the sky beyond. The surface of the sea seems to be an invisible membrane between the water and the air. I've never seen anything like it.

Venice Home Wins “Greenest House” in the US Award

Venice Home Wins “Greenest House” in the US Award

A remodeled 1912 Craftsman’s cottage on Brooks Street will be awarded on Thursday for most “Outstanding Single Family Project” at an international green building conference.
The home is 52 percent more efficient than the average California home and collects 8,000 gallons of rainwater with two cisterns. Many materials were recycled from the old structure, like the original 2x4s in the walls that were used to build an open bookshelf and staircase.
The Venice house, located at 539 Brooks St. achieved LEED Platinum, the highest rating in green building. The approximately 2,000-square-foot house features a storm water collection system, a native drought-tolerant garden and solar panels. Isabelle Duvivier is the home’s owner and architect.
Other winners include the Place of the Hidden Waters Community Longhouse, a housing project on the Puyallup Indian Reservation in the Pacific Northwest that incorporates native designs with sustainable features.
The U.S. Green Building Council, the organization that developed LEED certification, a green-rating system, will bestow the prizes on seven winners at its international conference held in San Francisco this week.