November 24.
If the audience beloved Lilo & Stitch, Ice Age 1 was pletely mesmerizing for the older crowd, those starry-eyed viewers looking ahead to the big hit—only to be struck silent by one simple fact.
The teology was leaps ahead. If we call the king of 3D teology, Pixar is undoubtedly the best at it. Everything was fwless. Regarding tech, it’s on par with Ice Age 2 from 2006, which means no other team has been able to sustain such progress up to this point.
Most people were left speechless. For two reasons, the qualitative leap wasn't as apparent in A Bug's Life. In 1994, when produ of A Bug's Life began, the acquisition hadn’t happened yet, so for that movie, the program was solidified, and the image quality improved by 100%. Toy Story 2, already in produ, would take less time to plete, as the script and storyboard were already smoothly id out... it will likely be ready by June.
Billy, in his formal suit, roached by many their gratutions and a warm wele to the world of success. Everyone se—something only a few had noticed with Toy Story, but many saw it with Ice Age. Its success was overwhelming, undeniably s in script, visuals, animation, and moral lessons. It could easily be called the cradle of animated films, a true ematic cssic.
Yet, the Ice Age is simply fantastid how else could it attract all kinds of iors? So far, it has brought in six iors, sourced from various representatives.
'How much did the film cost you?' asked Steven Spielberg.
How much it cost... a signifit sum, far above average. Autodesk and Id Software share much of the burden, which is why, in most cases, the budget isn’t as high as it seems. Still, it's elevated. At least in three parts, the cost is dht ridiculous. If these three panies hadn’t shared costs... that’s not something Steven Spielberg o know. Better to keep Pixar’s itment to these panies discreet. As long as Pixar delivers a good film, Autodesk's stocks will rise.
‘A lot of money, just in software and tevestments—60 million scaled over two films. The team added another bit. I think it all rounds out to around 40 million, minimum. But we sent the IRS a receipt for 48 million, including the whole advertising campaign. But the costs are higher. We paid two pao keep updating the software with different funs for Pixar. The goal is to create a simple program that be used without much hassle... It's the most expensive film so far,’ Billy replied.
-That's impressive. I’d love to have an animation studio at DreamWorks with that kind of caliber. You know, we tested it with Ambliertai. We'll be releasing Balto on December 15, - Steven muttered, still somewhat insecure. His story ectacur, and they saved costs in other areas like actors and the soundtrack.
‘If you’re having trouble with the box office, I buy the film for produ cost if you hat help. I want to expand my film library a bit. We egotiate the price, as long as it’s reasonable,’ Billy offered, fully aware of the massive box office flop and subsequent success in the DVD market. Of all the films, though Amblin had seen one failure after ahey were still invaluable in helping to create something great.
-I’ll sider it with you, - Steven Spielberg replied. Scraping together two million dolrs was a wonderful deal for such a popur film.
‘Hahaha, I think it could be fantastic. Although Jeffrey has es I didn’t have when I was building my animation studio. More than Jeffrey, it’s the team he gathers around him that’s so talented,’ Billy responded, knowing Spielberg already had pns to pull some strings. It was on for him to always want more mohough the price hike was simply far above what the project was worth.
An astonishing pre-release.
-We ... but we ’t, - Steven responded.
With the images still fresh in his mind, he reflected on how far the animation world had e. Everyone erating uhe assumption that they couldn’t deliver such high-quality art, and how much the art would tio improve.
***
Monica was taking her first steps into modeling. Her runway walk had improved signifitly; in both her steps and dance-like movements, she had progressed from a beginner, knowing little, to someoh a solid grasp of the essentials, though she still had a long way to go.
She smiled deeply as she strutted down a winter runway, dressed in long coats, high heels, and fred pants. She modeled well into the night, perhaps until ten o’clock, feeling pletely exhausted as her drivers took her back to the mansion she had barely had time to enjoy. The flowers of various colors were already wilting, and builders were w here and there, strug a small greenhouse for the pnts, creating a fantastical atmosphere with their projects.
-Good evening, ma’am.-murmured the house manager, Fred Braule.
-Thank you, Fred,- Monica replied, making her to the sed floor. There, in a small makeshift art studio, Billy would immerse himself in his works, devoting himself passioo unimaginable creations. He would rise early every day, w tirelessly from six in the m until six in the evening, often without a break. Despite the gossip surrounding Billy, many failed to see the man who worked relentlessly on his passions.
She approached him and pced a kiss on his cheek. It was better not to disturb him.
Meanwhile, Billy was deep into his weekly practice of Real, his hyper-impressionist art. His work was built on pure effort, and today, his first piece has been published. His phone hadn’t stopped ringing since, with many people mistaking his artwork for incredible photographs. Each image recise rendering of reality, down to 100% accuracy. The ic Real had sent shockwaves through the art world; all the copies sold out within hours of release. Anticipating massive sales, Anne had already ordered another million copies to be prihough Billy was unaware of this. She was even managing the third book of Real, currently scheduled in the produ dar. On top of that, she had crafted a deal with Nike, basketball brands, and other partners, with iations pnned for the sed installment.
That’s why Real seemed so absurdly successful. Billy now khat the key y in refining the aesthetic further, perfeg the pure design of development. He was blending various artistic styles—for instance, in Real, Van Helsing’s character was done in a realist style. In Bleach, he used watercolor trasts for the powers, which differed signifitly from the inal style. In One Piece, he experimented with realism (gradual, in architecture aaiails) mixed with caricaturism and other drawing teiques, transf the ic’s visual style, while also adding subtle romanticism iain ses.
However, even with his achievements, Billy still wasn’t where he wao be. He had put Shaman King and Samurai X on hold because he wao improve his drawing skills to create an artistic style that truly did justice to the art itself. He envisioned usiro art for some of his ic pages, particurly in cyberpunk or detective moments, moments of shod iy.
In Samurai X and Shaman King, he po incorporate Van Gogh’s impressionism bined with Victorian art, but he wasn’t yet capable of achieving that. He least 40 points… no, 50 points… to reach that level of artistry. He uood that he couldn’t do it all at once.
His stomach growled, reminding him of his hunger just as he finished a stunning image.
-It ’t just be about that. Even though the art is good, beyond the artwork, I o improve the paransitions.-Billy mused, as he set aside Hunter x Hunter for now—a series that blehousands of styles effortlessly, yet mao be impressive in its simplicity. Still, he knew he had to refihe design for the Heaven’s Arena arc.
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