Artist Profile: Joe Chiodo


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Joe Chiodo is a name not unknown to comic book aficionados. The youngest of four boys, Chiodo would grow up to be one of the comic book industry’s most sought after cover illustrators and colorists. His popularity rose during the 1990’s as he contributed cover illustrations for the group of artists who would form the indie publishing, creator-owned company of Image Comics (especially the Wildstorm and Cliffhanger brands).

Chiodo’s pin-up style lends well to the so-called “bad girl” style of comic book characters such as Vampirella, Lady Death, Witchblade and a host of others. His pin-up style was reminiscent of classic pin-up and cheesecake artists such as Dave Stevens and Gil Elvgren. He would add a certain Disney cartoon-style to the mix that would become the unique Chiodo-style fans have come to admire and love.

Joe Chiodo continues to do cover illustrations and coloring for comic book artists and companies. He has also released his own series of artbooks that focuses on his cover works and original art and painting throughout the years.

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Cave of Forgotten Dreams by Werner Herzog (Official Trailer)


One of the films to be announced after the success of James Cameron’s Avatar that would also make use of 3D cameras came from an individual who many wouldn’t consider as a proponent of 3D filmmaking. Even during and after the production of this documentary film this filmmaker still is not a total convert to the process. What he did do is use the most advanced filmmaking technique to capture on film exactly what he wanted and 3D filmmaking was the only to give his vision justice.

The filmmaker I’m talking about is the great German director Werner Herzog. The film in question is his documentary about the cave paintings in the Chauvet Cave, Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

In an unprecedented move the French government allowed Herzog to film this documentary in the Chauvet Cave but with some heavy restrictions on what sort of equipment he  and his crew could use. They were also limited in where they could stand to film scenes within the cave. Despite these restrictions what scenes people saw during a showing at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival gave enough people an impression of Herzog’s vision.

The documentary will be released by IFC films this Spring of 2011 with the History Channel getting the rights to show it on TV. This is one of the films of 2011 of which I am very interested in seeing and the fact that it’s Herzog working in 3D is something that needs to be experienced on the big-screen.