It was important that CG creatures like Momo felt like they were making character choices rather than just simply appearing to be cool or cute.
Brought together by Netflix is the visual effects supervisor duo of Jabbar Raisani and Marion Spates who are collaborating on their third series together, beginning with Lost in Space and followed by Stranger Things and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Their current partnership is an epic adaption of the animated series that was previously tried by M. Night Shymalan in a much-maligned feature film that fans and critics would rather burn or bury.
As for what the live-action adaption could achieve that was not possible for the source material, Spates comes up with one word, “Perspective. The cartoon is 2D and hand-drawn perspectives, while this is all done in 3D with proper depth and scale. You are immersed in the show.” Raisani, who also took on the roles of director and executive producer, is in agreement. “Across the board, we tried to represent if this was real, what would this really look like? Hopefully, that allows for a suspension of disbelief that when you’re watching the animated [series], you know that it’s not real, but we tried to make it feel like a real living, breathing world.”
Aang leaves his earthly body and enters the Spirit World.
Aang visits the Fire Nation temple of Avatar predecessor Roku in order to communicate with him.
Spanning eight episodes, the Netflix adaption concludes where the first season of the animated series ended with the Fire Nation laying siege to the home of the Northern Water Tribe as part of its plan to gain global supremacy over the other three nations that have the ability to control water, wind and earth. The main threat is the Avatar, a reincarnated spirit who can master all four elements, who has returned after freak natural accident imprisoned him in a frozen tomb for a century. “We always knew the scale, scope, quantity and quality were going to be difficult because those things never align with the time,” Raisani states. “Specific challenges were Appa and Momo. We knew that we had to nail those characters because how beloved they are, and it took a long time to get them just right. On the Netflix side, working with Ted Biaselli, he was a great resource to look to, talk through the characters and look at the animated series, and he helped us all shape that feeling to get the emotion right for those characters. Once we nailed that, the execution was much faster than we might have anticipated. Bending was hard, too. It was hard to figure out how to do it right. There was a lot of trail and error. It took us awhile to understand exactly what components went into each form of bending.”
“Jared Higgins, who is a Visual Effects Supervisor, came up with the ‘barbershop pole’ as a way to always move the water. We used it to a degree on the other forms as well, but the water is where you see it the most because what we didn’t want was a ball or orb of water. It always feels like it has a current. That you can see throughout the series.”
—Jabbar Raisani, Executive Producer/Director
The Spirit World was shot in the forests of British Columbia and made otherworldly with lens effects such as chromatic aberrations.
A major storyline is watching Katara develop as a waterbender, which had to be reflected in the visual effects work throughout the eight episodes.
Around 3,400 visual effects shots were created for the eight episodes over a period of 18 months by Framestore, Scanline VFX, Important Looking Pirates, Accenture Song VFX, Pixomondo, Image Engine, Rodeo FX, Untold Studios, Outpost VFX, BigHugFX, Cadence Effects, The Resistance VFX, Atomic Pictures, NEXODUS, FABLEfx and DNEG VP. “We looked at the animated series and wanted to mimic everything that we could; however, what do we need to do to ground it in today’s reality?” Spates notes. “We looked at flamethrowers for firebending. For water, we didn’t find a whole lot of reference. We found some water that was in space and a lot of slow-motion buckets of water. You can’t find a water whip online anywhere, but if you do, let us know because we’ll use it for references!” Simulations had to be art directed. “You’re trying to art direct something that is a random event and attempting to use forces to get exactly what you’re after,” Raisani notes. “We understand that you cannot art direct every single drop or drip or element.” A major part of the waterbending recipe was the concept of an underlying force that resembles a twirling barbershop pole. “Jared Higgins, who is a Visual Effects Supervisor, came up with the ‘barbershop pole’ as a way to always move the water,” Raisani explains. “We used it to a degree on the other forms as well, but the water is where you see it the most because what we didn’t want was a ball or orb of water. It always feels like it has a current. That you can see throughout the series.”
Various dangerous beings inhabit the Spirit World, like the angry forest deity known as Hei Bei.
Sokka and Katara witness Aang escaping his century-old frozen tomb.
Getting the glowing arrow and eyes of the Avatar State integrated with the plate photography took a lot of finessing.
Three departments that had to work closely were stunt, visual effects and special effects, all of which had multiple supervisors to manage the workload. “We all start from the moment we are on set,” Spates notes. “We didn’t have an opportunity to come on at the beginning in production, but we were definitely there for the reshoots. The way that Jabbar and I approach things is you get in and work with all of the different departments early on in the process so that way everyone is on the same page of what we’re trying to pull off. They can’t do it without us, and we can’t do it without them.” Easing the communication was an established shorthand. “Fortunately, with people like Jeff Aro, who was one of the stunt coordinators, we worked with him on Lost in Space for years, so there’s an existing relationship that helps to streamline the process,” Raisani remarks. “Nevin Swain was also the prop master on Lost in Space. I know a lot of the crew up in Vancouver from many years of working there.” The special effects team led by Chris Flemington and Mark Gibbard provided some clever solutions. “We had this cool contraption where they could blow wind from a hose,” Spates reveals. “For Aang’s landing, they could just blow the dirt out of the way, so that way we get that effect for free which was great.” Earthbending was mainly digital with exception of some practical debris. “For fire, we had the firelight on their hands to simulate the interactive lighting, and it had to be operated by the board operator, so when someone is bending and doing the firebending all of that has to be timed out and matched exactly,” Spates remarks. “We definitely had some things to figure out for Season 2 because we needed to tighten some areas as far as the interactive lighting and some things that we did on set.”
Along with being a firebender, Princess Azula has the ability to bend lightning, much to the pleasure of her father Firelord Ozai.
A lot of attention was paid to get enough detail between the iris, pupil and sclera for the Avatar State.
“[For the location of the Southern Air Temple] I spent a lot of time in China on another project, but I knew where these amazing mountains [Zhangjiajie National Forest Park] are, which were used in the film Avatar. That’s exactly what we wanted because the scale of those mountains is unbelievable. There is a lot of imagery that we can steal from the Internet, which obviously is what helped us to make such awesome Avatar mountains, because that’s what they have been labeled over the course of the multiple shows that have been there. It was awesome.”
—Marion Spates, Visual Effects Supervisor
Classic scenes were recreated, like when Aang is showing off his airbending skills to a group of children and accidentally crashes into a statue. “It was moments like that where you’re trying to emulate the animated series as well as you can,” Raisana observes. “For that particular shot, Gordon Cormier was on a practical driving rig that drove him around, then we do a swap to a full CG version of Aang. Once he comes to camera, he is digital and full CG, crashes and falls to the ground. We definitely used all of the magic of the practical stuff on set as well as full CG stuff, and pulling from this beloved animated series. Moments like that are fun.”
Something that had to be kept in mind was how and where Katara could summon mass amounts of water that she would be unable to carry.
A fun creature to create was the ostrich horse, which is a mode of transportation for the Earth Kingdom.
In the majority of cases, the earthbending was entirely digital, such as in the fight between Bumi and Aang.
Interestingly, a cinematic franchise that shares the same name but isn’t related provided the location of the Southern Air Temple. “I spent a lot of time in China on another project, but I knew where these amazing mountains [Zhangjiajie National Forest Park] are, which were used in the film Avatar” Spates recalls. “That’s exactly what we wanted because the scale of those mountains is unbelievable. There is a lot of imagery that we can steal from the Internet, which obviously is what helped us to make such awesome Avatar mountains, because that’s what they have been labeled over the course of the multiple shows that have been there. It was awesome.”
“[W]hat do we need to do to ground it in today’s reality? We looked at flamethrowers for firebending. For water, we didn’t find a whole lot of reference. We found some water that was in space and a lot of slow-motion buckets of water. You can’t find a water whip online anywhere, but if you do, let us know because we’ll use it for references!”
—Marion Spates, Visual Effects Supervisor
Acting alongside the live-action cast were CG characters, with two of the hardest being the air bison Appa and the flying lemur Momo. “There was a huge structure that was covered in fur for Appa that the actors are climbing or riding on top of,” Raisani explains. “There was a lot more of a physical representation of Appa on set and less so with Momo. There is a great scene in Episode 105, which Roseanne Liang directed, where Momo finds a little acorn. This acorn represents the fact that this forest has been burned down is going to be rebuilt. That’s a scene that we worked hard to ensure Momo brought an emotion to his performance and a connection, not only to Katara but to Aang, who is in the position of emotional strife, and make it feel like Momo makes a character choice to give this acorn that he wants to eat to Aang because Aang is struggling and he wants to do something for his friend. It’s moments like that we worked hard to ensure that they are giving a performance as opposed to being cool or cute-looking digital characters.”
The throne room of the Fire Nation made use of virtual production.
A fun creature was the ostrich horse ridden by the Earth Kingdom. “I love the ostrich horses,” Spates remarks. “Accenture Song VFX worked on that creature and did such a good job of bringing the movement of the ostrich into the ostrich horse. It’s unbelievable how [they captured] just little nuance motions of how they move around and walk. Also, there was the challenge of how do we make it into a horse and how do we make fur bend into the tail of a horse? Also, they had all of the armor, too. That becomes a big challenge because all of that stuff has to be simulated because there’s movement in the armor.”
Ian Ousley as Sokka leaps over the fur-covered buck for Appa with the help of wires and greenscreen.
Greenscreen props assisted Elizabeth Yu in achieving the acrobatic firebending that Princess Azula showcases in the series.
A classic pose is Aang flying using his staff as a glider which involved Gordon Cormier being shot against greenscreen and suspended by wires.
“Another fun sequence is the Aang-Bumi fight, which is part of the block I directed in Episode 104. I leaned heavily on the animated series and tried to do everything I could to represent that animated series in living, breathing form. For every beat that I could, I would grab the animated series and say, ‘We’re going to do this shot and that shot.’ The crew had a fun time shooting it, and we definitely had a great time in post putting that onscreen.”
—Jabbar Raisani, Executive Producer/Director
On a different plane of existence is the Spirit World, which can be accessed via the Avatar State. “I won’t get into how the original footage was shot because we weren’t there,” Spates states. “That was one area we could get creative and stylized. Normally, Jabbar and I stay away from stylized stuff because we always try to keep it grounded.” It was a tricky balancing act achieving the proper visual aesthetic. “We were trying to come up with something that felt heightened but also photographic, so we were leaning on a lot of photographic elements like chromatic aberrations, treating it as if it was something that was happening with the lens but was also happening with Aang,” Raisani remarks. “Especially in that first scene where he hadn’t been in the Spirit World, and we were trying to make it feel almost out of focus. It’s overwhelming, and he doesn’t know how to process it. We were trying to get that visually into the footage, but also emotionally connected with what Aang is feeling. In terms of the color, Marion worked with our in-house vendor to figure out how we take this forest in Vancouver and make it feel heightened, but don’t break to where it does not feel like a real place at all.”
The stunt work was so extensive for the eight episodes that it was divided between Stunt Supervisors Jeff Avro and Dean Choe.
Clever devices, such as wind hoses that stirred up dirt, were critical in making the landings of Aang look believable.
Gordon Cormier performs alongside a stuffie of Momo.
A signature effect is the Avatar State when the Avatar achieves maximum power. “As far as the Avatar State and the arrow and eyes, that was something we put in a lot of effort into,” Spates reveals. “We figured out with one of our in-house vendors what that would look like. The tricky thing is you’re putting all of this illumination and light on an actual image of a character. It’s easier when it’s all in CG, but we couldn’t make the CG aspect of Aang be so far different than the physical production footage of Aang. We had to figure out how to illuminate his head. We have a little of subdermal that we put around the arrow and his eyes. How much detail between the iris, pupil and sclera? We spent days and hours [figuring that out].”
A partial set build of Agna Qel’a, which is the capital city of the Northern Water Tribe.
A gray proxie for the head of a shirshu is positioned beside Arden Cho, who portrays the professional bounty hunter June.
Nothing would have been possible without the contributions of the other three Production Visual Effects Supervisors: Jared Higgins, Christopher D. Martin and Alex Gitler. as well as the army of vendors. “Scanline VFX did this incredible sequence of Koizilla wreaking havoc on the Fire Nation, and it’s all done through animation combined with simulations,” Raisana states. “Really complex work that is a combination of character, story, performance and technical complexity. It’s a cool sequence.” Spates agrees with his colleague. “Definitely what I want people to see is Koizilla, which is insane,” Spates says. “You talk about simulation — that is a lot of simulations. It gives me chills to my bones every time I see it. The things that we did to it, also in color, to represent what happens in the animated series has turned out fabulous.”
A crane elevates Gordon Cormier as Aang loses control of his Avatar powers upon returning to the Southern Air Temple after witnessing the aftermath of the massacre caused by the Fire Nation.
Getting the cast to interact with the Appa was made easier by the furry gimbal constructed by the special effects team led by Chris Flemington and Mark Gibbard.
Raisani has a personal bias. “Another fun sequence is the Aang-Bumi fight, which is part of the block I directed in Episode 104. I leaned heavily on the animated series and tried to do everything I could to represent that animated series in living, breathing form. For every beat that I could, I would grab the animated series and say, ‘We’re going to do this shot and that shot.’ The crew had a fun time shooting it, and we definitely had a great time in post putting that onscreen.”
Images courtesy of Republic Pictures and Theodor Groeneboom.
The woman (Jodie Comer} and her baby navigate the flooded streets of London with the help of greenscreen. Comer’s compelling performance was one of the anchors of the film.
Mahalia Belo’s remarkable feature directorial debut The End We Start From follows a woman (Jodie Comer) and her newborn child as she embarks on a treacherous journey to find safe refuge after a devastating flood. Based on Megan Hunter’s 2017 novel, The End We Start From is a hauntingly realistic depiction of a dystopian London submerged underwater.
Theodor Groeneboom served as Visual Effects Supervisor on the film. “A friend of mine in London went to film school with Mahalia,” Groeneboom recounts. “Mahalia reached out to me because of him. I used to live in London and worked in a few of the big studios there doing visual effects. Then, I moved back out to Norway a couple of years ago and started my own little company. We do quite a bit of work for the U.K. visual effects companies and some of the independent UK films as well. It felt like an extension of keeping in touch with everything that was happening there. I was involved from the early stages – the screenplay breakdowns, planning on the shoot and throughout the shoot and post-production, so it has been a long journey. I very much enjoyed it.”
Jodie Comer and Joel Fry in British survival drama The End We Start From.
The post-apocalyptic elements in the film are a backdrop in the story. “It’s not a visual effects film,” Groeneboom acknowledges. “That’s very much true for how the book portrays it as well. Production Designer Laura Ellis Cricks and Mahalia were very much into making sure the film has some kind of texture to it, not just visually but the way the landscape conveys through the film that it’s not just front and center that everything is happening.”
“We need to treat visual effects like some kind of story-driven element. They are just sprinkled around to provide texture to what is happening to Jodie [Comer] and her character, which is quite different from making a big scene and point out of it. It just happens to be what they are going through. There are quite a few scenes where we just put stuff in the background that could tell some kind of environmental thing that something has happened and not draw any attention to it. I guess that’s part of the whole textural side of things; they just want to paint the world but not make it completely obvious. I suppose subdued and textual were words that were frequently used about how to make the visual effects integrate.”
—Theodor Groeneboom, Visual Effects Supervisor
A woman (Jodie Comer) and her newborn child embark on a treacherous journey to find safe refuge after a devastating flood.
Explains Groeneboom, “It’s not so much a coherent film that goes from A to B; it sort of drifts in and out of these moments that you take in when you view the film that go away from the whole. We need to treat visual effects like some kind of story-driven element. They are just sprinkled around to provide texture to what is happening to Jodie and her character, which is quite different from making a big scene and point out of it. It just happens to be what they are going through. There are quite a few scenes where we just put stuff in the background that could tell some kind of environmental thing that something has happened and not draw any attention to it. I guess that’s part of the whole textural side of things; they just want to paint the world but not make it completely obvious. I suppose subdued and textual were words that were frequently used about how to make the visual effects integrate. Suzie Lavelle, the DP, was also a big part of that conversation in driving the lighting and the look of everything.”
The End We Start From is a hauntingly realistic depiction of a dystopian London submerged underwater.
Groeneboom and his team collected lots of material for visual references and relied heavily on the production design ‘bible’ that Production Designer Laura put together. “We were just looking at real photos of flooded areas such as farmland and cities around Europe and all from recent events,” Groeneboom explains. “It’s all based on real references that are quite current. The concepts from Laura were amazing, and it was sort of a bible – its own locations and references from both the recce and the [actual] places. There’s a bunch of scenes where there are animals trapped in a bit of mud, and you just see those skeletons sticking out. It’s just in the background and you don’t notice it, but it’s everything that can tell some kind of story. Barbed wires being cut for some of the fences, just whatever environmental storytelling they can think of, we tried to put in the background for some of these shots.”
“There’s a bunch of scenes where there are animals trapped in a bit of mud, and you just see those skeletons sticking out. It’s just in the background, and you don’t notice it, but it’s everything that can tell some kind of story. Barbed wires being cut for some of the fences, just whatever environmental storytelling they can think of, we tried to put in the background for some of these shots.”
—Theodor Groeneboom, Visual Effects Supervisor
The biggest challenge for Visual Effects Supervisor Theodor Groeneboom involved trying to figure out how to do London underwater, specifically Fleet Street. Greenscreen was required to isolate key elements to be added later.
“There were loads of references we were putting into the film,” he continues. “There were references for the textural quality of the rain and how much we should use. Some of it was more on the practical side of things and how to shoot, etc. and elements we want to use. As an overarching production design bible, there was a lot of stuff that came from Laura. A lot of ideas of not strictly stuff they wanted to see in the film, but Mahalia liked the feeling of it. There’s definitely less of the 28 Days Later vibe with the military and trying to keep it a bit more chaotic and grounded in the people around Jodie.”
“[Fleet Street underwater] was all approached from the same angle as everything else, that it needs to be grounded in reality, and you shouldn’t really pay attention to the effects of it. You should just take in the image as this is something that’s happened. We rebuilt the whole of Fleet Street. … I was taking photographs of every single façade, building, element and item that I could find. We later modeled them up in 3D for textures and lighting ornament and rebuilt the street from scratch. There are some obvious liberties taken to make sure that lighting looks as good as it can, so there are gaps in-between the buildings just to put nice eye lights on every other building.”
—Theodor Groeneboom, Visual Effects Supervisor
Groeneboom took photographs of every single façade and building, element and item that he could find of Fleet Street, then modeled them in 3D for textures and lighting, rebuilding the street from scratch.
Belo and Lavelle had a clear vision in their heads of what they wanted to achieve. “It wasn’t specific, but they were after a certain feeling. I think the production design bible picked all the right pieces,” Groeneboom remarks. “It was Suzie who set the real textural film quality to everything with her cinematography. We did really early development, sketches of trying to make things feel like they are underwater, like a suburban submerged in the city. This was all CG stuff that we were playing with beforehand to see whether or not it was doable with a small team and the amount of resources that we had. These were all based off the same references from the production bible.”
The biggest sequence for Groeneboom involved trying to figure out how to do London underwater, specifically Fleet Street. “Underwater in whatever capacity we could do,” he adds. “I think we got there in the end. It was all approached from the same angle as everything else, that it needs to be grounded in reality, and you shouldn’t really pay attention to the effects of it. You should just take in the image as this is something that’s happened. We rebuilt the whole of Fleet Street. I was dangling off a rental bus, one of the old Routemasters, and I was taking photographs of every single façade and building and element and item that I could find. We later modeled them up in 3D for textures and lighting ornament and rebuilt the street from scratch. There are some obvious liberties taken to make sure that lighting looks as good as it can, so there are gaps in-between the buildings just to put nice eye lights on every other building. Once the light hits a certain angle on Fleet Street, it just becomes completely obscured by the buildings.”
Recreating Fleet Street proved to be a challenging task as it’s an iconic street in London that people are very familiar with. The VFX team relied heavily on the production design bible put together by Production Designer Laura Ellis Cricks.
Fleet Street proved to be a challenging task as it’s an iconic street in London that people are very familiar with. “There are so many great photo references of it as well,” Groeneboom details. “It was a matter of bouncing between what Mahalia felt was real, or what she would accept being real, and what Suzie thought of the texturing and lighting of the scene and how she would approach it from a practical point of view. Obviously, she can’t light an entire street, but how as a DP would she approach it from a practical point of view? We had lots of discussions trying to figure out the right angle for the sun, but also blocking out certain elements to create interesting patterns on one side and having the other side a bit more muted. The opening shot of that scene was quite challenging as well, just trying to make it feel like London specifically. It was shot on a little greenscreen.”
There were around 120 visual effects shots in total, with 13 or 14 of those being Fleet Street. “The film is quite slow-paced, especially in terms of number of cuts in the film. Every single little detail and item on Fleet Street was modeled up and painstakingly created. There are some hints of hope in this scene as well. For example, there are few people dotted around in the windows. The bus was a challenge as well because the chassis of the bus was not favorable to any particular lighting. If you see the Routemasters buses in the city and take pictures of them, they are just uniformly red. It’s very hard to see any shading on them. Getting some prospective lighting on them proved to be a little bit difficult, so we had to exaggerate the amount of light and shadow that the material actually has. It’s a combination of plastics and metal, so that was a bit of a faffle.”
Groeneboom studied real photos of flooded areas such as farmland and cities around Europe based on current references.
Continues Groeneboom, “[Lighting was also an issue on] quite a few shots where there is flooding on some of the signs, but it’s all CG. We rebuilt a lot of environments and tried to make it all as integrated as possible. For instance, the subtly of some of the elements, like dead animals floating. Maybe you don’t pick it up when you watch the film for the first time, but there are quite a few of these images where they are driving and there is stuff in the background. I quite like that because a lot of films I’ve worked on previously have been blockbusters and the effects are front and center, but here they are subdued in the background. One of my favorite shots is of a traffic jam. There is a giant boom mic on the windshield of the car, which was a bit of pain to remove. We just extended the whole background with a bit of the M25 in the background, and there are fires and fire trucks and lots of things happening, but you probably don’t see it. In terms of rain enhancements, it was just putting more in. On the day, you can only get rain so far close to certain things before you have to do some augmentation with visual effects because of rain. Working with real effects elements is always a bit unwieldy. We also worked on the little baby bumps as well, which are partially prosthetics and partially visual effects.”
Groeneboom and his team also worked on the little baby bumps, which are partially prosthetics and partially visual effects.
Groeneboom and his team had ample support from every department in pre-production and on set. The riggers and the gaffers were especially helpful in pulling up greenscreens if needed and accommodating for the lighting and tracking markers whenever Groeneboom and his team were able to be on set for supervision. “We were there for the most important days, but they would take our potential work into consideration by just phoning us up and asking if we need tracking markers here, for example,” he adds. “So, in terms of on the shoot, we were quite welcome and an integral part of solving some of these shots. In terms of the post-production side, it was me and my company [Rebel Unit in Bergen, Norway] doing it. SunnyMarch were producing the whole film, and they were our client for the job. We are a small team of 10-11 people. I think we had six people on this at the most. The idea of my company is most of the people working there have worked in larger facilities before, so we are trying to move away from the idea of thinking large pipelines and overcomplicating, or over-engineering things, which we are trying to do as much as we can in off-the-shelf software and just being a bit more nimble about the approach. I’m quite happy with a small team of six people doing the work. There were two of us, including myself, doing the modeling for the Fleet Street elements.”
“We rebuilt a lot of environments and tried to make it as integrated as possible. For instance, the subtly of some of the elements, like dead animals floating. Maybe you don’t pick it up when you watch the film for the first time, but there are quite a few of these images where they are driving and there is stuff in the background. I quite like that because a lot of films I’ve worked on previously have been blockbusters and the effects are front and center, but here they are subdued in the background.”
—Theodor Groeneboom, Visual Effects Supervisor
There were around 120 visual effects shots in total, with more than a dozen of those being Fleet Street.
Groeneboom concludes,“Given the fact we are a small team and what we were able to achieve, I’m quite proud of the work we did. I really enjoyed working with Mahalia. It’s her first film, and I think she’s approached it in such an interesting and inspiring manner. I’m very interested in seeing what she does next. It was also great working with Suzie, as she’s lovely to work with, and working with the production team was one of my favorite parts. Reading good reviews, and the fact that the film has an important backdrop about the state of the world is interesting. From a visual effects point of view, you tend to go with more lackluster ideas of what apocalyptic visions happen to be. I thought this felt more real and important. Also, watching Jodie perform was really cool. She’s absolutely phenomenal.”
A parallelogram was implemented for when Tarak seeks to tame a Bennu, which is a hybrid of a crow, raven and tiger.
As Akira Kurosawa was a major influence on George Lucas’ The Hidden Fortress in particular, Zack Synder was inspired by Seven Samurai for what was initially meant to be a Star Wars pitch that has since been retooled for Netflix as a multiplatform original IP. A feature film was shot that has been divided into two parts with the first being Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire followed by Rebel Moon: Part Two – The Scargiver. Participating in what Synder has termed a “giant atmospheric space adventure” is Visual Effects Supervisor Marcus Taormina who previously collaborated with the filmmaker known for speed ramping, hyper-real, painterly compositions and lens flares on another Netflix production, Army of the Dead. “What has been nice about working on both movies simultaneously, both shooting them and doing post-production, is that we’re looking at both movies at the same time,” Taormina states. “A lot of what is set up in Part One we use in Part Two.”
Planetary skies were peppered in when needed to give scenes the proper tone.
Nemesis lethally wields two swords which are a combination of molten metal, a streaking light effect and a heat signature.
A flashback of when Kora was a soldier for the Imperium.
Overall, 1,380 visual effects shots were created by Framestore, Luma Pictures, Mammal Studios, Rodeo FX, Scanline VFX and Wētā FX for Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, which revolves around an adopted daughter of a despot standing up against him by assembling a gang of notorious renegades to protect a planet that she now calls home. What makes the production somewhat unusual is that Synder doubles as his own cinematographer. “It’s nice to have a director/DP because I only have to go to one side of the set versus splitting time,” Taormina notes. “Days of Heaven was a huge inspiration for this movie, which means organic filming, daylight dependent, lots of lens flares, and we also had a custom one-of-a-kind anamorphic package that Zack created for the film, which in itself was a huge challenge. What was nice was that I could go to him about things that I needed. ‘I love the lens flares, but I need you to do a clean pass as I have to erase that flare and put it back over the work later on.’ He was understanding to that and granted me those opportunities on set.”
A hard job for Framestore was incorporating energy tracers into 300 shots for the Gondival gunfight.
While playing JC-1435 (aka Jimmy) on set, Dustin Ceithamer listened to the voice of Anthony Hopkins to make sure that their two performances were in sync with each other.
Skies set the tone for scenes, and Snyder sent a whole library of them to Taormina. “It would always be, ‘I like this and that reference,’” Taormina explains. “I would pull them together and go, ‘What do you like about this one?’ I would smash them all together. We had a lot of discussions about the gas giant Mara at the beginning of the movie, which is not a sky, but it’s [related] enough that it’s an important part. Zack found a colored look that he liked that was a dirtier orange. Obviously, he had to put the lightbox up there, which was headache in itself because the flare contaminated the lens a lot. There was a lot of compositing needed to put those shots together, but it adds to the believability because when you get this dirty orange wash over Kora [Sofia Boutella] it feels cohesive.” Over 38 worlds had to be conceptualized with the main ones being Veldt, Neu Wodi, Daggus, Castor, Sharaa, Gondival and Motherworld. “It starts with our production designers, Stephen Swain and Sefan Dechant; they sent a lot of reference packages our way. Obviously, if there were practical pieces, we would try to infuse those back into our digital worlds. But trying to make them unique yet familiar was a challenge. Atmospherics, the mood and lighting, all of those things were important and played a role. When going to Sharaan we meet King Levitica. It’s moody because it feels like we’re not supposed to be there as the viewers,” Taormina remarks.
To make Neu Wodi more threatening, rocky spires caused by a collision with asteroid were added to the arid terrain.
While Jena Malone is strapped to a rig to limit her movements, stunt performers dressed in green shift the legs of Harmada.
“It starts with our production designers, Stephen Swain and Sefan Dechant; they sent a lot of reference packages our way. Obviously, if there were practical pieces, we would try to infuse those back into our digital worlds. But trying to make them unique yet familiar was a challenge. Atmospherics, the mood and lighting, all of those things were important and played a role.”
—Marcus Taormina, Visual Effects Supervisor
Clean plates were shot at times with the distinct lens flares caused by the custom-made anamorphic lenses added later in post.
For arid Neu Wodi, the ranch was a real location; however, when the creature known as a Bennu takes flight, the entire environment becomes digital. “We talk about how we wanted to get a lot more claustrophobic,” Taormina states. “When we fly through the spires, it feels like they’re closing in on us, and then the Bennu [nicknamed Beatrice] smashes Tarak [Staz Nair] off onto the cliff. We have to make sure that when Tarak jumps that he jumps down into a huge ravine, which feels threatening. We let it open back up towards the end where there’s this majestic scale and beauty to it. Designing that was fun.” The Bennu harkens back to Pegasus. “It’s neither a raven or crow but both at the same time, and a gryphon, too.” Stunt performer Albert Valladares was placed in the middle of a parallelogram with his colleagues holding on to ropes that were attached to his backpack to simulate what it would be like trying to restrain a rearing Bennu. “Every take I was like, ‘Zack, hang on. I’ve got to give a note.’ I’m giving notes to special effects and creature stunt performers while Zack is giving notes to Staz Nair. On occasion I would say, ‘Staz, just imagine that at this moment that you’re going to get ripped apart, and now you have a subtle moment where you get to interact with him. Live in that moment. And also let Albert do some of the performances and lead you, in a sense,” Taormina says. Nair was subsequently captured sitting on a gimbal setup in a parking lot for the aerial sequence. “I said to Zack, ‘I know that we have these anamorphic lenses, which are great. However, let’s do one camera anamorphic and shoot the other three spherically. It will be super sharp, but don’t worry, we’ll add our optics later on to it to make it feel anamorphic.’ We basically reanimated and recomposed all of those shots and scaled them down so that it feels like he’s flying through.”
Stunt performers provide the resistance on set of a person being captured by ecto-shackle, otherwise known as the ‘Beetlejuice Chair.’
“We talk about how we wanted to get a lot more claustrophobic. When we fly through the spires, it feels like they’re closing in on us, and then the Bennu [nicknamed Beatrice] smashes Tarak [Staz Nair] off onto the cliff. We have to make sure that when Tarak jumps that he jumps down into a huge ravine, which feels threatening. We let it open back up towards the end where there’s this majestic scale and beauty to it.”
—Marcus Taormina, Visual Effects Supervisor
The CG went up to the rib cage of Jena Malone to believably integrate her into the body of a spider to create the Daggus-dwelling creature known as Harmada.
Influencing the aesthetic of the cobalt-mining planet Daggus was Blade Runner. “I wanted it to feel dark, dingy and moist,” Taormina states. “A lot of narrative and production design determined that environment as we had a lot of built pieces to the set.” Dwelling in the basement level is a native spider/humanoid hybrid called Harmada (Jena Malone) which abducts a child and in doing so comes into conflict with Nemesis (Bae Donna). “The stuntvis or previs was a combination of digital shots and stunts in motion capture suits. Because that space was so small, stunts had to be careful about the movements. Jena Malone is on this huge swivel rig, which is best described as a cart that she is strapped to because we didn’t want her body moving too much, as we needed to see her just below the navel or bust to make it cohesive. We had three to five stunt performers swiveling the rig while having it going up and down to the performances. They also have noodles that are interacting with Donna. It was a harmonious integration of everything together because we didn’t want to replace Jena as her performance was too great.” Nemesis wields two swords that avoid being replicas of lightsabers. “When I had that initial conversation with Zack. all we knew is that we were going to have acrylic rods with LEDs in them that had a warmer amber color. I had this light painting of streaking sparklers. I was like, ‘That’s cool. I think we can do that almost like a synthetic shutter or delayed shutter on the swords, add a heat signature and smoke and then add what we call ‘sword popcorn’ as well. It’s those sparks that came off of it.”
Tony Amendola gets transformed into King Levitica.
“Every take I was like, ‘Zack, hang on. I’ve got to give a note.’ I’m giving notes to special effects and creature stunt performers while Zack is giving notes to Staz Nair. On occasion I would say, ‘Staz, just imagine that at this moment that you’re going to get ripped apart, and now you have a subtle moment where you get to interact with him. Live in that moment. And also let Albert do some of the performances and lead you, in a sense.”
—Marcus Taormina, Visual Effects Supervisor
The three massive explosions that occur during battle on Gondival were entirely CG.
Anthony Hopkins voices a robot called JC-1435, also referred to as ‘Jimmy,’ that decides to participate in the rebellion against the oppressive Imperium led by Kora. “I asked Zack if we could video record and do a ADR scratch session with Anthony Hopkins,” Taormina reveals. “If you don’t have your performer listening to the way that Anthony delivers the lines then there may be a mismatch, and when you put them all together in the end, your brain is going ‘something is wrong or odd here.’ The inflections and body movements are not right. We made the Jimmy suit for Dustin Ceithamer that had chest plates in the front and back, shoulder pads, a face plate and some hands, but the hands had to be replaced digitally. When we got into post, Dustin’s performance and Zack’s direction were so great and minimal that it was less robotic and more human. I actually mandated that when we could, which is about 90% of the shots, to keep the practical chest and face plates, which is a lot more difficult to do because it was so beautiful in the way Zack captured them in the available light.”
Augmenting natural elements like mountain ranges and waterfalls helped to make the Southern California location for Veldt unrecognizable.
“When I had that initial conversation [about the swords of Nemesis and avoiding the lightsabers of Star Wars] with Zack. all we knew is that we were going to have acrylic rods with LEDs in them that had a warmer amber color. I had this light painting of streaking sparklers. I was like, ‘That’s cool. I think that we can do that almost like a synthetic shutter or delayed shutter on the swords, add a heat signature and smoke and then add what we call ‘sword popcorn’ as well. It’s those sparks that came off of it.”
—Marcus Taormina, Visual Effects Supervisor
The Bennu gimbal was shot in parking lot while the aerial environment was fully digital.
Another interesting approach was for the restraining devices that have a mechanical base resemble a crab. Explains Taormina, “Those are called ecto-shackles in the script, but we named them ‘Beetlejuice Chairs.’ We have stunt performers grabbing the cast when they get thrown back, and then we swap out and put the practical prop in there. Like for Gondival or in Providence when the gentleman gets captured, we do the stunt followed by the digital version of it and then swap it out, and we had special effects create this RC-controlled base of the ecto-shackle. We put him on that with only the spine and added all of the digital pieces of it walking. Again, with your brain you’re trying to do the trickery of ‘what’s real and not.’ That’s a great example of stunts, props and special effects doing a fantastic job. We get the plates and go, ‘Let’s make this look cool.’”
Michael Fassbender portrays an assassin simply known as The Killer in the latest feature film collaboration between David Fincher and Netflix.
Producer and long-time David Fincher collaborator Peter Mavromates extend their partnership in the The Killer where an assassin seeks revenge after a botched assignment. The Netflix feature consists of 900 digitally-augmented shots that range from shortening the tail of a dog to CG airplanes, tasked to a vendor list that includes Ollin VFX, Artemple-Hollywood, Savage VFX and Wylie Co. as well as an in-house team. “Visual Effects Compositor Christopher Doulgeris and I will go into the color bay with [Colorist] Eric Weidt and talk about some issue that we had,” Mavromates explains. “Even sometimes if it’s an outside vendor, we’ll focus to help problem-solve. It’s this wonderful and fluid atmosphere, and it works for David Fincher because he’s always got ideas flowing. He doesn’t want to be on a clock at a facility where you’ve got from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and then it’s overtime. There’s none of that. David will walk the halls and stop in on people to check on stuff.”
Each setting was given a different color palette with the most vibrant being the Dominican Republic.
The Parisian apartment window shots were captured onstage in New Orleans and inserted into a digital recreation of the actual building by Artemple-Hollywood.
“The dog gives a vicious performance but had a tail that is probably about 12 or 14 inches long, which drove David crazy because when it wagged, he looked too cute! David calls me in and says, ‘We’ve got to get this tail down to two inches.’ … Ollin VFX in Mexico doctored the tail. When you look at the movie and see that tail, there is another 10 inches or so that you’re not seeing anymore!”
—Peter Mavromates, Producer
A vintage glass effect had to be created by Artemple-Hollywood for the Parisian apartment footage shot in New Orleans.
Savage was responsible for the gunshot enhancements.
An unusual visual effects situation arose when a guard dog pursues The Killer, played by Michael Fassbender, after its owner has been murdered. “The dog gives a vicious performance but had a tail that is probably about 12 or 14 inches long, which drove David crazy because when it wagged, he looked too cute!” Mavromates laughs. “David calls me in and says, ‘We’ve got to get this tail down to two inches.’ This is a night scene, so in terms of the type of work that you have to do on manipulating an image, it was tough footage. We had 37 shots, and for that we worked with Ollin VFX in Mexico, and they doctored the tail. When you look at the movie and see that tail, there is another 10 inches or so that you’re not seeing anymore!” What has become more common is the reframing of shots in the DI. “That is something David discovered while we were still shooting on film for Panic Room,” Mavromates remarks. “Once you had all of that film scanned and you’re in the DI suite, there is an opportunity to improve on the headroom. You couldn’t move it right or left that much because of the way it was shot on the negative, but you have a lot of north and south. We did about 100 shots then, and that number has continued to go up where it’s more than 50% of the shots in recent movies where the framing is adjusted.”
The stage shoot combined with an exterior matte painting.
The attention to detail was so fine that the shadow of the red cross inside of the scope moves along with the rifle.
[The reframing of shots in DI] is something David discovered while we were still shooting on film for Panic Room. Once you had all of that film scanned and you’re in the DI suite, there is an opportunity to improve on the headroom. You couldn’t move it right or left that much because of the way it was shot on the negative, but you have a lot of north and south. We did about 100 shots then, and that number has continued to go up where it’s more than 50% of the shots in recent movies where the framing is adjusted.”
—Peter Mavromates, Producer
Because of the desire to control the reflections and fractions of the helmet visor, Wylie Co. created a digital double of both Michael Fassbender and his scooter.
A landscaping matte painting was executed by Ollin VFX.
Considering that the entire first reel of the movie has the protagonist surveying the building across the street in Paris, one would have thought that Rear Window would have been an influence. “It’s astonishing how little we talked about that movie,” Mavromates notes. “The movie that David referenced and has nothing to do with the look of it is Le Samourai in terms of the tone and what the character is.” The daytime building in Paris actually exists and has been featured in Emily in Paris. “The initial shooting was in Paris and was in that square,” Mayromates explains. “We had eight cameras rolling so that David could capture the images of the people walking in the square and the façade of the building in the daytime. You could capture them simultaneously with different lens lengths so that the action matches perfectly because it’s literally the same take. Later, in New Orleans, they shot the individual window settings all laid out on a stage for the night scenes. Based on the daytime footage of that building and some nighttime plates, Artemple built an element where they put those windows in that were shot in New Orleans, then added tinted glass on the foreground.”
Bloodstains were added later in post-production.
CG traffic was created by Ollin VFX for the scenes in the Dominican Republic.
“Special effects put a wick in the bottle [of the Molotov cocktail that Fassbender throws] that had these LED lights, which were golden, and Ollin VFX went in and put the flame over that. What was astonishing is Fassbender threw the bottle that far and it landed a little bit to the left of the door. I couldn’t do that, for sure!”
—Peter Mavromates, Producer
All of the planes were fully CG.
A lot of work went into recoloring and creating taxi logos and numbers by Ollin VFX.
A digital double was created for the scooter escape of The Killer through the streets of Paris after the botched assignment. “The scooter and Michael Fassbender are all CG,” Mavromates reveals. “They did shoot Michael Fassbender on a scooter. That was in our early edits. Then Wylie Co. came in and slowly replaced everything. The background is a photographic plate behind the digital character and scooter in the foreground. If you were doing that all from scratch, that’s a big ask. At least when you have those plates, a lot of lighting decisions are made inherently.”
LED lights were placed in a bottle that was thrown by Michael Fassbender and later turned into a Molotov cocktail by Ollin VFX.
“There might be a few Fitbits that are actually photographic. I doubt it, because we created an interface in post for it. The interface that you see is not one that is exactly right for a commercial product as with the little music player that he has. Somebody asked me, ‘What is that MP3 player? Is that the Microsoft one? What is that?’ I answered, ‘No, that is the Fincher pod.’”
—Peter Mavromates, Producer
An unexpected visual effect was having to shorten the tail by 10 inches to avoid undermining the vicious performance of the dog.
Even the Fitbit that Fassbender wears got a facelift. “There might be a few Fitbits that are actually photographic,” Mavromates observes. “I doubt it, because we created an interface in post for it. The interface that you see is not one that is exactly right for a commercial product as with the little music player that he has. Somebody asked me, ‘What is that MP3 player? Is that the Microsoft one? What is that?’ I answered, ‘No, that is the Fincher pod.’” The Molotov cocktail that Fassbender throws was also digitally augmented. “Special effects put a wick in the bottle that had these LED lights, which were golden, and Ollin VFX went in and put the flame over that. What was astonishing is Fassbender threw the bottle that far and it landed a little bit to the left of the door. I couldn’t do that, for sure!”
An effort was made to heighten the fear by bringing Godzilla closer to the characters.
Not since Neill Blomkamp released District 9 in 2009 has an international production received receive Academy Award and VES Award nominations for its visual effects work. But Takashi Yamazaki has repeated the feat by stomping through the box office beyond Japan along with an iconic kaiju that has been cinematic staple since 1954. Godzilla Minus One revolves around a World War II kamikaze pilot suffering from survivor’s guilt having a re-encounter with the title character, which has gone through further mutation because of American nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll.
It was always important to convey the proper scale, which meant at times only showing parts of Godzilla in the frame.
“In the current digital era, we tried to use technology that could only be used digitally. We have a lot of close-up shots of Godzilla to instill fear in the audience because it’s quite rare in Godzilla films for Godzilla to appear in the same scenes as people. We made it possible because of the high level of detail we included in the CG.”
Visual and special effects have dramatically evolved like the creatures in the Godzilla franchise. “In the current digital era, we tried to use technology that could only be used digitally,” notes Yamazaki, who was previously responsible for the live-action adaption of Parasyte. “We have a lot of close-up shots of Godzilla to instill fear in the audience because it’s quite rare in Godzilla films for Godzilla to appear in the same scenes as people. We made it possible because of the high level of detail we included in the CG. On the story side, 1954 Godzilla does a great job balancing the human drama with the Godzilla scenes; therefore, we were mindful in trying to have strong story and character development, and to make sure that it’s woven together with what Godzilla is doing on screen.”
The art department created a period-appropriate street surface, sidewalks and storefronts in a parking lot.
Along with being the director, Yamazaki was the Visual Effects Supervisor on the project. “Let me add screenwriter to that as well! Being all three had its benefits, although having said that, when I went to shoot on location, I wanted to ask the writer why he wrote in that specific scene because it was so difficult to shoot! When we went into post, I wanted to ask the director why did he shot the scene in that particular way because it made the visual effects that much more challenging! But of course, I only have myself to blame for all of it!” The different roles had an influence on each other. “Normally, when I write a screenplay, I have to pay some consideration to the visual effects team. Can they achieve this scene? However, in this instance I decided to trust my future self for the sake of efficiency. In post-production, because the director was the one and same as the visual effects supervisor, it allowed for more trial and error in the same amount of time. We were able to avoid any miscommunication or difference in creative direction when it came time for approvals.”
Atmospherics were a big part in creating the proper mood for shots.
Godzilla was treated as both a god and monster, which had to be reflected in the movements and physique.
“[I]n this instance I decided to trust my future self for the sake of efficiency. In post-production, because the director was the one and same as the visual effects supervisor, it allowed for more trial and error in the same amount of time. We were able to avoid any miscommunication or difference in creative direction when it came time for approvals.”
“We watched various Godzilla movies again and learned what makes everyone think, ‘This is Godzilla,’” Yamazaki explains. “We analyzed a great deal of photos and videos for historical background. The assistant director’s team collected a variety of background materials, and I remember being terrified that we could no longer use existing materials. Once we had a clear picture of what was going on at the time, we couldn’t just fudge it.” Storyboards drove the design process. “I drew everything that involved visual effects. It was a huge amount of work. The assistant director [Kôhei Adachi] and Kiyoko Shibuya [Visual Effects Supervisor at Shirogumi, which was the sole vendor] were very impatient with me! Basically, there was no such thing as concept art. Based on the storyboards, I set up the scenes and created previsualization with some staff members using simple CGI. From that point on, I sat next to the CG artists and gave them direct instructions if they were not going in the direction I was aiming for. If something is closely related to the shooting, I made it before the shooting starts. However, if it was necessary to include it in the editing, after the shooting is over [for example, a full CG shot], I made postvis in the same way to set the rhythm of the editing.”
A lot of time and effort were spent developing the walk of Godzilla.
The dorsal fin was made more acute and the legs thicker to emphasize the ferocious nature of Godzilla.
The camera circling around Godzilla while its holding and crushing the heavy cruiser Takao was an extremely complex undertaking. On land, trains got the same treatment, though no water was involved.
The overall silhouette of the creature is based on the previous Godzilla suits. “The dorsal fin is more acute and the legs are thicker to give a more ferocious impression,” Yamazaki remarks. “We tried to heighten the fear by making Godzilla closer to the characters, so we included many fine details to allow the camera to get closer to the characters.” No motion capture was utilized in the animation of Godzilla. “However, to help define Godzilla’s look, the animator and I spent a lot of time testing Godzilla’s walk. In Shin Godzilla, Godzilla’s posture feels very straight and uptight. In Hollywood, Legendary’s Godzilla feels more aggressive, like an animal ready to pounce. But we wanted something different from both of those. In Japan, Godzilla represents both God and Monster, so we wanted its movement to feel almost divine or God-like. We adjusted the height of its waist, how it moves and its posture many times before arriving at its current design,” Yamazaki states.
“Basically, there was no such thing as concept art. Based on the storyboards, I set up the scenes and created previsualization with some staff members using simple CGI. From that point on, I sat next to the CG artists and gave them direct instructions if they were not going in the direction I was aiming for.”
Breaking the down the destruction that Godzilla causes in the Tokyo shopping district of Ginza.
As for the world-building, it was important to transport audiences back to 1947. “We collected a large number of photos and videos from that time and were conscious of recreating the atmosphere of that period,” Yamazaki explains. “We could not use any existing open sets, and we did not have the budget to construct new buildings, so we created a composite of a digital building on a simple road set. It was difficult to make the two fit together.” The visual effects shot count is misleading. “Although there were 610 cuts, screentime amounted to two thirds of the entire film. Production time was roughly eight months after the shoot was over and in full swing. Although several people were involved in modeling and scene design before the shoot.”
“In Japan, Godzilla represents both God and Monster, so we wanted its movement to feel almost divine or God-like. We adjusted the height of its waist, how it moves and its posture many times before arriving at its current design.”
The first ocean battle was the most complex scene to execute. “We wanted to shoot this on location at sea because I felt it gave the picture this cool documentary style,” Yamazaki reveals. “What I didn’t expect is that everyone got seasick, and the weather was quite unstable, which made filming difficult. Once we took the footage back to the office, the natural waves that we captured were both beautiful and complex, which made it difficult making a giant creature swim through it creating its own waves. With that said, filming on one location and overcoming this challenge unified the team, and that natural imagery we were able to capture made the shot more powerful and convincing. Would I write an ocean scene into my next screenplay? That’s debatable!”
Compositing explosion and environmental elements together to create the final shot.
Simulating the ocean was hard because of the amount of data and work to make it appear believable. “A young staff member showed us a simulation of the ocean that he had made as a hobby using his home-made computer,” Yamazaki recalls. “It was so good that we rewrote part of the scenario and increased the number of ocean scenes considerably. However, in the latter half of the work, I regretted why I did that. We didn’t have a server with plenty of data to store it, so we had to make do by deleting cuts as they became available. I was astonished when I was told that the total amount of data exceeded one peta!” A personal favorite is Godzilla emitting a heat ray and destroying the entire Ginza area. Yamazaki comments, “Including the gimmick of the dorsal fin and the depiction of the area after it is destroyed, I believe I was able to create a heat ray that is more powerful and more horrific than ever before; that is a proper metaphor for the atomic bombing.”
Images courtesy of Apple+ and Legendary Entertainment.
Cinematographer Jess Hall decided to go with anamorphic lenses because they compress perspective thereby bringing the creatures even closer to the viewer.
The AppleTV+ series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters provides the backstory for the mysterious organization formed upon the discovery of kaiju through a family drama where two half-siblings learn of each other’s existence and their father’s connection to Monarch. The MonsterVerse production created by Chris Black and Matt Fraction on behalf of Legendary Entertainment, Toho Company and Warner Bros. Entertainment consists of 10 episodes that required Visual Effects Supervisor Sean Konrad to craft over 3,000 shots with the help of Rising Sun Pictures, Rodeo FX, Framestore, FuseFX, Outpost VFX, Crafty Apes, Wētā FX, MPC, Storm Studios, Vitality VFX, BOT VFX, Mr. Wolf, Scarab Digital, The Third Floor, Proof, MPC Visualization and an in-house team.
MPC, Rodeo FX, Rising Sun Pictures and Wētā FX worked on Godzilla, which appears in two different forms over the course of the series.
The Frost Vark is a cross between a giant star-nosed mole and pangolin, and has the ability to suck the heat out of objects.
Integrated into the narrative are previous MonsterVerse installments that appeared on the big screen. “What’s interesting about the show is the scene in the beginning of Episode 101 has this Kong: Skull Island [2017] classic adventure movie tone that is a bit off-the-wall crazy and every second has a new amplification of stakes through the action,” Konrad notes. “Then you get back to Kate Randa’s [Anna Sawai] perspective later on in the episode, and you’re going to Godzilla [2014] and you’re having that serious tone of this is a city being destroyed. You need to communicate those ideas visually in a way to people that is meaningful and serious. Then you have the final creature scene in the episode, which is a bunch of new monsters coming out of the ground and attacking our protagonist. Each one of them has a different tone.” Do not expect shots from the kaiju point of view. “A lot of the series is constructed around a subjective point of view of our characters experiencing the action from their perspective and reinforcing that with the visual effects design. A lot of times we knew the kind of creature we wanted and the terrain was immaterial to what the creature was doing, but it did influence how and where we shot it,” Konrad says.
The Endoswarm nest is lighted by the hole in the ceiling of the reactor.
Adding to the mystery of the Ion Dragon is it being an aquatic creature with wings living in the middle of a jungle.
The Frost Vark is one of the new additions to the MonsterVerse.
Taking advantage of the physical location rather than rely heavily on bluescreen was the mandate. “We went to a bunch of locations in Hawaii for Episode, 101 and one of them was Lānaʻi Lookout [on O’ahu],” Konrad recalls. “It is this beautiful volcanic rock cone that points out into the ocean. If you’re running away from a monster that’s a great place to be heading towards. We looked at the terrain and the action we wanted to plan. There is a big bamboo forest in the corner of this landscape, and we let that take you through Bill Randa [John Goodman] being chased by the Mother Longlegs spider from Kong: Skull Island to a single point on that landmass, and this giant crab, which is made from the same volcanic rock, comes out of the ground. It was difficult because we prevised the scene based on some storyboards before scouting it, which is always a dangerous thing. We didn’t have a crab designed, so we grabbed The Third Floor graphic crab out of their archive and animated that for the previs. Simultaneously, I was doing the concept for the crab itself. All of that happened within a five-week period where we concepted, re-prevised and re-storyboarded the whole thing. It’s so much better than trying to shoot that into a bluescreen. It’s a hard process and definitely time-consuming. People did some brilliant work to get that done. We wanted the characters to feel in the action.”
The lighting was naturalistic for the contemporary scenes in Tokyo.
The Mother Longlegs makes a reappearance in what feels like a cut scene from Kong: Skull Island.
The design of the Mantleclaw was inspired by the volcanic environment where the scene takes place.
“There is a big bamboo forest in the corner of this [volcanic Hawaiian] landscape, and we let that take you through Bill Randa [John Goodman] being chased by the Mother Longlegs spider from Kong: Skull Island to a single point on that landmass, and this giant crab, which is made from the same volcanic rock, comes out of the ground. It was difficult because we prevised the scene based on some storyboards before scouting it, which is always a dangerous thing. We didn’t have a crab designed, so we grabbed The Third Floor graphic crab out of their archive and animated that for the previs.”
—Sean Konrad, Visual Effects Supervisor
A pivotal location is the nuclear reactor that experiences a meltdown, which has become as portal where monsters can enter Earth.
Television production happens at a quicker pace than movies. “When you’ve got one movie, you have over six months to do an hour and a half episode as supposed to 30 days to shoot a movie,” sates Special Effects Supervisor Paul Benjamin. “The setups have to be doable to make it into TV land. We had a bit of prep time for the first two episodes. It helps if the directors are on beforehand to know if you have some bigger builds. However, it’s always hard to get the directors before the episode starts.” Some visual research was done regarding the MonsterVerse. “I took a quick view of what they’ve been up to and been doing. When you watch the movies, sometimes it’s hard to figure out how they did everything, or how you block it out and film it. You get a general sense of what you’re up against or what they’re going to be looking for. But as far as pulling builds from watching the movies, it’s quite difficult,” Benjamin adds. Atmospherics were not a significant part of the visual language. “We did a couple of episodes of heavy smoke when they went to the Lost Lands to give a different look to the environment. We definitely did some snow but didn’t do a lot of exterior snow dressing, except for the base camp.” The weather was not always agreeable. “We did a snow dress and had a heavy rain that night, but luckily it held up and we didn’t plug any drains. We had somebody there watching just in case all of our paper snow came down and plugged one of the drains,” Benjamin remarks.
Originally, the Endoswarm was suppose to resemble a millipede, but the decision was made to make it appear more alien.
“We did one shaky gimbal set and that was for the hallway scene in the USSR when the ship was shaking. The monster comes in there and starts bashing around. We built that whole big deck on a floor and made it flip back and forth and tilted it up to whatever angle we wanted. We had big shaker motors on it and rocked it back and forth this way and tilted it that way. We shook that one pretty good.”
—Paul Benjamin, Special Effects Supervisor
Keiko getting attacked by the Endoswarm is made more horrific by them piling onto each other to cause her to fall.
Airbag decks were favored over hydraulic gimbals, such as when the school bus is tipping over the severely damaged Golden Gate Bridge. “We did one shaky gimbal set and that was for the hallway scene in the USSR when the ship was shaking,” Benjamin explains. “The monster comes in there and starts bashing around. We built that whole big deck on a floor and made it flip back and forth and tilted it up to whatever angle we wanted. We had big shaker motors on it and rocked it back and forth this way and tilted it that way. We shook that one pretty good.” It was not all about shaking things. “For the last few episodes we did a vortex, so we had a lot of big wind machines and ratcheting things and pulling things into the vortex. I want to see that portion of it. For the vortex in Alaska, we were shaking the trucks and equipment. But when the creature was chasing them, we didn’t do any explosions for that. The only thing that we did was blast air cannons to have some snow flying around. We did some pyro for the seismic charges that were set off at the power plant. Then we had Kurt Russell running through the lightning field. We had a bunch of mortars going off around them at that point, too.” After being in special effects for 23 years, Benjamin learned a particular lesson. “A lot of times, I find that the smaller gags are trickier than the bigger ones, like the dripping goo coming down from the ship. Something like that can be a lot of work, and testing to the desired look that everyone wants for that is sometimes more work than flipping a car over.” The practical elements are critical in making the stunts and visual effects believable. “We’re trying to do anything to help give the set some life so that the actors can get into it a bit more. You don’t have to fully act when you have the set moving around.”
A Fletcher Class Destroyer is found inland.
“A lot of times, I find that the smaller gags are trickier than the bigger ones, like the dripping goo coming down from the ship. Something like that can be a lot of work, and testing to the desired look that everyone wants for that is sometimes more work than flipping a car over.”
—Paul Benjamin, Special Effects Supervisor
One of the challenging special effects to get right was the goo that belongs to the Ion Dragon.
Collaboration is pivotal to the success of any project. “Ultimately, my attitude is that visual effects are a big part of the show,” states Jess Hall, Cinematographer, Episodes 101 and 102. “The CG has to be integrated into the photography, so I take it as my responsibility that those things have to work together. That means being collaborative and also organized about how you light; for example, on greenscreen matching lighting and doing the work in advance in terms previs and storyboards. But, ultimately, I treat it as a collaboration for which I bare a lot of responsibility for the end result. It’s not like I’m going to shoot someone on a greenscreen, hand it over to visual effects and let them do their thing; that’s not going to produce a good result.” A different color palette was adopted for the series. “We scaled back a little bit on the gaudier and pulp elements of some of the movies. We tried to bring it more into the dramatic cinematic space. Even if you look at our version of Skull Island. my reference for that was more Apocalypse Now. It was the golden warm light but naturalistic approach. Then we go to Tokyo and you have these cool tones, but the lighting was always naturalistic. The composition was reasonably consistent. The lenses I would shoot the faces on were a similar composition. You’re building this thread of visual language that is bulletproof in a way. You can apply these period looks or more action-sequence elements in there, but it doesn’t feel out of place. That was the challenge of the show, and a lot of thinking around design for me was about bringing them together enough, but having them different enough because you also had to understand these timelines. It was important that Skull Island did look different from the 1950s content, otherwise I don’t think you understand where you were.”
The wings of the Ion Dragon had to increased to get a flying cycle that looked believable.
“We scaled back a little bit on the gaudier and pulp elements of some of the movies. We tried to bring it more into the dramatic cinematic space. Even if you look at our version of Skull Island. my reference for that was more Apocalypse Now. It was the golden warm light but naturalistic approach. Then we go to Tokyo and you have these cool tones. but the lighting was always naturalistic.”
—Jess Hall, Cinematographer
A prevailing challenge for visual effects was conveying the proper size and scale of the creatures.
Hall partnered with filmmaker Matt Shakman on Episodes 101 and 102. “Matt is a dramatist and a real actor’s director,” Hall describes. “Having to try to pretend that things are moving around you, and you’re on a bluescreen and saying, ‘Okay, the crowd is coming from the right.’ Or, ‘Now turn to look at the crowd 300 feet away.’ ‘Follow the tennis ball.’ We’ve all seen how that can be quite tough for actors and performers. Matt is always looking to put the actors in the position where they’re comfortable and can give the best performance, but also feel the scene. We went to practical photography. There were a lot of visual effects but a lot of photography on location, and a lot of in-camera stunt action and real effects work that went on in all of these scenes that added to the sense of realism, which is what we wanted.” Atmospherics like smoke were never utilized without intention. “You have to be careful about how much you put in because quickly you lose the contrast of the shot. It’s something that you rely on special effects to operate. Ultimately, I’m the one who has to say, ‘Turn the smoke on or off.’ The whole show had this low-level haze. I was going for a softer, more dramatic look with a bit of texture in there and in the shadows.” The legacy of what has come before loomed large over the production. Hall observes. “You’ve got this huge IP and franchise and so many different elements to it. How do you take that, respect that and do that justice, but also do something that is distinct and appropriate for the show that you’re making and is your own work. Threading that needle was hard.”
France’s heritage of abandoned buildings provided vacant hospitals, schools and churches for zombies to be found. (Photos: Emmanuel Guimier. Courtesy of AMC)
Following the events of the final season of The Walking Dead, Daryl Dixon washes ashore in France and must undertake a perilous journey in order to find a way home in the series The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon. Jao M’Changama served as Overall Visual Effects Supervisor on the show, with Sébastien Voisin and Justine Paynat-Sautivet working as VFX producers. “Excuse My French is the French supervision company that hired me for the show. The show’s French line producers, Raphael Benoliel and Augustin de Belloy, found the Excuse My French team, and AMC hired them. It was unreal for me at the beginning. having the Walking Dead come to Paris and getting the chance to be the Visual Effects Supervisor – and getting to destroy Paris. I was finishing a day on a cute CGI commercial spot with friends, and we were aiming to go to a bar when I got the call. That was surprising because we weren’t expecting this big of a show to come over to France, and being selected to work on it was like a dream come true,” M’Changama says.
When it came to the initial conversations about the look of the show, M’Changama and his team set up a Zoom call with creator and showrunner David Zabel and the AMC team. “They were asking not how I see the show but questioning me about my strengths and what I like and how I feel about zombies,” M’Changama adds. “I explained that I come from advertising. I’ve been supervising advertisements for 10 years for both big and small campaigns. They were very pleased to know that I worked in various worlds and with different types of narratives, including the Ubisoft live campaigns, exploring sci fi- gladiators and war action styles. It meant that I can easily change worlds, which is one of my strengths. It was really cool to be only focused on the Walking Dead world and to transfer the 15 years of Walking Dead that I’ve been watching to France and know that I have a huge part to play in that role. I wanted to create trust with AMC, and I know it’s the first time they’ve worked in France, so that was mainly the first exchange. Then, the week after there were some tech recces in the south of France. David [Zabel] was there as well as the director, Dan Percival, and Executive Producer Greg Nicotero, father of the Dead. It was great to switch between the U.S. TV show and being part of it [in France] in the best way we could.”
France doesn’t have the same variety of weapons as the U.S., and they tend to be historically older, so the VFX team designed weapons that weren’t too old school for The Walking Dead universe. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier. Courtesy of AMC)
In terms of visual references, M’Changama looked at France’s urbex (urban exploration) culture to define the apocalypse in France. “There are still a lot of abandoned buildings left here in France, which we can’t destroy because they’re national treasures,” he notes. “The government won’t clean them, so they just stay there until something happens to them. One of my goals was to chase a lot of those urban exploration references. There are tons of Youtubers and photographers that goes everywhere, so I look for those dead hospitals, dead schools and dead churches. It gave us visual satisfaction because a lot of those places haven’t been touched and are still there waiting to be seen. We have this huge heritage In France. That was one of my first directions.”
Visual Effects Supervisor Jao M’Changama looked at France’s urbex (urban exploration) culture to locate and define the apocalypse in France. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier. Courtesy of AMC)
“There are still a lot of abandoned buildings left here in France, which we can’t destroy because they’re national treasures. The government won’t clean them, and so they just stay there until something happens to them. One of my goals was to chase those urban exploration references. … so I look for those dead hospitals, dead schools and dead churches. It gave us visual satisfaction because a lot of those places haven’t been touched and are still there waiting to be seen.”
M’Changama paid close attention to weaponry as it’s such a large part of the Walking Dead universe. “France doesn’t have the same variety of weapons as the U.S., so this was an important part of our research,” he details. “For the visual effects, we shot specific plates because we have a heritage with older weapons on France. We wanted to design something that wasn’t too old school and fit into the Walking Dead universe. It was the same thing for Norman’s [Norman Reedus portrays Daryl Dixon] mace. He’d already used a mace in Season 10. In France it’s smaller, so we needed to put the green tape on the mace and ask Norman to do it a bit slower to make it seem heavier. We couldn’t slow down the movement with VFX. We needed to adapt a bit.”
The boat scene was initially located only at sea, but the script was changed just before shooting to make part of the scene happen in a harbor – which changed the way the show was filmed. (Photos: Stephanie Branchu. Courtesy of AMC Networks)
M’Changama worked closely with Series Production Designer Clovis Weil. “We went to the same school and hadn’t seen each other for about 15 years. At the first meeting about the set decoration, we remembered when we were in school and how we built a frame and a picture, which was something learned at school,” M’Changama explains. “It was great to work with Clovis as a friend and very talented individual. His team was working on the show around three months before I arrived, so they’d already been thinking about the show. It was a real collaboration between the set design and the VFX department.”
Norman Reedus (Daryl Dixon) used a mace in Season 10 of The Walking Dead, but in France the mace was smaller. Green tape was placed on the mace so VFX could enlarge it in post to match. Reedus also had to wield the mace slower to make it seem heavier. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier)
“David has a great knowledge of France culture, but when it came to destroying it, he put a lot of trust in set decoration and VFX and instructed these departments on how to do that best. It was a very smart move,” M’Changama adds. “Expectations were high. We wanted to get out of the Emily in Paris perfect world and show how we, the French, see the apocalypse. It was all about telling little stories in the background that helped us build the world around the main characters.”
“[Creator/showrunner David Zabel] has a great knowledge of France culture, but when it came to destroying it, he put a lot of trust in set decoration and VFX. … We wanted to get out of the Emily in Paris perfect world and show how we, the French, see the apocalypse. It was all about telling little stories in the background that helped us build the world around the main characters.”
There were 740 VFX shots in total, and over 400 artists worked on the show. “We managed the workload with confidence,” M’Changama says. “It wasn’t an issue, but we knew that we weren’t the usual Walking Dead team. We had to show everyone that we could bring something new to the show. Sébastien, like me, has a solid background in advertising. On the other end, Justine had one in feature films. We are used to holding a huge workflow and doing a lot of work in a small amount of time. We knew that working in that way was achievable because we had the team needed to do the job. What is specific to our way of working is that we prioritize everything. Every single frame is important and every shot is important. ‘Scope’ and ‘details’ were the words from David with all the teams. We just wanted to build a consistent and imaginative show. We want the first episode to be as good as the last episode and all the fights done with the same love and care.”
Creator/showrunner David Zabel, Executive Producer Greg Nicotero, director Dan Percival and Overall Visual Effects Supervisor Jao M’Changama scouted potential shooting locations in France, including Mont-Saint-Michel and its bay in Brittany. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier)
M’Changama worked with five top Paris studios: BUF, MPC, Mathematic Light and Mac Guff. “Paris is a fairly small city, so we knew each other and each other’s work. I worked at MPC for 10 years before, so I knew that MPC had solid strength in environmental work and digital matte painting. So, for the deconstruction of the city, we just wanted them to work on it very closely. We exchanged lots of concept art. BUF just made Eiffel, so we knew that they had all the assets of the iron lady. We knew it would be fun for the team to destroy what they’d built. We also knew that Mathematic had a solid comp and craft vision that is very elaborate, and they are fast at adapting a lot of simulation techniques and lighting. We felt that they were the best guys to work on the zombies. The French zombies needed a lot of love and ingenuity. Greg Nicotero brought some incredible concepts of new species appearing in the Walking Dead universe. I think the VFX team succeeded in bringing a gorgeous update to zombies: Pulsating veins, burning blood, and more details not to be spoiled here. One of the supervisors with Light is also a flame artist – like me, and we knew they could craft technical shots, including 2D and CGI, very quickly. This process allows us to quickly share the steps with David Zabel and the AMC team. Mac Guff is a studio known for their generalists who can adapt to reconstructing towns to matte painting. They handled several shots successfully. So, by knowing our studios’ strengths, we managed the shot dispatch with accuracy, and this also helped us to build trust with David and AMC.”
Mathematic Light handled work on the zombies. The VFX team wanted to get away from the “Emily in Paris perfect world” image of France and show a contemporary French view the apocalypse. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier)
“The French zombies needed a lot of love and ingenuity. [Executive Producer] Greg Nicotero brought some incredible concepts of new species appearing in the walking dead universe. I think the VFX team succeeded in bringing a gorgeous update to zombies: Pulsating veins, burning blood and more…”
When it came to filming the streets of Paris, the Eiffel Tower was, of course, the main event, but for M’Changama and his team, every street was important. “The most challenging locations for us involved the locations with bluescreens because we faced last-minute changes on the script,” M’Changama remarks. “For the bluescreens scenes, there was the rooftop camp, the cargo ship and the Eiffel Tower. The screenplay wasn’t completely finished as we were going to shoot. The good ideas from the showrunner and the director came in very late in the process, and as they were amazing ideas, we needed to adapt our initial plans. For example, the location of the boat was initially only in the sea and finally a part of it happens in a harbor, What could we do regarding the visual effects in the harbor? It changed the way we would film. It was challenging because we changed our vision to the good ideas that sometimes came 10 minutes before shooting. The on-set VFX team provided a large panel of solutions, not only on bluescreen but all along the road trip we made in France. Then, when we were in the VFX post-production process, we were honestly excited and impatient to share our vision with David and all the team.”
Zombie blood and how the zombies are killed – specifically, the exploding head in the arena towards the end of the series – was one of the most creative aspects of the show for M’Changama and his VFX team. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier)
One of the biggest challenges for M’Changama was matching their work with the rest of the Walking Dead universe. “We had a vision of how the zombies work, but we are not doing another show about zombies, we are bringing the Walking Dead to France. We can bring something new to it, but we need it to match what already exists and we need it to be accurate. The zombie blood and how we will kill the zombies has been one of the most creative aspects for us. Specifically, the exploding head in the arena towards the end of the series. Greg Nicotero brought in several SFX components to make the pumping zombie skin and other makeup FX magic. But one of the biggest challenges was shooting in a national treasure area where we were not allowed to put blood on the walls and the ground. The lights were changing, and it was becoming dark, and the blood was very specific. We needed to make those little details match. That one single shot was very fun to do, and we did a great job. It wasn’t too digital or too gory, but it was 100% CGI.”
“The zombie blood and how we will kill the zombies has been one of the most creative aspects for us. Specifically, the exploding head in the arena towards the end of the series. Greg Nicotero brought in several SFX components to make the pumping zombie skin and other makeup FX magic. But one of the biggest challenges was shooting in a national treasure area where we were not allowed to put blood on the walls and the ground. … It wasn’t too digital or too gory, but it was 100% CGI.”
Clémence Poséy as Isabelle in Paris. BUF made the Eiffel Tower and all associated assets – and enjoyed destroying what they built. (Photo: Emmanuel Guimier)
M’Changama and his team also faced issues with anachronism. For one of the flashback sequences, Notre Dame’s spire, which was destroyed in the recent fire, had to be recreated. For M’Changama, working on these fine details was an important part of the process “I’m happy that Hollywood trusted France’s VFX ecosystem. I think we did a great job, and I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re eager for the next challenge!”
Many different iterations were attempted for the reveal of the Heroes of the Horn before settling upon what appeared in the show.
Essential for any successful digital augmentation is having a member of the visual effects team present during the live-action shooting to ensure that are the required elements, whether it be plate photography or LiDAR scans of sets, are acquired and provided to vendors, thereby establishing a solid foundation for the work to be done in post-production. In the case of the second season of The Wheel of Time, the on-set visual effects supervision was equally divided between Roni Rodrigues and Mike Stillwell.
It was always important to have practical plate photography to build from when creating CG environments.
“When living away, you start immersing yourself in the project 24/7,” explains Roni Rodrigues, On-Set VFX Supervisor. “I did block one which was Episodes 201 and 202 and then straightaway did block two which was Episodes 203 and 204. Then Mike Stillwell did blocks three and four. When shooting block one, you will do some scenes from Episodes 201 and 202 together because we’re revisiting a lot of those locations. For block one, we had Thomas Napper as the director and for block two Sanaa Hamri as the director, so the team changed as well, including the DP and 1st AD.”
No matter the type of element, an effort was made to incorporate the weaving associated with channeling.
“We did previs and then postvis [of Heroes of the Horn] with the stunt team trying to work out how these heroes would appear and be involved in a battle. We wanted to shoot in a visceral handheld -in-amongst-it way, but it didn’t lend itself to shooting one plate with them and shooting it again without. We thought going back to the smoke gave them that ethereal quality without looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost.”
—Mike Stillwell, On-Set VFX Supervisor
Location shooting took place in the Czech Republic, Italy and Morocco.
Overseeing the fantasy series is creator and showrunner Rafe Judkins. “Rafe’s position was important to give consistency on the visual identity of the show,” Rodrigues notes. “Even though the directors changed, we always kept everything in the same universe. That’s one of the reasons why it was so important for us to spend quite a lot of time in pre-production, because we managed to plan ahead for many of the details in every single scene. It was easy for us to transfer that information from the first block to the second block and achieve the desired results.” A lot of time was spent developing relationships with other departments, “from the collaboration with the DP discussing on-set light interaction to the production designer and how we want to build sets so there is a seamless line between what is practical and a CG extension,” Rodrigues adds.
A major new environment in Season 2 is the city of Falme.
“The relationships that Roni had started in the first four episodes made it so much easier for me because I was able to come in and build upon on what was already there,” remarks Mike Stillwell, On-Set VFX Supervisor. “The stunt guys would be showing me their stuntvis before they’ve shown other people and asking, ‘What do you think? Is this going to work?’ Jan Petrina, the Stunt Supervisor, would do incredible stuntvis with fantastic After Effects work in it. It paved the way for what we wanted to do. It was a constant dialogue. He never promised something that we couldn’t deliver and vice versa. We had each other’s backs wherever possible.”
Waygates are important means of travel – and tricky to pull off, especially when horses are involved.
The smoke reveal of the Heroes of the Horn was not the original idea. Stillwell observes, “We did previs and then postvis with the stunt team trying to work out how these heroes would appear and be involved in a battle. We wanted to shoot in a visceral handheld -in-amongst-it way, but it didn’t lend itself to shooting one plate with them and shooting it again without. We thought going back to the smoke gave them that ethereal quality without looking like Casper the Friendly Ghost.”
Witness cameras capture every single body gesture and finger movement to get the proper channeling interaction.
“It was nice to work with Andy Scrase [Visual Effects Supervisor] as he was on the same page about the details, and the more information that we actually give to the post-production team, the more they can do,” Rodrigues states. “The cyberscan booth was there [in the studio] 24/7 for us. Hats off to the visual effects production team, production manager and production coordinators because we wanted not just everyone being scanned, every time our lead actors changed their clothes, we wanted that variation as well.” A variety of exterior locations were found in the Czech Republic. “The whole city of Cairhein was built, and was so vast and rich in details that it was incredibly helpful,” Rodrigues notes. “Also, we went to Italy and Morocco. There is a scene where the guys are riding horses, and those epic mountains in the background are real. Obviously, we as visual effects did enhancements that make it better. However, having a good location and production designer are not just good for the showrunner but for the actors as well, as it’s easier for them to perform and to get into the character.”
Practical and digital smoke were combined to create the dramatic reveal of the Whitecloaks calvary just before it attacks Falme.
“[In addition to the Czech Republic] … we went to Italy and Morocco. There is a scene where the guys are riding horses, and those epic mountains in the background are real. Obviously, we as visual effects did enhancements that make it better. However, having a good location and production designer are not just good for the showrunner but for the actors as well, as it’s easier for them to perform and to get into the character.”
—Roni Rodrigues, On-Set VFX Supervisor.
Killing Turak (Daniel Francis) was not as easy for the production team as it was for Rand al’Thor (Josha Stradowski). “When Rand is approaching the tower and Turak [Daniel Francis] has his heron-marked blade and does some fancy moves, we had so many meetings where I was presenting different ideas on, ‘How do we kill Turak?’” Stillwell recalls. “Rand has unbelievable power and is pissed. How would he do this? We were talking about turning someone to stone and then shattering them. Or having Rand fill them with lava and they explode from within. Or Rand whipping through these blades of air and doing the classic thing where they look fine and then slowly slide apart because of being sliced in half. What Rand ends up doing is so nonchalant, but it shows the power that he has. We spoke to Josha about it. Josha even plays it like he didn’t expect it to be that easy.”
Hardened air can be effective in producing weapons and shields.
Lessons were learned, in particular, when it came to characters channeling the One Power, which involves manipulating intricate illuminated weaves of water, fire, earth, air and spirit. “They used interactive light on Season 1, and when we received the plates, the lighting was baked into the plate, and it was too much,” Rodrigues explains. “We ended up painting out interactive light from all of those scenes. We wanted the showrunner to have a full scope of flexibility to decide in post-production which direction he wants to go. What we did was to do a performance take without interactive light and then we did it again, but with interactive light. The idea was once they decided on the take to use, we would get the plate with the interactive light and paint light in. In this way, we had the flexibility to paint the light as many times as we wanted in any position we wanted.”
The fire dragon required careful attention to detail to stand out properly in the daylight.
“It was a case of myself, Rafe, directors and writers throwing ideas out. No idea is a bad idea. ‘What if every time we see him it’s a different person, but they all have his face?’ And then we would discuss how possible is that? How good is it going to look? We wanted people to be as confused as Matt was. We looked at a lot of different concept art from different shows, and we watched a lot of different films, like those of Gasper Noé. We were trying to get reference from not-obvious things.”
—Mike Stillwell, On-Set VFX Supervisor
Prosthetic makeup was digitally enhanced for the Trollocs.
Hallucinations allowed for surreal imagery. “For the psychedelic visions Matt Cauthon [Barney Harris] has after drinking the tea, we did a lot of work on how things would work with the mirrors, how it would look when his hands and veins are becoming distorted and enlarged,” Stillwell states. “There were lots of discussions about how to make that trip look terrifying, and the switching out of him and his mother. It was a case of myself, Rafe, directors and writers throwing ideas out. No idea is a bad idea. ‘What if every time we see him it’s a different person, but they all have his face?’ And then we would discuss how possible is that? How good is it going to look? We wanted people to be as confused as Matt was. We looked at a lot of different concept art from different shows, and we watched a lot of different films, like those of Gasper Noé. We were trying to get reference from not-obvious things.” A character gets turned into stone and dissipates into the air. “The art department did a couple of busts for us to use as reference. I remember having so many show-and-tells about dust and discussions about how fine a grain we wanted for the ashes. We shot a load of reference of all of this stuff blowing away and being shattered and thrown around. But the main thing was to make sure to get clean plates because we had to have a tight body track with witness cameras to create a good CG model.”
Rather than be a straight white light, the Waygates reflected the environment about to be entered.
“[For a character that gets turned into stone and breaks up] the art department did a couple of busts for us to use as reference. I remember having so many show-and-tells about dust and discussions about how fine a grain we wanted for the ashes. We shot a load of reference of all of this stuff blowing away and being shattered and thrown around. But the main thing was to make sure to get clean plates because we had to have a tight body track with witness cameras to create a good CG model.”
—Mike Stillwell, On-Set VFX Supervisor
A dramatic moment occurs when Moiraine does fire channeling on a beach that goes through the water like torpedoes to destroy the Seanchan fleet.
One of the cool visual effects are the shields created by channeling air. “The ideas for that were still broad when we were actually shooting,” Stillwell reveals. “It was a case of talking to the actors and giving them something to work with, because so often they’re having to do all of this channeling and having to imagine what it is and how it’s affecting them. When Marcus Rutherford [Perrin Aybara] is protecting them from Ishamael [Fares Fares] at the end when we were rehearsing it, I asked if it was okay for me to go and show something. I was slamming my body onto his shield and saying, ‘This is the weight of what’s hitting you. You’re not just deflecting bullets like Captain America. These are massive large forces, not little pinpricks.’ I was just trying to give him something to work with so he can imagine it, because if the actor’s performance works, the visual effects work so much better.”
Framestore has shifted to a hybrid model, aiming to establish a balance between work-from-home and real-time in-studio experience. (Images courtesy of Framestore)
In just a few years, turbocharged by the pandemic, remote work has become widely established in the VFX industry and is now a preferred option for many visual artists. It has also helped boost the globalization of visual effects work, which in turn has increased the demand for remote workers.
Framestore was one of the VFX studios that succeeded in pivoting quickly in the new environment. Looking back, Framestore CEO Mel Sullivan recalls, “Thanks to our systems team we had an effective, efficient and secure remote working pipeline in place within two weeks of lockdown, and since then it’s mainly been a case of refining and enhancing our work-from-home capabilities.”
During that time, Sullivan says, “We’ve delivered some of the biggest shows on Earth from home – Oscar nominees, record-breaking box-office successes, you name it – so it’s now second nature and certainly isn’t hampering what we do. Like most of the companies operating at our level, we’ve now moved to a hybrid way of working. This has been a question of striking a balance between the improved work-life balance the industry is now enjoying versus the genuine benefits of being surrounded by your peers, being able to connect with each other in real-time and spark those spontaneous insights and conversations that only happen if you’re in the same physical space.”
Cinesite has embraced remote working on a permanent basis. It’s London, Montreal and Vancouver studios provide an optimal remote work setup while making the office easily accessible to employees who wish to make use of it. (Images courtesy of Cinesite)
“Our staff are at the core of Cinesite’s success; everyone is different, and we celebrate that. By allowing individuals to work according to their own working styles, we’ll get the best out of everyone rather than forcing them to conform to another person’s style, at their detriment.”
—Sashka Jankovska, Chief HR Officer, Cinesite
After COVID-19’s arrival, the necessity to maintain social distancing and prioritize employee safety led to a significant shift towards remote work in the VFX industry. During the pandemic, many VFX studios established remote work setups, enabling their artists to continue working on projects from home. Advancements in technology, high-speed internet connections and the availability of powerful remote collaboration tools made this transition possible. Artists could remotely access necessary software, collaborate with colleagues and render their work using cloud-based systems. Among such tools today, Hammerspace delivers a global data environment which spans across data centers and AWS, Azure and Google cloud infrastructure. Frame.io (owned by Adobe) is a leading cloud-based storage platform for video assets and files. LucidLink offers a high-performance cloud file system for distributed workloads, while Seagate’s Lyve Data Services provides data management, recovery and secure migration to any cloud service. Moxion (owned by Autodesk) is a dailies and content-review platform and offers an instant dailies service in HDR, with full Dolby Vision, HDR10 and 4K resolution playback support. The Television Academy for Engineering Development awarded Teradici an Emmy in 2020; it is a leader in “remoting software for performance, security and deployment flexibility.” Acquired in 2021, the firm’s Teradici CAS (Cloud Access Software) is now HP Anyware. MS Teams and Zoom are among the popular tools for communications collaboration.
Digital Domain is exploring a hybrid approach that enables artists to work both remotely and in-studio to alleviate ‘work-from-home fatigue,’ foster team-building and provide support and integration for new talent. (Images courtesy of Digital Domain)
Key benefits of remote work in the VFX business include increased flexibility, access to global talent and cost savings. Some of the challenges include achieving sufficient collaboration and communication, plus hardware and software requirements, data security and protection of intellectual property.
While remote work has grown tremendously, some studios may still prefer a hybrid approach, combining remote work with in-person collaboration for certain stages of production or specific projects that benefit from on-site interactions. Cinesite offers three different options at its London, Montreal and Vancouver offices – home-based, hybrid-based and office-based. It offers all-team meetings to provide transparency and motivation as well as seasonal opportunities to socialize with colleagues and friends, and it has retained its physical offices for employees in London, Montreal and Vancouver for in-person collaboration and special projects.
At BOT VFX, collaborative content-review software helps make remote work viable. (Image courtesy of BOT VFX)
Early on, Cinesite shifted to a flexible way of working, embracing workplace shifts made necessary by the pandemic. “After everyone settled into their new work-from-home environment, we quickly realized we could be even more creative and effective in delivering high-quality series and feature film work when adopting a flexible way of working,” notes Cinesite’s Chief HR Officer, Sashka Jankovska. “Our staff are at the core of Cinesite’s success; everyone is different, and we celebrate that. By allowing individuals to work according to their own working styles, we’ll get the best out of everyone, rather than forcing them to conform to another person’s style, at their detriment.”
“Looking ahead to 2024, we are exploring a hybrid approach that will enable our artists to work both in-studio and remotely. The primary driver behind this adjustment is to alleviate ‘work-from-home fatigue,’ encourage and foster team-building and provide better support and integration for new talent into Digital Domain. By combining the best of both worlds, this approach will create an ideal environment for collaboration and creativity while retaining the advantages of remote work.”
—Lala Gavgavian, President and COO, Digital Domain
President and COO of Digital Domain Lala Gavgavian comments, “Our rapid response to the pandemic in 2020 and the shift to a work-from-home paradigm have been among our significant operational achievements at Digital Domain. The evolving WFH setup has expanded our access to global talent without the need for physical relocations to a brick-and-mortar building and allowed us to scale our capacity in ways that were limited prior to the work-from-home success.” She adds, “Looking ahead to 2024, we are exploring a hybrid approach that will enable our artists to work both in-studio and remotely. The primary driver behind this adjustment is to alleviate ‘work-from-home fatigue,’ encourage and foster team-building and provide better support and integration for new talent into Digital Domain. By combining the best of both worlds, this approach will create an ideal environment for collaboration and creativity while retaining the advantages of remote work.”
Hitesh Shah, BOT VFX CEO and Founder, comments, “The discussion of ‘if remote work is in the mix’ is almost gone – most of the attention is on how organizations balance in-office versus remote. Organizations continue to wade through the conflicting needs posed by talent access, talent lifestyle preferences, collaboration needs, training needs and economics.” He adds, “Like most other industries, the VFX industry has gone from large ‘religious’ debates about all in-office or all-remote to everyone finding the balance that works for their situation.” Shah notes that “collaborative content-review software” helps make remote work viable.
The option of remote work allows Ingenuity Studios to best meet their hiring goals, especially when demand spikes, though the studio, like almost all studios, believes that remote work doesn’t replace the added benefits of people working together. (Image courtesy of Ingenuity Studios)
In a broader sense, the world is figuring out what types of businesses and industries are okay to work remotely – or not. According to David Lebensfeld, President and VFX Supervisor at Ingenuity Studios. “The VFX industry has gotten comfortable with the idea that remote work is here to stay. It’s interesting though – more workers are returning to the office in some locations more than others. So, for example, Europe has more workers returning to the office. Yet in New York City and Los Angeles, we’re finding that people want to continue working remotely.”
Lebensfeld observes, “Most artists do want the option. I think hybrid and remote work will endure in the VFX industry, if for no other reason than access to talent being key, and remote/hybrid options definitely expand the pool of qualified candidates.” In terms of key software and hardware that facilitate remote work, “There are common tools that everyone uses, including MS Teams and Zoom. We use Teradici to power remote working around the world,” Lebensfeld adds. “Remote work is supported well by the cloud. You can access workstations or storage from anywhere and move workstation demand closer to team member location, such as through AWS or Azure for improved latency speed, which is more or less attached to distance.”
“Europe has more workers returning to the office. Yet in New York City and Los Angeles, we’re finding that people want to continue working remotely. Most artists do want the option. I think hybrid and remote work will endure in the VFX industry, if for no other reason than access to talent being key, and remote/hybrid options definitely expand the pool of qualified candidates.”
Remote work is having a positive effect on many visual effects artists. “I think it is impacting work/life balance, quality of life and flexibility to handle family needs and work after the kids are sleeping,” Lebensfeld says. “All of this depends on the team member and the project needs at any given time. Sometimes, having work completed at odd hours really benefits a project timeline while still promoting a healthy balance.” He comments, “The hope is that post-strike demand returns to a level that is sustainable for the industry, and we happen to think that the option of remote work allows us to best meet our hiring goals, especially when demand spikes. I don’t think remote work fully replaces how people work together, however. In-person working and team interactions bring added benefits of additional context and relationship-building. I find that mentoring is often easier with in-person dialogue and rapport.”
FutureWorks is guided by the belief that remote work can bring filmmakers together more quickly and cost-efficiently while allowing the company to compete for new talent on a global scale. (Image courtesy of FutureWorks)
Gaurav Gupta, CEO of FutureWorks, notes that remote work can bring filmmakers together more quickly and offer “flexibility, speed, cost optimization and competition for the best talent at global scale.” He comments, “Content creation, by its nature, works best when creators are able to collaborate frequently and effectively, where multiple stakeholders can share their ideas quickly and review changes in a qualitative manner. Starting with Smartjog, Aspera and Cinesync in the 2000s, to modern cloud-based applications like Frame.io, Moxion, etc. now, technology has enabled creators to share high-quality audio, video and images.”
The cloud is already essential for much remote work. Gupta explains, “Whether private or public, cloud technologies are being used everywhere in content production; from set to screen, remote work and cloud go hand in hand. I think the industry is now aligned to make The 2030 Vision published by MovieLabs a reality sooner than its stated time frame. Its first principle ‘All assets are created or ingested straight into the cloud and do not need to be moved’ heralds a complete cloud future.”
Autodesk’s Moxion is a dailies and content-review platform that offers an instant dailies service in HDR, with full Dolby Vision, HDR10 and 4K resolution playback support.
Just as remote work has enabled globalization, the latter has fed the former. “Netflix has created the first true global studio without borders. Their focus on pushing both technology and creativity in content production at global scale has accelerated the development and adoption of remote working. The flywheel is now spinning faster and faster,” Gupta says.
“For me the most exciting developments are in the area of a Global File System, technologies like Hammerspace enabling seamless movement of data to a location where it’s needed with AI intelligence. I think technologies like these were only available to a select few studios, and now anyone will be able to adopt this. This solves a very important problem for a globally distributed workforce.”
—Gaurav Gupta, CEO, FutureWorks
Gupta adds, “For me the most exciting developments are in the area of a Global File System, technologies like Hammerspace enabling seamless movement of data to a location where it’s needed with AI intelligence. I think technologies like these were only available to a select few studios, and now anyone will be able to adopt this. This solves a very important problem for a globally distributed workforce.”
Evercast’s collaboration technology allows filmmakers, film editors, game developers, animators, musicians and creatives to work remotely together in real-time, securely stream work sessions in up to 4K, as well as video chat live. (Image courtesy of Evercast, LLC)
Still, with all the benefits brought by remote work, the old-fashioned approach is also important. “Being in the office is also vital for our new and early-career artists since they benefit so much from being able to work and learn alongside more experienced creatives,” Sullivan says. “Linked to this is our broader mission to ensure everyone working for Framestore, whether they’re in the U.K., U.S., Canada, India or Australia, can benefit from our unique creative culture and the wealth of training, development and mentoring opportunities we offer.”
The remote workflow has evolved steadily on several fronts since early 2020. Rob Hifle, CEO and Creative Director at Lux Aetena, notes the deep globalization of the workforce occurring in VFX. “Connectivity is continually improving, leading to more global collaboration as well as hybrid working, leveraging talent and expertise from different regions of the world. This will lead to wider representation of backgrounds and experiences across the industry, with the unique and valuable insights that brings.”
Preferring to shoot practically, Christopher Nolan aimed to avoid CG effects when making Oppenheimer. SFX and filmed elements were used to capture the power of the Trinity nuclear test. (Image courtesy of DNEG and Universal Pictures)
Last year, Avatar: The Way of Water scooped the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, beating Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Batman. When the nominees are announced on Tuesday, January 23, for Best Visual Effects at the 96th Academy Awards, it will be another competitive year with outstanding films in contention for the VFX Oscar.
Nominated for Best Visual Effects in 2014, the first Guardians of the Galaxy installment narrowly missed out to Interstellar. In 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 saw itself nominated for the award, this time losing out to Blade Runner 2049. A third-time’s-the-charm win would be fitting for the third and final installment; although it should be noted that with the extraordinary craftsmanship of the film’s Visual Effects Production Supervisor, Stephane Ceretti, and all of the VFX vendors involved, it would be anything but luck, as Vol. 3 remains a serious forefront contender. “We had 3,066 visual effects shots in the film, a huge number,” says Ceretti, who also worked on the first film. “On top of that, we had to do the Christmas special at the same time, which was an additional 560 shots.”
Ceretti credits Guardians series director James Gunn for constantly evolving and challenging his VFX team to break new ground. “James Gunn always wants things to look as real as possible,” Ceretti explains. “He’s got his filming style that’s very specific to him, and that has evolved from the first Guardians film. He was really challenging us in terms of how he is now filming things with smaller cameras that are really portable and moving all the time. We knew that we had potentially a lot of full CG sequences, especially with the flashbacks. We had discussions about the different worlds that we would either revisit from previous films, like Knowhere, or the new places that we would introduce like Counter Earth or The Orgoscope. We worked alongside Production Designer Beth Mickle, who is fantastic and had previously done The Suicide Squad with James.”
Rocket proved to be the most challenging CG character to create for Ceretti and his team. “It was great to come back and finish the story of Rocket,” Ceretti says. “We knew we had to build Rocket across his different ages throughout the film. There was also a sense of an animalistic feeling that we had to get from Rocket that, in my opinion, we had lost a little bit across the different films.” Ceretti adds, “The emphasis on the high level of detail in terms of both modeling, grooming and keyframe animation for all of these animals was really key for the success of the movie and being able to tell that story.”
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny marked the titular character’s return to the big screen. With Andrew Whitehurst serving as Visual Effects Supervisor, the film consisted of 2,350 visual effects shots. Whitehurst describes, “Because the movie is a journey, most scenes take place in different times and locations. It’s a story that has many components with little overlap between them. We knew that the scope of the work would mean that we would need several vendors on the show. By the time we were starting to think about that, Kathy Siegel, the VFX Producer, was onboard, so we were talking about the various folks that we might approach to work on it and who’d we worked with before, and who we knew specialized in certain types of work. It was an exercise in logistics really.”
Driven by more than 3,000 visual effects shots with many fully CG sequences, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 remains a serious standalone contender, even though the first two films were nominated but missed out in 2014 and 2017. (Image courtesy of Marvel Studios)
Along with the prologue, the Siege of Syracuse sequence was one of the main focus points in the pre-production of Dial of Destiny. “We started blocking it out with Previs Supervisor Clint Reagan,” Whitehurst notes. “[Editor] Mike McCusker, who was cutting that sequence, was on the project by then. We were exploring the sequence through previs and storyboards because a screenplay often isn’t the best place to explore an action sequence like that. The other thing we needed to figure out was how to film it and how the narrative would drive the layout of the environment. In my office in L.A., I had a map on my whiteboard that I was forever updating with what ancient Syracuse looked like based on the cut. I had all the various story beats as thumbnail sketches drawn on Post-it notes that I was laying out along the planes’ trajectories as I drew them out on the board. From that we could work out how the coastline and the city had to be laid out to accommodate that action. Previs was also vital in working out how we might stage action in the plane set pieces that we had at Pinewood. We were able to figure out ahead of shooting how we could get our actors, crew and cameras into such a confined space. It saved a lot of time on the shoot.”
“Everyone working on the film was very conscious of the previous films and the way that they were made,” Whitehurst explains. “The thing you will hear more from Jim [director James Mangold] when you are on set or talking about previs shots, is ‘nouns and verbs.’ Every shot needs a noun and every shot needs a verb. That’s a very classical filmmaking way of working, and I think that attention to detail really shines through in the finished film.”
With a tip of the visor to Blade Runner and the Lucasfilm legacy, Gareth Edwards’ The Creator introduces a brave new sci-fi world, both compelling and grounded in real-world locations that ring true. (Image courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
With 2,350 visual effects shots, including a prologue and a portal-through-time visitation to the Siege of Syracuse in 200 BC, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny shines with a keen attention to a treasure chest of detail. (Image courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd)
Gritty and grounded, Transformers: Rise of the Beast stars robots that reflect the different environments they inhabit, and features complex character animation and FX simulations in almost every shot. (Image courtesy of Paramount Pictures)
Ridley Scott’s Napoleon conjures a broad historical canvas of 18th century France with battlefields and thousands of soldiers, requiring a seamless weave of practical, CG and invisible effects that all contribute to the film’s unique look. (Image courtesy of Apple Studios and Columbia Pictures/Sony)
Following Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Gareth Edwards was at the directing helm again with The Creator. FIN VFX contributed over 100 shots for the film. “By the time we joined the project, The Creator had been in Gareth’s head for years,” says FIN VFX Supervisor Stuart White. “When we received our first shots to begin work on, ILM had already finalized a large number of their shots, having had about a two-year head start. So, the expectations were high! I’ve long been a fan of concept artist [Production Designer] James Clyne. He and his team at ILM had been working on the most amazing body of concept art for this movie that I think I’ve ever seen, all handed to us as a PDF that numbered hundreds of pages.” Discussing the most challenging visual effects shot to create, White notes a shot where two (CG) police transport ships land in an alleyway, and about nine (partially CG) robots jump out of it and run into a building. “In the postvis, they had replaced the whole top half of the frame with a still that basically implied ‘insert Blade Runner awesome future city alleyway and skyscrapers here.’”
Joe DiValerio of Outpost VFX served as VFX Supervisor and interacted with Charley Henley, Production Visual Effects Supervisor, for Ridley Scott’s Napoleon. “Our work was just under 30 shots, which we ultimately hope are invisible. The film has a unique look and style we needed to adapt to,” DiValerio says. “We had a sequence, fleshed out shot design, and a solid plan of shot plates and elements that needed to be assembled. There was some amazing roto and paint work to preserve the essence of the practical element photography. We had some very clever uses of mixing up the photography in ways it wasn’t originally intended – mixing up takes, augmenting stunt work, mixing angles and standard hiding logistics of the practical effects. The biggest challenge we anticipated was the CG crowd work. The production team had motion capture performances with specific actions for our sequence. We were able to build a library of just the right parts and then art-direct them into the film. Our sequence had a little bit of everything, matte painting, CG FX, crowds, element work and stunt enhancement.”
The Little Mermaid surfaces from the deep blue for live-action on land, but not without blending in merfolk and classic Disney animated undersea characters: Scuttle, Sebastian and Flounder. Characters built by Framestore. (Image courtesy of Walt Disney Studios).
Rodeo FX completed 237 VFX shots for The Little Mermaid with Graeme Marshall and Ashley Bellm both serving as Rodeo FX Visual Effects Producers on the film. “We were only one of multiple vendors,” say Marshall and Bellm with one voice. “As on most projects, we interacted mainly with the client-side VFX team, helmed by VFX Supervisor Tim Burke, and VFX Producer Leslie Lerman. Their team was an absolute delight to work with. Although we did receive notes from Rob [director Rob Marshall], our main point of contact was the studio VFX team. Rodeo was initially brought on board to take on some overflow character work from another studio. All of the merfolk shots were pretty challenging, there was a lot of plate reconstruction and integration to be done. Our most difficult shot was in the closing scene of the film when Ariel’s family and community join her on the beach to send her off on her adventures with Prince Eric. The shots with Scuttle, Sebastian and Flounder were also challenging as the character assets – built by our friends at Framestore – were shared across multiple vendors, and we had to ensure continuity not only in their appearance, but in their overall demeanor and performance.”
Rodeo FX recreated Place de L’Étoile in Paris, one of the busiest locations in the world, for John Wick: Chapter 4. The John Wick franchise is known for its stylish, choreographed action sequences and gunfights.(Photo: Murray Close. Courtesy of Lionsgate)
Wētā FX designed, built and animated Cokie and her two cubs for Cocaine Bear. (Image courtesy of Universal Pictures)
ILM’s VFX team worked closely with Production Designer James Clyne and the art department to develop the rich design framework of The Creator. (Images courtesy of 20th Century Studios)
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. (Image courtesy of Lucasfilm Ltd)
One of the most highly anticipated films of the year was Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The combined effects departments created over 200 shots and only half of those needed post work in VFX. Production VFX Supervisor Andrew Jackson was the first person to read the Oppenheimer script after Producer Emma Thomas. “Chris told me before I read the script that he wanted to avoid computer-generated effects,” Jackson says. “He thought if we could shoot it practically, it would fit better with the language and feel of the film. His approach to effects is very similar to mine in that we don’t see a clear divide between VFX and SFX, and believe that if something can be based on filmed elements it will always bring more richness and depth to the work. After my initial discussions with Chris, I spent the first three months of the project in SFX Supervisor Scott Fisher’s workshop, developing and testing dozens of simulations and effects. For the duration of the shoot, we ran a small VFX IMAX film unit, which compiled an extensive library of filmed elements. The final shots ranged from using the raw elements as shot, through to complex composites of multiple filmed elements led by VFX Supervisor Giacomo Mineo and the team at DNEG, the film’s sole VFX partner.
Barbie will likely be in contention for Best Production Design, but the film’s visual effects should not be overlooked. (Images courtesy of Warner Bros.)
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. (Images courtesy of Marvel Studios)
“Each shot presented its own set of challenges as the script describes thoughts and ideas rather than specific visual images,” Jackson continues. “This was both exciting and challenging as we searched for solutions we could build and shoot that were both driven by the story and visually engaging. Combined with the set of creative rules like only using real elements shot on film, this meant that we had to dig deeper to find solutions that were often more interesting than if there had been no limits. The one sequence that was the most challenging was the Trinity test itself. Unlike the other effects scenes, this one needed to replicate the original test but still be made only using filmed elements. It was a huge design and compositing exercise, involving retiming and combining multiple high-speed explosion and ground detail elements. The result is a truly unique cinematic experience.”
Real locations and a preference for practical effects ground Blue Beetle in a family-friendly everyday sense of reality that offers superhero VFX on a down-to-earth scale. (Image courtesy of Warner Bros.)
Oppenheimer. (Image courtesy of DNEG and Universal Pictures)
MPC and Wētā FX were the lead studios on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, and the number of visual effects shots ended up in the 1,800-1,830 range. “[Director] Steven Caple Jr. and I met in pre-production when there was only a script. He’d been gathering mood material and came in with a good idea of the world he wanted. It was a more grounded, gritty and distressed look he was after,” says MPC VFX Supervisor Gary Brozenich. “We discussed a heavier patina for the robots in general and wanted to link the look of their aging to the places they inhabited. The Autobots are city dwellers and the Maximals are jungle-dwelling – we should feel the environment in their shell. Both should have a different quality. Unicron and its interior carried the weight of introducing the franchise’s ultimate villain, one that is ingrained in the lore and the minds of a huge fan base. We wanted to make sure we were true to the original structural design in its planetary form.”
Matt Aitken was Wētā FX Visual Effects Supervisor on the film. “Our work on the show was all complex with character animation and FX simulations in almost every shot. The transformation shots were particularly challenging; we set up a dedicated transformation team comprising specialists from animation, rigging and models to handle the specifics of those, and some of the transformation shots were in progress throughout our time working on the movie. The most difficult transformation sequence was probably Mirage transforming into an exosuit around Noah as he slowly stands up. We kept Noah’s face but most of the time his body, clothing and hair has been replaced to allow the articulating suit pieces to neatly form around him. That was the last shot we delivered on the show!” Wētā FX also provided the bulk of effects for Cocaine Bear. “Our work on Cocaine Bear focused on the furry, drug-fueled lead, Cokie, a CG black bear that goes on a rampage after stumbling on abandoned cocaine in the wilderness,” notes VFX Supervisor Robin Hollander.
This year, audiences also saw Brie Larson reprise her role as Captain Marvel in The Marvels, which undoubtedly will be a contender at the Academy Awards, while DC’s Blue Beetle could be an outside pick. This year also marked the return of John Wick with John Wick: Chapter 4, an excellent addition to the franchise. Barbie will certainly be in contention for Best Production Design. The film’s visual effects are also worth special mention. Whichever film wins the award for Best Visual Effects, it has been an incredible year for film VFX.
Germany
The board of the VES Germany section is dedicated to connect VFX and Animation professionals across the country and with the global community and with the growing support of other VES members in various areas such as Berlin, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich and Stuttgart setting up events and screenings for VES members to join.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ DUNE: PART TWO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Tuesday, March 19, 2024 at 7:00PM Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1
Nobelstraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Germany invites you to join us at the upcoming worldwide VES Megabrain Masterclass, which will include top industry professionals covering a wealth of topics.
Date: 28th of March (Thursday)
Time: 12:00 pm PDT / 3:00 pm EDT / 8:00 pm CET
Zoom Webinar
VES members, please login to RSVP at the bottom of the page!
Spots are limited to the first 100 attendees, so be sure to register today!
SESSION 1 : Aesthetics of Photorealistic Compositing: Science, Technology and Art
The goal for the visual effects compositor: Photorealism, or the art of composite layers of images to look coherent using the physics of light at the service of an idea: storytelling. The art of compositing consists in merging two or more images making them look like they have been shot at the same time with the same camera and lenses, under the same lighting conditions. Applying the physics of light in a photo-realistic environment could not always be artistically synthesized in simple formulas or fixed structures due to the complexity of the light phenomena but understanding the journey a ray of light has taken from its source to get to the screen could lead to a more scientific analysis of the image composition process to replicate and emulate the qualities and artefacts of light as the eye perceive it interpreted by the lens of the camera.
In order to log the events in the lifetime of a specific ray of light, Victor Perez proposes a Mind Mapping Analysis Structure to translate the physics of light into mathematical operations within Foundry® NUKE™ nodal-based compositor. An articulated system of observation to guide compositing artists in the fantastic odyssey into the invisible.
Victor Perez
Victor Perez is a renowned figure in the global visual effects industry. His career spans over 25 years so far, and he has worked in many areas. Starting as a photographer and cinematographer, extending his interest to the whole image post-production process and evolving into a visual effects artist with a special focus on photorealistic compositing of CGI. Along the way, he has worked on a number of Hollywood films, including Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight Rises’, ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’, ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’, plus many more. Eventually, he became a Film Director, and his career naturally led him to his current role as a Visual Effects Supervisor. What really drives Perez is his focus on storytelling. He is fascinated by how new technologies can help filmmakers tell stories in ways never seen before. His work is a fine alchemy of Science, Technology, and Art, reflecting his passion for innovation and creativity.
In parallel and compatible with his professional career as a production visual effects supervisor, Victor Perez has built a name for himself in the visual effects industry worldwide by sharing his knowledge and work with the global community of visual effects professionals. Regularly invited to renowned events such as Siggraph, FMX, VIEW Conference, and more, he has become an influential figure in the field. His insights and accomplishments have been featured in specialised press, including Cinefex, FXGuide, The VFX Voice, and Before & Afters, to mention a few. In 2012, he was voted one of the most influential visual effects artists in the world by the specialized press of Nukepedia. Acting as Brand Ambassador for ASUS®, Autodesk®, and Foundry®, Perez receives sponsorship, the latest technology, and financial support for his pioneering artistic research. Internationally regarded as a VFX compositing guru, he has delivered Masterclasses on Photorealistic Full-CGI Compositing at industry-leading institutions like Pixar Animation Studios, Dneg; and educational institutes like Escape Studios, and The Animation Workshops. In 2016, he was invited to speak at TED, showcasing his research and its connection with his personal life, featuring a live demo of the visual effects compositing process. Perez’s publications on various facets of visual effects are available through Focal Press®, Netflix®, FxPhD®, and other outlets. Victor Perez’s multifaceted career in film making has been honored with over 50 awards and nominations. He has been recognized for his roles as visual effects supervisor, director, writer, and producer. Among these honors is the prestigious Italian Academy Award “David di Donatello,” which he received in 2019 for his outstanding work on “The Invisible Boy: Second Generation.” The same year, he made history with his experimental project “Echo,” which he also directed. It earned a nomination at the Visual Effects Society (VES) Awards for Best Virtual Cinematography, marking the first time a short film had ever been nominated for this prestigious award. Through his extensive career, Victor Perez continues to be a beacon of innovation and enlightenment in the visual effects community, bridging the gap between technology, creativity, and storytelling.
SESSION 2: USD in large scale Environments: What to do and not to do
Stefan Bernscherer will talk about the do’s and don’t of working with USD, when working with large scale environments.
Stefan Bjønfort Bernscherer
While currently acting as the interim Head of Departement for EnvGen at Dneg Montreal, Stefan Bernscherer has had a long career in VFX, with previous positions as Environment Supervisor, Lead Environment Artist, Matte Painter and Compositor with background in 3D.
Stefan is both a specialist and generalist, covering all aspects of post production needs, with over 10 years of experience working as a nuke compositor, 3D generalist and matte painter with teaching and supervison experience.
SESSION 3: Willow: And the Network of Magic
Robert will talk about his recent work on Willow.
Robert Zeltsch
Robert Zeltsch already started to work in the field of 3D animation and visual effects during school- and study time. Along with achieving the diploma degree in media technology (2008), he became a technical director for compositing and effects development.
With his work in leading technical and supervising positions for “Anonymous”, “Fast5” and “Hugo”, he made an international career. After leading the vfx work on “Lost Place”, a german stereoscopic feature film, he moved to London where he now works at Industrial Light & Magic for already 7 years.
VES Members Receive Exclusive 20% Discount on FMX 2024 Tickets
VES members must login to sign up to receive Discount Code below There are a very limited number of discount codes, so please do not sign up if you will not definitely attend FMX 2024 in Stuttgart, Germany. Tuesday, April 23 to Friday, April 26 (It is now too late to take advantage of Early Bird Pricing)
Haus der Wirtschaft
Willi-Bleicher-Strasse 19, Stuttgart 70174
Germany
VES members who RSVPafter March 8 will receive their Discount Codes after Early Bird Pricing ends.
FMX returns to four days on site in Stuttgart from April 23 to 26, exploring the latest in animation, visual effects, interactive and immersive media. Most of the content will be available on demand from April 27 all through May. The FMX Conference Pass covers the whole event on site and on demand. Day Passes and Online Passes are also available. Click here for more information about the conference.
With its theme ‘Connecting Ideas’, FMX 2024 sheds a light on digital platforms, open standards and other initiatives for open exchange that make collaboration between media professionals easier, more efficient, and more creative.
Around 300 speakers will talk about features like THE CREATOR, WONKA and THE MARVELS, episodic productions like PERCY JACKSON and DOCTOR WHO, and many more. On top of that, there will be panel discussions, workshops, and exhibition rooms filled with the latest and greatest in VFX, animation, XR, recruitment, hard- and software, education, and more.
After the award season is over, we want to give you the opportunity to meet up and catch up! We are looking forward to see you at the Georgenhof at 7:30 pm 🙂
As the next member drive is just around the corner, you can bring one person with you, who is interested in joining the VES.
Please RSVP below (this only works, if you are already logged in!)
After the award season is over, we want to give you the opportunity to meet up and catch up! We are looking forward to see you at the Brauhaus Schönbuch at 7 pm 🙂
As the next member drive is just around the corner, you can bring one person with you, who is interested in joining the VES.
Please RSVP below (this only works, if you are already logged in!)
After the award season is over, we want to give you the opportunity to meet up and catch up! We are looking forward to see you at the Roter Rabe at 7 pm 🙂
As the next member drive is just around the corner, you can bring one person with you, who is interested in joining the VES.
Please RSVP below (this just works if you are already logged in!)
The 22nd Annual VES Awards season is underway, and it’s going to be more exciting than ever! Nomination Event to be held worldwide on Saturday, January 13, 2024.
This year we will have virtual and in-person Nomination Events. Current VES members can apply to judge on ANY in-person event that you can travel to or or ANY virtual panel in ANY time zone. This is the must-attend event of the awards season. You will see exclusive behind-the-scenes clips of the most striking visual imagery of 2023, and you’ll enjoy the single best networking opportunity of the year! Don’t miss your chance to meet the best and brightest in the VFX field, catch up with old friends, and learn about new VFX techniques. Plus, you’ll have the satisfaction of helping to decide the best work to be presented to our colleagues in the industry and the press, as well as fans across the globe.
The Nomination Event is an all-day event and judges will receive details about specific times closer to the event. Please apply to a specific in-person location, or a particular time zone of a virtual panel (view the Region Map for the time zone that best fits your schedule). Please submit your Judge Application early to make this year’s VES Awards Nomination Event successful.
-The 22nd Annual VES Awards Committee
JUDGE APPLICATIONS ARE CLOSED please contact cassidy@vesglobal.org with any questions
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ WONKA
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Friday, December 15, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Toho Studios’ GODZILLA MINUS ONE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, December 14, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail to germanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Apple TV+’s and Sony Pictures’ NAPOLEON
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, December 7, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail to germanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Animation Studios’ WISH
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, November 30, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend 3D Screening of Marvel Studios’ and Walt Disney Motion Pictures’ THE MARVELS followed by a Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Production Visual Effects Supervisor Tara DeMarco and Additional Visual Effects Supervisor Sarah Eim, moderated by former VES Board member Gene Kozicki, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESMARVELS, in your tweet.)
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Saturday, November 11, 2023 at 8:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail to germanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ FIVE NIGHTS AT FREDDY’S
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, November 2, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Apple TV+’s KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, October 26, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
Thursday, October 12, 2023 at 2:00PM (BST) & 3:00PM (CEST)
Mark your Calendars! The Visual Effects Society and TELUS Health (formerly Lifeworks) will present an overview of the services offered as part of the FREE VES Member Assistance Program. Don’t miss this chance to find out about the mental health, fitness, legal, financial, online resources, and more that are part of this amazing program. Don’t miss learning about all of these phenomenal benefits specifically for VES members throughout Europe and the UK!
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Tuesday, October 1o, 2023 at 7:00PM Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1
Nobelstraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Germany invites you to join us at the upcoming worldwide VES Megabrain Masterclass, which will include top industry professionals covering a wealth of topics.
Ian is a Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, for recent projects, including the groundbreaking and VES Award-winning ABBA Voyage virtual concert, and Gareth Edwards’ The Creator.
His path through Lighting, Pipeline, Look Development, CG Supervision, and as ILM CG Technology Supervisor has allowed him to contribute to creative and technical innovation over almost 20 years in Visual Effects, strategizing key studio technology, and making images for notable projects, including Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Paddington, Guardian’s of the Galaxy, and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity.
As a father of two, Ian is always in pursuit of a healthy work-life balance, and occasionally has time for making music and photography. He has participated in the UK Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Maths (STEAM) program, been a speaker at SIGGRAPH, FMX, SCA, Ciclope, and for the Tri-Livery Digital Media Group, and ran Master Classes at the National Centre for Computer Animation.
Session 2: Lights, Camera, Unreal! Redefining the Cinematic Workflow at Platige
Sara Pereira- Software Engineer
Hi all!! 🙂
I’m Sara, a Software Engineer based in Portugal, with a great passion for creating characters and stories! I have been working in the game and VFX industry primarily as an R&D developer. My experience includes working with Unity in game development, porting games to platforms such as XBOX and Switch, and most recently at Platige Image, researching the new Unreal Engine features and developing tools. I also worked as a Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Setúbal, teaching subjects such as UI/UX, Databases, Videogame Design and Programming and Object Oriented Programming. I hope sharing my little experience and current Unreal Engine knowledge can help inspire new creative minds! 😉
Mateusz Wójt – Lead R&D Developer
Hey there! I’m Mateusz. I’ve been diving deep into the VFX world since 2010, and it’s been one heck of a ride. I’ve worn a few different hats over the years – from a technical director to a software engineer, mostly navigating the waters of compositing, editorial and color management. Now, I’m the Lead R&D Developer at Platige Image, and I’ve been steering the ship on our Unreal Engine pipeline integration since 2021. Every day’s a new adventure, and I’m loving every bit of it!
Kacper Bartnik– Senior Unreal Engine Generalist
Kacper is a Senior Unreal Engine Generalist at Platige Image Entertainment with over 8 years of experience working with Unreal Engine. He started making level art in Unreal Engine 3 and then started growing as a 3D and Technical Artist. With a love for real-time productions, he proudly wants to share his knowledge with other enthusiasts.
Session 3: Automotive Production with Unreal from A to Z
VES Members and Their Guests are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of 20th Century Studios’ THE CREATOR followed by a Live Interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Director Gareth Edwards, Visual Effects Supervisor Jay Cooper and On-Set Visual Effects Supervisor Andrew Roberts, moderated by VES Board Treasurer Jeffrey A. Okun, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESCREATOR, in your tweet.)Due to studio security, all guest names must be entered in order to get onto the lot.
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 8:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Studios’ A HAUNTING IN VENICE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Monday, September 18, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail togermanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ THE EQUALIZER 3
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ GRAN TURISMO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, August 31, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES members please make sure to call the venue at +49 30 327 805-80 or e-mail to germanyboard@vesglobal.org if you need to cancel your RSVP at least 2 hours before the event.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ HAUNTED MANSION
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, August 3, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goethestr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ OPPENHEIMER
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, July 27, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to an Opening Night Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Friday, June 30, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ ELEMENTAL followed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Director Peter Sohn, Producer Denise Ream, Visual Effects Supervisor Sanjay Bakshi and Production Designer Don Shank, moderated by VES member and ASIFA Hollywood President Frank Gladstone. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.) Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESELEMENTAL, in your tweet.)
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Saturday, June 24, 2023 at 8:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
ICE is the conference dedicated to the disciplines which encompass all creative processes around 3D environments, from concept and design to final result. It covers all industries: Entertainment, Advertisement, Training & Simulation, GIS, AEC/BIM, and others. The key focus is on art & artist – the people who make it all happen. Join us online!
Click here to RSVP Thursday and Friday, June 15 and 16, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST)
Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST) Prof. Michael Coldewey will discuss storyboarding followed by a live Q&A Frank Petzold will discuss the visual effects of the VES, Oscar and BAFTA nominated ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT followed by a live Q&A Dr. Andre Kudra Demoscene: From Underground Digital Culture to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage followed by a live Q&A
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST) Rolf Mohr will discuss concept design for interactive entertainment at Disney Games followed by a live Q&A Ando Avila will discuss overlapping layout and environment work for Hollywood films at Scanline VFX followed by a live Q&A Dimitrie Grigorescu will discuss going from designing cities on Mars to visualizing eco cities of the future followed by a live Q&A
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a 3D Screening of Paramount Pictures’ TRANSFORMERS: RISE OF THE BEASTS
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
ICE is the conference dedicated to the disciplines which encompass all creative processes around 3D environments, from concept and design to final result. It covers all industries: Entertainment, Advertisement, Training & Simulation, GIS, AEC/BIM, and others. The key focus is on art & artist – the people who make it all happen. Join us online!
Click here to RSVP Thursday and Friday, June 15 and 16, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST)
Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST) Prof. Michael Coldewey will discuss storyboarding followed by a live Q&A Frank Petzold will discuss the visual effects of the VES, Oscar and BAFTA nominated ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT followed by a live Q&A Dr. Andre Kudra Demoscene: From Underground Digital Culture to UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage followed by a live Q&A
Friday, June 16, 2023 at 9:00AM (PDT), 12:00PM (EDT), 5:00PM (BST), 6:00PM (CEST), 9:30PM (IST) Rolf Mohr will discuss concept design for interactive entertainment at Disney Games followed by a live Q&A Ando Avila will discuss overlapping layout and environment work for Hollywood films at Scanline VFX followed by a live Q&A Dimitrie Grigorescu will discuss going from designing cities on Mars to visualizing eco cities of the future followed by a live Q&A
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Sony Pictures’ SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, June 8, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE LITTLE MERMAID
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, June 1, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ FAST X
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Opening Weekend Screening of Marvel Studios’ and Walt Disney Pictures’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 3 followed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Stephane Ceretti and Sony Pictures Imageworks Visual Effects Supervisor Theo Bialek, moderated by Van Ling, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.) Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESGUARDIANS3, in your tweet.)
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Sunday, May 7, 2023 at 8:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
We invite our members to join together to get a break from FMX and have a nice lunch at the Brauhaus Schönbuch, where we can have some German “Hausmannskost” and maybe even beer 😉
Of course there are also vegetarian/vegan options available.
Be aware that the entrance is at Stephanstraße.
If you don’t see the RSVP Button below, you have to log into your VES Account!
If you RSVP until Thursday, March 9th we will try to get your code in time so you’ll be able to use it while the Early Bird Tickets are on sale (until March 13th).
This code is only intended for VES members, so please don’t share it with anyone else.
Please only RSVP if you really intend to visit FMX this year.
VES Members and a Guest are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ DUNGEONS & DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP)
Friday, April 7, 2023 at 7:00PM Cine Chromatix KG
Goetherstr. 85 10623 Berlin Click here for a map.
***VES Members: Please enter your first and last name in the “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
VES Members and Up to Four (4) Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER: WAKANDA FOREVER
Masks or face coverings are encouraged, but not mandatory. Please observe social distancing whenever possible.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Thursday, November 17, 2022 at 8:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #1 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
***VES Members: Please register your name in “Attendee 1″ fields***
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
We invite all our members to a night of food, drinks and a lot of fun to celebrate the last sunny days, before winter is coming! 😉
We are happy to meet you at the Prater Gaststätte at 7 pm.
Please RSVP down below. Please be aware: It is crucial that you RSVP before, otherwise you can’t attend. The venue needs to have the exact number of participants one week in advance!
If you don’t see the RSVP field, you have to login to your VES account!
VES Germany invites you to join us at the upcoming worldwide VES Megabrain Masterclass, which will include top industry professionals covering a wealth of topics.
Date: 22nd of September (Thursday)
Time: 11:00 am PDT / 2:00 pm EDT / 8:00 pm CET
Zoom Webinar
VES members, please login to RSVP at the bottom of the page!
Spots are limited to the first 100 attendees, so be sure to register today!
SESSION 1: Challenges in the Creation of Procedural 3D Cities
We will explore some of the challenges of procedural 3d cities. There is a lot of hype around the concept, so let’s dive in and learn about some crucial technical and artistic aspects that need to be considered when planning the creation of a procedural system. Further, we’ll have a quick look into vrbn’s own internal procedural approach.
Matthias Buehler
After graduating from ETH Zurich (MSc Arch ETH), Matthias has worked in landscape architecture, architectural visualization and then has been part of the CityEngine development team for almost 5 years. He has a profound knowledge of 3D Modeling, Rendering, Visualization, Digital Sets and VFX in general.He has been the CityEngine Tech Support Lead, has hosted countless international presentations, workshops and trainings.In the field of 3D Urban Design, 3D Geodesign, 3D Facility Management and Master Planning, he has designed key workflows and pipelines. He was responsible for CityEngine services, consulting, training, procedural city modeling, custom CGA rule development and advanced visualization.At Scanline VFX, a high end Visual Effects vendor, he developed a procedural system for 3D landscapes and cities for film, on the film ‘Independence Day Resurgence’ (among others).Matthias founded vrbn (say ‘urban’) as a consultancy and service provider to push 3D design and content creation technologies in multiple sectors, such as Games, VFX, Autonomous Driving and XR
SESSION 2: The future of movie making?
Simon Spielmann will talk with you about virtual production, tools and technology.
Simon Spielmann
Simon Spielmann is part of the R&D Department at the Animationsinstitut with focus on software development, real-time graphics and XR. In 2009, he graduated from Bauhaus-University Weimar as Media Scientist and Mathematician. He started his career as a freelance software developer in 2006, three years later he joined the research team at Animationsinstitut. Today, Simon is the Principal Engineer at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg. He is also responsible for the scientific counselling and supervision of the Technical Director Course at the Animationsinstitut.
SESSION 3: Creating a stadium crowd
We will cover how Tony Atherton builds a stadium crowd from scratch. It will include the creation of the crowd agents, simulating them and rendering them in a stadium environment. Everything is created in Houdini using the latest Kinefx and crowd tools and rendered in Houdini’s USD environment, Solaris.
Tony Atherton
Tony Atherton has been working in Visual FX for 13 years. Over his career he has worked on films in blockbuster franchises such as Harry Potter, Narnia and The Avengers. He worked on long form jobs for companies such as Netflix and Apple TV, as well as working on adverts for companies such as Amazon, Coca Cola and John Lewis. At the moment he works at The Mill in London and has been running the FX department there for the last 4 and a half years.
We invite you to meet and mingle at the Georgenhof in Munich! You can also bring one person that is interested in joining the VES with you.
Please RSVP below. If you don’t see the RSVP Button below, you have to log into your VES Account!
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, we ask that you or your guests do not attend VES events if you are experiencing any symptoms or if you have been exposed to the virus.
By signing up for this on-site, in-person screening/event sponsored by VES (Visual Effects Society), you willingly accept any potential inherent risks associated with COVID-19. VES cannot be held liable from any consequences that may transpire from said risk. Therefore, signing up for this screening/event infers implied consent of yourself and your party and hereby indemnifies and holds harmless VES, its directors, its employees and any other affiliated persons from any adverse medical or financial impact that may result from our participation.
We invite you for some cool drinks at the “Roter Rabe” bar for another in-person hangout, after the last one at FMX was so nice! 🙂 You can also bring along one person that is interested in joining the VES with you.
Please RSVP below. If you don’t see the RSVP Button below, you have to log into your VES Account!
We invite you for some cool drinks at the Brauhaus Schönbuch for another in-person hangout, after the last one at FMX was so nice! 🙂 You can also bring along one person that is interested in joining the VES with you.
Please RSVP below. If you don’t see the RSVP Button below, you have to log into your VES Account!
All tickets gone!
We are really sorry but all ticket are taken. We are looking forward to do this some time soon!
We invite our members to see Top Gun Maverick in Screen X format in Berlin. A Screen X projection covers 270° on 3 screens, which is the perfect format to see the amazing flight scenes!
Location: UCI Kino Berlin – Mercedes Platz | Luxe – Mildred-Harnack-Straße 13 – 10243 Berlin
There are just limited seats available – please RSVP quickly!
To RSVP you must be logged in or you won’t see the field to make your reservation!
VES Lunch @ FMX When: Wed May 04, 2022 01:00pm to 02:30pm CEST
We invite our members to join together to get a break from FMX and have a nice lunch at the Brauhaus Schönbuch, where we can have some German “Hausmannskost” and maybe even beer 😉
Of course there are also vegetarian/vegan options available.
Be aware that the entrance is at Stephanstraße.
If you don’t see the RSVP Button below, you have to log into your VES Account!
VES Germany invites you to join us at the upcoming worldwide VES Megabrain Masterclass, which will include top industry professionals covering a wealth of topics.
Date: 28th of April (Thursday)
Time: 11:30 am PDT / 2:30 pm EDT / 8:30 pm CET
Zoom Webinar
VES members, please login to RSVP at the bottom of the page!
Spots are limited to the first 100 attendees, so be sure to register today!
SESSION 1: Democratizing Storytelling
Virtual production tools for animation and capturing performance for games. Unity’s suite of virtual production technologies are equally applicable to video games as they are to cinematic and broadcast-ready linear digital content creation (DCC). Advanced tools available in Unity such as Sequences, Cinemachine, Live Capture, Unity Face Capture, and Unity Virtual Capture are integral to game development, especially when designing, animating, and assembling cinematic cutscenes and trailers.
Ben Radcliffe
As a Senior Technical Specialist, Ben works with Unity’s creator communities and influencers to advance the art and science of storytelling and digital transformation through the use of real-time 3D technology. Ben has over 20 years of experience leading international production teams, creating location-based entertainment, animation, and visual effects for companies such as Disney, Lucasfilm, and Industrial Light & Magic, as well as transportation design and visualization for Gulfstream and Bombardier aircrafts.
SESSION 2: VFX Asset Management with das element – powered by machine learning
Jonas Kluger will present the VFX Asset Management library software das element that he created over the last years.
Jonas Kluger
Starting out as an artist and moving to work as a VFX Editor and Pipeline TD for feature films like Marvel’s The Avengers, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Transformers: The Last Knight, Jonas knows both the creative and also technical side to the VFX industry. For years he has been building tools to make the artists life easier.
With his focus on the technical side but the passion for the creative, he started to implement machine learning into todays VFX pipelines. He is the founder and creator of the VFX library software das element. It is powered by machine learning and supports visual effects studios with the tagging and organizing process of assets libraries.
SESSION 3: The Pipeline at DNEG
Kevin Campbell will share his extensive knowledge about the challenge of building flexible pipelines that are scalable to a wide range of requirements.
Kevin Campbell
Pipeline Supervisor Kevin is currently working at DNeg. Over the last twenty years he has previously worked at Cinesite and Rising Sun Pictures in London, Adelaide, and Montreal. During this time he worked on feature animation, visual effects, and episodic TV projects such as Gladiator, V for Vendetta, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Lost in Space, and Riverdance. Kevin is interested in designing flexible pipelines that work for a wide variety of projects, from tens of shots for episodic TV, to two thousand shots in an animated feature film. He is also interested in the challenges of working across multiple sites and time zones. He has a PhD in Mathematics from Warwick University, and has recently been a mentor for the VES, and a career coach for DNeg.
Currently, tickets are limited to a total guest count of 10 people and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
We might be able to reserve more if there’s enough demand.
Please be aware that the current Covid-19 regulations for Berlin apply.
Currently, this measns that
– You need to register with your contact details (this is possible with either the Luca app or by filling in a form which is available on the web page of the theatre
– You need to wear either a medical or FFP2/N95 mask until seated.
More detailed information is available on the theatre’s web page here.
This trans-Atlantic ‘Speed Networking’ event is hosted by the VES LA section for an opportunity to meet people in LA, UK, France and Germany. You could make 5+ new global connections in the VES in just one hour!
Saturday 24th July 2021 10am PST / 6pm GMT / 7pm CET
We invite you to our first and long overdue in person event at Hofbräukeller (Wiener Platz)! Be aware – this is NOT the Hofbräuhaus!
You are welcome to bring a guest with you who is seriously interested to become a VES member. The VES will provide you with some delicious cold drinks at 7pm on Thursday, July 8th, 2021.
We are looking forward to (finally!) see you all again in person and have fun together!
Don’t forget to RSVP (you have to be logged in for that) for better planning – we can’t guarantee you a seat if you show up spontaneously!
We invite you to our first and long overdue in person event at Brauhaus Schönbuch!
You are welcome to bring a guest with you who is seriously interested to become a VES member. The VES will provide you with some delicious cold drinks at 7pm on Thursday, July 8th, 2021.
We are looking forward to (finally!) see you all again in person and have fun together!
Don’t forget to RSVP (you have to be logged in for that) for better planning – we can’t guarantee you a seat if you show up spontaneously (or too late) !
We invite you to our first and long overdue in person event at Birgit & Bier!
You are welcome to bring a guest with you who is seriously interested to become a VES member. The VES will provide you with some delicious cold drinks at 6pm on Thursday, July 8th, 2021.
We are looking forward to (finally!) see you all again in person and have fun together!
Don’t forget to RSVP (you have to be logged in for that) for better planning – we can’t guarantee you a seat if you show up spontaneously!
Although the FMX will be different this year – we still have a spot and will be representing the VES and it’s work.
Our hosts and VES Germany Board members Jan and Nina from Stuttgart will introduce some of our international VES members to you that will explain our newly found committees they represent:
The Health and Wellbeing Committee with our 1st Vice Chair of the Visual Effects Society, Emma Clifton Perry from New Zealand and Philipp Wolf, the Co-Chair of the committee, from Canada. The focus here is not only the wellbeing of your body, but also includes the mental health which has become especially important during the last year.
Arnon Manor and Neishaw Ali, both from our Board of Directors and the USA, will talk about mentorship and diversity in the Education Committee.
There will be a Q&A after each panel and we are looking forward to hear and answer your questions!
And when is this all going to happen?
Wednesday, May 5th, 5:15 pm CEST
Have a closer look at our panel here at the FMX homepage.
VES Germany invites you to join us at the upcoming worldwide VES Megabrain Masterclass, which will include top industry professionals covering a wealth of topics.
DATE: 29th of October (Thursday)
TIME: 12:00 PDT / 3:00pm EDT / 8:00pm CET
Zoom Webinar
VES members, please login to RSVP below.
Spots are limited to the first 100 attendees, so be sure to register today!
SESSION 1: The Secret Camera Rules of Animated Films
Please join Sandy Karpman (Layout Artist, Pixar Animation Studios) as she explains how the camera underscores the story in animated films. The audience’s collective eye needs to look at the right part of the screen for each shot. The camera can elevate the emotions of the characters, as well as guide you in a lovely dance from shot to shot. We allow animation to not be confined by the image frame, so we embed a camera person in animation to continuously update the cameras the animation progresses.
Sandy Karpman – Pixar Animation Studios
Sandra Karpman has over 30 years of experience in the film industry. She spent 18 years at Industrial Light + Magic, starting in the FX animation department working on such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Willow, then transferred to the newly established Computer Graphics Department. She brought her production experience to the new department, building workflows and pipelines to produce multiple shots for films such as Back to the Future II & III, DieHard II, The Mask, Flubber, Hook, Star Wars Episode 1 & 2, Terminator 2, and Twister. Sandra joined Pixar 18 years ago to work on The Incredibles as the Effects Supervisor and currently works in Camera & Staging department which creates the camera view for each shot in every Pixar film
SESSION 2: Advanced Substance
Creating procedural art with substance designer – workshop
Mike Kuhn – 3D Freelance Specialist
During his study as Industrial Designer, Mike Kuhn came in touch with 3D software for the first time. Followed by an employment as an Application Engineer for 3ds Max at Discreet, a division of Autodesk, he fell in love with the procedural ways of creating content.
Even though the Substance plugin was introduced in 3ds Max already around 15 years ago it took some more years until the average user was finally able to use this powerful tool. The cool thing about Substance Designer is that it is not only for creating textures, but also to create procedural art.
SESSION 3: Production Strategies for Large FX Sequences in Animation
The discussion will be about how to manage large FX sequence with lots of fire and smoke, and the strategies we have to choose to accomplish it. The focus of the talk will be on planning and designing tools/workflows that will allow multiple artists to maintain a desirable level of craftsmanship and sequence continuity.
Ilan Gabai – Blue Sky Studios
Ilan Gabai is a Sr. FX Artist at Blue Sky Studios, and most recently was the FX show lead on the 2019 release Spies in Disguise. He has been a member of the FX team at Blue Sky for over ten years, and during his time at the studio, has worked on Rio, Ice Age: Continental Drift, Epic, Rio 2, The Peanuts Movie, Ice Age: Collision Course, Ferdinand and look development for Nimona (2022).
Ilan is interested in solving problems that bridge the gap between physically accurate simulations and expressive animated effects, and enjoys exploring these challenges using hand drawn and procedural techniques. He holds a BFA in Computer Animation from Pratt Institute, and has a VES Award nomination for Outstanding Effects Simulations in an Animated Feature for his work on The Peanuts Movie.
We invite you to an extraordinary event at the rooftop of SPACES at a maximum capacity of 45 people. MPC Episodic is proudly sponsoring the VES meeting in Berlin.
You are welcome to bring a guest with you who is seriously interested to become a VES member. The VES will provide delicious food (incl. vegan) and cold drinks at the sunset of Monday Sept. 14th, 2020.
Every guest will receive a surprise gift package incl. among other items a VES branded mask.
You will also have a chance to win one of three available VES 3rd Edition Handbooks at the event.
We are excited to be supported at these events by the FMX 2020 team.
We are looking forward to (finally!) see you all again in person and have fun together! 🙂
PLEASE make sure you are logged in as a VES member to be able to RSVP to this event. Just clicking the “Google Calendar” or “iCal Export” will NOT reserve you entry to the event.
We invite you to an extraordinary event at the Jakova Grillspezialitäten at a maximum capacity of 22 people.
You are welcome to bring a guest with you who is seriously interested to become a VES member. The VES will provide delicious food (incl. vegan) and cold drinks at the sunset of Monday Sept. 14th, 2020.
Every guest will receive a surprise gift package incl. among other items a VES branded mask.
You will also have a chance to win one of three available VES 3rd Edition Handbooks at the event.
We are excited to be supported at these events by the FMX 2020 team.
We are looking forward to (finally!) see you all again in person and have fun together! 🙂
PLEASE make sure you are logged in as a VES member to be able to RSVP to this event. Just clicking the “Google Calendar” or “iCal Export” will NOT reserve you entry to the event.
VES Germany Screening in Stuttgart of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ ONWARD has been cancelled in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ THE INVISIBLE MAN
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID19, we ask you or your guests who may show any symptoms or who might have been exposed to the virus do not attend VES events.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Monday, March 9, 2020 at 8:30PM
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our February pub-night in Munich. Drinks will be on us for the first hour until 20:00.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive (deadline March 15). This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE & TIME: Thursday February 27th starts at 19:00
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a few drinks with you guys!
Cheers!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NON-MEMBERS: This is your chance to ask any questions that you might still have regarding your application. Please check this out in advance: https://www.legacy.vesglobal.org/webform/new-member-application To gain access as a non-member we need you to fill out your work history form and bring it with you that evening (digital version on your phone is fine) Find a template here: http://www.legacy.vesglobal.org/sites/default/files/gpfile/Visual_Effects_Work_History_Form.xltx
If you cannot fill it out 100% we will help you with that!
Now that the 18th Annual VES Awards season is underway, we once again invite VES members to participate in our Nomination Panels. The Nomination Event will be held worldwide on January 4, 2020.
Any active VES member who can travel to one of the cities listed below may participate.
This is your chance to determine who will ultimately walk up to the podium on January 29, 2020, to collect a coveted VES Award. A single vote may make the difference between being nominated… or not… and that vote could be yours!
Past participants know that this is the must-attend event of the awards season. Not only will you view some of the most amazing visual imagery of 2019, you’ll get to see exclusive behind-the-scenes footage while participating in the single best networking opportunity of the year. It’s a chance to see old friends, meet the best and brightest in the visual effects field, and learn new techniques that you can apply to your own craft. All of that, plus the satisfaction of knowing that you have participated in choosing what will ultimately be the Nominations announced to the press for the 18th Annual VES Awards.
Judges who register to participate will receive information about specific times and locations from their local section representatives once their applications are received. If you are ready to make a difference, please submit your Panel Judge Application BELOW. Make sure you check the box indicating which of the Nomination Event locations you are applying for.
The Nomination Event is a full-day event held on Saturday, January 4, 2020 around the globe. Nominees will be announced on Monday, January 6, 2020. We look forward to receiving your Judge Application to make this year’s Nomination Event a success!
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER followed by a live interactive Q&A with the Filmmakers.
Panelists will include Director J.J. Abrams as well as Visual Effects Supervisors Roger Guyett and Patrick Tubach, moderated by VES 1st Vice Chair Jeffrey A. Okun, VES. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information) Saturday, December 21, 2019 at 8:00PM
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to an Opening Night Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm’s STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to RSVP and see venue information)
Friday, December 20, 2019 at 7:00PM
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our VES summer drinks in Berlin.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive. This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Thursday August 29th 19:30
LOCATION: -> Banja Luka
Falckensteinstraße 1-2, 10997 Berlin
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our VES summer drinks in Berlin.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive. This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Thursday August 29th 19:30
LOCATION: -> Banja Luka
Falckensteinstraße 1-2, 10997 Berlin
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Monday, August 26, 2019 at 8:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #1 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Monday, August 26, 2019 at 8:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #1 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to aScreening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE LION KING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Thursday, August 1, 2019 at 8:00PM
Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1 Nobelstraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to aScreening of Walt Disney Pictures’ THE LION KING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Thursday, August 1, 2019 at 8:00PM
Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1 Nobelstraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to aScreening of Columbia Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
With free drinks and great acoustic sound at HdM.
Thursday, July 18, 2019 at 8:00PM
Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1 Nobelstraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Columbia Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Wednesday, July 17, 2019 at 8:30PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #2 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a3D Screening of Disney•Pixar’s TOY STORY 4
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
With free drinks and great acoustic sound at HdM.
Friday, June 28, 2019 at 8:00PM
Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1 Nobeltraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our VES pub-night in Berlin.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive. This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Wednesday June 26th 19:30
LOCATION: -> Banja Luka
Falckensteinstraße 1-2, 10997 Berlin
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our VES pub-night in Berlin.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive. This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Wednesday June 26th 19:30
LOCATION: -> Banja Luka
Falckensteinstraße 1-2, 10997 Berlin
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s and Marvel Studios’ DARK PHOENIX
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 9:15PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #2 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The VES invites you to our 3rd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on June 12th 7:00PM at multiple locations and will also be streamed via ZOOM.
Topics will be:
Live from Ludwigsburg
Efficient facial rigging tools for emotionally believable digital humans
presented by Volker Helzle – Head of Research & Development at Filmakademie
Live from Munich Using Machine-learning to classify a VFXElements Library
presented by Jonas Kluger – Pipeline TD at ARRI
Live from Berlin Camera Technology: Sensors, Noise Properties, and Raw Processing
presented by Charles Poynton, PhD
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests. No admission without registration
The event will be streamed live from (and to) Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg.
June 12th – doors open 7:00PM (CEST) and there will be beer and pizza!
ZOOM stream starts at 7:30PM (CEST)
Masterclass starts at 8:00PM (CEST)
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The VES invites you to our 3rd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on June 12th 7:00PM at multiple locations and will also be streamed via ZOOM.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
Efficient facial rigging tools for emotionally believable digital humans
presented by Volker Helzle – Head of Research & Development at Filmakademie
Live from Munich Using Machine-learning to classify a VFXElements Library
presented by Jonas Kluger – Pipeline TD at ARRI
Live from Berlin Camera Technology: Sensors, Noise Properties, and Raw Processing
presented by Charles Poynton, PhD
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests only (except for Ludwigsburg and Cologne). No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg. For the first time we also provide direct access to the ZOOM stream for ALL VES MEMBERS around the world!
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference in Stuttgart.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to aScreening of Paramount Pictures’ ROCKETMAN
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Friday, June 7, 2019 at 8:00PM
Hochschule der Medien – Theater #1 Nobeltraße 10, 70569 Stuttgart
(Closest train station, Stuttgart Universität) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
Godzilla: King of the Monsters screening (3D) in Munich
The screening startsat 19:00 – please pick up your ticket outside at 18:45 latest.
Location: Cinema Filmtheater, Nymphenburger Str. 31 – https://goo.gl/maps/UgJpDE4zaoT2U3747
We are buying tickets for a regular screening. RSVP is a must! Free for VES members only – guests need to pay and reserve for themselves.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ CAPTAIN MARVEL followed by a Q&A with the Filmmakers. Panelists will include Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck as well as Additional Visual Effects Supervisor Janelle Croshaw Ralla, moderated by Bill Taylor, VES, ASC. (Panelists will be announced as they are confirmed.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, March 10, 2019 at 7:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #2 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESCAPTAINMARVEL, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our 2nd pub-night in Munich.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive (deadline March 15). This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Wednesday March 6
LOCATION: TBA – probably Cafe Puck
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a few drinks with you guys!
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our 2nd pub-night in Munich.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive (deadline March 15). This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Wednesday March 6
LOCATION: TBA – probably Cafe Puck
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a few drinks with you guys!
with Charles Poynton
(remote streaming to RISE FX Munich)
The VES Germany section invites all its members to a special edition of its MEGABRAIN MASTERCLASS:
Colour Gamut Limits In Digital Cinema
A 90‑minute talk by Charles Poynton, PhD
The VES Germany is proud to host this lecture by well-known colour science guru Charles Poynton. He will be talking about and describing the colour science behind the relationship between physical spectra and the signal path from camera to display, outline the transforms among the associated colourspaces and why they are key to accurate colour in CGI/VFX.
DATE: Wednesday, November 21st
TIME: 20:00 CET
LOCATION: RISE FX South GmbH, Infanteriestraße 11a, Haus C, 80797 Munich
As seats will be very limited please sign up on time.
The VES Germany section invites all its members to a special edition of its MEGABRAIN MASTERCLASS:
Colour Gamut Limits In Digital Cinema
A 90‑minute talk by Charles Poynton, PhD
The VES Germany is proud to host this lecture by well-known colour science guru Charles Poynton. He will be talking about and describing the colour science behind the relationship between physical spectra and the signal path from camera to display, outline the transforms among the associated colourspaces and why they are key to accurate colour in CGI/VFX.
DATE: Wednesday, November 21st
TIME: 20:00 CET
LOCATION: Rise FX, Schlesische Strasse 28, 10997 Berlin
As seats will be very limited please sign up on time.
The VES Germany section invites all its members to a special edition of its MEGABRAIN MASTERCLASS:
Colour Gamut Limits In Digital Cinema
A 90‑minute talk by Charles Poynton, PhD
The VES Germany is proud to host this lecture by well-known colour science guru Charles Poynton. He will be talking about and describing the colour science behind the relationship between physical spectra and the signal path from camera to display, outline the transforms among the associated colourspaces and why they are key to accurate colour in CGI/VFX.
DATE: Wednesday, November 21st
TIME: 20:00 CET
LOCATION: Rise FX, Schlesische Strasse 28, 10997 Berlin
As seats will be very limited please sign up on time.
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our first annual “SUMMER DRINKS” event.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive. This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
DATE: Thursday October 11th 19:30
LOCATION: -> Banja Luka
Falckensteinstraße 1-2, 10997 Berlin
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
The VES sections from Germany, London and Paris present
VES MEGABRAIN Masterclass Vol.2
September 27th – 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios
An der Schanz 1A, 50735 Cologne
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The VES invites you to our 2nd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on September 27th 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios.
This event is kindly supported by
and
Topics will be:
From the VES Germany
Extend Nuke’s Interface and functionality using PySide
presented by Falk Hofmann – Head of 2D at Pixomondo
From the VES Paris Photogrammetry and PBR Surface scanning
presented by Paul Parneix – CEO at scanbox.xyz
From the VES London – only one of the two following topics – TBA
A Managed Approach to AOV Manipulation
presented by Greg Keech – Lead R&D Developer at Double Negative
A JIT Expression Language for Fast Manipulation of VDB Points and Volumes
presented by Nick Avramoussis – DNEG
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
The VES sections from Germany, London and Paris present
VES MEGABRAIN Masterclass Vol.2
September 27th – 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios
Büchsenstraße 20, 70174 Stuttgart
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The VES invites you to our 2nd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on September 27th 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios.
This event is kindly supported by
and
Topics will be:
From the VES Germany
Extend Nuke’s Interface and functionality using PySide
presented by Falk Hofmann – Head of 2D at Pixomondo
From the VES Paris Photogrammetry and PBR Surface scanning
presented by Paul Parneix – CEO at scanbox.xyz
From the VES London – only one of the two following topics – TBA
A Managed Approach to AOV Manipulation
presented by Greg Keech – Lead R&D Developer at Double Negative
A JIT Expression Language for Fast Manipulation of VDB Points and Volumes
presented by Nick Avramoussis – DNEG
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
The VES sections from Germany, London and Paris present
VES MEGABRAIN Masterclass Vol.2
September 27th – 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios
Schlesische Straße 28, Berlin
<!–break–>
The VES invites you to our 2nd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on September 27th 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios.
This event is kindly supported by
and
Topics will be:
From the VES Germany
Extend Nuke’s Interface and functionality using PySide
presented by Falk Hofmann – Head of 2D at Pixomondo
From the VES Paris Photogrammetry and PBR Surface scanning
presented by Paul Parneix – CEO at scanbox.xyz
From the VES London – only one of the two following topics – TBA
A Managed Approach to AOV Manipulation
presented by Greg Keech – Lead R&D Developer at Double Negative
A JIT Expression Language for Fast Manipulation of VDB Points and Volumes
presented by Nick Avramoussis – DNEG
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
The VES sections from Germany, London and Paris present
VES MEGABRAIN Masterclass Vol.2
September 27th – 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios
Infanteriestr. 11A, 80797 München
<!–break–>
The VES invites you to our 2nd MEGABRAIN Masterclass where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on September 27th 7:30PM at RISE Visual Effects Studios.
This event is kindly supported by
and
Topics will be:
From the VES Germany
Extend Nuke’s Interface and functionality using PySide
presented by Falk Hofmann – Head of 2D at Pixomondo
From the VES Paris Photogrammetry and PBR Surface scanning
presented by Paul Parneix – CEO at scanbox.xyz
From the VES London – only one of the two following topics – TBA
A Managed Approach to AOV Manipulation
presented by Greg Keech – Lead R&D Developer at Double Negative
A JIT Expression Language for Fast Manipulation of VDB Points and Volumes
presented by Nick Avramoussis – DNEG
We are overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live from (and to) London, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Cologne and Stuttgart.
RSVP for your specific location on the appropriate event pages please:
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our first annual “SUMMER DRINKS” event.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive (deadline September 15). This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
The VES Germany section invites ALL ITS MEMBERS to our first annual “SUMMER DRINKS” event.
Besides current members WE ALSOINVITENON-MEMBERS WHO WANT TO APPLY for a membership during the next membership drive (deadline September 15). This event is your chance to find out who may be able to endorse you and ask any questions that may come up during the application (e.g. how to fill out your work history correctly).
Please sign up individually – also if you bring a guest who wants to apply!
Looking forward to having a drink or two with you guys!
Cheers!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR NON-MEMBERS:
We will have a short introduction of the VES Germany by our chair Florian Gellinger who will join us remotely through ZOOM at 19:00 – please be on time This is your chance to ask any questions that you might still have regarding your application. Please check this out in advance: https://www.visualeffectssociety.com/webform/new-member-application To gain access as a non-member we need you to fill out your work history form and bring it with you that evening (digital version on your phone is fine) Find a template here: http://www.visualeffectssociety.com/sites/default/files/gpfile/Visual_Effects_Work_History_Form.xltx If you cannot fill it out 100% we will help you with that!
The VES Germany welcomes you to our second Pub Night in 2018.
For this event we will again join the well known VFX Hangout Berlin.
Hang out with VES members, friends, fellow artists, industry professionals and share experiences and insights. Have a drink or two at the Banja Luca Bar in Berlin.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 at 9:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #3 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a 3D Screening of Universal Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s JURASSIC WORLD: FALLEN KINGDOM
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd’s SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 29, 2018 at 9:00PM
Kino Moviemento – Theater #3 Kottbusser Damm 22, 10967 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schönleinstraße) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd’s SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY followed by a live interactive Q&A with Overall Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Bredow, ILM Visual Effects Supervisor Pat Tubach, ILM Roto/Paint Supervisor Beth D’Amato and Hybride Visual Effects Supervisor Joseph Kasparian with moderation by VES Board member David Tanaka. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, May 27, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in San Francisco) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESSOLO, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, May 8, 2018 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The VES Germany welcomes you to our first Pub Night in 2018.
For this event we will join the well known VFX Hangout Berlin.
Hang out with VES members, friends, fellow artists, industry professionals and share experiences and insights. Have a drink or two at the Banja Luca Bar in Berlin.
FMX2018 When: Tue Apr 24, 2018 12:00am to 12:00am PDT
VES Members Receive 20% Off Passes for FMX 2018 www.fmx.de April 24-27, Stuttgart, Germany
FMX is Europe’s most influential conference dedicated to Digital Visual Arts, Technologies, and Business.
Every year, VFX specialists, Animation experts as well as Games and Transmedia talents come to FMX to present cutting edge achievements, state of the art tools and pipelines, fascinating real time technologies, spectacular immersive experiences, innovative business models and more. More recently they have been joined by VR, AR, and 360° creatives who have introduced a new dimension into movie making and, more general, into entertainment. Every single one of them defines the diverse scope of the Conference program. Their contributions are complemented by the Marketplace that allows visitors to get their hands on the latest innovations of industry-leading companies and start-ups. Workshops, Masterclasses and Company Suites dig even deeper into the learnings of international companies. To round things off, top-notch studios and service providers scout talent at the Recruiting Hub and international schools present their best projects on the School Campus.
FMX is one of the world’s premier conferences to meet with the most influential players in the field. The overall organization and the intimate yet international size of the event offer professionals and students from the digital arts communities a great platform to mingle, network, and share insights about Art, Technologies and Business, at the highest level.
VES Members will need to provide name and e-mail address below in order to purchase a Conference Pass for FMX with the 20% discount.
We will forward that information onto FMX each week leading up to the conference, and those who sign-up here will then receive a personal discount code from the FMX organizers via e-mail. Once you receive that e-mail from them, you will be able to purchase the discounted Conference Pass for FMX in their ticket shop.
Once the order is done, you will recieve your ticket by e-mail with further information (opening hours of the ticket counters on site at Haus der Wirtschaft, where the ticket owner changes his ticket into a personal visitor badge).
This is the first event of a planned series where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at the HFF in Munich.
Topics will be:
Best-practices using OpenColorIO and ACES in a VFX pipeline (PRESENTED IN GERMAN)
presented by Abraham Schneider from RISE Munich
Advanced use-cases for psyops cryptomatte in VFX production – it’s not all about masking
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
How to build a small scale, low-budget 3D face-scanner using a RaspberryPi, a smartphone and three cheap time-of-flight sensors
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
We overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second.
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. Locations TBA.
This event is kindly supported by HFF Munich and SideFX Software.
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference 2018 in Stuttgart
This is the first event of a planned series where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at the HFF in Munich.
Topics will be:
Best-practices using OpenColorIO and ACES in a VFX pipeline (PRESENTED IN GERMAN)
presented by Abraham Schneider from RISE Munich
Advanced use-cases for psyops cryptomatte in VFX production – it’s not all about masking
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
How to build a small scale, low-budget 3D face-scanner using a RaspberryPi, a smartphone and three cheap time-of-flight sensors
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
We overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second.
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. Locations TBA.
This event is kindly supported by HFF Munich and SideFX Software.
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference 2018 in Stuttgart
This is the first event of a planned series where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at the HFF in Munich.
Topics will be:
Best-practices using OpenColorIO and ACES in a VFX pipeline (PRESENTED IN GERMAN)
presented by Abraham Schneider from RISE Munich
Advanced use-cases for psyops cryptomatte in VFX production – it’s not all about masking
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
How to build a small scale, low-budget 3D face-scanner using a RaspberryPi, a smartphone and three cheap time-of-flight sensors
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
We overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second.
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. Locations TBA.
This event is kindly supported by HFF Munich and SideFX Software.
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference 2018 in Stuttgart
This is the first event of a planned series where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at the HFF in Munich.
Topics will be:
Best-practices using OpenColorIO and ACES in a VFX pipeline (PRESENTED IN GERMAN)
presented by Abraham Schneider from RISE Munich
Advanced use-cases for psyops cryptomatte in VFX production – it’s not all about masking
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
Creating a digital human for Guardians of the Galaxy 2 based on a 3D scan and photos
presented by Trixter or (pending availability) How to build a small scale, low-budget 3D face-scanner using a RaspberryPi and a smartphone
presented by Oliver Markowski We are not sure which one of the last two will make it so stay tuned for the final announcement.
We overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second.
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. Locations TBA.
This event is kindly supported by HFF Munich and SideFX Software.
VES Germany is a proud Partner of the FMX Conference 2018 in Stuttgart
This is the first event of a planned series where you can learn and share your knowledge with colleagues in the VFX industry. The idea is not to simply present show reels – but to teach actual techniques that help every artist to improve their skillset. This event will take place on Wednesday, 18th April at the HFF in Munich.
Topics will be:
Best-practices using OpenColorIO and ACES in a VFX pipeline (PRESENTED IN GERMAN)
presented by Abraham Schneider from RISE Munich
Advanced use-cases for psyops cryptomatte in VFX production – it’s not all about masking
presented by Oliver Markowski from RISE Munich.
How to build a small scale, low-budget 3D face-scanner using a RaspberryPi, a smartphone and three cheap time-of-flight sensors
presented by Oliver Markowski
We overbooking to compensate for no-shows.
Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis.
An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES-Members and their registered guests first, everyone else second. No admission without registration – also at the streaming locations!
The event will also be recorded for everyone who can’t make it.
The event will be streamed live to Berlin, Cologne and Stuttgart. RSVP here:
BERLIN – https://lnkd.in/g4HnQ2X
Eiszeit-Kino – Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
COLOGNE – https://lnkd.in/ge3mdeG
ifs international filmschool cologne – Schanzenstraße 28, 51063 Köln
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s READY PLAYER ONE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a 3D Screening of Warner Bros. Pictures’ and Amblin Entertainment’s READY PLAYER ONE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, April 10, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of Universal Pictures’ PACIFIC RIM UPRISING
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ and Netflix’s ANNHILATION
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, METROPOL 2(was previously announced to be playing in EM3) Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Paramount Pictures’ and Netflix’s ANNHILATION
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, March 13, 2018 at 8:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, February 18, 2018 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd.’s STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI plus a live interactive Q&A.
Panelists will include Writer/Director Rian Johnson, ILM San Francisco Visual Effects Supervisor Eddie Pasquarello, ILM Vancouver Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Seddon, Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC and Editor Bob Ducsay with moderation by VES Chair Mike Chambers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESLASTJEDI, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to an Opening Weekend Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Lucasfilm Ltd.’s STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI plus a live interactive Q&A.
Panelists will include Writer/Director Rian Johnson, ILM San Francisco Visual Effects Supervisor Eddie Pasquarello, ILM Vancouver Visual Effects Supervisor Dan Seddon, Cinematographer Steve Yedlin, ASC and Editor Bob Ducsay with moderation by VES Chair Mike Chambers. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, December 17, 2017 at 9:00PM
Delphi Arthaus Kino Tübinger Str. 6, 70178 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Österreichische Platz) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESLASTJEDI, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a 3D Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ COCO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Pixar Animation Studios’ COCO
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 14, 2017 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of Walt Disney Pictures’ and Marvel Studios’ THOR: RAGNAROK
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, November 7, 2017 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of 20th Century Fox’s KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, October 17, 2017 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members are invited to a screening of BLADE RUNNER 2049.
PLEASE NOTE:
This is not an official VES screening. Instead we’re gathering as a group to go and see the regular screening of the movie at the usual place – the EISZEIT cinema.
For that reason there are no guests allowed this time and if you sign up it’s binding. In case you can’t make it on short notice please send a notification email to holger@celluloid-vfx.com.
Also (as usual): Tickets are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up).
Tuesday, October 10, 2017 at 7:30PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
At the animago AWARD & CONFERENCE on 7-8 September 2017, VFX experts from all over the world will gather in Munich for two full days, focussing on 3D animation, stills, visual effects (VFX), visualizations and design. More than 1,000 participants are expected to attend the events in the Gasteig Cultural Center in Munich.
The highlight of the two days will no doubt be the presentation of the animago AWARDS on Thursday evening (7 September). Chosen in a total of eleven categories from out of almost 1,000 submissions received from 58 countries, the 33 final nominees represent projects created in Canada, USA, China, Taiwan, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Spain, France and Germany. Since the animago competition launched over 20 years ago, our independent jury of experts drawn from the fields of film, development and post-production has viewed and judged over 22,000 works sent in by digital artists from over 80 different nations.
Among the renowned VFX professionals who will speak at this year’s animago CONFERENCE are those artists responsible for the post-production and visual effects for films such as “Piper”, “Cloud Atlas”, “Independence Day: Resurgence”, “The Incredibles”, “Finding Nemo”, “Pinocchio”, “Anne Frank” as well as advertising productions by Adidas, Volkswagen and RedBull. The animago is considered one of the industry’s most important international networking platforms.
In addition to that, the Gasteig will also host the animago EXHIBITION, an event open to the public where companies active in the industry will present their products, technologies and services.
THE 25% TICKET REBATE IS ONLY VALID FOR ACTIVE VES MEMBERS SHOWING THEIR VES MEMBER ID AT THE CONFERENCE ENTRANCE WITH THEIR TICKET. NO ADMITTANCE OR REFUNDS FOR FORGOTTEN OR INVALID VES MEMBER CARDS!
SEE THE CURRENT VES GERMANY E-BLAST FOR DETAILS ON HOW TO ACCESS THE REBATE!
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ ATOMIC BLONDE
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Screening of Focus Features’ ATOMIC BLONDE, plus a Q&A.
Panel will include Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Wortmann moderated by VES Germany Section Chair Florian Gellinger. (Panelist’s participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 8:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
RISE | Visual Effects Studios invites you plus one guest to the Stuttgart premiere of The Dark Tower. Considered to be Steven King’s magnum opus, spanning decades and referencing many other works of his, it has finally been adapted as a film with a stellar cast including Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey. RISE Stuttgart was responsible for several sequences of the film, kindly supported by MFG Filmförderung Baden-Württemberg and presents this exclusive screening in cooperation with Sony Pictures.
If you would like to attend, send and email with your name and your guest’s name to
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of STX Entertainment’s VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS, plus a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Stokdyk, Visual Effects Producer Sophie Leclerc, Rodeo FX Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Nofz and Weta Digital Visual Effects Supervisor Martin Hill with moderation by VES Board member Bill Taylor, VES, ASC. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 9:00PM
Innenstadtkinos, EM3 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESVALERIAN, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of STX Entertainment’s VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS, plus a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Visual Effects Supervisor Scott Stokdyk, Visual Effects Producer Sophie Leclerc, Rodeo FX Associate Visual Effects Supervisor Peter Nofz and Weta Digital Visual Effects Supervisor Martin Hill with moderation by VES Board member Bill Taylor, VES, ASC. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Sunday, July 30, 2017 at 9:00PM
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESVALERIAN, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Stuttgart are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of 20th Century Fox’s WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, preceded by a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri and Director Matt Reeves with moderation by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 11:00PM (The panel will begin at 11:15PM, followed by the screening.)
EM Filmtheaterbetriebe Mertz in Metropol 2 Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
Theater rental is sponsored by SideFX.
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESWARFORTHEPLANET, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
VES Members and Their Guests in Berlin are Invited to a Pre-Release Screening of 20th Century Fox’s WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES, preceded by a live interactive Q&A with the filmmakers.
Panelists will include Senior Visual Effects Supervisor Joe Letteri and Director Matt Reeves with moderation by VES Board member Jeff Kleiser. (All panelists’ participation based on availability.)
Please RSVP below (VES members must login to sign up.)
Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 11:00PM (The panel will begin at 11:15PM, followed by the screening.)
Eiszeit Kino Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
Theater rental is sponsored by SideFX.
Please tweet your questions after the screening in order to participate in the Q&A panel (which will take place in Los Angeles) immediately following the screening. (be sure to include the hashtag, #VESWARFORTHEPLANET, in your tweet.)
Screenings are overbooked to compensate for no-shows. Seating is limited and will be available on a first come, first served basis. An RSVP does not guarantee seating.
The VES Germany welcomes you to our very first Pub Night.
Hang out with VES members, friends, fellow artists, industry professionals and share experiences and insights. Have a drink or two at the Eiszeit Kino Bar in Berlin or the Innenstadt Kinos in Stuttgart, lay back and enjoy a great Saturday evening.
Eiszeit Kino
Zeughofstraße 20, 10997 Berlin
(Closest U-Bahn station, Schlesisches Tor) Click here for a map
EM Filmtheaterbetriebe Mertz in Metropol 2
Bolzstraße 10, 70173 Stuttgart
(Closest subway station, Börsenplatz) Click here for a map
We invite VES members, friends and everyone interested to a fun evening at the pub. Come join the VES London Board and other visual effects professionals for some good conversation, a beverage or two, and new contacts. We have the cozy upstairs room at the Nellie Dean to ourselves, complete with a private bar!
at FMX2017
Room: Turm Aalen
Date: 4 May 2017
Time: 5pm
See you there!
FMX2017 When: Tue May 02, 2017 12:00am to 12:00am PDT
VES Members Receive 50% Off Passes for FMX 2017 www.fmx.de May 2-5, Stuttgart, Germany
Get ready for FMX, Europe’s most influential conference dedicated to Digital Visual Arts, Technologies, and Business. Immerse yourself in special presentation of Luc Besson’s VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS. AMPAS President Cheryl Boone Isaacs will be there as well as SVP of Visual Effects at Warner Bros. Pictures Anne Kolbe who will join the high-class line-up at FMX. Autodesk SVP of Media & Entertainment, Education Experiences, and Impact Chris Bradshaw will give a keynote on Automotive Industries and their innovative use of real-time technologies.
VES members must click here to be placed on the list in order to receive your registration e-mail with discount ID from FMX. The deadline to request your 50% discounted pass is Monday, April 24, 2017.
Effects: VALERIAN, FANTASTIC BEASTS and INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE
VALERIAN AND THE CITY OF A THOUSAND PLANETS is the visually spectacular new adventure film from Luc Besson, the legendary director of THE PROFESSIONAL, THE FIFTH ELEMENT and LUCY, based on the ground-breaking comic book series which inspired a generation of artists, writers, and filmmakers. Production VFX Supervisor Scott Stokdyk will introduce the film, and give the background to it and its concept design & artistic relationship to THE FIFTH ELEMENT. Martin Hill (Weta Digital), Philippe Rebours (Industrial Light & Magic), and Francois Dumoulin (Rodeo FX) will share some of the VFX they have been working on for the last year and how it will come together in the final epic space adventure. This early sneak peek will showcase the designs and development of the creatures and environments that will make up the universe of VALERIAN. VFX supervisor Volker Engel (Uncharted Territory) is going to dive into the details of INDEPENDENCE DAY: RESURGENCE. Meet Ben Wiggs (Double Negative) who will elaborate on the effects in A CURE FOR WELLNESS. Also on the program: Christian Manz (Framestore), who will talk about FANTASTIC BEASTS AND WHERE TO FIND THEM, and Thilo Ewers (PIXOMONDO), who is going to share insights into THE WALKING DEAD. You can also join Florian Gellinger (Rise FX) for an in-depth case study on the effects in DOCTOR STRANGE.
Automotive: The Mill BLACKBIRD®, a revolution of digital filmmaking
Those who missed the presentation of The Mill and Epic Games’s The Mill BLACKBIRD® (a fully adjustable car rig) at GDC in early March, should definitely visit FMX! Alistair Thompson and Vince Baertsoen (The Mill) as well as Kim Libreri, Francois Antoine, Michael Gay and Guillaume Abadie (Epic Games) will discuss how they joined forces to revolutionize the conventions of digital filmmaking and the future of customer engagement with production tools such as The Mill BLACKBIRD®, Mill Cyclops™ and the latest iteration of Epic’s Unreal Engine.
Moreover, FMX will host an exclusive dinner at the prestigious Porsche Museum in Stuttgart for the very first time.
Digital Humans Forum: Challenges of immersive face-to-face communication
Sci-Tech Oscar winner Kiran Bhat illuminates Loom.ai’s technique for automatically creating dynamic 3D facial avatars from selfies. Prof. Dr. Hao Li (Pinscreen, University of Southern California, USC Institute for Creative Technologies) will take a closer look at state of the art techniques that enable immersive face-to-face communication in virtual environments. Luca Fascione (Weta Digital) will complete the top-class series of presentations.
Sound Design: Kraftwerk 3D, Facebook and Google
Kevin Bolen (Skywalker Sound) will elaborate on how his company creates captivating audio experiences for innovative VR and 360 experiences such as THE JUNGLE BOOK: THROUGH MOWGLI’S EYES. David Fluhr (Disney Digital Studio Services) shares some insights into the art of sound for animated films like Disney’s ZOOMANIA and VAIANA. Tom Ammermann (New Audio Technology GmbH) talks about the new Kraftwerk Blu-ray production FRAFTWERK 3D, that creates emotional involvement through immersive / 3D audio. Audiokinetic Wwise, BBC, Facebook, Fraunhofer ILS, Google, Headspace Studio and Sony Interactive Entertainment Europe will deliver keynotes and participate in moderated discussions focusing on immersive audio technology as well as new forms of expression and storytelling.
Real-time 3D and Broadcasting: Interactive Mixed Reality and Virtual Visualization during sports events
Halvor Vislie (The Future Group) will discuss the real-time integration of interactive mixed reality into televised content. Olivier Emery (TRIMARAN) will present GeoRacing solutions that were developed for virtual visualization and live GPS tracking during sports events like the cycling Tour de France. Jean François Szlapka (SolidAnim) will join the track to give further insights into real-time 3D and broadcasting.
Real-time Production Pipelines: Current State and Future Developments
Paolo Selva (Weta Digital), Mathieu Muller (Unity Technologies) and Joji Tsuruga (The Mill) get together on stage to share their views on the current state of realtime technologies. During a panel dedicated to the future of realtime workflows, Kim Libreri (Epic Games), Jon Wadelton (Foundry) and Jean-Colas Prunier (FairyTool) will discuss what kind of research is being done, whether there is a way to standardize the process and what future developments can be expected. Roy Taylor (AMD), Theo Jones (Framestore), Jeff Kember (Google) and Jeremy Smith (Jellyfish Pictures) will talk about the realtime revolution, reviewing the influence of VR and AR on the production process and how entertainment will eventually change.
Directing & Designing for VR: Dear Angelica and a Spacewalk 250 Miles Above Earth
Meet the following inspiring speakers under the dome of the Planetarium Stuttgart to enjoy their exciting VR content: Max Planck (Oculus Story Studio) will speak about Dear Angelica, the immersive, illustrative short story, which was entirely painted in VR. Tom Burton (BBC) and Solomon Rogers (REWIND) will join FMX to talk about the collaborative VR project BBC Home – A VR Spacewalk that enables users to experience what it is like to be an astronaut floating 250 miles above earth. Further speakers who are ready for FMX 2017: Tom Sanocki, whose start-up Limitless Inc. enables the user to animate characters directly in VR, and Jessica Brillhart, the principal filmmaker for VR at Google, who works with the latest 360-degree jump camera technology.
Virtual Production
Brett Ineson (Animatrik), virtual production supervisor on WARCRAFT, will take the audience behind the scenes of the complex virtual production of Duncan Jones’ film. LOGAN and DEEPWATER HORIZON will be in the center of the presentation given by Clint Reagan (HALON Entertainment LLC), with a focus on game engines and VR’s expanding role in previsualization. Kevin Baillie (Atomic Fiction) will shed some light on the virtual production used for visually stunning movies like GHOST IN THE SHELL and DEADPOOL. Duncan Burbidge and Michelle Blok (The Third Floor) will reveal how previs, technical planning, real-time visualization and on-set virtual production were used to create fascinating imagery for movies such as DOCTOR STRANGE. John Knoll (Industrial Light & Magic) and Duncan Burbidge (The Third Floor) will highlight how the two companies worked together on the creation of the epic movie ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY and how virtual production played a key role.
Be part of the FMX experience. Join FMX in Stuttgart – May 2 to 5, 2017.
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