FMX 2023 Shares More Program Updates

FMX 2023 has shared program updates for the 4-day hybrid event, which returns to Stuttgart April 25-27 with an exclusive online day April 28. New confirmations range from a panel on sustainability to a talk on the highly acclaimed indie game Endling - Extinction Is Forever. In addition, sessions have been announced on the VFX of the HBO series The Last of Us, new camera techniques for Thor: Love and Thunder, the challenges of realization of the animated film Puss In Boots: The Last Wish, and insights into the Netflix show Entergalactic.

Here are the latest confirmations for FMX 2023

EVOLVING panel on sustainability and energy consumption (on-site):

"Evolving Research & Technology for a Minimized Footprint" focuses on technological advances that make sustainable media productions possible and necessary.

Questions discussed will include:

• How will the issue of sustainability become part of the training of the next generation of media professionals?
• What requirements are placed on VFX service providers and animation studios, and are they comprehensible?
• Along with salary and equality, is sustainability a criteria to consider when choosing an employer?

The panel includes short input presentations and invites exchange with the FMX audience.

Panelists include:

• Volker Helzle (Animationsinstitut, Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg)
• Michael McKenna (Final Pixel)
• Prof. Jan Adamczyk (Hochschule der Medien)
• Ben Kent (Foundry)

Philipp Nägelsbach talks Endling – Extinction Is Forever, a game about climate change (on-site):

The award-winning game ENDLING – EXTINCTION IS FOREVER brings awareness to social and ecological issues caused by humanity’s environmental impact. Players experience these issues from the perspective of the last mother fox on Earth, who needs to find food and a safe place for her little cubs.

Nägelsbach will discuss the game’s approach to treating real-world issues effectively and emotionally.

Espen Nordahl (Storm Studios) shares VFX insights into The Last of Us (on-site):

Storm Studios is longest running creative partner for VFX on HBO's The Last of Us, from early pre-production to final delivery of over 150 VFX shots. The studio helped to define some of the most important and challenging creative aspects of the show, including close-up CG infected, cordyceps, CG stunt doubles, and the infamous infected kissing scene.

Nordahl will dig into the design process, working with the source material from the game and his obsession with grounding VFX work in plate photography, even when it's full CG.

Carlo van de Roer (Satellite Lab) talks about the lighting set-up for Thor: Love and Thunder (on-site):

Satellite Lab’s PlateLight is a system for simultaneously filming separate lighting set-ups on-set, to be combined in post for control over live-action lighting.

Carlo van de Roer's talk allows the FMX audience to discover how the filmmaking approach used in making THOR: Love and Thunder for the ‘Moon of Shame’ and ‘Final Battle’ sequences provided control of the position and movement of the sun and interactive lighting. In addition, Satellite Lab will present an inside look at their work developing in-camera-based looks and filmmaking approaches.

Immersive literary adaptations HÖLDERLIN'S ECHO VR And SHAKESVR (on-site):

Hannes Rall's HÖLDERLIN'S ECHO VR explores the life and work of the famous German poet Friedrich Hölderlin through a serious animated game in VR, created in collaboration with the University of Tübingen (Prof. Susanne Marschall, co-writer/director), Stuttgart Media University (Prof. Stefan Radicke) and the Hölderlinturm Museum Tübingen. Rall has been working with renowned partners on animated VR literary adaptations since 2016: His previous projects include SHAKESVR and PERICLES with the Shakespeare Institute in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Rall and Marschall will provide insights into the creative and technological development and production processes of the projects, thereby addressing the specific challenges that arise from the transformation of literature into animation and gaming.

Mark Edwards (DreamWorks Animation) sheds light on Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (on-site):

Edwards will break down the iconic Puss in Boots: The Last Wish scene introducing the Wolf character. FMX audience can learn what inspired key moments of the sequence, hear why adding Easter eggs and callbacks was important to the story, and how the contemporary fairy tale’s vision was realized. From initial modeling design choices to final compositing filters, discover how the painterly world of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish came to life.

DNEG Animation Creative Team on the Look and Style of Entergalactic (on-site):

DNEG creative team behind Netflix’ animated musical Entergalactic explains how they achieved the project's stylized look. Costume Modeler Natasha Kanolik will delve into what it took to create fashion designer Virgil Abloh's designs in CG, and Animation Director, Kapil Sharma, will speak about how his team created an animation style that was reflective of the show.

Masterclasses by Ed Hooks and Craig Caldwell (on site):

With Ed Hooks' two-part Masterclass, "Acting for Animators," FMX attendees – both 2D and 3D professionals - who want to narrate believable characters can learn from a true industry master.

Craig Caldwell's "Breaking the Story Formula" gives participants the practical know-how to recognize the rules of a "good story" - and how to break with them successfully.

For more program information, visit the FMX website.

Source: FMX

Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.