Sony Pictures Imageworks will be showing off some of its latest work at fmx/07, including SURF'S UP and SPIDER-MAN 3. Imageworks members will present info and insights during the digital arts event, which takes place from May 1-4 in Stuttgart, Germany. Imageworks also will present a 3-D screening of MONSTER HOUSE, which received an Academy Award nomination for best animated feature.
Imageworks facilitates four diverse pipelines: live-action visual effects and character work; Imagemotion performance capture; Imageworks 3-D stereoscopic; and all-CG animation, utilized by Sony Pictures Animation features. Each of these will be represented with specific examples and achievements from current productions:
* SURF'S UP: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO MAKING WAVESRob Bredow, visual effects supervisor, Sony Pictures Imageworks,May 2, 5:00 pm, in König-Karl-Halle
Bredow will present a brief look at the making of the second all-CG feature-length animated film from Sony Pictures Animation. The session will specifically cover the use of camera, wave effects and rendering techniques, which all contribute to the film's unique look and style. Bredow previous worked on Robert Zemeckis' THE POLAR EXPRESS, supervising the hair, cloth and effect animation team as well as a number of sequences. Also while at Imageworks, he has been involved in creating many of the complex visual effects featured in STUART LITTLE 2, CAST AWAY and the Academy Award-nominated STUART LITTLE.
* SPIDER-MAN 3Peter Nofz, digital effects supervisor, Sony Pictures ImageworksMay 2, 6:00 pm, in König-Karl-Halle
Nofz explores the challenges of production for SPIDER-MAN 3. Each SPIDER-MAN film has presented the visual effects team at Sony Pictures Imageworks with unique opportunities to reach the outer limits of visual effects and photorealistic digital character animation. Before Spider-Man 3, Nofz was a CG supervisor on the Academy Award-winning SPIDER-MAN 2 as well as SPIDER-MAN. He joined Sony Pictures Imageworks as a senior technical director on STUART LITTLE and HOLLOW MAN.
* Detailed Performance: Advancing the Art of Motion CaptureDemian Gordon, motion capture supervisor, Sony Pictures ImageworksMay 3, 12:00 pm, in König-Karl-Halle
Gordon, who currently is the motion capture supervisor on BEOWULF, previously used his expertise on MONSTER HOUSE and THE POLAR EXPRESS.
* Full 3-D: True Stereoscopic ProductionBuzz Hays, senior producer, 3-D Stereoscopic Feature Films, Sony Pictures ImageworksMay 3, 5:00 pm, in Bertha-Benz-Saal
Hays is an authority on optimizing images specifically for 3-D stereoscopic experience, an approach essential to the high quality and pioneering efforts in the field. Imageworks' successes include THE POLAR EXPRESS, OPEN SEASON and MONSTER HOUSE. Hays' current work includes adapting the Imagemotion performance-capture animated film, BEOWULF.
* MONSTER HOUSE 3-D screeningMay 3, 6:00 pm, in Bertha-Benz-Saal
A 3-D screening of MONSTER HOUSE will be held immediately following Hays' presentation.
Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. (www.imageworks.com) is an Academy Award-winning, state-of-the-art visual effects and character animation company dedicated to the art and artistry of digital production and character creation. The company has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with Oscars for its work on SPIDER-MAN 2 and the CG animated short film THE CHUBBCHUBBS!, as well as nominations for SUPERMAN RETURNS, MONSTER HOUSE, THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, SPIDER-MAN, HOLLOW MAN, STUART LITTLE and STARSHIP TROOPERS. Imageworks is a division of Sony Pictures Digital Ent., which oversees the digital production and online entertainment assets of Sony Pictures Ent.
Bill Desowitz, former editor of VFXWorld, is currently the Crafts Editor of IndieWire.
