Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 22, 2019. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
40 days until FMX 2019! And there is still plenty of news to
announce. The latest confirmations include DC’s Aquaman as well as John Gaeta (Magic Leap) and Kim Libreri (Epic Games), who will talk about the groundbreaking effects of The Matrix while taking a look at the present and future of content creation. FMX 2019 will also address ray tracing technology, new forms of storytelling and digital people.
Discounted Early Bird tickets can be purchased on the FMX website until March 29, 2019. In addition, the FMX 2019 app for iOS and Android will be available from April 1, 2019.
You can now secure your press accreditation – please submit your application here.
Groundbreaking Effects – John Gaeta & Kim Libreri on The Matrix
John Gaeta (Senior Vice President Creative Strategy at Magic Leap) is an inventor, innovator and Oscar-winning designer. He is best known for his work on The Matrix trilogy, in which he first tested technologies such as Bullet Time, Virtual Cinematography and Volumetric Capture. These approaches are predecessors of today’s XR platforms (Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, Holo Cinema). Kim Libreri’s (CTO, Epic Games) career in digital technology and visual effects spans more than 20 years. Before Epic Games, he was Chief Strategy Officer at Lucasfilm, where he was responsible for the technology strategy of Star Wars and innovations in interactive storytelling. On The Matrix, he and John Gaeta were part of the team responsible for the film’s characteristic Bullet Time effect. At FMX 2019 they will describe the path that led to The Matrix and even earlier projects in order to discuss what will happen now and in the future in storytelling, entertainment and human experience, putting imagination, innovation and transformation at the center of the discussion.
The State of VFX – Fantastic Characters and Singing Cowboys
As visual effects have become a decisive factor in box-office success, the artists and technicians working on VFX are constantly raising the bar of what is possible. Gary Wu, Creature Supervisor, and Rachael Dunk, Look Development Lead (both Industrial Light & Magic), will talk about the DC superhero film Aquaman. The VFX of the Harry Potter spin-off Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be the subject of a talk by Thomas Hullin, VFX Supervisor & Head of Munich Studio, Rodeo FX. Christian Kaestner, VFX Supervisor at Framestore, will provide insights into the studio’s work on the Annie Award winner Mary Poppins Returns. For the latest film by the Coen brothers, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Alex Lemke and Michael Huber (both co-founders and VFX Supervisors, east side effects) supervised the creation of more than 700 visual effects shots. At FMX 2019 they will report on the production process, from the screenplay and storyboard through filming and postproduction.
Storytelling – New Ways of Telling Stories
Everything begins with a story – the Storytelling track at FMX 2019 highlights professionals and academics who close the gap between the universal foundations of storytelling and the latest word-building on screen and in immersive experiences. Trisha Gum, Head of Story on The LEGO Batman Movie and co- and animation director of The LEGO Movie 2, guides the audience through the importance of story in an animated film. Craig Caldwell, professor
at the University of Utah, will dedicate his talk to character development in storytelling. Jörg Ihle will present the Voletarium, Europe’s largest flying theater, which is distinguished by a high degree of immersion and world-building. Jan Pinkava, director of the Oscar-winning film Geri’s Game, will review the greatest successes and insights of Google Spotlight Stories and provide the audience with detailed insights into the VR film Age of Sail, which was selected for the Oscar shortlist.
Ray Tracing – Paradigm Shift in Content Creation
Ray tracing is changing the way content is created. At FMX 2019, Jon Peddie and Kathleen Maher (both Jon Peddie Research) curate three consecutive panels about the use of ray tracing in the film production pipeline, including conceptualization and design, realization and marketing. Hank Diskill (CTO, Blue Sky Studios), Davide Pesare (Allegorithmic), Brian Savery (AMD), Mauro Van der Vlasakker (MAXON) and Philippa Carroll (Glassbox Technologies) will talk about how pitch-viz is changing, the tools used and how fast, full-resolution rendering affects the process. Hugo Guerra (fire without smoke), James Jeffers (Intel) and Emily Paige (e→d films) explain the cost advantage of good pre-viz. Emily Paige will take the stage for another panel and discuss with Brian Savery the challenges teams face in the early production phase.
Digital Humans – Machine Learning, Facial Pipelines & Ethics
Digital people are the most complex and interesting challenge for computer graphics and image processing. The Digital Humans track will present the most outstanding digitally created people both in cinema and in real time. Mike Cozens (Weta Digital) will – alongside his talk on Alita – Battle Angel in The State of VFX track – also take the stage in the Digital Humans track and report on Alita’s facial pipeline. Justus Thies (Technical University of Munich) presents facial performance capture that can be created with standard hardware, e.g. a standard webcam. Akihiko Shirai (director, Gree VR StudioLab) will share his knowledge and a future forecast about his new Reality in VR 4.0 system with the audience. Doug Roble (Digital Domain) will discuss how new machine-learning techniques can be applied in the creation of digital people and how these characters work in real time. Track curator Mike Seymour (fxguide) will lead a panel discussion on the ethics of virtual people, the role of identity and the possibilities of who can represent, embody and even appear as that person.
FMX Partners and Forum
Backstage will once again support FMX as Main Partner. The Marketplace will be expanded to include AMD, Fraunhofer IIS, Gravity Sketch and Wacom. Industrial Light & Magic invites FMX visitors to its Company Suite and its stand in the Recruiting Hub. Esri and Intel will offer workshops.
Tickets for FMX 2019 are available via the FMX website – at the Early Bird rate until March 29.
