FMX 2024: The Marvels, Doctor Who and an early bird that will soon fly away

Ian Failes, VFX journalist(befores & afters) and curator of the FMX track THEN & NOW, likes to move between past and present with a historical focus. This time he will focus on the “old school” effects used in the current Prime Video series I’M A VIRGO.

Of course, great cinema will also be a guest at the 28th edition of the conference for animation, visual effects, interactive and immersive media: there will be a two-hour presentation on the superheroine feature film THE MARVELS.

VFX FOR FEATURES: Right in the middle of the VFX development for the Marvel Studios film THE MARVELS

Join us for a behind-the-scenes discussion of the feature film THE MARVELS with VFX supervisors Tara DeMarco and Sarah Eim and key partner supervisors Dominik Zimmerle, Ernest Dios (both Trixter) and Pietro Ponti(Industrial Light & Magic). They talk about development, realisation and collaborative work-sharing as they reveal the magic behind the stunning visual effects for the cat character Goose, the Saber Space Station and the dynamic elements that bring this film to life.

VIRTUAL PRODUCTION: the road to the final effects in DOCTOR WHO

British studio REALTIME has contributed groundbreaking virtual production and futuristic effects to DOCTOR WHO: Wild Blue Yonder, a special episode in honour of the series’ 60th anniversary. Featuring the return of everyone’s favourite David Tennant as the Doctor, the episode takes fans to the edge of the universe where eerie alien doppelgangers steal the show. James Coore, VFX Supervisor, and Jonathan Rawlinson, Head of Episodic, will guide through the process from the start of virtual production to the final VFX.

THEN & NOW, curated by Ian Failes, befores & aftersGoingold-school: An analysis of analogue and in-camera effects in I’M A VIRGO: Director Boots Riley’s Prime Video series made extensive use of effects that could be described as “old-school”. These include in-camera effects with perspective trickery, large and small puppets, miniatures, analogue effects and special scale equipment. VFX supervisor Todd Sheridan Perry will share the secrets of his in-camera approach, which he has supplemented with digital VFX techniques.

Filmmaking with in-camera effects with Todd Sheridan Perry: Building on his lecture, Todd Sheridan Perry will explain in dialogue with VFX journalist Ian Failes how to play with perspectives in a masterclass, directly on location in a practical demonstration for visitors.

How to programme VFX software: Mark Elendt, Senior Mathematician at SideFX, will share his 30+ years of experience programming VFX software and discuss it with Ian Failes. Houdini is a key tool for many VFX, animation and games studios. Elendt will delve into the history and features of the software with a focus on rendering and its predecessor Prisms. Visitors will be able to speak directly with Elendt in a more intimate setting to gain deeper insights into the intricacies of VFX tool design.

Forum News: The number of partners is growing – the Early Bird Discount for the Forum is valid until 18 February.

The Marketplace, the workshops, the Recruiting Hub and the School Campus are filling up all the time. Many long-standing partners as well as FMX newcomers have secured the discount benefits of the Early Bird offers, which will be available until 18 February. Our current partners include:

Marketplace: Escape Technology, Golaem, Lenovo, Qualisys, RnDeep.

Workshops: db&w, Maxon, Static VFX.

Recruiting Hub: Accenture Song, Eder, Pixomondo, RISE Visual Effects Studios.

School Campus: HFF – University of Television and Film Munich, Hochschule Darmstadt – University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Mainz – University of Applied Sciences, Salzburg University of Applied Sciences, School of Visual Arts – MFA Computer Arts.

Silver Partner: Lenovo

Lenovo offers a comprehensive portfolio of PCs, workstations and tablets, monitors, accessories, smartphones, smart home and smart collaboration solutions, augmented and virtual reality AR/VR, Internet of Things (IoT) for businesses, software, services and data centre solutions for smart infrastructures around the world. Since 1995, Lenovo has shipped more than half a billion PCs and manufactures three devices every second. More information can be found here.

Silver Partner: MACK One

The future of entertainment: MACK One is the bridgehead of the internationally operating MACK Group and acts as a creative hub, developer and consultant for innovative theme park design, media-based entertainment and media content. Our team develops ideas for the theme park and entertainment industry of tomorrow.

Further information can be found here.

We look forward to welcoming you to FMX in April. You can find everything about the conference at www.fmx.de. And don’t forget: Press accreditations are now available in the FMX Ticketshop.