Additional animation highlights include ‘Ralph Breaks the Internet’ and ‘Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse’ as well as production sessions featuring Commercials and AAA Game Design.
Animation Takes Center Stage at FMX 2019 in Stuttgart
The international conference on Animation, Effects, Games and Immersive Media, FMX 2019, is set to take place from April 30 through May 3 in Stuttgart, Germany, bringing together industry leaders and enthusiasts for the latest advancements in the field. The conference will feature presentations and discussions on a wide range of topics, including the upcoming films Spies in Disguise, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Incredibles 2, Manou the Swift, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, as well as insightful sessions on Commercials and AAA Game Design.
This year’s FMX also unveils the 2019 Games Trailer, Kinky Kitchen, created by students at the Filmakademie’s Animationsinstitut. For the first time, FMX is releasing four trailers, each representing a specific area of focus within the conference: Animation, Effects, Games, and Immersive Media. Kinky Kitchen is the fourth trailer, following Wonderful World (VFX), CatPlanets (Animation), and Tiefenrausch (Immersive Media).
Ever wondered what kitchen utensils get up to when nobody is home? This trilogy of short clips for Kinky Kitchen reveals the hilarious truth:
Highlights from FMX 2019
Here are what the conference has to offer:
The Art of Animation – Ralph Breaks the Internet, Spies in Disguise & Manou the Swift
The Art of Animation track will showcase how the award-winning productions were made. Animator Jacob Frey and Crowd Artist Joyce Tong (both from Walt Disney Animation Studios) will share their experiences creating “Ralphzilla” for Ralph Breaks the Internet, while Blue Sky Studios’ Head of Layout James Williams will provide an exclusive look into the making of the buddy comedy, Spies in Disguise. Andrea Block and Christian Haas (both from LUXX Studios/LUXX Film) will delve into the creation of their animated full CG feature film, Manou the Swift.
Stylized Lighting & Rendering – Spider-Man, Incredibles 2, and Bringing Color into Play
Curator Christophe Hery, Research Scientist at Facebook Reality Labs, will lead the Stylized Lighting & Rendering track, bringing together a panel of experts to discuss innovative techniques for achieving visual appeal and the role of color in the animation industry.
Bret St. Clair (Sony Pictures Imageworks) will discuss the development of the look for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. Erik Smitt, Director of Photography at Pixar Animation Studios, will explain how a stylized approach inspired by live-action cinematography was used create the look of Incredibles 2. Christos Obretenov, CEO and Shading Architect at Lollipop Shaders, will present custom shading plugins for non-photoreal rendering. Finally, VFX Supervisor Tarek Elaydi, (Arctiq Circle) will discuss the physics and chemistry of color and how path-tracing renderers today work.
Commercials – Soccer, Friendship & Love: The Latest in Commercial Animation
The Commercials track at FMX 2019 will showcase the latest and most innovative commercials, highlighting the power of cutting-edge design, execution, and storytelling in short-form video.
Adam Droy, VFX Supervisor (The Mill), will provide insight into the creation of the spot Awaken the Phantom for Nike. Alexander Kiesl, Managing Director) and Steffen Hacker (Head of VFX) will give a sneak peek of their shoots in Iceland, London, Warsaw, and Cairo which are featured in their talk, Wonderwoman and Chester Cheetah!. Rüdiger Kaltenhäuser (Director/Head of 3D) and Darren Macpherson (Director/VFX Supervisor & Senior 3D Artist) from Glassworks Amsterdam will discuss how Christmas Doesn’t Need Much, Only Love was made. Piglet Lucky, star of the VES-Award-nominated commercial Best Friend will be discussed by CG Artist/Associate VFX Supervisor Emanuel Fuchs, Animation Supervisor Bernd Nalbach and VFX Producer Francesco Faranna (all Mackevision Medien Design). Selcuk Ergen, Head of Effects at MPC Advertising, will present a behind the scenes look at the extensive VFX work that was involved in Ridley Scott’s otherworldly ideas in Hennessy’s The Seven Worlds .
AAA Game Design – Exploring Caves and Open Worlds
In this track, Simon Jon Andreasen, Head of Animation and DADIU, The National Film School of Denmark, will bring together visionaries working on recent AAA games to discuss how they create these games and where they see the future going.
Soren Lundgaard, CEO of Ghost Ship Games, will explain how his Deep Rock Galactic team delivers procedurally generated caverns for up to four players. Mark Estdale, founder of OM, will share how his team designs immersive dialogue and performances for story-driven games like Horizon Zero Dawn.
Further participants of the Recruiting Hub will be Electric Theatre Collective, The Mill, Topalsson and Umedia Visual Effects.
Tickets for FMX 2019 are available in the online ticket shop.
Source: FMX 2019
