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SPARK FX '09
January 21 -26
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The Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH, and the Vancouver International Film Centre present SPARK FX '09, Vancouver's second annual visual effects film festival, January 21 -26, 2009.
This year’s impressive lineup includes a full slate of 10 fantastic visual effects films, and 18 speaker and panel events with some of the most talented FX artists and researchers locally, nationally and internationally.
SPARK FX ’09 brings back to the big screen eye-catching classic effects laden films such as Alien, Forbidden Planet, T2: Judgment Day and Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, to name just a few. In addition, audiences can look forward to many of these films being introduced by historians and filmmakers, providing added insight into the making of these high-tech popcorn gems.
And not to be missed is the fabulous lineup of speaking talent, touching on everything from the history of the industry, to practical effects, how the latest and greatest VFX are created, and where we are headed as an industry. The SPARK FX team is thrilled to host eight-time Academy Award winner and VFX legend, Dennis Muren, as Feature Speaker, as well as esteemed creative and technical leaders in the industry such as Jeff Barnes, CEO of CafeFX and Past Chairman of the Board of the Visual Effects Society (VES); Harrison Ellenshaw, renowned VFX Artist and Designer; Paul Debevec, Associate Director of Graphic Research at USC, and a number of other film, FX and games industry leaders.
Tickets are on sale now – be sure to get in quick, as you won’t want to miss out!
Tickets available on-line at: spark.siggraph.ca
See below for a list of events.
Films
Speaker Sessions
Panels
More information and a complete scheule of events at spark.siggraph.ca.
VANCOUVER ACM SIGGRAPH
The Vancouver ACM SIGGRAPH Chapter is a non-profit organization made up of enthusiasts and industry professionals in animation, effects, and games. Throughout the year the Chapter hosts sold-out events and screenings to educate and inspire the local community. For more information, please see www.siggraph.ca
SIGGRAPH Professional Chapters form a global network within the SIGGRAPH community, providing a geographically localized focus of activities and exchanges that complement and contribute to the enthusiasm, creative energy and high standards of the SIGGRAPH annual conference – the premier technology conference in the world.
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Evening Events — Film Screenings |
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Ray Harryhausen stands tall in the pantheon of visual effects masters – perhaps tallest of them all – and in this film some of his best work shines. We've got the Cyclops, the dragon, the skeletons attacking – lots of classic Harryhausen magic. Torin Thatcher is wonderfully and melodramatically evil as Sokurah the Magician. Sure – the motion of the puppets is a little jerky, the acting a little wooden and the mattes are cut badly from time to time, but somehow it all comes together in old-fashion Hollywood movie magic. Stop-motion animator and author Ken Priebe will be introducing the film. |
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Cynics might scoff at the idea of creating a movie – nay a franchise – based on a theme-park ride. But they weren't counting on Johnny Depp's performance. The Marquis of Quirky lifts a dire premise out of the muck and injects such infectious joie-de-vivre into it that it is nearly impossible for even the harshest of cynics to deny the film's charm. Reading the credits one can be excused for assuming that every single ILM employee worked on this film in one way or another. However, it is undeniable that the results are beautiful, as aptly recognized with the film receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects. The ships, the battles, the hordes of undead – visually there is a lot to enjoy about this film and the fabulous work ILM did on it. And if that's not enough for you, of course there's also Captain Jack Sparrow. Come dressed in your best pirate garb to receive a golden piece of eight! Arrrgh! Visual Effects Producer Dennis Hoffman will be introducing the film. |
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Children of the 60's and later often have no idea that Leslie Nielsen has had two acting careers: one as the straight man, and another parodying the very role he perfected. Forbidden Planet takes us back to his stalwart roots as Commander J.J. Adams who explores the mysterious dangers of the planet Altair, and the secrets of its inhabitants. A seminal B-Movie of the 1950's, the budget of Forbidden Planet was much larger than usual (allegedly contributing to the ousting of then MGM studio head, Dore Schary); the money can be seen in the animated and practical effects. Robby the Robot will be familiar even to those who have never seen the film, as he later became an icon, appearing in many film and television productions. Similarly, even the spaceships were reused in half a dozen episodes of The Twilight Zone. Film historian and educator Keith Blackmore will be introducing the film. |
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Ahhh – guys in monster suits. Those were the good old days weren't they? The creature, famously designed by H.R. Geiger and brought to life by Bolaji Badejo and Nick Allder's effects team, was carefully shot to maximize the illusion that this couldn't be a guy in a suit. In fact, some scenes were cut from the movie because at times it was just a bit too obvious. The original Alien is the first film in the series, and it is thick with atmosphere and claustrophobia – completely lacking the heavy military hardware of the later films. It is sentience versus sentience. Of course – on the one side, is a creature whose very blood is acid, and whose teeth can tear a hole through the hide of an elephant, so the fight isn't exactly fair. But on the other side, we have Ripley – easily one of the toughest most resourceful adventure characters ever penned for either gender. Ripley is no silicon jiggle fest. She is real, she is desperate, she is crushed by her losses and she is a survivor. Be afraid. Be very afraid. |
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A gothic fairy tale set against the postwar repression of Franco's Spain, Pan's Labyrinth unfolds through the eyes of Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), a dreamy little girl who is uprooted to a rural military outpost commanded by her new stepfather. Powerless and lonely in a place of unfathomable cruelty, Ofelia lives out her own dark fable as she confronts monsters, both otherworldly and human. Jeff Barnes, CafeFX CEO & Producer will introduce the film. |
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Terminator or Terminator 2? It's a tough question for fans of the series to decide which was the better film. Does Arnie do better as the bigger half of a buddy movie, or as the compassionless, unrelenting source of terror in a horror film? One thing that is fairly widely accepted in FX circles, however, is the importance of Terminator 2 as a milestone in computer animation. James Cameron had taken his chances with the water-being scene from The Abyss, and the logical successor to this technology was the shape shifting T-2000. The liquid metal design of the robot was a fantastic marriage between story and technology. The creature pushed the limits of rendering, modelling and animation of the day, while exploiting their very weaknesses. Rendering and shading techniques had not yet advanced into the realm of subsurface scattering, but they were perfect for shiny metallic surfaces. As such, rather than asking for the impossible, the designers leveraged the tools available to them for maximum effect. Join us for the action as a young John Conner discovers who he is and what his mom has been going on about for all these years. Dennis Muren will be introducing the film. |
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Some films shove their effects in your face. As fun as that can be, there are more than a few stories that need a lighter touch. Enter Pleasantville, Gary Ross' ode to the 1950's. David (Toby Maguire) and his sister Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) are sent to an alternate reality set in a 50's TV soap opera. They are sent there by none other than Barney Fife himself – Don Knotts playing a rather odd TV repairman. Interestingly, Ross' father, also a screenwriter, was blacklisted during the McCarthy era, so it is no wonder that Ross has some interesting things to say about the 50's and the desire of so many people to resist change.
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When he wrote The Abyss, James Cameron carefully crafted the pseudopod scene so that it could be removed from the story without substantially harming the narrative – he was hedging his bets because something like this had never been done before. However, his careful planning was not needed, as the ILM effects team managed to pull off the shot. At the time, they were pushing the absolute limits of what could be done with a computer, and the scene blew the doors off the CG community (eventually leading to the T1000 of Terminator 2 fame). So the computer animation work was groundbreaking, but what about the rest? The production was grueling, with whole days spent filming underwater in a huge abandoned nuclear reactor cooling tower's foundation (which was converted into the world’s largest underwater stage). The challenges were immense; the claustrophobic stress that comes through in so many of the actors' performances might not have required much acting to achieve. Come follow the crew of the deep sea underwater drilling platform as they teeter between discovery and destruction. |
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This little gem of surrealist French science fiction shows its roots as Jules Verne type fiction. Thick with atmosphere, character and the signature expressive extremes of directors Jeunet and Caro, The City of Lost Children as it's known in English, was one of the first feature films to make use of Mental Ray – a ray tracing renderer conceived as a challenger to Pixar's rendering dominance at the time. La cité follows the story of One, a carnival strong-man (Ron Perlman speaking French... sort of...) whose little brother is kidnapped by an evil scientist intent on stealing dreams to manufacture a new childhood for himself. The world is populated by a fantastical menagerie of street urchins, pawn brokers, blind cyborgs, clones, and of course, a midget. The art direction is fabulous. Come and enjoy this Gallic delight in French with English subtitles. |
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Lord of the Rings was to Weta Digital what Star Wars was to ILM. Together LotR and Weta put New Zealand on the film-making map in a way it had never been before. Fans of Tolkien's books waited with baited breath for the film to be completed, gobbling up trivia and spawning websites. Surprisingly perhaps, considering the expectations, The Ring Trilogy met the expectations. In doing so, Weta set the new standard for character animation. The live action integration of Gollum is stunning, and, although Weta went on to improve the process over the course of the three films, we are including the second in the series as it was so groundbreaking. Additionally, this film includes some excellent miniatures work and some enormous crowd shots. A small surprise will await anyone who comes in costume to this screening. Introduction by Paul Griffin |
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DAYTIME EVENTS – Speakers and Panels |
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FEATURED SPEAKER
Saturday - January 24, 9:30 AM
Weaving the Real and Imaginary in Visual Effects
with Dennis Muren
Visual Effects have become more sophisticated, and more pervasive than ever. So where does the film industry go from here? In this presentation, Dennis will discuss the five most compelling challenges facing visual effects today: what it means to evoke reality in creating imagery; how visual effects artists can both educate directors and free them at the same time; how to develop new technologies that will both inspire and streamline the filmmaking process; how to ensure that the industry maintains quality in spite of its explosive growth; and what it means, both financially and ethically, to create visual effects for an increasingly immersive entertainment environment..
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SPEAKER SESSIONS |
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Thursday January 22,
11:15 AM
Access Denied! Fictional Interfaces in Films
with Mark Coleran
An often overlooked area in film visual effects and motion graphics is that of on-set screen graphics. This specialized area of visual effects and motion graphics can be anything from background set dressing all the way up to being a core component in the storytelling.
In this session, Mark Coleran will take a closer look at this unusual niche and give some insight into the art and methods used to create this work, using examples of his own work from The Island, Deja Vu and The Bourne Ultimatum amongst others.
Sponsored by:
1:30 PM
Raising the Bar on Modern Prosthetics
with Gordon Smith
Gordon will talk about the state of the special effects make-up industry, then and now. The development of his unique approach to his work and his technology. How the digital world has come of age as a practical fine art and special effect design tool and his motivation in bringing the fine art world, the practical world of motion picture special effects and the digital world together into one design box.
3:15 PM
Digital vs. Practical? Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love Integration
with Todd Masters & Andre Bustanoby
Digital tools have transformed the process of filmmaking and many traditional techniques have been replaced. But, does this mean that all practical approaches should be passed over? What about the artists who have made significant contributions in the practical & visual effects world? Are their experiences and skills not part of the Digital Revolution?
Andre and Todd from MASTERSFX illustrate how integrating Practical & Digital can not only produce better FX, but can also be a production-friendly alternative. From creature FX to more routine applications, their presentation will show examples of a mixed approach, and they allude to future expansion of what could be considered "the best of both worlds".
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Friday January 23
9:30 AM
Spanning the Valley
New Techniques for Acquiring, Rendering & Displaying Human Performances
with Paul Debevec
How are we progressing in the battle to cross the uncanny valley? Mr. Debevec will discuss a collection of techniques and technologies in development today.
- Acquiring, rendering and displaying photoreal models of people, objects and dynamic performances;
- Image-based lighting techniques for photorealistic compositing and reflectance acquisition techniques (which have been used to create realistic digital actors in films such as Spider-Man 2 and Superman Returns);
- Describing image-based relighting with free-viewpoint video to capture and render full-body performances and new 3D face scanning processes that capture high-resolution skin detail;
- Investigating new 3D display that leverages 5,000 frames per second video projection to show auto-stereoscopic, interactive 3D imagery to any number of viewers simultaneously
11:15 AM
Digital Cloning at ILM: From Lemony Snicket's Baby to Pirates' Davy Jones
with Christophe Hery
This talk will focus on the procedures, techniques and tools used at Industrial Light & Magic to achieve state of the art character performances and rendering in three recent movies: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007).
1:30 PM
A VFX Journey Through Pan's Labyrinth with CafeFX
with Jeff Barnes
When the harsh world of the Spanish Civil War becomes too horrific to bear in director Guillermo del Toro's visually rich and complex Pan's Labyrinth, young Ofelia escapes inward, finding in her imagination the power to heal her real-world wounds. Challenged to create the mythical creatures and landscapes of Ofelia's fantasy, CafeFX embarked on an artistic and technical journey spanning four months of location shooting and five months of post production. Seamlessly uniting the real world horrors with Ofelia's fantastic universe, CafeFX brought reality to the dream, creating a curious stick bug, faeries, a giant toad, a baby in the womb, and an infant-like mandrake root, while augmenting both the title character and our heroine's nemesis, the Pale Man, all contributing to the film's three academy awards, three BAFTA awards and six Goya awards. The film will be introduced by Jeff Barnes of CafeFX.
3:15 PM
Inside the World of Matte Painting
with Dylan Cole
Join matte painter Dylan Cole as he takes us on a journey through his work. Dylan is going to share with us some the secrets with which he makes his living, and he'll show some of his Photoshop techniques and tricks, and how he uses various approaches and techniques to matte painting such as, photo-collage, digital painting, 3D, and miniatures. There are a thousand stories behind each painting, and Dylan will discuss some of the challenges and details of individual shots, and share his experiences at many of the top shops in the VFX world.
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Saturday January 24
11:15 AM
Myths, Monsters, Mad Men & Machines
with Shane Mahan
Over 30 years ago, Stan Winston perfected the art of practical effects, opening the doors to a world of unachievable fantasy. Since groundbreaking films like The Terminator and Jurassic Park, the inspiration and creative contributions from both ILM and Stan Winston Studio has paved the way to a nearly flawless generation of Special FX by seamlessly fusing both mediums together. Join Shane Mahan, previously at Stan Winston Studio, and now one of the heads for Legacy EFX, as he discusses the various elements involved in making the magic we love, including different forms of inspiration, meticulous design, detailed construction and more. Come discover how some of the world's most legendary characters and creatures were conceived, from the page to the screen, and given their own flesh and blood.
1:30 PM
Indiana Jones: A Look Into the Visual Effects Challenges and Slight of Hand
with Marshall Krasser
In his presentation, Marshall will be highlighting the wide range of challenges the visual effects team faced in creating the 540 visual effects shots (on screen for some 48-minutes) in this film. Although the team developed cutting edge technology to solve many of the issues that had to be dealt with they were also careful to remain true to the original films.
Among the challenges and solutions that will be discussed are the creation of the digital jungle and jungle fight (behind the scenes on the shoot, and the digital matte work and compositing involved), the rocket sled escape sequence (decisions regarding when to use CG or real flames, and other decisions regarding use of CG vs. real world elements), creation of the over 200,000 swarming jungle ants (that had to attack and interact with the actors in a believable manner), some insights into how to "trick" out a shot, and more!
3:15 PM
What if David Lean had CGI?
with Harrison Ellenshaw
Harrison Ellenshaw (visual effects supervisor on TRON) will discuss the creative implications of computer graphics in narrative film. Topics may include:
- Has the 'digital revolution' made films better or worse?
- The myths and realities of CG.
- How will future technology impact our perception of visual entertainment?
- What are the promises yet to be fulfilled?
- Why is Hollywood so out of touch?
- What are the next significant 'steps' in the film, television, web and gaming world?
Harrison's presentations are compelling and sometimes a bit controversial. Don't miss this opportunity to hear from a, at times, very opinionated and very experienced veteran of the film and effects business.
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Sunday January 25
11:15 AM
KaBOOM! The Extremely Exciting World of Practical Effects
with Rory Cutler & Wayne Szybunka
Join Wayne and Rory for an hour of practical fun and a discussion of some of the hows and whys of using practical effects in filmmaking today. How do practical effects fit into the film making process, and what can you do to create a successful marriage between the practical and the digital? How do you plan your in camera work to cooperate with your post work? What are some of the things that it just makes more sense to do in camera? Expect some live examples of movie making magic! WARNING: Some seats will be blocked off for safety during this event.
1:30 PM
Under Pressure: How to Do a Creative Job Without Going Nuts
with Mark Coleran
It isn't easy being a creative. From the very nature of our work, to the environment in which we do it, there are numerous challenges that we face on top of the creative work we do.
What are the problems we face and what are some of the possible solutions?
After working in graphic and motion design for almost 20 years. Mark Coleran has encountered a great many of the challenges that creatives face, day to day. This session will take a lighthearted but truthful look at some of those challenges and a few of the possible solutions to deal with them. Everything from state of mind to the state of business.
Sponsored by:
3:15 PM
Water, Water Everywhere: From Poseidon to Benjamin Button
with Mark Stasiuk
In the technical world of computer-generated effects, one of the toughest areas has always been digital water. It's a common element in movies and often has a major role in the plot. But it has generally been so incredibly difficult and expensive to create, that only the biggest VFX studios with large R&D teams and proprietary technologies could manufacture it. However, since around 2005, with the advent of faster, multicore desktop computers and the availability of high quality off-the-shelf dynamic simulation software like RealFlow, even small studios can drink deep from the well. We'll take you on a journey from the first large-scale application of this technology in Poseidon through more advanced recent work in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to the current technological edge of abstract art-directed water and pyro-technical effects.
5:00 PM
History of Visual Effects
The Story of Man, Art and Technology
with Keith Blackmore
It's often said that you can't know where you are going until you know where you've been and this is especially true of the ever-changing visual effects industry. Visual effects history runs concurrent with film's and is equally vibrant. But the story of visual effects is really about the inventors, the innovators, and the technology they developed over time. Major breakthroughs in visual effects from the earliest crude efforts to today's greatest achievements will be examined.
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PANELS
Thursday, January 22, 5:00 PM
Pipedreams: In Search of the Perfect Production Solution
moderator: Dave Fracchia with Tim Belsher, Troy Brooks, Anthony Brown, Leo Chan and Doug Smith
From the simple "stop trick" effect in The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots (1895) to the seamless CG wizardry in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), advances in technology have been a predominant driving force in the creation of special effects. The VFX pipeline has changed dramatically over the last century, from a specialized post-production process to one broader in scope, spanning all phases of production. These changes have had a profound impact on artistic vision and storytelling, production process, budgets, final product and culture. This technical panel will discuss the current state of the VFX pipeline and where it is headed. There will be no equations.
Friday, January 23, 5:00 PM
Flesh: Bringing Characters to Life
moderator: Paul Griffin with George Borshukov, Dr. Paul Debevec, Christophe Hery & Gordon Smith
When it comes to generating convincing and compelling digital actors, especially photo-realistic human beings, the devil is in the details. How does the fat move, and what effect do the muscles have on the form? How does the complexion change and react to the environment and emotions? What makes an eye human? How does the light play off and penetrate the skin? What sorts of micro-movements are required to breathe life into the character? Join our panel of experts for a discussion of the devilish details that go into making a believable human as they discuss approaches to modeling, texturing, rigging, animating and rendering the most familiar and intimate of subjects in our world – us.
Saturday, January 24, 5:00 PM
Visual Effects in Vancouver
moderator: Jason Dowdeswell with Michael Adkisson, Chris Harvey, Winston Helgason & Shawn Walsh
As the digital age of visual effects enters its third decade, the City of Vancouver has positioned itself as one of the few destinations for creating and delivering digital effects on a grand scale. Currently, that capacity and talent is spread across a collection of boutique effects facilities, each with its own unique pieces of the puzzle – a community that is growing without the benefit of a Peter Jackson or a Ridley Scott to help foster local work. What will the future bring to Vancouver's effects community, and what will the community bring to the future? Join our panel stacked full of local studio leaders, for a lively discussion on the evolving state of visual effect production in Vancouver: how we started and how we'll continue to support the creative process.
Sponsored by
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Festival Sponsors |
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Megabyte Sponsor |
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Kilobyte Sponsors |
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Byte Sponsors |
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Partner |
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Friends |
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MEDIA RESOURCES
MEDIA RESOURCES
Media Contact: media@siggraph.ca
INFO & TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE:
Official site: spark.siggraph.ca
Photos at: http://www.vifc.org/fileshare/login.php
Username: media
Password: download
Vancity Theatre Web Site: www.vifc.org
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Call the FILM INFO LINE: 604.683.FILM (3456) for the latest info and listings. Tickets can be purchased in advance on-line at www.vifc.org or in person 30 minutes before showtime.
Adult tickets: $10 (Double Bill - $13)
Student/Senior $8 (Double Bill - $11)
Matinees $8
As a registered non-profit society, the VIFC screens films that have not always been seen by the BC Film Classification Board. Under BC law, any person wishing to see these unclassified films must belong to the VIFC Society and be 18 years or older. Valid for one year based on the date of purchase, the VIFC basic membership cost is $2.50.
For More Membership Information go to http://www.vifc.org/membership.html.
Vancity Theatre is located at 1181 Seymour St. (at Davie)
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