FMX 2024 // The Sound of Dune, Masters of the Elements and a Future with AI

 SOUND DESIGN, curated by Nami Strack (Nami Strack Filmton/Sounddesign):

The Sound of DUNE Part 2

Sound Editor Martin Kwok uncovers aspects of Dune’s rich cultural tapestry and alien traditions, connecting Frank Herbert’s epic writing and world building with Denis Villeneuve’s expansive cinematic vision and sense of realism.

Weaving large group recordings, bespoke language creation and combining sound design elements with both sound effects and dialogue editing approaches, the DUNE Part 2 sound team helped to conjure a sense of history and tradition to match the director’s majestic landscapes and alien worlds. The levels of inspiration and the magic of collaboration will be shared alongside sequences from the recently released film.

In addition to his presentation at FMX Martin Kwok will give a Masterclass for everyone interested at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

VFX FOR FEATURES: Revolutionizing Realism:

Unveiling the invisible VFX for Ridley Scott’s NAPOLEON

In this presentation, MPC’s Production VFX Supervisor Charley Henley will pull back the curtain on the invisible VFX of Ridley Scott’s NAPOLEON. The spectacle-filled action epic details the checkered rise and fall of the iconic French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, played by Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix.

Henley worked closely with Director Ridley Scott, overseeing all of the visual effects work on the movie. The magnitude of Napoleon’s battles had to reach epic proportions, requiring meticulous teamwork between SFX and VFX.

On top of that, FMX Silver Partner Foundry will offer a compositing breakdown of naval battles and street riots in NAPOLEON in their Company Suite with VFX Supervisor & Creative Director Henry Badgett (BlueBolt) as well as Product Manager Ale Esquerro (Nuke Timeline).

VFX FOR EPISODIC: Creating Visual Effects for AVATAR: THE LAST AIRBENDER

Accenture Song VFX brought the iconic city of OMASHU from the world of AVATAR:THE LAST AIRBENDER to life. Including a variety of bending effects as well as multiple creatures, Show VFX Supervisor Marion Spates and Accenture’s VFX Supervisor Emanuel Fuchs will unpack what it takes to master all of the four elements.

CONNECTING IDEAS: 30 years from now…

Join Sol Rogers, FMX Program Chair and Magnopus Head of Innovation, alongside Rob Bredow, SVP & Chief Creative Officer at Industrial Light & Magic and Jan Pinkava, Oscar-winning filmmaker, Director of Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg and FMX Conference Chair, for an insightful exploration into the future of technology and storytelling.

In “30 Years From Now…”, they will delve into the key technologies that are bridging the gap between the physical and digital realms, paving the way for a more immersive and kaleidoscopic reality. From augmented reality to virtual production techniques, we’ll discuss how these advancements are shaping the future of entertainment, media, and beyond. Get ready to glimpse into the possibilities of tomorrow and how they might affect our lives in the decades to come.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, curated by Andy Cochrane (The AV Club Productions):

Integrating AI into Professional Creative Pipelines

Bilawal Sidhu, creator, engineer, and product builder is obsessed with blending reality and imagination. He will demonstrate recent advances like generative image/video/3D models and gaussian splatting/neural radiance fields and show how they can be integrated into professional creative workflows.

For him, the new possibilities are “real-time VFX on the phone in your pocket. The visual effects industry has had largely dominion over creating things that are indistinguishable from reality. Now that capability is being democratized, we will deploy audio visual creations we wouldn’t have otherwise because it was too expensive. Interesting stories will be told that would never have been told in the traditional green lighting process.”

One crucial aspect for Bilawal: “If you don’t have anything interesting to say, the AI model isn’t going to help you. The stuff that gets people’s attention has an artistic vision behind it.”

His recommendation for AI skeptics: “Play with it! The moment you do, it stops being this Godzilla-like Kaiju that’s going to trample the city. Think of it not as something that’s going to replace you, but to augment you. This is, for the lack of a better analogy, your Iron Man suit. You’re in the driver’s seat, orchestrating these models like co-pilots to tell your story.”