These are student reflections from their experiences at FMX & ITFS 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany. This page contains entries 14 to 16 out of 16.

14_VFX in «Solo: A Star Wars Story» by Merlin Bader

15_ Oh, Stuttgart! by Marion Täschler

16_A Week in Stuttgart by Nathan Ward

VFX in “Solo: A Star Wars Story” by Merlin Bader

Auch an der FMX war Rob Bredow, der VFX-Supervisor und Co-Produzent beim Film «Solo: A Star Wars Story» zugegen. An seinem Panel am Freitag gab er einen sehr grossen Einblick in die Produktion des Filmes. Und zeigte einige Beispiele, wie sie anders an die Produktion getreten sind, als es sonst der Fall wäre.

Eines davon war, dass bestimmte Szenen nicht mit einem Green Screen gedreht wurden, sondern dass sie riesige Screens aufgebaut haben, die bereits das abspielen, was später eingefügt worden wäre.

Dies hat den positiven Effekt, dass das Licht und die Reflexionen auf den Figuren und dem Set bereits in sich stimmig sind. Auch auf die Leistung der Schauspieler hat es eine Auswirkung – wenn Han Solo auf Lichtgeschwindigkeit beschleunigt, ist das sicher einfacher zu spielen, wenn dessen Darsteller Alden Ehrenreich selber sieht, wie das aussieht.

Hinsichtlich der Produktion verändert diese Arbeitsweise jedoch die übliche Pipeline sehr. So müssen alle Hintergründe mitsamt ihren Effekten wie Explosionen und CGI-Elemente bereits komplett fertig sein, bevor die Szene gedreht wird.

Diese Art CGI in Filme zu integrieren finde ich sehr interessant, da so meiner Meinung nach mehr Haptik für CGI-Elemente erzielt werden kann.

Oh, Stuttgart! by Marion Täschler

You can watch the full video on Vimeo!

A Week in Stuttgart by Nathan Ward

The FMX/ITFS film festivals were my first experiences of film festivals. I did not quite know what to expect from the experience, I was slightly sceptical of the FMX and what knowledge I might gain from the talks relevant to my personal practice, being a stop motion, live action puppet film maker. However, in many of the talks I attended I could draw on links to my own work and could see how many of the ideas discussed could be applicated to my own practice.

As a UK exchange student, the experience opened my eyes to animation practice outside of the UK, and for this I am very grateful. I often feel as though the UK is in a bit of a bubble of its own and does not look to the outside often. I feel my awareness of work bring produced outside of the UK’s contemporary scene was very small before attending the festival’s.

Thankfully we enjoyed some lovely whether for the most part and could enjoy the sun and relax in the beautiful city of Stuttgart in between a busy schedule of talks and screenings. I also enjoyed an ice cream or two. The Schlossplatz provided a wonderful backdrop for the open-air screenings.

It was great watching the young person’s film screenings in the evenings to see the standard of work being produced at schools world-wide. One of my personal highlight’s was seeing the new Laika film «Missing Link».

Stuttgart was a great opportunity for me to get to know the students at HSLU better. I met many other filmmakers from around the world and was able to have discussions with them over a drink. It was a great opportunity to network with like-minded creatives and discuss experiences. I shared an Airbnb with students from the course and strengthened friendships with them. I would like to thank HSLU Animation for extending their invitation to me, I think it is great they encourage and pay for all their students to attend these industry events. I am looking forward to a similarly benefitting experience when I attend Annecy film festival next month.