VFX: Script to Screen

#Training: Cutting-edge VFX speakers announced for VFX: Script to Screen 2016 Module 2

Top level Irish and international visual effects practitioners will be in Dublin next week for the second and final module of the highly regarded visual effects training programme VFX: Script to Screen.  Practitioners will deliver sessions on post production processes, editing VFX, lighting and rendering a CG character, compositing, green screen and the latest technology and industry developments such as VR and AR.

Module two will also include a case study on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens with Scott Pritchard, Compositing Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens).  Scott will discuss ILM London’s work on Star Wars.  In a separate masterclass for local VFX and Animation talent, Pritchard will focus on a character created exclusively at the London studio – Maz Kanata – and detail the challenges presented in taking her from concept art through to delivering her performance on the big screen.

The VFX: Script to Screen programme – co-funded by the Irish Film Board and the Creative Europe programme of the EU – offers Irish and European filmmakers a “big picture” understanding of visual effects and new and innovative digital production processes and technologies, including virtual production and VR/AR.

The programme is designed in collaboration with the VFX Association of Ireland, which is comprised of Irish award winning VFX companies Windmill Lane (Brooklyn, Rebellion, Vikings, Titanic Blood And Steel, Dracula Untold);  Screen Scene (Independence Day: Resurgence, Game Of Thrones, Room, Ripper Street); Egg Post Production (Ghosthunters, Sinbad); and Piranha Bar (The Last Hijack).  Participants on the programme are experienced filmmakers from Ireland and across Europe, including Finland, Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the UK.

Other Irish and international talent tutoring on this module will include: Farah Abushwesha, Producer (The Last Photograph, The Party, Pressure, Don’t Hang Up); Bill Goddard, Post Production Executive, Take 5 (Vikings); Billy Campbell, VFX Editor (Casino Royale, Les Miserables, SPECTRE, Jason Bourne); Eoghan Cunneen, Senior Pipeline Engineer, Lucasfilm’s Advanced Development Group (Robocop, Gravity, Paddington); Jamie Turpin, Assistant Editor (Far From The Madding Crowd, The Reader, Haywire); Paula Kehoe, Director (I Am Galway 2020, Deargdhúil, An Dubh Ina Gheal: Assimilation); Tim Chauncey, Lead Technical Director, Windmill Lane VFX (Brooklyn, L’Accabadora, The Young Ones, Titanic: Blood And Steel); Katrin Arndt, VFX Producer, Nvizible (Kingsman: The Secret Service, Jason Bourne, Vikings); and Tricia Perrott, Post Production Supervisor (The Secret Scripture, Room, Frank).

The programme will wrap for the final time on completion of the final module of the 2016 programme.  Alumni from the programme have released projects that have been noted for their cutting edge use of VFX, such as Subotica’s The Young Ones; director Ciaran Foy has directed US horror franchise Sinister 2; and director Brendan Muldowney directed action-thriller Pilgrimage, an Ireland/Belgium co-production starring Jon Bernthal, Richard Armitage, and Tom Holland.

2013 alumnus Brunella Cocchiglia produced Without Name – about to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival – under the Irish Film Board Catalyst Project. Cinematographer and camera operator Russell Gleeson worked on Corin Hardy’s creature horror The Hallow; and other alumni are developing various projects with VFX elements as a result of the programme.

Sorcha Loughnane, Programme Director, VFX Script to Screen said:

VFX: Script to Screen has given local and international filmmakers an opportunity to really explore some of the digital technologies that underpin the industry today.  It has also encouraged strong multi-disciplinary collaboration in a sector that occupies a unique space at the centre of creative content development and technological innovation.  For the past four years, we have been hugely proud to host this programme in Ireland, where the interaction between creative storytelling and innovative technology is truly exemplified.