Festival programme

10:00am – 1:00pm | Poole Gateway Building, Talbot Campus

Level: Intermediate

10:00am – 5:00pm | Poole Gateway Building, Talbot Campus

Level: Intermediate

In this masterclass I’ll show how I create concept sculpts of characters for animation, showing the techniques I use in Zbrush as well as talking about my philosophy and workflow when trying to create compelling characters.

See Amy’s work @ https://www.artofamy.co.uk/

10:00am – 5:00pm | Poole Gateway Building, Talbot Campus

Level: Intermediate

1:00pm – 2:15pm | Cobham LT, Talbot Campus

Panel – NCCA Alumni

BU students are invited to an engaging panel discussion featuring alumni from the National Centre for Computer Animation (NCCA). Hear firsthand about their diverse career journeys since graduating from BU, and gain valuable insights and practical tips for your own career path. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from those who have successfully navigated the industry!

2:30pm – 3:45pm | Cobham LT, Talbot Campus

Talk – How to prepare your portfolio for the BFX Recruitment Day

BU students are invited to join this informative session designed to help you prepare for Recruitment Day on Friday, November 1. Get expert guidance on effectively communicating with potential recruiters and refining your portfolio to make a strong impression. This is a great opportunity to enhance your skills and boost your confidence.

Award-winning Visual Effects Supervisor Ian Comley has delivered widely acclaimed, boundary-pushing imagery, creatures and digital humans for projects including ABBA Voyage, Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, Paddington and Alfonso Cuaron’s Gravity.

Nominated for Academy and BAFTA Awards for his work on The Creator, he’s also a multiple Visual Effects Society Award winner. Alongside supervising character-driven projects and a background in Look Development/Shader Writing, he has spearheaded global studio pipeline and technology at both Framestore (Head of Pipeline) and Industrial Light & Magic (CG Technology Supervisor).

Yorgos Lanthimos’ multi-award-nominated feature Poor Things has left audiences pleasantly disturbed. Join Bournemouth University Alum and BAFTA-Winning Visual Effects 2D Lead Jane Paton for a deep-dive into how visual effects can bring worlds of pure imagination to life.

Join award-winning VFX Supervisors Duncan Malcolm and Neil Riley in a deep dive into the build of conceptual and evocative environments for Netflix’s latest hit show, KAOS.

Duncan has been at the forefront of Glassworks’ creative output for over a decade, as VFX Supervisor, Senior Compositor and Director, with a long and varied list of credits to his name. He has an eye for strong, poetic and impactful imagery, and understands every technical and creative aspect of filmmaking with a superb in-depth knowledge of the CGI workflow, which he uses to help make complex technical processes comprehensible and straightforward.

Neil started his career as a Motion Control Operator in live-action and stop frame features, before moving into VFX. He spent 16 years at Passion Pictures as VFX supervisor and has worked with some of the World’s leading directors and filmmakers. Since leaving Passion Pictures Neil has added long-form dramas and features to his roster with credits including Black Mirror, Discovery Of Witches, and KAOS, and the Oscar-winning animated short The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse.

BlueBolt VFX supervisor Tiago Faria and Cinesite CG supervisor Manu Reyes-Halaby will take the audience behind the scenes to discuss how the chilling visual effects for the series were created. From recreating desolate Alaskan environments to a CG shipwreck and mine, a one-eyed polar bear and a herd of caribou for the haunting season opener, the visual effects were central to establishing the series’ atmosphere.

From writer and director John Krasinski, IF captivated audiences with its seamless integration of VFX and live-action, featuring a cast of over 42 unique Imaginary Friends, each with distinct personalities and visual characteristics.

Join Framestore’s VFX Supervisor, Chris Lawrence, and Animation Supervisor, Arslan Elver, as they share their experiences as the Production VFX Supervisor and Production Animation Director on IF. Discover how they achieved the seamless blending of animated characters with live-action footage, creating performances that feel both real and emotionally resonant.

From the early stages of storyboarding and character design, through previs, on-set supervision, postvis, and the final delivery of shots, Chris and Arslan will explore their creative journey. They’ll highlight how they brought John Krasinski’s vision to life by merging realism with fantastical elements, capturing the essence of magical realism, where the true magic lies in believability.

The Centre for Applied Creative Technologies (CFACTs) is pleased to host a workshop on AI Research at the BFX Festival 2024!

The event will highlight the latest advancements in AI, centring on multidisciplinary research focused on industrial applications. Each CFACTs Fellow will showcase their research through a 10-minute presentation, followed by a Q&A session. Working with industry, our Fellows apply their research cross-sectorally for various applications, including but not limited to computer animation, visual effects (VFX), computer vision, visualisation, healthcare, retail and assistive technology. The workshop aims to facilitate discussion on the future of AI technologies and serve as a platform for researchers, participants and industry experts to foster collaboration.

This workshop is partially funded by the EU H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Scheme (CfACTs 900025) and Bournemouth University Research Capacity Transformation Fund.

CfACTs draws upon the academic excellence of the Faculty of Media & Communication, including the National Centre for Computer Animation, the Faculty of Science & Technology and the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences at Bournemouth University. For more information, please visit: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/cfacts-research

Join Senior Creative Specialist Jessie Burgess and Product Manager Charli Holt for an introduction to Mari. We’ll cover an intro to Mari including updates in Mari 7 which includes some exciting new capabilities:

• The new Bakery: Mari’s powerful new mesh map baking engine enables you to spend more time creating new worlds without ever leaving Mari.
• Day-to-day artistry improvements, including:
  • Node-graph optimizations
  • New grunge maps, python scripts & procedurals
  • USD enhancements

HaZ takes you on a candid journey through the production of Max Beyond, an animated feature created entirely in Unreal Engine. Discover how HaZimation pushed the boundaries of realtime to bring this film to life, and how that catapulted them into the world of PC and console gaming. But they didn’t stop there—HaZimation’s early adoption of UEFN, made them one of the first third-party studios to develop an original IP within Fortnite. Learn how they transformed a single story into a cross-platform entertainment universe!

Drop in and chat with the Foundry Team about getting started or advancing your Mari curriculum. This is a great chance to catch up with the team for personalised information and support!

In the fast-paced worlds of film, animation, and game development, pre-production can be an expensive bottleneck. In this talk, discover how RADiCAL transforms the previsualisation process with real-time motion capture and 3D drag-and-drop scene design, eliminating the complexities of storyboarding, lookdev, scene composition, and collaboration for remote teams. Whether you’re in the studio or on set, RADiCAL puts the power of previs at your fingertips. Join us to see how it works and explore how you can leverage RADiCAL to transform your creative process.

Florian will present one of the key innovations, Mo-Sys Hybrid VP: an ingenious combination of mid-sized LED and green screen used recently to shoot a 55-minute TV pilot, filmed by a 9-person crew—many of whom were new to virtual production. . He will delve into the entire process of this virtual production pilot, covering every stage from pre-production to post-production and will showcase how Mo-Sys’ latest advancements can enable the filming of an entire TV series in a studio environment, like the one at Take2 Studios.

With over 15 years in volumetric media technology, Callum Reid specialises in advancing how we capture and interact with digital reality. As Managing Director for Europe at Visualskies, he helps to lead the teams that deliver high-end 3D scanning solutions for major film and television VFX, contributing to productions such as “Napoleon,” “Ted Lasso,” and “House of the Dragon.” His work in this field began in 2008 developing array based photogrammetry solutions and AR applications that earned recognition from HPA, IBC, and SMPTE, while serving clients including Disney/Marvel and the Science Museum. An avid student of “The medium is the message,” Reid combines technical expertise in volumetric capture, AI, and computer vision with practical experience in digital content creation and VFX workflows.

Gavan Gravesen is the CEO and co-founder of RADiCAL – a 3D creation platform that simplifies every aspect of building and animating scenes in real-time. He also co-found Slated in 2009, the world’s leading financing and networking platform for independent filmmakers.

An Overview of Animation Technology Used in Realms of Ruin”
In this talk we will present and overview into how Frontier utilised animation technology within the RTS game Realms of Ruin.
This will include discussion of challenges and limitations imposed by this project and how we approached solving them with a view to maximising utility and reducing the cost of animation.
We will demonstrate how layering partial animations and driving these in interesting ways depending on game state can create very flexible options and enhance the look and feel of in game animated entities.
We also examine how procedural animation technologies were deployed. These can further enhance animations, bringing additional life to character animation and better grounding them in the world. Such solutions also allowed for graceful solution to challenges animation alone could not solve.

The journey of ’Bad Dinosaurs’ from the initial shorts through to delivery of the Netflix show ten years later.

https://youtu.be/YO690qyvbpk

Transforming scientific data into high-end cinematic VFX. Lux Aeterna delves into the cutting-edge scientific datasets and academic research that crafted stunning cinematic sequences for Netflix’s hit documentary ‘Secrets of the Neanderthals’.

VFX Director Paul Silcox and Compositing Supervisor Tav Flett also explore their work on Our Universe, where Lux Aeterna visualised the formation of the cosmos and the birth of the moon for the groundbreaking series. Paul and Tav discuss how these techniques bring stories to life, whether for documentaries or dramas, including ‘8 Days: To the Moon and Back’ and the acclaimed Netflix series ‘The Crown’.

The Garfield Movie © 2024 Project G Productions, LLC

Have you ever wondered what working on a high-end feature film is like? Join Lucia, Stanley and Brenda as they answer your questions about their experience working on Animated Feature films for studios like DreamWorks, Disney, and production companies like Netflix.

Lucia and Stanley, are both look development artists, and Brenda, an animator. They will share their journeys in tackling film productions’ unique styles and technical challenges. They will break down a trailer they have recent worked for and provide insights into some of the key assets and shots they helped create. Expect to hear about their workflows, problem-solving techniques, and the overall experience of bringing a feature film to life.

As alumni of Bournemouth University (Lucia and Brenda) and Arts University Bournemouth (Stanley), these talented artists are excited to return and share their stories with the next generation of filmmakers.

Nedy Acet will talk us through some of his IO2 animation work seen through different animation stages.

You’ve heard of animators, VFX Supervisors and compositors but how about render wranglers, shader writers and interaction designers? The creative industry requires hundreds of roles – each as important as the next – to collaborate seamlessly in order to deliver extraordinary, large-scale projects on time. This educational and aspirational panel, led by Haz Dulull, will discuss those roles less commonly in the spotlight across immersive, VFX, animation and gaming industries, as well as the different pathways to help you get there.

Level: Intermediate (but beginners welcome)

Level: Intermediate

Level: Beginner

Level: Beginner

Level: Beginner

Level: Beginner

Learn how to:

• Develop Arnold materials in Houdini Solaris and USD
• Leverage the latest Arnold features – including the new OpenPBR surface shader, NPR (Non-photorealistic rendering), prettier clouds (scattering diffusion in volumes) and more
•  Build an understanding of how to write your own OSL patterns
• Share assets and materials between Houdini and Maya
• Optimise your renders (so you can avoid working in the labs all night to hit your assignment deadline)

Level: Advanced

Level: Intermediate

I’m a VFX compositing and acquisition specialist with over five years of freelance experience. By nature of necessity, my work bridges on-set production and post-production. I’ve spent a lot of time on set working on various projects like ads, promos, events, and even projection mapping at ballet theatres. This hands-on experience has taught me how crucial on-set decisions are for the VFX work that follows.

I love sharing what I’ve learned, I am happy for the opportunity to give back to Bournemouth University and its community, which helped me in the same way, back when I was still studying.

In this workshop, I’ll share practical tips on how to effectively shoot VFX shots on set. We’ll explore how what we do during filming directly impacts the compositing and post-production process, and focus on the most important factor in all of this – the human factor.

Level: Intermediate