EFFECTS MTL 2017 a look back

Photos © Lena Ghio, 2017 

What a great event, although a bit more subdued than last year. I met a LOT of fascinating experts who are all there to help you achieve your goal of working in the movie industry VFX department. Check this site to see more images of what went on: http://www.effectsmtl.com/en/home/

MY REPORT:

When I get to Palais des Congrès for the early morning sign-in, I start by doing a walkabout to see the setups. As you know VFX creates a wide variety of styles and moods from fun children movies to sophisticated Sci-Fi to gore. 

The first conference I attended was given by 4 guys: Jean-François Ferland, Maxime Lapointe - Alchemy 24 & Carlo Harrietha, Jean-Mathieu Bérubé - The Blood Brothers a nickname the duo received for their remarkable blood work in gore FX in movies like Turbo Kid. They showed us how they combined analog special effects with the more sophisticated VFX for movie perfection. An example of this synergy was the recent release Game of Death where several approaches were used for the infamous exploding head shots. Known for their blood effects, I could not resist asking the most asked question: What is the blood made of? They laughed! Basically using the basic formula of corn syrup, they have more than 10 versions of blood from very liquid to tacky to chunky. You will be able to see The Blood Brothers TV show starting on October 11 2017 on Ztele.

See more here 

Then I went to Managing the Hologram of Ghost in the Shell with Damien Fagnou of MPC. The focus was on the stunning giant hologram advertisements of the future cityscape. We went through each step from creating "assets" to putting them in motion in the post cyberpunk city of the future in Japan.

And guess what? They are hiring! Go here to see if this is your future: http://www.moving-picture.com/film/join-us/

I attended a portion of the day long Master Class by Stuart Sumida of California State University in San Bernardino. His specialty is Animal and Human Anatomy for VFX Artists and Animators. I was reminded of my studies at art school: everything begins with an understanding of the bones. Bones are actually very beautiful and amazing.

I also took in the PANEL discussion Women in VFX with four amazing women: Zoe Cranley - Double Negative / Gaelle Bossis - MPC / Evelyne Leblond - Rodeo FX / Lucy Killick - Framestore and moderator Natasia Schumacher - Atomic Fiction:  who addressed some concerns that may prevent talented women from seeking employment in the field. Both Lucy & Evelyne were working in TV when a chance opportunity led them to VFX and neither has looked back since. Gaelle wanted to work with cameras and was mostly an autodidact until she too joined the world of VFX. Finally Zoe was moved towards this career after seeing the excellent Toy Story. Here is a synthesis of the most important comments they had to share with women and the industry: for many women the issue of forming a family and spending time with their youngsters is an obstacle to working in VFX, having flexible hours and a daycare center at the workplace would be invaluable for young parents of both sexes; all the women told new applicants to be self-confident and to not take criticism personally, men can have a blunt way about them, but women should tough it out because these women have learned to stand their ground successfully in the male dominated field; it was suggested that EVERY TIME you get good revues is an opportunity to ask for a raise and/or a promotion; be confident of your worth; it is important to create alliances with others; the women wanted other women to know that there are many facets to VFX work and you do not need to know coding to work in this industry; all of them had their challenging tale like Gaelle, who trained a man who was then hired as her supervisor! When she asked the boss why, he said she was too sensitive to do the job! She has toughened up since then.

Then I attended Cinesite's Visual Effects for Starz Modern Classic "American Gods" with Aymeric Perceval. In this conference, we were shown how to prepare magnificent complex scenes for a TV budget and time frame. It was fascinating.

I enjoyed many conversations and learned more about the wide ranging industries surrounding VFX. Images & Technologie, for example, offers technological solutions to various types of digital work including "deep learning". They also provide huge storage space for digital material. Atomic Fiction was the official sponsor of the event and they were fabulous. I had a great conversation with Carl Walters, who is a recruiter with them and there are many opportunities for you in this company. FIRMA, a financing corporation that secures the interest rates on major loans by movie production companies. Adnan Bekdache and Daniel Hovasse took the time to explain this important feature of movie making in context with fluctuating money markets.

For more links on all aspects of the VFX industry in Montreal go to this page.

This coming December, the 11-12-13th to be precise, it will be time for MIGS17. This time the focus is on video games and their mind blowing evolution. I promise you will have a lot of fun. Last year I tried games, listened to great conferences and met fascinating creators.

-LENA GHIO