Emilio Ghorayeb, CEO of the //ADAPT Conference, speaks during the opening ceremonies. All photos courtesy of Janet Hetherington.

The motto for today’s vfx delivery always seems to be “Faster, Better, Cheaper,” but for professionals attending the //ADAPT 2007 (Advanced Digital Art Production Techniques) conference in Montreal from Sept. 24- 28, that adage may be changing to “Faster, Better, Cheaper -- and Smarter.”

Working smarter means scrutinizing all of the possible methods and tools to approach a project and choosing the path that will provide the best (and often most cost-efficient) result. That may entail using the latest in technology or going back to the past to use tried-and-true vfx methods, or using a combination of both past and present methodology.

Veteran vfx guru Phil Tippett set the tone for the conference during his keynote address on Monday evening. Fresh off of his latest film project, The Spiderwick Chronicles (based on Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi’s best-selling children's book series of the same name), Tippett spoke to a rapt crowd about his career that was sparked by seeing Rudolph Zallinger’s dinosaur illustrations in 1955, when Tippett was a child.

Seeing King Kong on television further fueled Tippett’s “fascination for the entire process” of achieving vfx. He acknowledged that as a young man starting out, he “got lucky” by being exposed to “shooting, editing, costumes, miniatures and sets.” He had the opportunity to work at Cascade Studios where Tex Avery was one of Tippett’s mentors.

Vfx trailblazer Phil Tippett gave the keynote address on Friday night, setting the tone for the week-long conference.

In his talk, Tippett remarked on working on such films as Star Wars (the Cantina scene), Piranha, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Dragonslayer, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, RoboCop II, Willow, Starship Troopers, Virus, Evolution, Starship Troopers II, Blade II, Catwoman, Hellboy, The Mask II, The Shaggy Dog and Charlotte’s Web.

Tippett acknowledged Jurassic Park (on which he also worked) as a pivotal film for vfx. “Things turned very quickly to computer graphics,” he said. “It requires a different kind of thinking from 2D animation.” When asked what he thought of the digital effects for Jurassic Park (at the time the film was being made), Tippett replied, “I think I’m extinct.” That line was later used in the movie.

However, Tippett’s vfx expertise has proven far from extinct; rather, it is in high demand. He (and his Tippett Studio) just completed work on Spiderwick Chronicles (where the task was to “biologize” the fantastical creatures), worked on Enchanted (creating all kinds of animals and creatures) and Golden Compass (providing shots of wolves, among other things), and is currently involved in a “secret J. J. Abrams’ project,” presumably the Cloverfield monster movie.

Tippett believes vfx knowledge -- and technology -- should be used wisely and well. “Like the fashion industry, technology tends to sell itself and be impressed with itself,” Tippett told VFXWorld.com. The result is that “hot” vfx can be overused, resulting in moviegoers having to endure “the season of water” or the “thousands of charging men.”

For Tippett, it is less about the technology than what the technology can create. “I’m a performer hired to perform on a number of different shows because of the stylistic approach that I bring,” he insisted.

Visual Sandwich
Mark Breakspear, Rainmaker vfx supervisor and a speaker at the conference, echoed Tippett’s sentiments. “We’re about creating a visual sandwich,” he said. “What we do is more about the taste than the ingredients. The idea is to enjoy the final moments when you bite into it. When you embrace this theory, it affects the choices you make to solve problems.”

Breakspear attended //ADAPT 2007 in between problem-solving on his current project, Tropic Thunder, a DreamWorks “comedy war movie” starring Ben Stiller and Jack Black. As vfx supervisor, Breakspear is utilizing various “options in his arsenal” for the film. “You choose the technology to convey the imagery,” Breakspear said. “There’s a lot of factors: how much money, the talent and the schedule.”

For Tropic Thunder, the vfx arsenal includes old school effects -- explosions. “We had the largest peace-time explosion on set,” Breakspear added. After his ADAPT presentation, given with Rainmaker colleague Ed Jones, Breakspear headed back to Hawaii and then Los Angeles to complete work on the film.

Jones noted during the Rainmaker presentation that, “it’s vital to know how technology works. Computers are enablers. Computers rank with the discovery of fire when it comes to inventions. Fire gave us heat, allowed us to see in the dark and to cook food. Computers affect all aspects of our daily lives. In the future, there will be no technology boundaries to limit film-making.”