Gore Verbinski talked a lot about the “Uncanny Valley” in "Reality and Hyper Reality."

In "Pervasive Previs," which I moderated, director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch, Day Watch) suggested that previs is a valuable collaborative tool, but that he wished there were a way of incorporating the actor as well. Cinematographer Eric Adkins (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow) remarked that previs is extremely helpful in determining basic lighting info and showed some rare MoCap previs from Kerry Conran's aborted John Carter of Mars. However, Adkins and others (McDowell, Previs Supervisor Ron Frankel and Digital Effects Supervisor Peter Nofz) added that fully rendered previs goes too far. While previs allows you to make the movie before you make it, it's still just a starting point and should be treated as such.

Meanwhile, in the follow-up discussion about the ASC/ADG/VES joint previs committee (moderated by chair David Morin), a few definitions were unveiled: Previs: a collaborative process of cinematic discovery based in a 3D virtual environment; Pitchvis: intended for the purpose of pitching projects; Technical Previs: real-world camera and shot layout to streamline production; On-Set Previs: on location, on the fly, to respond to the needs of the director and crew, utilizing realtime techniques; and Postvis: Preemptive VFX in which previs assets are integrated into live-action plates and a director's tool for editing.

In "Bigger Bang," John Underkoffler, scientist and designer of human-machine interfaces (Minority Report), discussed design and world building in terms of using your hands for touch and intimate contact. "The language of cinema itself can be used to describe space, time and narrative," he suggested in envisioning an interactive, multimedia, realtime experience.

At the "Pervasive Previs" panel, Peter Nofz, Eric Adkins, Ron Frankel, Alex McDowell and moderator VFXWorld‘s Bill Desowitz discussed how previs should be regarded in the filmmaking process.

And in one of the best discussions, "The Evolution of Expression," which included VFX Supervisors Mark Stetson (Superman Returns) and Tim McGovern (Tron), Virtual Art Director Rob Powers (Avatar) and Kim Libreri and Jerry O'Flaherty, who have collaborated on a realtime proof-of concept for Thundercats at Digital Domain, there was a very lively exchange. How does technology, and realtime in particular, change storytelling? Will everything be photoreal in five years? Does the growth of vfx de-prioritize story?

And while this exchange was going on, each major point was visualized on a white banner strung along the back wall. It was a very prescient moment that anticipated Carter's discussion about Zemeckis using a whiteout: "The Unknown is revealed by the greater unknown."

If only Underkoffler's human touch interface could've been utilized. But we'll have to save that for another 5D conference.

Bill Desowitz is editor of VFXWorld.