What becomes of this world once it is created? The FMX track “Previs,” curated by Ron Frankel (President and Previs Supervisor, Proof Inc) and Chris Edwards  (CEO & Creative Director, The Third Floor), looks at the collaborative effort that is required when complex scenes and preliminary versions of shots or sequences are visualized predominantly using 3D animation tools and a virtual environment. Edwards describes how The Third Floor branches interact and sheds light on the previs process in Len Wiseman's Total Recall. In this context, he focuses on the building of a futuristic world that differs drastically from the 1990 Schwarzenegger cult classic.

In a second presentation, Edwards and Kevin Jenkins, Supervising Art Director at Framestore, recount the creation of Steven Spielberg's War Horse: Both specialists worked together on different key scenes. They explain how they realized the historical scenery thanks to Digital Art Direction and path-paving Previs, paying particular attention to authenticity. Moreover, Edwards elucidates how The Third Floor used detailed, emotional visualizations as a blueprint for the set construction, horse training and ultimate cinematic staging to visibly enhance storytelling in Spielberg's War Horse.

The third "Previs" presentation "Integrate not dominate: Previs and Virtual Production for a non-VFX show" features Supervising Visual Effects Producer Friend Wells and Ron Frankel who analyze the importance of Virtual Production and Previs for all of those film productions which are not primarily based on visual effects - that is to say drama, comedy and low-budget film productions in general. Both speakers base their talk on the film The Last Stand starring Arnold Schwarzenegger which comes to the cinemas in January 2013.

Virtual Production III - Megasessions: ILM, Weta and more

Most Virtual Production "Megasessions" are dedicated to the biggest and most successful VFX productions of 2012. To this end, FMX brings renowned VFX companies to Stuttgart. Visual Effects Supervisor Erik Nash (Digital Domain), Previs Supervisor Casey Schatz (Giant Studios) and Virtual Production Supervisor Glenn Derry (Technoprops) team up for one "Megasession" to guide the audience through the innovative workflow that helped turn Real Steel into a huge success.

In another "Megasession," FMX goes back in time when Weta Digital's Visual Effects Supervisor Wayne Stables, Chief Technology Officer Sebastian Sylwan and Head of Marketing David Gouge trace the origins of the 3D adventure Tintin and its innovative and creative Virtual Production workflow back through early tests on Peter Jackson's 2001 fantasy adventure The Lord of the Rings.

A third "Megasession" is dedicated to one of this year's top Oscar winners: Academy Award winner and Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Legato elaborates on his collaboration with VFX company Nvizage and the Art Department for Martin Scorsese's Hugo. Together with Nvizage's Previs Supervisor Martin Chamney, he explains how they sculpted both the practical set and digital set extensions of the railway station.

In a fourth "Megasession", Steve Sullivan, Senior Technology Officer at Lucasfilm, and Michael Sanders, Digital Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic, demonstrate the importance of Virtual Production for their everyday work at Lucasfilm and ILM.

Current movie highlights: Battleship and The Hunger Games

Needless to say, FMX pays heed to other movie highlights in addition to its Virtual Production track as well: The audience awaits two extensive presentations on blockbuster Battleship that shake the room with massive explosions and action-packed gun battles on the high seas as part of the "VFX: Showcases" track.