SIGGRAPH 2020: ACM SIGGRAPH 2020 Production Sessions

Join Industrial Light & Magic for a deep dive into the making of the final installment of the Skywalker saga, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker. The team will pull back the curtain to reveal how they tackled the creation of the film's 1,700+ visual effects shots. From practical models and miniatures to advanced digital simulations for pyrotechnics and a new fluid simulation system created to achieve the exceedingly high level of realism the filmmaker's demanded, the team will delve will dig into what worked and what didn't on the road to creating the final shots.

Onward tells an original, heartfelt story of two brothers' quest to reunite with their late father. An epic journey presents the film's audience with a unique world full of settings and situations that are simultaneously exotic and familiar. Onward's crew faced a similarly varied set of challenges: some fantastic, some mundane, some both at the same time. In this session, the crew will discuss the process of creating Onward's unusual characters, diverse environments, and magic.

This session will present a view of the state of the art of computer graphics in advertising from the perspective of three industry leading studios: MPC, The Mill, and Method Studios. Senior creative and technical staff from each studio will provide a vignette that demonstrates their unique point of view.

This production session will describe the schedule, production, and tech aspects of The Irishman movie. From the very beginning (including some early "markerless" capture work done as early as in 2015) till the end of production showing before and after examples.

We'll go over the requirements initially imposed by Scorsese and the actors, who wanted to perform on the set as they always do to deliver their best possible performances while interacting with each other, which made additional performance capture after the shoot definitively out of the question.

And also the requirements from the DP (Rodrigo Prieto) who wanted total freedom to light, (so we could not control the lighting at the moment of the capture of the performances.)

To fulfill those demands, we had to come up with a new way of capturing the performances (and lighting), with more precision than ever before, yet in a way that minimizes any interference with all the departments during the shoot.

This presentation will go over the process of developing a novel markerless method of facial capture, involving the new software developed for this project, and also a new infrared camera rig configuration. And why we departed from the "safe" approach of multiple facial markers (as well as discarding head-mounted cameras), which would not suffice for the level of accuracy (and minimal burden on the actors and crew) required for this project.

Other aspects that will be discussed:

•Adapting the pipeline for streaming projects, (with shifting and creating new discipline types to account for further work to be done)

•Rendering iconic actors entirely in 3D

•The unprecedented precision and level of subtlety that Martin Scorsese demanded in the rendered images (of these highly recognizable characters for hundred of shots).

Why was Elsa born with magical powers? What truths about the past await her as she ventures beyond Arendelle? In Walt Disney Animation Studios' "Frozen 2," she travels through the enchanted forests and meets elemental spirits on her dangerous but remarkable journey.

In this session, our filmmakers show how they balanced stylization with naturalism to create a lush autumn forest and designed all-new costumes for beloved characters. Collaboration between multiple departments was the key element to realizing a dark sea guarded by a mythical water horse. On top of that, there were the challenges of navigating a river populated with giants and exploring the interior of a glacier for answers.

Please join us on the journey as we venture into the unknown.

ILM takes you behind the scenes of Jon Favreau's hit Disney + series "The Mandalorian." The team will discuss not only the traditional visual effects work on the series but also the groundbreaking realtime production methodology developed and implemented for the series.

Every great spy movie shares the same DNA: Intrigue. Secret Identities. Nefarious villains bent on revenge. Exotic international locales. Incredible cars and gadgets. High octane action sequences. And… pigeons??? In making SPIES IN DISGUISE, Blue Sky Studios set out to create not only a faithful homage to the legacy of traditional spy films, but also to introduce the genre to a whole new generation. The iconic design of our hero Lance Sterling was the lynchpin in defining not only the aesthetic of the film's world, but also the animation style, cinematography, lighting, stylized effects and motion graphics which brought that world to life in a tangible and textural way. When Lance is accidentally turned into a pigeon by one of Walter Beckett's unfinished experiments, Lance is forced to try to save the world as a bird. Scenes such as a pigeon-led high speed car chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., a nail-biting aerial dogfight through the iconic canals of Venice, or the climactic battle between thousands of killer drones and our heroes using their wits and Walter's do-no-harm gadgets - the high stakes and inventive action in SPIES IN DISGUISE provided many unique challenges to the artists and technicians at Blue Sky. Join the creative team as they discuss the enormous challenges and massive collaboration in making this exciting, stylish globetrotting film about spies and the pigeons who loved them.