5D|Flux, a new series of forums that encompass
design for film, animation, gaming, theater, interactive media and more, was
introduced to the U.S. in March 2012 by the 5D Institute, the USC School
of Cinematic Arts and Autodesk. The
initial event in the series, curated by Juan DiazB, took place in February in
Berlin at the Berlin Film Festival.
The
program, entitled Digital Design & World Building in the Narrative Media Landscape, took
place over three consecutive evenings at the Ray Stark Theater on the
University of Southern California Campus with a near-capacity crowd each night.
(insert hot link: http://5dconference.com/articles/824)
Curators
Alex McDowell, Francois Audouy and Peggy Weil assembled diverse group of
professional luminaries who provided fresh insight toward current technology in
relation to production design practice and workflow for hybrid filmmaking and
animation. Presentations and panels
explored three phases of the design process: Inception, Prototyping and
Manufacturing & Capture. Interesting case studies included the making of
Upside Down by Alex McDowell, How to Tame Your Dragon by Patrick Hanenberger
and Tintin in virtual production by Andrew Jones and Jeff Wisniewski. Also of note were excellent presentations by Autodesk Fellow Tom Wujec on the future of design and an overview of the history of virtual production by David Morin.
Photo by
Dave Blass
Panel discussions that followed were apart from the case studies. The audience, a good mix of students, educators and industry professionals engaged the panelists with many more provocative questions than could be answered in the time allotted. Audience interaction via a live ‘backchannel’ website, accessed through personal mobile devices was a particular success. The questions, projected on a full-stage screen behind the panelists, were addressed based on priority ranking from the participants.
James Iliff, attending USC Student in Interactive Entertainment posted in his blog about the event:
Romke Farber of 5D Institute | Amsterdam posted on Tumblr: "Worldbuilding as the new metaphor for the creation and realization of a narrative space in digital narrative media was the theme of the event."
A wine
and cheese reception sponsored by 5thKind held in the adjoining lobby each
evening provided ample opportunity for networking; a big hit with everyone
judging from the number who stayed afterward.
Future
5D|Flux design summits are being planned for this year. Director Alex McDowell explains,
”Each will focus on world building as the main track, but not be limited to
filmmaking. The arcing goal for the 5D|Flux series is to ensure that those who
attend all of these accumulate applicable knowledge.”
Photo by Dave Blass
