Monday, July 14, 2008

I just got back from the Mundos Digitales Conference in A Caruna Spain. Awesome time, great people and amazing food and wine. I fell in love with Spain.

I did a talk entitled "Crossing the Uncanny Divide" about the psychological factors that make us find virtual human actors creepy the more real they look. The second talk was entitled "Creating a Killer Demo Reel" the title pretty much says it all. Most demo reels totally suck and most of us hate looking at them. But exercising a little good judgment, creative initiative and excellence you can create a demo reel that will stand out. The Spanish students were wonderful and I had an very interactive audience. Later we all partied together at a hugh dome overlooking the Atlantic and the oldest lighthouse in Europe, build originally by the Romans. It was quite an experience.

I wanted to thank all the vfx supervisors and animation supervisors who contributed their ideas on what makes a killer Demo. Nearly 30 of them responded. I created a handout sheet with their ideas and had it translated into Spanish for Mundos Digitales.

Next It looks like I'll be hosting the 5D conference in Long Beach, California this Octobe 4-5. It's sponsored by the Art Dirctor's Guild with many partnerships. This one is all about the design and production of immersive narrative media. The brainchild of one of Hollywood's top Production Designers, Alex McDowell, it is a forward looking conference about not only immersive media, but the new collaborative, immersive production environments that virtual work spaces make possible. It's about getting art into the picture earlier (litterally) and having the art lead the way, rather than the technology. I think you'll enjoy it. Got to www.5Dconference.com for more information.

I'll be starting a new column at StudioDaily.com in New York. Don't have a title yet, but it will be a regular look at the latest trends in film production. It should be lots of fun, informative and maybe a little controversial.

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