NFF 2011 Craftspecial on Production Design | 5D keynote
September 24, 2011

Traditionally, during this festival, professionals and public gather to watch all Dutch films made in the past year. But this year the professionals also come together to discuss new developments and the influence of new media on storytelling. One of the ways the Festival focuses on these developments is through the website it has launched beeldenstormonline.nl which is an online platform dedicated to the moving image in all its forms.

It is an annual custom that the Festival focuses each year on a different department within the film production process. For 2011, the focus is on Production Design. Via images on the street and introductions prior to screenings the public will become acquainted with the work of the production designer.

The Craftspecial day (Sep 24th, 2011) will focus on the influence of new technologies, on the role of the production designer and the film production process. Different panels will look at this each from their own unique point of view. One panel will consist of Dutch directors of photography, one panel will consist of Dutch visual effects supervisors and then 5D's Andy Nicholson will give a Keynote presentation on 5D Immersive Design and the Worldbuilding process for Virtual Production. This will be followed by a discussion with former panelists about the possibilities of Immersive Design for the Netherlands media industries. This proposes to be an informative day for Dutch production designers and give them insight into the deep potential of new digital and virtual processes.

Andy Nicholson
Andy Nicholson has just completed working in London as the Production Designer on "Gravity," the Warner Brothers 3D space suspense film written and directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Gravity is a ground breaking venture, setting new standards for the integration of Visual Effects and Digital Technology, alongside traditional film design and technique. Over his career Andy has collaborated with many top Motion Picture Production Designers and Directors on projects as diverse as Band of Brothers,The Mummy, Sleepy Hollow, Spy Game, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,The Bourne Ultimatum, Sexy Beast, The Wolfman and Alice in Wonderland. Andy closely follows the development of technology and software, continually pushing the use of 3D modeling and CAD within film art departments and actively seeks to assimilate digital technology with traditional design workflows, integrating all disciplines that help to bring the written word to the screen.

"[Gravity is] absolutely pushing a new boundary in filmmaking, completely mindblowing. And the way they're making that movie will, I think, forever change certain types of productions"

— Guillermo Del Toro

Moderator

Panela Leung
Narrative/scenic designer
5D founder member

Participants

Holger Förterer
Interactive projections designer, Cirque Du Soleil
The MET Opera’s new production of the Ring Cycle

Peter Torpey
Visual effects artist
PhD candidate, MIT Media Lab: Opera of the Future
Interactive designer

Breaking the Box is the sequel to the wildly successful session "The Future of Theatre Minds in Immersive Design" presented in partnership with 5D | The Future of Immersive Design Conference at USITT Kansas City 2010. We put to the test how technology has changed the way we think and work as collaborative artists within narrative design.

Participants in the Breaking the Box Collaboration Challenge will present their out-of-the-box projects, showing how narrative collaboration can be utilized in a variety industries. Join our distinguished panel of the most innovative minds leading the way and learn how they are altering the formula of narrative collaboration.

USITT homepage
usitt.org/Conference.aspx

An opera 10 years in the making...

Death and the Powers, a Robot Opera, written by "America's most wired composer" Tod Machover, opens this month at the Chicago Opera Theater, after a much lauded US premiere of the ART production at the Cutler Majestic Theater, Boston.

5D has followed the creation of this opera since it was first unveiled at the 5D | Future of Immersive Design conference in Long Beach California, in 2008.

The Wall Street Journal comments:
...The "future"...is embodied both in the orchestral writing, which skillfully combines acoustic and electronic music to create a remarkable range of colors and levels, and in the staging: not just the rather charming robots that grow, shrink and whiz around the stage, but the way that technology creates the playing environment, even allowing the main character's performance to influence and animate the set...Perhaps the most remarkable thing about it, however, is how seamlessly the technology and the music worked together, so that all that hardware and software was about the people and the story, not about itself...

Read the review:
on.wsj.com/eM2O5e

Tickets for Chicago Opera Theater performances of Death and the Powers:
chicagooperatheater.org/tix/season/powers.html

About Death and the Powers:
opera.media.mit.edu/projects/deathandthepowers/

for more info on the 5D Conference find us on the web at
5dconference.com

15.02.2011 - Shekhar Kapur, Alex McDowell

Creating the physical world surrounding a film story involves not just design but also in-depth research, problem-solving and technical insight. As a creative process of visualising and physically developing an environment, it becomes a key element of the storytelling process. This workshop, for a selected group of production designers, is led by two master craftsmen: Indian filmmaker and producer Shekhar Kapur and production designer and producer Alex McDowell. Shekhar Kapur has made critically acclaimed films like BANDIT QUEEN, the award-winning historical biopic ELIZABETH and its sequel ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, which was nominated for two Oscars. Alex McDowell is one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed production designers with films such as MINORITY REPORT, CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY, FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, FIGHT CLUB and CORPSE BRIDE comprising his film portfolio. Showing excerpts from their films, the two professionals will examine in-depth the production of a plausible and realistic world on screen. Participating Talents will have the opportunity to discuss their own projects and receive input, insight and guidance.

Experts of this programme event:

Shekhar Kapur
Acclaimed Indian film director and producer. He rose to popularity with his film BANDIT QUEEN. Among others, he directed ELIZABETH, which was nominated for seven Oscars and ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, starring Cate Blanchett. His future projects include PAANI, to be released in 2011, produced by Danny Boyle.

Alex McDowell
British production designer and film producer, he has worked with Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg and David Fincher. His filmography includes FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, FIGHT CLUB and minority report . He is also founder and director of “5D Conference”, an interdisciplinary network focusing on the impact of technologies in design fields.

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for more info on the Berlinale Talent Campus find them on the web at

berlinale-talentcampus.de/campus/event/home

for more info on the 5D Conference find us on the web at 5conference.com

15.02.2011 - Shekhar Kapur, Tali Krakowsky, Saku Lehtinen, Alex McDowell, moderated by Andrew Shoben

Our lives are subject to a structure within which we enact our daily acts and rituals, play our games and design our future. The five guests on this panel – each an expert in his/her field of specialisation – will address how one can create a virtual landscape of things and spaces around us and consequently in art and film. This session brings together production designer Alex McDowell (FIGHT CLUB, MINORITY REPORT), he is also the founder of 5D: The Future of Immersive Design; filmmaker Shekhar Kapur (ELIZABETH and ELIZABETH THE GOLDEN AGE); experience designer and founding member of 5D Tali Krakowsky; founder of Greyworld, an artists‘ collective creating art in public spaces, Andrew Shoben; and art director of Remedy Entertainment Saku Lehtinen, who is responsible for the audiovisual experience of games. Based on the core idea behind the 5D Conference – talking about learning about seeing better stories – the five panellists will explore the notion of “playing“ at the centre of the new creative collaborative space, and the designer’s recent ability to build worlds using digital tools, for an immersive audience experience.

Experts of this programme event:

Shekhar Kapur
Acclaimed Indian film director and producer. He rose to popularity with his film BANDIT QUEEN. Among others, he directed ELIZABETH, which was nominated for seven Oscars and ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE, starring Cate Blanchett. His future projects include PAANI, to be released in 2011, produced by Danny Boyle.

Tali Krakowsky
Former director of experience design at Imaginary Forces, she is a founding member of “5D: Future of Immersive Design”. Throughout her career, she has led the conceptual and strategic development of projects integrating storytelling, new media and physical environments. She has published several articles and given lectures on the topics of design, technology and architecture.

Saku Lehtinen
Finnish art director of Remedy Entertainment Ltd, he is responsible for the entire audiovisual experience of games such as the recent psychological action thriller game “Alan Wake“

Alex McDowell
British production designer and film producer, he has worked with Tim Burton, Steven Spielberg and David Fincher. His filmography includes FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, FIGHT CLUB and minority report . He is also founder and director of “5D Conference”, an interdisciplinary network focusing on the impact of technologies in design fields.
moderated by

Andrew Shoben
Founder of Greyworld, which has created works in hugely coveted locations across the world and has permanent installations in twelve countries. In 2004 he launched “The Source”, a permanent installation for the London Stock Exchange. Shoben is a regular contributor to television, radio and print.

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for more info on the Berlinale Talent Campus find them on the web at

berlinale-talentcampus.de/campus/event/home

for more info on the 5D Conference find us on the web at 5conference.com