The third BFX Festival, taking place in the heart of Bournemouth, began with a bang with BFX Pro - a one-day conference with some of the biggest names in VFX, Animation and Gaming attending to speak about the future of the industry.
Names such as Microsoft, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios and OutpostVFX all participated in the panels consisted of debate and answering questions from the audience. From the safety of using The Cloud to the reality of virtual content, the panels offered creative discussion on all things tech.
The CDE lunch offered students and professionals the chance to network, building key relationships for the future of the business. The opportunity to speak to award-winning studios as a student is extremely rare and valuable.
The rest of the week continues with BFX Core, with speakers and studios from across the globe - including Iloura, MPC and ILM all in one day - attendees will find out how specific blockbuster scenes and characters were created. Screenings such as BAFTA and Oscar-winning Interstellar, which BU graduates worked on, and Big Hero 6, take place in the evenings.
The Festival finishes with the family weekend – a free event with screenings, workshops and presentations for all ages. There’s something for everyone with Microsoft Games stations, Stop Motion workshops and learning how to use Zbrush to create your own animation characters. In between all of this SpongeBob SquarePants cartoons, Frozen, How to Train your Dragon 2 and Big Hero 6 are being shown, all for free.
A unique opportunity to see concept artwork from Walt Disney Animation’s Big Hero 6 is available all week, flown in all the way from America.
Some workshops include talks by Stuart Sumida and Michael Defeo, who have worked on films such as Despicable Me 2 and Guardians of the Galaxy - a unique chance to see how professionals work and learn something, too!
