People, Pixels and Production

Not too long ago I was personally invited to visit some industry development in China. Modus is currently working on digital effects of a very ambitious project for the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, so we have new contacts with the Orient to explore. I have been to Asia before, but this was a first trip to China, very exciting. Considering the work to be done at Modus, I opted for a very short trip of only three days (!) so I would not have to suffer too much from jet lag on my return; the sheer adrenaline rush of spending a few days in China is enough to keep me awake on the other side of the world for a few days.

My trip was in part as an official guest of the 2nd China International Cartoon Creative Industry Fair (CICCIF), taking part in Wuhu, near Nanjing. (Yes, coolest city name). Not too sure what to expect, on a very not and sunny  morning I was politely ushered to an exterior stage, where about a hundred delegates and myself were greeted by a crowd of thousands!

I’m on the stage, in a dark suit under the blistering sun for an hour..

My view from the stage. The Chinese sure know how to open a conference!

The conference was interesting, even though not specifically geared towards digital effects. However, a large number of production houses were on location, and this is what business development is all about. Even without a clear agenda, you can mingle with a totally new territory of business opportunities. China Central Television for example, with over 20 channels, has a billion viewers as a daily audience…

As for the rest of my time, food is always the place for official talks, so business and formal government dinners were the norm. I raised few eyebrows as a Caucasian who can use chopsticks… Gan bei!

 One of many elaborate dinners. By the way, that’s not orange juice, but corn juice.

With business and government representatives. Don’t know if you can find me, I’m the one with dark hair.

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An interesting poll was published in Variety last week. Film industry insiders rated their favorite filming location using different criteria related to movie production. Montreal did not make the high list, but a very special honor was given to our VFX community… Read more below;
Here is the North American filming locations top 5 :

1. California - Los Angeles and environs, San Diego, San Francisco and spots throughout the state
2. New York - Manhattan, the rest of New York City plus upstate locations
3. New Mexico - Albuquerque, other cities and remote areas
4. Chicago - Prototypical urban America
5. Louisiana - New Orleans, other cities and parishes

And the international locations top 5 :

1. Morocco - Cities and landscapes
2. France - Paris, Provence and the Dordogne region
3. Prague - Center of Central European filmmaking
4.  Spain - Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands
5. U.K. - London, Edinburgh and elsewhere

In the honorable mentions, Sydney, Montreal and Toronto are featured for Best Production Resources. Here is what the poll had to say about Montreal :

“Montreal offers expert vfx work, spurred by tax breaks. High-profile films including The Golden Compass and Indiana Jones 4 might shoot elsewhere but still use Montreal’s talent pool for effects.”

Kudos to our good friends from Rodeo FX, who participated on both features! I can only agree when it come to foreign film shootings having its VFX produced in Montreal; it certainly represents the vast majority of our projects here at Modus.

You can read the full article here.

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New VFX projects are underway at Modus, we have jobs with immediate availability, including:

VFX Coordinator

• Management of information and project data;
• Client contact for project following and communications with production staff;
• Management of schedules and set deliveries;
• Knowledge of postproduction / digital effects organization;
• Billingual French and English, spoken / written;
• Team spirited and excellent communicator, both written and spoken.

Send your resume and questions to jobs@modusfx.com

Thanks and good luck!

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Modus is growing… We have a lot of open positions, for example : VFX producer.

Key duties :
- Bidding projects and script breakdowns
- Manage clients and their expectations
- Attend client and production meetings
- Work closely with the VFX, CG and Comp Supervisors
- Work closely with the coordination and project management staff
- Monitor project status and budget

Please send your resume to jobs@modusfx.com

Thanks and good luck!

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Mr. Nobody is continuing its tour of international festivals, this time at Sitges 09, the 42nd Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya. The film is part of the official competition with 21 other productions, with styles ranging from horror, fantasy and sci-fi. An impressive list of movies from all over the world.

The festival is happening from October 1 to 12 in Sitges, Spain.

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Dinolab II, featuring digital creatures and effects by Modus, premiered on The Science Channel last May; it will now be revealed in Canada on Discovery Channel this Sunday, September 27; and soon on Canal D. Modus FX was the sole VFX provider on this show.

“The exotic creatures and visionary scientists of the Dinolab are back; in their stadium-sized laboratory, palaeontologists examine fossils while chief scientists showcase different dinosaur species by putting them through a battery of tests. “

Dinolab II is produced by QuietMotion; Jacques Bilodeau and Véronique Légaré. It is directed by Bertrand Morin, following a concept by Patrick Gray and Alexandre Lambert.

With over 20 minutes of CG creatures animation in 192 shots, it features an argentinosaurus, a group of stegosauruses, a hypacrosaurus family, a microraptor and of course a dreaded T-Rex. About 3 months were needed to deliver our shots.

Pictures below and much more material can be found at the Dinolab II site.

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Sylvie Olivé, Production Designer on Mr. Nobody receiving the Golden Osella for Best Technical Contribution

Today, Modus FX announces having delivered 121 digital visual effects shots for the feature film Mr. Nobody, recipient of the Golden Osella for Best Technical Contribution at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. The film was produced by Pan-Europeenne, co-produced by Integral Film, Lago Film, Christal Films Productions and Toto & Co. Films, directed by Jaco Van Dormael, with visual effects supervision by Louis Morin. The film is also an Official Selection at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Despite recent slow-downs in the film industry, Quebec’s expertise in digital-effects production holds strong. All 500 visual effects shots for this sci-fi fantasy movie were produced in Quebec by Quebec companies. Modus FX was entrusted with complex sequences which could not be captured on film, involving the digital reproduction of entire cities, villages and other-worldly settings. Modus also worked on several complex transitions between the different worlds and multiple lives of Nemo Nobody.

Modus’ post-production contributions involved 37 digital artists and technicians across a six-month period. A long list of software, including Autodesk’s Softimage and Maya, Side Effects’ Houdini and The Foundry’s Nuke, and the creation of a multitude of innovative in-house tools, programs and techniques was required for the 121 shots delivered.

Co-founded by VFX industry veterans Yanick Wilisky and Marc Bourbonnais, Modus FX offers a full range of digital production services for film, television and new media. Boasting a 12,000 square-foot studio to house its team of seasoned artists, Modus FX has quickly become an industry leader, working on high-profile projects for clients and distributors such as Sony Pictures, TF1, Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Interactive, BBC-1, and The History Channel.

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