SIGGRAPH '18- ACM SIGGRAPH 2018 Production Sessions

35 years after the release of the original "Blade Runner" film, the visual effects teams behind "Blade Runner 2049" were tasked with the challenge of crafting a dystopian world in the next phase of one of the most-beloved sci-fi films of all time. Set 30 years after the first film, the sequel follows a new blade runner as he unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. From the creation of the LA cityscapes, Las Vegas, and Trash Mesa environments to the development of a holographic Joi and the return of Rachael, join the filmmakers from DNEG, Framestore, and MPC as they discuss their Academy-Award winning work that paid tribute to the original picture while creating a film of the future.

In this production session, we will share our story of working on the legendary show, "Game of Thrones, "since the series' fourth season, detailing the learnings and knowledge we have gained from our multi-season experience on the groundbreaking show. We will go in depth on two of season 7's most intense sequences, starting from the concept art and working through the processes that got us to the final shots.

In 1996, SideFX released Houdini version 1.0, bringing the power of procedural methods to visual effects artists around the world. This year, more than two decades since Houdini's original release, SideFX was awarded a Scientific and Technical Academy Award of Merit to recognize its continual innovation and dedication to visual effects artists.

Join the visual effects team as they take you behind the scenes on one of 2018's biggest films. The team will showcase the innovative shooting techniques developed for the film and the unique collaboration with Director Ron Howard that allowed this chapter in the Star Wars universe to be brought to the screen. The team will also pull back the curtain on how they took old school methodologies and combined them with cutting edge technologies to create the film's groundbreaking visual effects work.

In a conversation that will not only span multiple disciplines, but also multiple years of technological advancement at Pixar, the team behind "Incredibles 2" - many of whom also worked on the first film - will compare and contrast the filmmaking process then and now. With a sequel, there's always the challenge of making a film true to the original, yet different in every detail. In building the world of "Incredibles 2" the team tackled one of the most technically daunting films in Pixar's canon, all while needing it to hue to the familiar tone established by the first film. Hear from this super group as they examine how they used the past to inform the present and, incredibly, achieved the near-impossible.

In this deep dive into Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" teams from Industrial Light & Magic and Digital Domain will showcase the break through virtual production techniques and technology deployed for the film and the visual effects involved in bringing the film's dystopian vision of life in 2045 to the screen. In addition, the teams will delve into the immense artistic and technical challenges of designing, building and animating every aspect of the expansive virtual universe known as the OASIS.

In "Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2," Vanellope von Shweetz and Wreck-It Ralph leave Litwak's video arcade behind, venturing into the uncharted, expansive and thrilling world of the internet on a quest to save Vanellope's video game. Building the metropolis of the internet was no small feat: its smallest buildings are the size of the Empire State Building, and tens of thousands of dynamic, digital signs can be seen in one city shot. The world then needed to be populated with characters, ranging from the everyday citizens of the internet - netizens - to service workers and algorithms who run the world wide web. Throughout the making of the film, the production team was challenged to push the boundaries both artistically and technically in visualizing a world that is ever-changing and seemingly endless - a concept as familiar as the internet executed in a way that has never been seen before.