AnimationXpress’ VFX and More (VAM) Summit and Awards 2024 drew its curtains to an eventful edition. The second day witnessed interesting breakdown sessions of visually enriching films, masterclasses and insightful discussions. The summit took place on 2 and 3 May at Nesco, Goregaon in Mumbai.
Day two began with a panel discussion on Navigating the Evolution of Visual Spectacles in Cinema. From groundbreaking special effects to immersive storytelling techniques, the panel shared its perspectives on the journey of visual spectacles in Indian cinema. The speakers were NY VFXWAALA founder & creative head Naveen Paul; Cinepolis India programming & distribution head Mayank Shroff; Friday Filmworks CEO Devendra Deshpande; PhantomFX founder, CEO, VFX supervisor Bejoy Arputharaj; producer Aashish Singh and director/producer Mrighdeep Singh Lamba. The session was moderated by AnimationXpress founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil NM Wanvari.
Virtual production that has been gaining momentum in India since the covid pandemic broke out, has opened innumerable doors of possibilities for filmmakers. In a session Virtual Production – On Stage Insights, Annapurna Studios’ chief technical officer CV Rao and virtual cinematographer Jagadeesh Bommisetti explained the world of virtual production through various case studies of projects completed by the studio.
This year at VAM Summit, Invest India VP and Film Facilitation Office head Shruti Rajkumar highlighted the incentives that the Indian government provides for films and co-productions in the session Demystifying India’s VFX and Animation Incentives.
Followed by this was a session by Goodbye Kansas on the overview of the studio’s multishot pipeline based on USD. The company’s technology head Erik Johansson touched upon using tools such as Solaris and VRay to make the experience smooth for artists, spending less time on shot handling and more on creative choices, developments towards realtime technologies and using nix for development environments.
In the session Top Technology Trends and Micron Innovations Powering M&E Industry, Micron Technology senior manager, field applications engineer Rohit Sharma gave an overview of the company’s products and their applications.
Post this, the audience witnessed one of the most awaited sessions – Making of Ayalaan by PhantomFX. PhantomFX’s CGI (India) head Anish Sreedhar and senior creative head Asif Bhushan took everyone through the visual effects breakdown, offering a glimpse into the world of aliens in the Tamil-language science fiction film Ayalaan.
Under the Harnessing Autodesk’s Creative Suite segment, NY VFXWAALA and 88 Pictures presented their projects and explained how Autodesk aided in their work. NY VFXWAALA senior VFX supervisor Sanjiv Naik showcased his studio’s showreel, and 88 Pictures’ co-founder & chief operating officer Aby John and creative director of VFX Rajeev Rajasekharan showcased the making of the film Crakk.
Throwing light on the cohesive coordination between the producers, VFX supervisors and cinematographers, the panel Crafting Cinematic Brilliance: Synergy Between DOPs and VFX Supervisors brought brilliant minds under one roof to highlight how the DOPs and VFX Supervisors work in tandem to bring out the best in filmmaking. The speakers were: philmCGI managing director Arpan Gaglani; producer and DOP Aseem Bajaj; director of photography Gautami Vegiraju; ReDefine VFX supervisor Bhanu Prakash and Excel Entertainment VFX head and VFX producer Dr Rajeev Rastogi. The session was moderated by DNEG studio head (India) head A R Seshaprasad.
In the Masterclass on Colour Correction and DI, Cinema Salone senior colourist Sreekumar Nair broke down the process of colour correction and digital intermediate, and stressed the importance aspects of the work.
In a forward-looking take on the Indian visual effects industry, the panel Innovations Shaping Tomorrow’s Post-Production & VFX Landscape comprised industry leaders from diverse sectors such as storage, display screens, software tools, and VFX studios come together to discuss the latest advancements and emerging trends. The speakers included Disk Archive Corporation co-founder & CEO Alan Hoggarth; Micron Technology’s Sharma; Autodesk India & SAARC, M&E technical solutions manager Samit Shetty and Goodbye Kansas managing director Chris Jestico. The moderator for the session was Paperboat Design Studios & Occult VFX Studios co-founder/director Aashish Mall.
At VAM Summit 2024, Ajay Devgn’s award-winning initiative NY VFXWAALA and acclaimed Swedish studio Goodbye Kansas Studio officially launched its partnership and joint venture – GBK India. The teams of both the companies stepped on stage for ribbon-cutting, and Goodbye Kansas chairman of the board Per-Anders shared his thoughts on the Indian VFX industry and his experience so far in India.
VAM Summit 2024 concluded with the prestigious VAM Awards which honours and recognises the magic of the creators behind the immersive and awe-inspiring visuals.
VAM Summit and Awards 2024 was organised on 2 and 3 May at Nesco, Goregaon in Mumbai. It was co-powered by Adobe and Autodesk. This year’s Networking Partner was Goodbye Kansas and NY VFXWAALA; Gold Partners were ARK, Autodesk, Epic Games, Foundry, Zeiss; Associate Partner was Synology; Lanyard & Badges Partners were Basilic Fly Studio and Micron, Industry Partners were Benq, Disk Archive, 88 Pictures, Hoop VFX, Famous Studios, Annapurna Studios, PhantomFX, White Apple Studios and Huion. The Outdoor Partner was Signpost India while LED partner was Absen. The community partners were Diva, IFTPC, IWCC, VEGAS, VES India, WICA and TVAGA.
Also read: VFX and More (VAM) Summit & Awards 2024 honours champions of Indian VFX industry; here is the list