SXSWORLD

Visual Fundamentals Panels Focus on the Art of Filmmaking By RW Deutsch fundamentals." The first, "Directing a Great Film by Storyboarding with Stick T his year's SXSW Film registrants can come away with something other than fond movie memories: new tricks, techniques and tools to help them become better film- makers. SXSW is offering five panels focusing on "visual Figures," promises to enhance both storyboarding and film composi- tion techniques. A lighting seminar, "Cinematography for Improvised Films: Lighting the Unknown," will offer solutions for shooting on the fly in live and uncontrollable locations. "Floating Heads are Dead: Why Traditional Posters Suck" will focus on how to create more memorable and exciting film posters. Designer Karin Fong will lead a session on her craft, entitled "First Impressions: The Art of Main Title Design." And finally, there will be "Blow Something Up! Live Action Special Effects," led by Steve Wolf, a local Austin stunt and special effects coordinator. one of the judges for the competition. "I think good title design will get the audience into the right mind set and emotionally set them up for whatever the story is that is about to unfold," she explains. "It's kind of like the curtain rising and we're entering the world of the movie. A way to get you into the bigger picture, setting the mood." Fong began her career as a child, making Super8 animated films for In addition to moderating the seminar on title design, Fong is also her mother, who was a 3rd Grade teacher. After studying art and design at Yale, she began creating interstitials for the WGBH children's televi- sion series, Where in the World is Carmen Santiago? In 1994, she joined R/Greenberg Associates (which later spun off to become Imaginary Forces) as a designer. There, she has worked on a wide range of projects in fashion, entertainment and advertising, directing live-action, creating film logo identities and commercials, and even multimedia production for an opera. However, she is primarily known for her title design work on such films as The Truman Show, The From left: Karin Fong of Imaginary Forces; two examples of Steve Wolf's special effects: MovieSnow and an explosion from James Cameron's Expedition: Bismarck. "As a filmmaker, would you rather stare at the back of a code-jockey for two weeks while he animates an explosion?" asks Wolf. "Or would you rather yell, 'Fire In The Hole! 3... 2... 1... ACTION!!!' and then see your pyro crew push a button and blow something all to hell in a fiery, smoky, ear-cracking blast of destruction?" During his session, Wolf will demonstrate some of those "ear- cracking" effects. "You'll get to see things blown up. And there's likely to be something on fire ... probably me," he jokes. Wolf holds a record for "the most explosives safely fired on a person's body." Seriously though, he notes, attendees will gain "an appreciation of the simple science that makes it all possible, and keeps it safe. I define my work at 'Safely using Science to create the illusion of danger.'" Also new this year is the first annual Excellence in Title Design Competition, which extends SXSW's interest in honoring film design beyond the already established Film Poster Competition. During the title design competition, a team of judges will review entries from around the world, which can include any title sequence that exists as part of a completed film finished in 2009 or later. 28 SXSW ORLD / F EBRUAR Y 2010 Cat in the Hat, Hellboy, Ray and most recently, Terminator 4: Salvation. "It's more than just putting white type over a scene," she explains. "I makers, but also a wider audience: "One of the interesting things of titles is that it is often a mixed media approach and can be a fertile ground for exploring the sort of hybrid visuals – combining live action with animation, computer visuals. Graphic designers should come. Musicians – having the right title design theme is crucial. Often song lyrics can ironically comment on the visuals. Everyone." So whether you want to learn to set a mood or an explosive, this try to find an idea that is both emotionally relevant or clever that might encapsulate the story. The titles can be a metaphor for the whole film and encapsulate a lot of the bigger themes. And often it's finding what is that theme and how you can foreshadow those bigger themes." At her seminar, she hopes her audience will include not only film- year's seminars at SXSW offer some educational and "ear-cracking" experiences. n Go to my.sxsw.com for the complete schedule of Visual Fundamentals panels. COURTESY OF STEVE WOLF COURTESY OF STEVE WOLF

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