The Making of "Thor: Ragnarok"

Speaker(s):
Cyndi Ochs
VFX Producer, Marvel Studios
Alexis Wajsbrot
Visual Effects Supervisor, Framestore
Chad Wiebe
Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic
Andrew Hellen
Visual Effects Supervisor, Method Studios

Summary: In Marvel Studios' "Thor: Ragnarok," Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe without his mighty hammer and finds himself in a race against time to get back to Asgard to stop Ragnarok - the destruction of his homeworld and the end of Asgardian civilization - at the hands of an all-powerful new threat, the ruthless Hela. But first he must survive a deadly gladiatorial contest that pits him against his former ally and fellow Avenger - the Incredible Hulk!

"Thor: Ragnarok" is directed by Taika Waititi and returns Chris Hemsworth starring as Thor and Tom Hiddleston reprising his role as Loki. They are joined by Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson and Karl Urban, with Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins.

Marvel Studios, Framestore, Method Studios, and Industrial Light & Magic take SIGGRAPH Asia audiences through their VFX journey as they created some of Thor: Ragnarok most heart-stopping moments.

Speaker Bios:
Cyndi Ochs, VFX Producer, Marvel Studios
Visual Effects Producer Cyndi Ochs has helped usher cutting edge visual effects to the silver screen for the past 20 years. Ochs spent 12 years at Weta Digital in Wellington, New Zealand where she held several roles including Visual Effects Producer, Head of Production and Visual Effects Executive Producer. During her time in New Zealand, Ochs was a leader in production organization for Academy Award nominated films such as The Lord of The Rings Trilogy, King Kong, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and the Jungle Book. Over the years, Ochs has also spent time on the studio side acting as Visual Effects Producer on U2-3D, Aliens in the Attic and New Zealand On-Set VFX Producer for Avatar. This is Ochs' first film with Marvel Studios.

Alexis Wajsbrot, Visual Effects Supervisor, Framestore
Alexis studied Computer Science & Arts in Paris before working for several VFX Companies in Europe. He has worked on numerous projects using Flowline for water and fire simulations plus developing a tool to populate environments with CG forests. He joined Framestore in 2009 as a Lead FX TD on Mike Newell's Prince of Persia, creating the infamous CG destruction of the 'Sand Room.'

As FX Supervisor on Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, Alexis lead the FX team's development and implementation of propriety software. This involved using Naias for massive simulations of smoke, fire, and destruction debris at very high resolutions, as well as creating a full CG underwater environment and numerous zero gravity effects. He has subsequently held the roles of CG Supervisor on Shane Black's Iron Man III and CG Supervisor on Doug Liman's Edge of Tomorrow, overseeing the creation of Framestore's biggest ever water simulations.

Alexis brings considerable technical knowledge alongside a real creative flair and love of cinema. He enjoys working on his own film projects, co-directing his acclaimed horror film Don't Hang Up, which premiered at LA Film Festival in 2016. Alexis recently headed up CG Supervision across all of Framestore's intricate work on Marvel's Academy award nominated Doctor Strange and he continued his collaboration with Marvel, holding the role of VFX Supervisor on Thor: Ragnarok.

Chad Wiebe, Visual Effects Supervisor, Industrial Light & Magic
Chad Wiebe joined Industrial Light & Magic in the fall of 2016 as a Visual Effects Supervisor. He currently works at ILM's global office in Vancouver, British Columbia. Prior to ILM, Wiebe has worked at Scanline VFX and Method Studios. His filmography includes over 30 titles, spanning over 15 years.

Wiebe began his career in Winnipeg, Manitoba at Frantic Films, currently known as Prime Focus. He spent 11 years with the company, working his way up the ladder from a generalist to Computer Graphics, and Digital Effects. Recognized for his progress, Wiebe was promoted to Visual Effects Supervisor in 2008.

With an emphasis in destruction and heavy simulation-based effects, Wiebe's work can be seen in the heavy explosion sequences from Swordfish, the slow-motion train battle inSucker Punch, and the bridge collapse sequence in Final Destination 5. Wiebe has also been recognized for his outstanding visual effects on the oil rig collapse and tornado sequences from Man of Steel. His most recent work can be seen on a number of Marvel's superhero series, including Avengers: Age of Ultron, Doctor Strange, and Thor: Ragnarok.

Andrew Hellen,Visual Effects Supervisor, Method Studios
Veteran VFX Supervisor, Commercial Director (and Fuel FX Founder) has been creating and leading teams to deliver award-winning visuals for major features, episodics, and advertising productions for nearly three decades. At Method he led teams on "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" and "Thor: Ragnarock." Previously, at Iloura, he was the VFX Supervisor on "Gods of Egypt" and "Ghostbusters," and before that, on "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," and "Iron Man 2." His commercial directing credits include spots for Wrigley's, Subaru, American Express and other top brands. Andrew's work has been recognized with AFI/Best Visual Effects, Cannes Lion, Clio, Promax BDA, Australian Effects & Animation Festival awards and other top honors.

*This session is proudly sponsored by The Foundry & AMD

Presentation Language: English