Press Release #2

For immediate publication

FMX 2025
Film & Media Exchange
On Site May 6 to 9, 2025
On Demand May 10 to June 10

Stuttgart/Germany, November 26, 2024. FMX has released the trailer for next year's conference. It reflects the 2025 Theme RHYTHM OF CHANGE. Young motion designers have created it at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

With their interdisciplinary approach, motion designers display a bouquet of skills essential for contemporary media creation. Director Samuel Lewek and his team will present their work at FMX 2025, taking place On Site in Stuttgart, Germany, from May 6 to 9, 2025.

"I've been lucky enough to meet this amazing community of people", says Samuel, curator of the Motion Design track at FMX 2024. "I had many inspiring conversations and I'm very happy that we as a team can contribute the trailer and be a part of FMX again."

FMX is happy to announce its first program confirmation: Pixomondo will deliver a presentation of their visual effects work in the series "House of the Dragon".

The FMX 2025 key visual originates from the Trailer. © Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

Creatures finding their groove

The trailer "Dancing In Norms" (DIN) corresponds with the FMX 2025 theme RHYTHM OF CHANGE. A group of isolated creatures come together by dancing to a rhythm.

“DIN” was Samuel Lewek's graduation project. "We motion designers, animators and VFX artists alway sit in front of computers", he states. "That was the impetus for me to deal with the standardization of movements. Animation has a lot to do with dancing, it's an extreme stylization of movements, you shape them aesthetically.”

Three of the creatures featured in the FMX trailer. © Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg

The production of "DIN"

Designer chairs served as models for shaping the creatures. "We asked ourselves: How far can we abstract movement and still feel a sense of humanity?” explains Samuel.

He developed the movements with a dancer in a motion capture setup. “We were lucky enough to have the motion capture stage of the Animationsinstitut at Filmakademie at our disposal for a day", says the recent graduate. They also gave us a lot of technical support. Shoots like this are normally almost impossible to finance."

Paul’s techniques for photogrammetry, HDR imaging, image-based lighting, and photoreal digital actors have been used to create key visual effects sequences in "Matrix", "Spider-Man 2", "Benjamin Button", "Avatar", "Gravity", "Oblivion", "Maleficent", "Furious 7", "Blade Runner: 2049", "Gemini Man", "Free Guy", and numerous video games.

Motion Designers are jacks-of-all-trades. "It's a very diverse interplay of design, music, editing, VFX and animation", says Samuel. "Art direction and abstract storytelling play a major role. We are generalists, we can do a bit of everything."

First program confirmation: "House of the Dragon"

Pixomondo (PXO), the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning VFX and Virtual Production studio, presents an exclusive panel delving into the HPA Award-winning series "House of the Dragon", Season 2.

Moderated by Ian Failes (befores & afters), the panel features PXO’s expert crew and the series' filmmakers as they break down the process of bringing Westeros to life.

From previsualization during pre-production to advanced technical setups, virtual production supervision, and crafting the final pixel-perfect visuals, this discussion promises a comprehensive look at the cutting-edge techniques behind the fiery spectacle.

More confirmations will follow soon!