The Visual Effects Society (VES) announced its lineup of presenters and projects for the 8th annual Visual Effects Festival, now scheduled July 6-8 at the famed Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, California.

"We are exceptionally thrilled with the high caliber of events for our Festival this year," said Eric Roth, VES exec director. "The Festival committee has put together an incredible lineup of artists and panels. We're certain that fans and students of visual effects will be just as interested as veteran industry artists and VES members. Because the Festival has grown year after year, we needed to find a larger space and we're excited that the historic Egyptian Theatre was available."

A variety of topics and techniques will be the subject of11 different events. Technical and artistic looks behind-the-scenes of this summer's blockbuster releases, including THE DA VINCI CODE, X MEN: THE LAST STAND, SUPERMAN RETURNS and CARS will be featured, along with a special advance screening of MONSTER HOUSE. Industry veterans and multiple Oscar winners such as Dennis Muren will look at the art of visual effects animation. A retrospective of ALIENS will also be included during the festivities.

For the first time, the VES Festival of Visual Effects will include an all-access and ongoing showcase of international, experimental, animated and student film works during the Festival's three-day schedule. This will be presented in the Egyptian's smaller screening room, the Steven Spielberg Theatre. The entry area of the Egyptian will be transformed into the Festival Courtyard and will feature vfx and entertainment industry vendors, special displays, and a Hospitality Tent.

The Lloyd E. Rigler Theatre Activities:

July 6

* Virtual vs. Real Sets: Combining Production Design with Visual Effects 12:00 – 1:30 pm

Some branches of visual effects are direct offshoots from the art department. From the earliest Norman Dawn matte paintings and the first movie miniatures, effects artists realized those visions of the production designer that were too difficult to shoot on location (if they existed at all), or were too large in scale, or too expensive or impractical to build. The panel of distinguished production designers will discuss and demonstrate the evolving, overlapping (and occasionally conflicting) relationship between designers and effects artists in their own films and in movies generally. Panelists: production designers Jim Bissel, Jack DeGovia, Rick Heinrichs, Alex McDowell, Alan Munro, John Myhre and Jeanine Oppewall.

* VFX Without Borders: A Look Around the World at International Effects 2:30 – 4:00 pm

Visual effects are an international art form. All around the world artists are not only harnessing the power of state-of-the-art digital technologies but embracing the time-honored techniques of miniatures, puppetry and painting while creating dynamic effects for their local markets — be it film, broadcast, music videos, commercials or games. As The Visual Effects Society exists to serve and celebrate the global scope of visual effects, the festival will feature a panel of international practitioners who will discuss the challenges, unique perspectives and techniques that individual markets engender. Samples of their work and from other international artists and effects facilities will be screened with an emphasis on local market production.

* Looking Ahead at the Future of Visual Effects Tools
5:00 – 6:30 pm

What’s on your technology radar? From hardware to software, this panel will dive into expected (and maybe not so expected) changes in visual effects tools over the next five years. Hear from some of the leading technologists on issues like pipeline management of multi-vendor data, environmental tools and changes in end format. This program is a must for the VFX professional who wants to stay ahead of the curve.

July 7

* Invisible Effects: THE DA VINCI CODE & CASANOVA
12:00 – 1:30 pm

How does a filmmaker capture a location that is inaccessible or one that hasn't existed for hundreds, even thousands of years? Invisible effects in films have been around for as long as filmmakers' have had imagination. And now with digital technologies, it's often hard for even seasoned veterans to decipher what is real and what is not. This panel will take an in-depth look at two recent films that have recreated eras and locales not accessible to their filmmakers. Many of THE DA VINCI CODE'S historical and contemporary locales were innovatively re-created by “invisible” wizards from the U.K., and CASANOVA'S' romantic time period set in Venice created its own series of challenges for its artists. Join us in going behind-the-scenes of the latest in state-of-the-art seamless effects.

* The Challenges of Creating X-MEN THE LAST STAND
2:30 - 4:00 pm

The VFX team on the latest X-MEN franchise discusses the challenges of working on a tight schedule and with various VFX houses on three different continents. Panelists: John Bruno, vfx supervisor; John “DJ” Des Jardin, vfx supervisor; Ian Hunter, vfx supervisor, New Deal Studios; and Kurt William, vfx producer.

* POSEIDON – A World Turned Upside Down
5:00 – 6:30 pm

More than 30 years after it was fashionable to be seen in a disaster film, Warner Bros. returns this summer to a world turned upside down with Wolfgang Petersen's POSEIDON. Following the tradition of casting a who's who of actors in the film, vfx supervisor Boyd Shermis turned to multiple sources on two continents (including ILM, Moving Picture Co., CIS and Giant Killer Robots) to produce more than 500 shots. Bring your snorkel and swim fins as we go off the deep end with the summer's biggest disaster film.

* A Look Back at ALIENS – 20 Years Later
7:30 - 9:00 pm

In recognition of the 20th anniversary of the release of the science fiction action classic ALIENS, this retrospective panel will look back at the ground breaking visual effects and animatronic creations for the James Cameron sequel to Ridley Scott's ALIEN. The visual effects team, headed by Robert and Dennis Skotak and creature supervisor Stan Winston received an Academy Award for their work on the film in 1987. Panelists: Alec Gillis, creature fabricator, Stan Winston Studio; Shane Mahan, shop foreman, Stan Winston Studio; Pat McClung, vfx miniature supervisor; Dennis Skotak, vfx co-supervisor and dp; and Robert Skotak, vfx supervisor.

July 8

* Creating Life One Frame at a Time: The Art of VFX Animation
10:00 -11:30 am

Digital techniques have overtaken the roles once played by cell and stop motion animation as visual effects tools, though they continue to flourish as filmmaking techniques. To a lesser degree, animated digital models have supplanted traditional miniatures. An all-star panel of prominent animators and effects supervisors with decades of experience on both sides of the digital revolution will talk about their own work then and now, and the sometimes unexpected consequences. A special demonstration will complement the discussion. Panelists: Steve Chiodo, Randy Cook and Dennis Muren, senior visual effects supervisor, ILM.

* Life in the Fast Lane: The Animated World of CARS
12:30 - 2:00 pm

The masterful storytellers and technical wizards at Pixar Animation Studios and director John Lasseter hit the road with a fast-paced comedy adventure set inside the world of cars. Come hear how the team blended together plenty of humor, action, heartfelt drama and amazing new technical feats.

* Creating Super Effects on a TV Budget: It’s a Big Job at SMALLVILLE
3:00 - 4:30 pm

With more than 100 episodes aired spanning more than five seasons, the Warner Bros. television series SMALLVILLE has achieved a remarkably mature status for an episodic drama based on the teenage adventures of Clark Kent, before he assumes the alter ego of Superman. During the past four seasons, Entity FX created the visual effects that in a large part drive the show. Join the producers of “Smallville” and the staff of Entity as they explain and demonstrate what makes visual effects production of a weekly network series a unique challenge. The panel will focus on how the Entity team spurred a creative evolution by developing a strategy to achieve economic production and how that strategy helped to overcome the artistic, budgetary and time limitations common to television production. Panelists: Mat Beck, Kymber Lim, Ken Horton, John Wash.

* Bringing a Super Hero Back to Life: SUPERMAN RETURNS
5:30- 7:00 pm

Academy Award-winning vfx supervisor Mark Stetson and his VFX team will discuss how they used modern techniques to bring this cultural icon back to life. With multiple VFX vendors and budgetary concerns the challenges included not only how to make a man fly again but how to create a movie that will soar above this year’s summer blockbuster competition. Panelist: Stetson, vfx supervisor.

* Special Advance Screening of MONSTER HOUSE
8:00 pm – For Pass and Invitation Holders Only

The team behind THE POLAR EXPRESS has created another hybrid animated thrill-ride utilizing performance capture techniques about three kids who battle a mysterious house. Directed by Gil Kenan, the film features the CG work of Sony Pictures Imageworks.

The 2006 VES Festival of Visual Effects will be open to the public. For more info, go to the official website for the 2006 VES Festival of Visual Effects, www.visualeffectssociety.com, or contact the VES office at (310) 822-9181 or info@visualeffectssociety.com.

One of Hollywood's youngest organizations, the VES was formed in 1997 in response to the explosive growth in the visual effects industry. It is a professional, honorary society, dedicated to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of visual effects and to improving the welfare of its members by providing professional enrichment and education, fostering community, and promoting industry recognition. The VES is the entertainment industry's only organization representing the full breadth of visual effects practitioners including artists, technologists, model makers, educators, studio leaders, supervisors, PR/marketing specialists and producers in all areas of entertainment from film, television and commercials to music videos and games. Comprised of a diverse group of about 1,400 global members, the VES strives to enrich and educate its own members and members of the entertainment community at large through a multitude of domestic and international events, screenings and programs.