ED KRAMER’s vacation across the beautiful countrysides of Ireland and Northern Ireland concluded with two panel appearances at this year’s WorldCon, held at the The Convention Centre in Dublin Ireland on Sunday, 18 August. Ed appeared first on “The Golden Age of Animated Science Fiction” then later that day on “Tales From the World of VFX” (pictured above.) WorldCon is the world’s leading conference on Science Fiction, and is where the Hugo Awards are presented each year. Ed was fortunate to attend the Hugo presentations, the science fiction world’s equivalent of the Academy Awards for movies.
Ed shared the stage at his first panel with authors Eliza Chan @elizawchan and Mari Ness @mari_ness and New York Times columnist and Hugo Award winner Amal El-Mohtar @tithenai. Topics ranged from defining “animation” in the age of CGI, to issues of inclusion and diversity in animated productions and the animation workforce. Ed’s former co-worker from ILM Katrina Stovold @questionsandtea was in the audience and had a cameo appearance to discuss her current Ph.D. research on the topic. All presenters had an opportunity to muse about what the “Golden Age of Animated SF” meant to them, and to give their personal recommendations of animation not to be missed!
In his second session, Ed shared the stage with author, concept artist and current Industrial Light & Magic supervisor Gregory Norman Bossert, and practical VFX artist Norman Cates from Weta Digital, who will also serve as co-chair of next year’s WorldCon in New Zealand. The panel was hosted by Ireland’s own CGI wizard James Brophy ( @jamesbrophy on instagram ). All panelists shared some of their funniest – and most painful – stories from their careers doing VFX for science fiction films. Ed shared his experiences at Industrial Light & Magic supervising the scarab shots from The Mummy (1999) and the Rock Monster shots from Galaxy Quest (1999), which were both big fan favorites among the WorldCon audience. Ed also shared information about his in-progress Wizards of Hollywood documentary. www.WizardsofHollywood.com
Ed Kramer hosts a YouTube Channel about CGI History, and has posted three videos of his Irish experience featuring photos and videos of the spectacular countryside intercut with footage from his Dublin WoldCon panels. Don’t miss the third video, including a chat with Belfast’s CGI wizard Greg Maguire plus a rare glimpse of Northern Irish shooting locations for Game of Thrones, including the spectacular carvings of the Doors of Thrones scattered at “secret” pubs and inns throughout the North! @GoTTerritory @DoorsofThrones
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNq49gUJxfI