Green projects at FMX 2023

At the 27th FMX – Film & Media Exchange, that takes place during the International Animation Festival Stuttgart (ITFS) in Stuttgart from April 25. to 28. April, the  environment and climate protection are an issue in various projects as well as in the production of the event for the first time. In the media and entertainment industry sustainability is tackled by green storytelling as as well as in the film production process. The FMX presents several projecs and processes hat are dealing with the requirements of the climate crisis.

 

The producer Philipp Nägelsbach presents the award-winning game Endling – Extinction is Forever that is raising awareness for social and ecological problems in nature that are caused by humans.  Games fans can experience directly from the perspective of the last fox mother on earth how difficult it is to find food and a save place for her young.  Philipp Nägelsbach will talk about his approach to tackle problems from the real world in an emotional way in the games universe.

 

The plastic polluion of the ocean is the subject  of this year’s FMX trailer,which is based on the animated short film The Beauty by Pascal Schelbli. In this poetic journey through a fascinating underwater world with beautiful coral reefs in mysterious depths of the ocean, plastic and nature become one.  The graduate of the Film Academy Baden-Württemberg received several international awards for his 2019 produced short film such as  the Student Academy Award in the category Animation International, a Siggraph Jury’s Choice Award as well as a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in A Student Project. At the FMX, the Director, VFX Supervisor, Producer and Creature TD talk about the underwater shooting, the concept and the detailed VFX workflow of the production.

In order to raise awareness  around major climate-related issues Yannis Konstantinidis created the WWF series A Flammable Planet/Can’t Negoiate the Melting. In his presentationhe will point out how he animated real ice for Can’t Negoiate the Melting and had to control real fire for A Flammable Planet in order to communicate these difficult messages.

 

In regards to the carbon footprint of the production of animated film the enbergy use plays a key role. At the discussion ‘Evolving Research & Technology for a Minimized Footprint’, Volker Helzle, Animationsinstitut der Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg, Michael McKenna, Final Pixel, Prof. Jan Adamczyk, Hochschule der Medien and Ben Kent, Foundry, speak about technological innovations that may enable sustainabe media productions  in the age of increasing processing power and rising energy costs. They will also discuss in which way sustainability will become part of the curriculum for the next generation of creatives and what kind of requirements VFX service companies and animation studios have to face in the future.

 

Virtual production is also an issue at FMX. The event ‘Virtual Production & Sustainability: Protecting the Environment’ features how virtual production techniques may have an significant impact to reduce carbon emissions versus  traditional shooting techniques.

 

For the first time, the FMX took first steps to produce the event more eco-friendly. A huge impact has that the event location can easily be reached by travelling with public transportation. In order to inspire the visitors to come there by train, visitors received a discount for train tickets. The accomodation of guest is located in walking distance. The event location is powered with renewables. Sustainable procurement was a criteria for catering as well as the purchase of materials. Half of the catering is vegan or vegetarian, palm oil products are banned and endangered fish species won’t be served either. Last but not least, packaging and  single-use plastic is avoided.

 

Photos: © HandyGames and Herobeat Studios, Hannes Rall Susanne Marschall 2023,  Hannes Rall Nanyang Technological University