1. California - Los Angeles and environs, San Diego, San Francisco and spots throughout the state
2. New York - Manhattan, the rest of New York City plus upstate locations
3. New Mexico - Albuquerque, other cities and remote areas
4. Chicago - Prototypical urban America
5. Louisiana - New Orleans, other cities and parishes

And the international locations top 5 :

1. Morocco - Cities and landscapes
2. France - Paris, Provence and the Dordogne region
3. Prague - Center of Central European filmmaking
4.  Spain - Madrid, Barcelona and the Canary Islands
5. U.K. - London, Edinburgh and elsewhere

In the honorable mentions, Sydney, Montreal and Toronto are featured for Best Production Resources. Here is what the poll had to say about Montreal :

“Montreal offers expert vfx work, spurred by tax breaks. High-profile films including The Golden Compass and Indiana Jones 4 might shoot elsewhere but still use Montreal’s talent pool for effects.”

Kudos to our good friends from Rodeo FX, who participated on both features! I can only agree when it come to foreign film shootings having its VFX produced in Montreal; it certainly represents the vast majority of our projects here at Modus.

You can read the full article here.

VFX Coordinator

• Management of information and project data;
• Client contact for project following and communications with production staff;
• Management of schedules and set deliveries;
• Knowledge of postproduction / digital effects organization;
• Billingual French and English, spoken / written;
• Team spirited and excellent communicator, both written and spoken.

Send your resume and questions to jobs@modusfx.com

Thanks and good luck!

Key duties :
- Bidding projects and script breakdowns
- Manage clients and their expectations
- Attend client and production meetings
- Work closely with the VFX, CG and Comp Supervisors
- Work closely with the coordination and project management staff
- Monitor project status and budget

Please send your resume to jobs@modusfx.com

Thanks and good luck!

Mr. Nobody is continuing its tour of international festivals, this time at Sitges 09, the 42nd Festival Internacional de Cinema Fantastic de Catalunya. The film is part of the official competition with 21 other productions, with styles ranging from horror, fantasy and sci-fi. An impressive list of movies from all over the world.

The festival is happening from October 1 to 12 in Sitges, Spain.

“The exotic creatures and visionary scientists of the Dinolab are back; in their stadium-sized laboratory, palaeontologists examine fossils while chief scientists showcase different dinosaur species by putting them through a battery of tests. “

Dinolab II is produced by QuietMotion; Jacques Bilodeau and Véronique Légaré. It is directed by Bertrand Morin, following a concept by Patrick Gray and Alexandre Lambert.

With over 20 minutes of CG creatures animation in 192 shots, it features an argentinosaurus, a group of stegosauruses, a hypacrosaurus family, a microraptor and of course a dreaded T-Rex. About 3 months were needed to deliver our shots.

Pictures below and much more material can be found at the Dinolab II site.

Sylvie Olivé, Production Designer on Mr. Nobody receiving the Golden Osella for Best Technical Contribution

Today, Modus FX announces having delivered 121 digital visual effects shots for the feature film Mr. Nobody, recipient of the Golden Osella for Best Technical Contribution at the 66th Venice International Film Festival. The film was produced by Pan-Europeenne, co-produced by Integral Film, Lago Film, Christal Films Productions and Toto & Co. Films, directed by Jaco Van Dormael, with visual effects supervision by Louis Morin. The film is also an Official Selection at this year’s Toronto Film Festival.

Despite recent slow-downs in the film industry, Quebec’s expertise in digital-effects production holds strong. All 500 visual effects shots for this sci-fi fantasy movie were produced in Quebec by Quebec companies. Modus FX was entrusted with complex sequences which could not be captured on film, involving the digital reproduction of entire cities, villages and other-worldly settings. Modus also worked on several complex transitions between the different worlds and multiple lives of Nemo Nobody.

Modus’ post-production contributions involved 37 digital artists and technicians across a six-month period. A long list of software, including Autodesk’s Softimage and Maya, Side Effects’ Houdini and The Foundry’s Nuke, and the creation of a multitude of innovative in-house tools, programs and techniques was required for the 121 shots delivered.

Co-founded by VFX industry veterans Yanick Wilisky and Marc Bourbonnais, Modus FX offers a full range of digital production services for film, television and new media. Boasting a 12,000 square-foot studio to house its team of seasoned artists, Modus FX has quickly become an industry leader, working on high-profile projects for clients and distributors such as Sony Pictures, TF1, Discovery Channel, Warner Bros. Interactive, BBC-1, and The History Channel.

Shooting in Tasmania :

Martin is on top of Wellington Park overlooking Hobart, Tasmania

Martin Pelletier, our artistic director/look developer, is currently supervising the on-set VFX of a 4-week shooting happening in Tasmania. Setting up communication schedules is not easy, with a 10-hour time difference. Combined with the hectic schedules of film shoots, you have to be ready to chat at weird hours every day… and night.

Supervision in London :

Éloi, probably looking for a good pint o’lager in London, England

Éloi Brunelle is currently in London, England in preparation of a large-scale documentary, a joint venture we are working on with the fine folks at Jellyfish Pictures. Éloi is going through some previz and special techniques for the project, getting ready for the shooting in a few weeks… in South Africa.

With all this going on, thank goodness for Skype, Flickr and Instant Messaging.

Great news; after Venice, Mr. Nobody will be present at the Toronto International Film Festival as a Special presentation!

The TIFF follows the Venice festival, from September 10-19.

… Lots of great visibility for September!

The full line up of the 66th Venice International Film Festival is up, and Mr Nobody (121 VFX shots by Modus) is in the “Venezia 66” official competition! Congrats to all our colleagues who worked on the production and digital effects.

The 66th Venice International Film Festival is organized by the Venice Biennale and will run 2nd to 12th September 2009 at Venice Lido.

“Visual-effects artists in general are treated like interchangeable parts,” Okun says, “and are not regarded as an equal to the cinematographer, the editor, the writer or the production designer.”

…and farther down :

“The perception is that visual effects are driven by really smart computers with cool buttons that make things go faster or look better,” Okun says. “There’s a lack of understanding that the process is driven by artists.” The film industry’s faster-cheaper mantra has caused “tremendous stress and strain”

You can read the full article here.

Also mentioned in the short article, the Visual Effects Society is preparing this year’s Production Summit in Los Angeles where all areas of the industry can convene to discuss the challenges they face in an effort to open communication and move the industry forward.

The VES Production Summit will take place on October 24.