ParisFX's sixth edition welcomes speakers including Nicolas Duval, Angela Barson

 The sixth edition of ParisFX, the Film Commission of Ile de France’s annual two-day conference devoted to the special effects industry, kicked off in Enghien-les-Bains just outside Paris on Monday.

The morning sessions focused on upcoming French talent with Point Moov, a collective of young sound and visual effects designers, and La Cour des Miracles, an agency focused on the artistic direction of special effects, giving presentations.

Filmmaker Nicolas Duval spoke about his plans to adapt renowned cartoon artist Régis Loisel’s very personal interpretation of J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan to the big screen. A preliminary short film pilot has already prompted buzz on the Internet and at fantasy film festivals.

International speakers included Lucy Ainsworth-Taylor and Angela Barson of Blue Bolt Studios to talk about its work on Great Expectations and Game of Thrones.

Cinesite’s Jon Neill talked about the studios work on Skyfall. Double Negative was due to present a study entitled “The best effects are the discrete ones” on Monday afternoon.

Highlights of Tuesday’s programme include a talk by Argentine director Juan Solanas about his sci-fi romance Upside Down, starring Jim Sturgess and Kirsten Dunst as lovers living in different universes.

There were will also be sessions on the making of Laurent Tirard’s Asterix and Obelix: in Britain 3D from French special effects specialists MacGuff, Golaem and Mikros Image.

Nicolas Rey and Cedric Fayolle of Mikros Image were also due to talk about their work on Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone to transform Marion Cotillard’s legs into stumps, a process they started working on at an early stage of the film’s development,

From the UK, Matthew Bristowe, joint managing director of Prime Focus, will discuss working with Tim Burton for the 3D version of Frankenweenie, and how the format was used to heighten the emotions in the film.

Also from Prime Focus, senior VFX supervisor Jon Thum will reveal how special effects and 3D were integrated into the making of Peter Travis’ Dredd from the start.

Lionel Fages and Nicolas Deveaux of French company Cube Creative were also due to present the 3D short 5,80 metres, featuring giraffes training in an Olympic sized training pool.

The event is a joint venture between the Film Commission of Ile de France and the Editions Larivière with support from the Region Ile de France and the City of Paris.

The Centre des Arts in the City of Enghien-les-Bains is a digital specialist site and was selected by the European Commission to coordinate the project Digital Mobility for Arts and Europe. The centre offers an auditorium, exhibition area and several high-tech facilities.