Conventional Look at Special Effects

Special-effects wizards learned the latest tricks of the trade last week at the first annual Digital Content Creation conference and exposition at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The conference, sponsored by Fairfield, Conn.-based trade magazine publisher Advanstar Communications, was geared toward the decidedly Southern California combination of technology and entertainment. The 4,000 attendees checked out the newest hardware and software systems for special effects, animation and multimedia.

Conference sessions focused on the practical application of technology, from high-definition television to motion capture techniques. Lawyers even debated the intellectual property implications of new digital broadcasts, while vendors got primers on how to sell to the new breed of high-tech artists.

But the trading of war stories was one of the most popular activities. Attendees marveled at outtakes from special-effects houses, such as Venice-based Digital Domain, which digitally transformed a Marina del Rey parking lot into Tiananmen Square for the Richard Gere flick “Red Square.”