Pixomondo

Pixomondo is an Academy and Emmy award winning international visual effects company with studios in Los Angeles, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Vancouver, Beijing, Toronto, Montreal and Shanghai. The company produces visual effects for feature films, television and commercials. As of 2019, Pixomondo employs over 655 people worldwide.

Pixomondo
IndustryVisual effects
Founded2001 (2001) in Pfungstadt, Germany
FounderThilo Kuther
Headquarters
Los Angeles
,
United States
Number of locations
8 (2020)
Key people
  • Jonathan Slow (CEO)
ServicesVisual effects, CGI characters, 3D animation and pre-visualization
Number of employees
~655 (2019)
Websitepixomondo.com

History

Pixomondo was founded in Pfungstadt, Germany as a design studio in 2001 by Thilo Kuther. The company began its work creating video installations and 3D-animations for high-end corporate clients such as Porsche and Bertelsmann. By the end of 2003, Pixomondo consisted of its one office in Pfungstadt and 40 employees. In 2005, the company first began working in the entertainment business by producing the visual effects for the German television film Atlantropa - Der Traum vom neuen Kontinent. In 2005, a second location, specializing in feature films, opened in Ludwigsburg, Germany. At this location, the company produced nearly all the visual effects for the international feature film The Red Baron, which was released in 2008, and earned Pixomondo first international recognition. In the same year, the first studio abroad opened in London. In 2007 and 2008, studios were opened in Frankfurt am Main and Los Angeles, respectively. Also in 2008, Pixomondo was commissioned by director Roland Emmerich to produce over 100 complete CG-environments for his feature film 2012. Pixomondo's first offices in Asia, specifically in Shanghai and Beijing, were opened in 2009. In 2011, the company expanded its London office and added two studios in Munich and Hamburg, as well as one in Toronto in 2011.

Pixomondo closed its London office in February 2013.[1] In 2013, Pixomondo closed its Shanghai and Berlin offices, naming restructuring processes as a reason for the closures.[2] In 2014, the office in Shanghai reopened.[3] In 2018, Mayfair Equity Partners completed a majority investment in Pixomondo. The deal valued Pixomondo at $65 million.[4] Less that a year later, Jonny Slow is upped to the role of global CEO. Founder Thilo Kuther continues to serve as president and exec producer.[5] In early 2019, Pixomondo opened its Montreal office.[6]

Academy Award

On February 26, 2012, Pixomondo won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for its work on the film Hugo. The award was presented to Alex Henning and Ben Grossmann, who were the supervisors of the project. With 854 scenes that have a running time of about 62 minutes in the final film, Pixomondo produced about 94% of the films visual effects.[7] In 2014, the company earned its second Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination for its work on Star Trek Into Darkness.

Game of Thrones

Pixomondo was brought on to the HBO television series Game of Thrones in Season 2 and remained through the final season. Pixomondo VFX Supervisor Sven Martin and his team worked closely with the show's VFX group. Martin told Forbes Magazine that they wanted to depict the dragons as "living animals with just enough expressions to understand their feelings…similar to the emotional connection with pets."[8] "We started with a base model, which was established in season 1, but we went for a darker, grittier approach," Martin told Entertainment Weekly. "We did a lot of redesign, made them more spiky, even in the baby state. It was a little bit of a relaunch, but we still kept it believable for the audience."[9]

The key to grounding these mythical creatures, which do not exist in real life, was to give Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion real-world animal counterparts the audience could identify with. "The dragons were always in close contact with the actors," says Martin. "And we were shooting outside on real locations. So everything is real and not meant to be a fantasy. We wanted to transfer that."[9] Studying bird and bat anatomies influenced the dragons' wingspan design. The Pixomondo team even dissected a supermarket chicken to get a sense of how the wings could move.[10] Observing geese on the ground playing with their own wings was later emulated when the dragons were shown sitting down at ease.[11] Color patterns were gleaned from frogs and cheetas, while crocodiles, lizards and other reptiles were used for skin structure.[12]

Martin’s team met with the show's VFX Supervisor Joe Bauer at the start of each season to discuss new design elements, as the dragons were maturing and growing.[8] For example, they became more guard dog-like as they grew in to their roles as Dany's guards. When they got angry, or wanted to threaten the enemy, gills popped out of their necks. “That idea came from the fruit lizard, which does exactly the same thing, just in a different direction,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly.[9] When Danny started riding Drogon, more spikes were added to him so she'd have something to hold on to.[13]

Roland Emmerich

Pixomondo has a longstanding relationship with filmmaker Roland Emmerich, having first worked together on 2012, followed by Independence Day: Resurgence, the World War II drama Midway (which Pixomondo co-produced) and the upcoming Moonfall. Midway was among 20 films shortlisted in the Visual Effects category for the 92nd Academy Awards®. Pixomondo will also be providing the VFX and character animations in the Emmerich-produced feature film adaptation of Mozart's The Magic Flute. When Emmerich received the 2019 Visionary VES Award from the Visual Effects Society at its 18th annual awards ceremony, Pixomondo founder Thilo Kuther was among those he acknowledged from the podium.

See

On November 1st, 2019, Pixomondo was part of Apple TV+'s historic launch by providing the VFX for two series, including See and For All Mankind. The inaugural episode of See, earned Pixomondo a VES Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode which included the company's creation of the infamous rockwall sequence. To create the scene, Pixomondo first scanned the shoot location's actual hillside in British Columbia before practical photography began. According to Pixomondo VFX Supervisor Matthew Welford, the team recreated a fully CG rock wall made up of thousands of individual rocks, mud, plates and debris. FX simulation was used to accurately recreate how those rocks – which had been scanned earlier – would actually roll down the hillside. It was necessary to make sure the rocks interacted with both the world around them, and actors within the scene, to make the final shots feel as realistic as possible. The final shots consisted of CGI Rocks, digital humans, digital plants, digital debris all integrated with the live-action actors and plates shot on location.[14]

Themed Entertainment

Pixomondo’s themed entertainment division produces digital walkthrough branded experiences, flying theater rides, immersive dome installations, digital dark ride media, and concert installations. Its work can be found in New York’s Times Square attraction, National Geographic Encounters, where the company brought to life underwater ecosystems including 150 artificially intelligence-driven creatures ranging from sea lions to sharks to jellyfish via exclusive VR technology.[15] Pixomondo was part of the July 2018 launch of Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi indoor theme park by working on five themed rides including the 4D flying theater experience, Green Lantern Galactic Odyssey.[16] Pixomondo partnered with rockband Aerosmith for their Las Vegas residency, Deuces Are Wild, which kicked off on April 6, 2019.[17] Using never-before-seen visuals from Aerosmith’s archives, Pixomondo produced a 12-screen visual media presentation (including a 140-foot x 40-foot high-definition screen), complete with motion graphics, animations, stream of consciousness imagery and flashback moments of the band’s colorful past. Pixomondo also brought to life Aerosmith’s infamous "wings" logo on stage, which unfolded to signal the band’s arrival at the top of the show. Additionally, Pixomondo’s 20-minute visual media pre-show took the audience through the band’s historic journey, beginning with Woodstock all the way to the present, and included abstract imagery, as well as the iconic Aerosmith van.[18] The company's work on Aerosmith's Las Vegas Residency earned Pixomondo a 2019 Knight of Illumination Award (KOI-USA) nomination in the Best Concert Video Content category.[19]

Locations

Currently, Pixomondo has offices in the following locations:[3]

Filmography

Movies

TV shows

TV productions
  • 2005: Atlantropa - Der Traum vom neuen Kontinent
  • 2009: Vulkan
  • 2009: Crashpoint - 90 Minuten bis zum Absturz
  • 2010: Terra X: Supertiere
  • 2011: Hindenburg
  • 2012: Terra X: Supertiere 2
  • 2013: Terra X: Supertiere 3
  • 2013: Helden – Wenn dein Land dich braucht

Awards and nominations

The following list of awards and nominations for Pixomondo lists accolades that have been presented to a team containing at least one employee of Pixomondo.

Year Nominated work Award For Result
2012 Hugo Academy Award Best Visual Effects Won
VES Award Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture
International 3D Society Award Live Action 3D Feature/3D Moment of the Year for the Opening Scene / Stereography – Live Action
Satellite Award 2012 Best Visual Effects
BAFTA Film Award 2012 Special Visual Effects Nominated
Game of Thrones Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Episode "Valar Morghulis"[20]) Won
AEAF Award "Fascinating VFX Work on season two"[21] (In category TV series)
Animago Award Best Post Production (Season 2) Nominated
2013 Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Episode "Valar Dohaeris"[22]) Won
2014 VES Award Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program (Episode "Valar Dohaeris"[23])
Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Episode "The Children"[24])
2015 VES Award Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects-Driven Photoreal/Live Action Broadcast Program (Episode "The Children")
2014 Star Trek Into Darkness Academy Award Best Visual Effects Nominated
2015 Gone with the Bullets Asian Film Awards Best Visual Effects Nominated
2018 Westworld Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects(Episode "The Passanger"[25]) Nominated
2019 The Orville Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Episode "Identity Part II"[26]) Nominated
2020 See VES Awards Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode (Episode "Godflame")[27] Nominated
2020 Ich war noch niemals in New York (I've never been to New York) Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards, also called Lola Awards) Best Visual Effects and Animation[28] Nominated
2020 Berlin Alexanderplatz (2020 film) Deutscher Filmpreis (German Film Awards, also called Lola Awards) Best Visual Effects and Animation[29] Nominated
2020 Child's Play (2019 film)[30] Leo Awards[31] Best Visual Effects Motion Picture [32] Won
2020 Westworld Creative Arts Emmy Award Outstanding Special Visual Effects (Episode "Crisis Theory"[33]) Nominated
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References
  1. Roxborough, Scott (2013-02-26). "VFX Group Pixomondo Shuts Down Offices in London". Variety. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  2. Lang, Brett (2013-04-29). "Pixomondo, VFX Company for 'Oblivion,' Closes Berlin Office". The Wrap. Retrieved 2013-11-26.
  3. "Locations/Pixomondo". Pixomondo. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  4. Giardina, Carolyn (July 17, 2018). "Mayfair Makes Majority Investment in 'Game of Thrones' VFX House Pixomondo". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2020-04-19.
  5. "'Game of Thrones' VFX House Pixomondo Ups Jonny Slow to CEO". The Hollywood Reporter.
  6. VFX House Pixomondo Announces Opening of Montréal Office pixomondo.com
  7. "Oscars Guide". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-03-04.
  8. Feldman, Dana. "How To Make A 'Game Of Thrones' Dragon: A VFX Supervisor Explains". Forbes.
  9. "How to make a 'Game of Thrones' dragon". EW.com.
  10. https://www.cnet.com/news/game-of-thrones-dragons-fired-up-season-8-how-drogon-and-friends-were-made/
  11. https://www.wired.com/2013/09/hatching-dragons-from-game-of-thrones/
  12. https://www.cnet.com/news/game-of-thrones-dragons-fired-up-season-8-how-drogon-and-friends-were-made/
  13. https://www.cnet.com/news/game-of-thrones-dragons-fired-up-season-8-how-drogon-and-friends-were-made/
  14. "WATCH: Pixomondo's Avalanche Breakdown From Apple TV's 'See'". Animation World Network.
  15. https://www.livedesignonline.com/installations/pixomondo-ensures-ocean-odyssey-picture-perfect
  16. http://www.inparkmagazine.com/pixomondo-kenneth/
  17. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/aerosmith-deuces-are-wild-opens-inventive-use-immersive-sound-1199982?fbclid=IwAR1bH_Bvg2P7CxxHzmHlUexg_MSSx0ETQHEVUvBxzkGbrws9IIOEGzp0UJE
  18. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aerosmith-launches-new-las-vegas-residency-aerosmith-deuces-are-wild-rock-n-roll-meets-high-tech-for-a-sold-out-crowd-at-park-theater-at-park-mgm-saturday-april-6-300825800.html?fbclid=IwAR1gttbLVwC8Jo5h2Wm5HdV4yg4krDz9bKs2uayS0LfM5z2qScovVuxpxTg
  19. https://www.livedesignonline.com/ldi/2019-koi-usa-concert-touring-events-shortlist-announced?fbclid=IwAR3fWbfg8z5KWpIb46vQD9ZNNvWeB3DNxUuNbHkj4dGTU1EFfQmCDqjqwJ0
  20. , emmys.com, Access date: 18 September 2012
  21. , vfxfestival.com, Access date: 20 September 2012
  22. , emmys.com, Access date: 9 December 2013
  23. "PIXOMONDO Wins VES Awards for Work on Game of Thrones". Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  24. "2014 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects". Archived from the original on 11 March 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  25. "2018 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects". Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  26. "2019 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects". Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  27. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/2020-visual-effects-society-awards-nominations-full-list-1265672/item/supporting-visual-effects-a-photoreal-feature-1265777
  28. https://www.deutscher-filmpreis.de/film/ich-war-noch-niemals-in-new-york/
  29. https://www.deutscher-filmpreis.de/film/berlin-alexanderplatz/
  30. Child's Play (2019 film)
  31. Leo Awards
  32. https://secure.leoawards.com/2020/nominees_and_winners/nominees_and_winners_by_program_2020.php#Dramatic_Series
  33. https://www.emmys.com/awards/nominees-winners/2020/outstanding-special-visual-effects}}
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