As of: February 7, 2024, 6:50 p.m
By: Jörg Domke
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177 km from Cuba to Florida: Scene from the film “Nyad”, in which Hohenlindener Korbinian Meier also took part.
He and his team are nominated for a kind of “film technology Oscar”.
Soon we're going to Hollywood.
© Liz Parkinson/netflix
Korbinian Meier put a year of work into a two-minute film sequence.
The effort was worth it: for a spectacular storm scene in a Netflix drama, the Hohenlinden native is nominated for an award that is considered the “Film Technology Oscar”.
The flight to Hollywood on February 18th is booked.
Hohenlinden/Hollywood
– At the moment, Korbinian Meier from the Hohenlinden district of Birkach only seems to have one problem: which suit, or perhaps traditional jacket and leather trousers, should he wear when he is in the spotlight on February 21st at the world-famous Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles will stand?
Where the “Golden Globes” are awarded to world stars every year.
Meier (43), along with some colleagues from his Grünwald company “ScanlineVFX”, is nominated for a prize that is intended for filmmakers who create special effects in film and television productions – a good 3,400 specialists from over 35 countries.
Specialty in water effects: Thanks to Netflix, all the way to Hollywood
Everyone knows the “Oscars”, presented in Los Angeles.
The “Golden Globes” for outstanding cinema films and TV productions in Hollywood as well.
The “VES Award” is less in focus: VES stands for Visual Effects Society – a society for visual effects in film productions.
At the 22nd edition of their film award, possibly also to someone from Hohenlinden.
To Korbi Meier, whose professional work the EZ reported on in 2018 under the title “Tsunami Man”.
Because Meier's specialty is water effects.
This is where the magic happens: Korbinian Meier in his study at home in Birkach.
© jödo
Whether the prize goes to him and his colleagues is still a secret.
After all, he had to send his name to the jury as a WhatsApp voice message to demonstrate the correct pronunciation.
The competition in its category “Outstanding effects simulations in a photoreal feature” (there are 25 categories in total) is fierce: the young films “Napoleon”, “The Creator” and “The Nun 2” are tough competitors.
Meier and Co. are starting the Netflix film “Nyad: Stormy Waters”.
It is about the long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad (played by Annette Bening), who, at the age of 60, decides to swim the 177 kilometer long ocean route between Cuba and Florida with the help of her friend and trainer (Jodie Foster).
The storm scene from the pool wasn't real enough: the "tsunami man" has to take action
According to Meier, many breathtaking scenes were filmed in a special outdoor swimming pool with wave generators, artificial rain, etc.
Also a nighttime storm sequence.
But the director was not satisfied with the result.
So Meier and Co. were given the task of producing a sequence on the PC that was between two and three minutes long, which “only” had two goals: Everything should look as real as possible.
And the waves and everything around them had to come across as spectacularly as the director had dreamed of.
What followed was a good year of work, most of which Meier was able to do from home.
This can mean spending days working on a single wave or head of foam.
Even though there is currently a sub-par internet connection in Birkach, every day he connects directly to a high-performance computer in Vancouver, Canada, from his study.
“In order to create the desired water effects, unimaginably large amounts of data are essential,” he explains.
The connection was so good that there were practically no technical delays.
(By the way: Everything from the region is now also available in our regular Ebersberg newsletter.)
Special Effects: AI could revolutionize the industry
When it comes to cinematic special effects, he explains, the classic “Lord of the Rings” was once a first milestone, and the film “Avatar” marks a further development step for him.
The company “ScanlineVFX”, which he has been a member of for 17 years, has particularly shone through several Bully Herbig films.
But “Pirates of the Caribbean” with Johnny Depp is also one of the references.
In many cases it is hardly noticeable that a sea battle was designed exclusively on the PC.
But the next development steps are already just around the corner.
Artificial intelligence recently made it possible to make Harrison Ford look as young as he used to in the latest “Indiana Jones”.
AI, says Meier, will certainly make many things easier and faster in the future, but as a side effect it also threatens jobs in his industry.
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