Panel Discussion: Animal Magic!
Bristol Megascreen at Bristol Aquarium, Anchor Road,Bristol UK, BS1 5TT
Saturday 30 November, 14:00 (GMT)
£8.50 / £5 Concessions, plus 10% booking fee
Join us for an engaging conversation chaired by BBC Free Thinking’s Matthew Sweet. This illustrated panel will explore the world of animals in cinema, spotlighting Cary Grant’s work with animals in films like Monkey Business, Bringing Up Baby, and The Awful Truth. Experts Michael Lawrence from the University of Sussex and VFX Supervisor Theo Jones from Framestore will discuss the evolution of VFX in depicting animals on screen, from early practical effects to today’s sophisticated CGI.
We’ll explore how modern techniques would handle classic scenes, showcasing Framestore’s recent creature work alongside early VFX solutions. This event will also address the outdated practices and ethical considerations of using real animals in films, reflecting on how digital technologies are reshaping our relationship with them.
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This event follows a screening of I’m No Angel, where Mae West stars as a lion tamer, and leads into our showings of Monkey Business, featuring a chimpanzee, and Bringing Up Baby, with leopards Nissa and Princess.
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We’ll spotlight leopard trainer and stuntwoman Olga Celeste, and delve into the visual effects of Bringing Up Baby, including Cary Grant’s fear of the leopard and Katharine Hepburn’s contrasting fearlessness. Additionally, we’ll discuss Asta the dog’s roles in both Bringing Up Baby and The Awful Truth.
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This event is perfect for film and VFX enthusiasts, offering insights into the evolution of animal representation in cinema and the ethical implications of these practices. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to learn from industry experts and experience a blend of classic and contemporary filmmaking techniques!
£8.50 / £5 Concessions, plus 10% booking fee
Our distinguished panel includes:
 Dr Matthew Sweet is author of Inventing the Victorians (2001), Shepperton Babylon (2005) and The West End Front (2011). A familiar voice in British broadcasting, he presents Free Thinking and Sound of Cinema on BBC Radio 3 and The Philosopher’s Arms on BBC Radio 4. He has judged the Costa Book Award, edited The Woman in White for Penguin Classics and was Series Consultant on the Showtime/Sky Atlantic series Penny Dreadful. In the BBC2 drama An Adventure in Space and Time he played a moth from the planet Vortis. His most recent book Operation Chaos: The Vietnam Deserters Who Fought the CIA, the Brainwashers and Themselves (2018) is published by Picador. @DrMatthewSweet
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 Dr Michael Lawrence is a Reader in Film Studies at the University of Sussex. Michael has published extensively on the representation of non-human animals in film and media. His first book, Sabu (2014), considered the Indian actor’s on-screen interactions and career-long associations with various animals, in particular elephants. An article on digital technologies and canine performance in contemporary films appeared in 2015. He is the co-editor of Animal Life and the Moving Image (2015) and The Zoo and Screen Media: Images of Exhibition and Encounter (2016), and is currently completing a book called Box Office Red Meat, on Hollywood’s relationship with the American cattle-beef complex.
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 Theo Jones is an Academy Award nominated Visual Effects Supervisor and has worked on some of Framestore’s most innovative and groundbreaking initiatives, his work spanning major Hollywood films to immersive experiences and highly technical research projects. His impressive list of credits include Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Paddington 2 and Disney’s Christopher Robin, for which he was nominated for the VFX Oscar. This creativity is complemented by his technical expertise which has seen him working on innovative projects such as the award-winning ‘Mars Bus’ (the world’s first group VR vehicle), the Battle for Avengers Tower VR experience and the LED overhaul of Morgan Stanley’s New York HQ. His wide-ranging experience made Theo the perfect person to lead a number of boundary-pushing R&D projects, including FUSE (a brand new real-time VFX pipeline) and several grant-funded projects exploring of AI, machine learning and deepfake technology.
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| OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION WITH LIVE MUSIC FROM THE RICHIE PARADISE TRIO |
PANEL: CARY IN MOTION CELEBRATING CARY GRANT’S PHYSICAL PROWESS |
BRINGING UP BABY WITH LIVE MUSIC FROM KEEP IT VOCAL CHOIRS & ANYA SZRETER |
Celebrating Bristol’s recent designation as a UNESCO City of Film, in recognition of the city’s vibrant screen heritage, of which Cary Grant is one of our brightest stars.