Culture & Education | Saturday 13 May, 2017 1:42 pm |

 

More than 2,000 cinema enthusiasts walked through the doors of Expo Centre Sharjah in the past two days, eager to find out how special effects aids the production of the highest-grossing movies. In an unprecedented effort in the UAE, the Sharjah-based media arts organisation, FUNN, successfully concluded its two-day Special Effects (SFX) event that served to ignite young minds with curiosity and learn more about CGI, camera trickery, 3D animation and more.

 

The exhibition was sprinkled with awe-inspiring cinematic thrills where visitors lived through several action movie scenarios, suspended from a car stuck within the crevasses of mountains, or as forensics experts at a crime scene. They were chased by bats as they raced through a dingy tunnel on a mine cart, and dodged the walking dead as they escaped the zombie apocalypse. Not only that, but they were also physically experiencing the four seasons within a span of minutes.  

 

“The event achieved its purpose by providing a platform for children and young adults to enjoy themselves and learn at the same time. They saw it as a great opportunity to be exposed to different techniques used to produce successful movies. From a larger perspective, FUNN saw this event as another step forward in nurturing a love of art and cinema among the nation’s youth, which are the most novel forms of expressing creativity known to humankind,” said Sheikha Jawaher Bint Abdullah Al Qassimi, Director of FUNN and Sharjah International Children’s Film Festival (SICFF).

 

SFX was hosted in conjunction with Sharjah TV (Media Sponsor), SAE Institute (Educational Partner), Nikon (Exclusive Imaging Partner), Al Shuala Media (Support Sponsor) and Expo Centre Sharjah (Support Sponsor). The event forms part of the organisation’s strategy to nurture a generation of creative artists in media and film.

 

FUNN aims to nurture a future generation of creative artists in media and film, and promotes new media works and films made by children and young filmmakers of the UAE at international film festivals, and conferences worldwide. Their larger goal is to foster talent through these festivals, conferences and workshops locally and internationally, and form a close-knit network of talented young people who can share experiences and expertise on a global scale.