A SPEECH delivered by hologram marked the start of this year’s BFX Festival in Bournemouth.

BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz gave the keynote talk to hundreds of students in his first holographic appearance.

Now in its sixth year, the festival features masterclasses, film screenings and industry talks by professionals across the visual effects, animation and games industries.

Although the first three days of the festival have been aimed at university students, over the weekend members of the public will be able to attend the event and experience first-hand the technology involved in creating their favourite games and movies.

BFX Festival director and Bournemouth University lecturer Sofronis Efstathiou said the theme of this year’s festival is design.

“We’ve got some of the best practitioners to come and talk about filmmaking or games making including Ed Hooks, an actor by trade who now teaches for companies like Disney and Dreamworks, and Lois Van Baarle who is a concept artist with a huge social media following.”

Commenting on some of the latest technological advances in the industry, he said: “What they’re able to do now is stuff in real-time, whether that’s virtual reality or holograms – things we couldn’t do five or six years ago.

“The games industry is certainly proliferating in certain areas faster than films,” he added.

Steph Anderson, an effects artist for Creative Assembly, gave a talk about her work in the games industry at the festival.

“It’s really nice to see the festival has expanded and trying to get people into games rather than just films or big animation,” she said.

“As an effects artist I make real-time effects, like magic spells and explosions, which work in games. The job is all about problem-solving, critical thinking and getting around challenges in a really fun way.”

She added that women were increasingly entering the traditionally male-dominated visual effects industry.

“For our company it’s definitely becoming a 50/50 male and female workforce on the arts side, however it’s less so in programming and that obviously needs to change.”

Visitors to the family weekend of the festival can book a range of workshops including digital clay sculpting, Minecraft scripting, animation and coding.

Other activities include floor robots, pixel art, and an exclusive Ralph Breaks the Internet art exhibition provided by Disney Animation Studios.

“The family weekend is an opportunity to engage more with the community, and I think for many years there’s been a misunderstanding about what career paths are available for young people,” Sofronis said.

“A lot of children play games anyway or watch cartoons – but they don’t realise they can do that as a career. The weekend is all about educating parents, teachers, and children.”

Tickets for the Family Weekend are £2.50 per person, with workshops priced at £4 per person, including a ticket to the main activity.