Due to the infrequency with which I’ve been updating my blog, I’m going to have to do this in somewhat of a list format. **EDIT: some of this post is a repeat of my last one, but with more detail. I should read my previous post before writing a new one**
-The Proposal:
The movie that I had spent close to 9 months working on was released to the public almost two months ago. While this was and is very exciting news, being overcome with both joy and frantic life-purpose finding, I neglected to announce this fact and offer any reflections. (I was also unsure of the terms of any non-disclosure agreement I was under, but I believe it’s safe to talk about now).
Having completed such an epic undertaking, I have a hard time remembering how we all got through it! The sheer volume of data that went across all of our screens seems inconceivable to me now. Along with my fellow junior artists at Brickyard, I can safely say I’ve learned, un-learned and re-learned everything I thought I knew about the visual effects and computer graphics industry. From theory to process, I’ve gained a solid foundation and even more questions. I can only express what I have now as an unquenchable thirst for more!
-The (movie I probably can’t mention the name of yet):
More is what I got. Almost as soon as The Proposal wrapped, I was called back to work on a shot for another movie. Considerably more complex and of a wholly different nature than anything we’d done before, the shot consumed 100% of my time and is the biggest culprit responsible for my blogging hiatus. Instead of rotoscoping, I was tasked with producing 3D assets for a 25 second aerial shot involving the placement of photo-real roof-top objects that, at times, are very close to camera. Without going into too much detail, this shot has tested every single aspect of my knowledge and talent and still continues to do so.
Working for a new and fairly small company, one must be utterly flexible and be prepared to wear more than one hat. Often times, wearing multiple hats at once. Over the past month and a half, I’ve played the role of pipeline developer, modeler, shading and lighting artist, matte painter, render wrangler, rotoscope artist and compositor. With the addition of another similar shot, I’ve had the chance to refine my methods and I’m pleased to say that the second time around is going quite a bit smoother than the first. The fact that I got home at 9pm instead of 5am the day before a delivery is proof of that!
-Brickyard University:
In related news, Brickyard Filmworks is going to be putting on a training program for young and aspiring artists in the Greater Boston Area. This program is designed to train local talent for eventual work on feature films that Brickyard will work on. The reason this is important to me, is that I will be the instructor! Working with our VFX Supervisor, I’ll be teaching people how to rotoscope and paint-fix for feature films. I’m excited about this for two reasons. First, I love teaching. Second, with more fresh talent at a small company, that means I get to move up and possibly become a compositor, which is also something I love!
The program is supposed to start soon, although the actual start date depends on our current production schedule.
-SIGGRAPH, 2009:
The Incident at Tower 37 will be in the SIGGRAPH 2009 Computer Animation Festival! We always talked and dreamed about it, and it finally happened! I bought my plane ticket to New Orleans today, and I can’t wait to go see it on that big, gigantic screen alongside friends and hundreds of similarly enthusiastic people. I feel very proud and fortunate to have been part of such an amazing team of artists and filmmakers that have (see above paragraphs for proof) profoundly shaped my life.
-Miscellaneous:
Other more sundry things in my life… I bought a bike. I spent 300$ on a road bike to take me to and from work every day. Ironically, it was more expensive than my recently plane ticket to San Diego.
I bought a new camera too! Since the untimely demise of my old Canon Rebel, I had been reluctant to buy a new one due to monetary concerns, but the upcoming Ultimate tournament in Wildwood, NJ prompted me to get a new Rebel. This one is smaller, lighter, has a larger image sensor, and can even shoot live action HD footage! It uses H.264 compression, but I couldn’t ask for more from a still camera.
In anticipation of assisting my boss with an FX Phd (www.fxphd.com) class he teaches on advanced Nuke compositing, I’ve been given a semester of classes at FX Phd. I’m taking a class on DSLR cinemetography, crowd simulation with Massive and 3D tracking with SynthEyes. The classes have only just begun, but I’m already having fun with Massive and learning how to better use my new camera.
-The End:
I hope to write more often so I can go more into more depth about individual topics that cross my mind. With the volatile nature of the VFX and post-production industry, who knows… I may have a lot of free time to write!
Many happenings
Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 11:14 PMDue to the infrequency with which I’ve been updating my blog, I’m going to have to do this in somewhat of a list format. **EDIT: some of this post is a repeat of my last one, but with more detail. I should read my previous post before writing a new one**
-The Proposal:
The movie that I had spent close to 9 months working on was released to the public almost two months ago. While this was and is very exciting news, being overcome with both joy and frantic life-purpose finding, I neglected to announce this fact and offer any reflections. (I was also unsure of the terms of any non-disclosure agreement I was under, but I believe it’s safe to talk about now).
Having completed such an epic undertaking, I have a hard time remembering how we all got through it! The sheer volume of data that went across all of our screens seems inconceivable to me now. Along with my fellow junior artists at Brickyard, I can safely say I’ve learned, un-learned and re-learned everything I thought I knew about the visual effects and computer graphics industry. From theory to process, I’ve gained a solid foundation and even more questions. I can only express what I have now as an unquenchable thirst for more!
-The (movie I probably can’t mention the name of yet):
More is what I got. Almost as soon as The Proposal wrapped, I was called back to work on a shot for another movie. Considerably more complex and of a wholly different nature than anything we’d done before, the shot consumed 100% of my time and is the biggest culprit responsible for my blogging hiatus. Instead of rotoscoping, I was tasked with producing 3D assets for a 25 second aerial shot involving the placement of photo-real roof-top objects that, at times, are very close to camera. Without going into too much detail, this shot has tested every single aspect of my knowledge and talent and still continues to do so.
Working for a new and fairly small company, one must be utterly flexible and be prepared to wear more than one hat. Often times, wearing multiple hats at once. Over the past month and a half, I’ve played the role of pipeline developer, modeler, shading and lighting artist, matte painter, render wrangler, rotoscope artist and compositor. With the addition of another similar shot, I’ve had the chance to refine my methods and I’m pleased to say that the second time around is going quite a bit smoother than the first. The fact that I got home at 9pm instead of 5am the day before a delivery is proof of that!
-Brickyard University:
In related news, Brickyard Filmworks is going to be putting on a training program for young and aspiring artists in the Greater Boston Area. This program is designed to train local talent for eventual work on feature films that Brickyard will work on. The reason this is important to me, is that I will be the instructor! Working with our VFX Supervisor, I’ll be teaching people how to rotoscope and paint-fix for feature films. I’m excited about this for two reasons. First, I love teaching. Second, with more fresh talent at a small company, that means I get to move up and possibly become a compositor, which is also something I love!
The program is supposed to start soon, although the actual start date depends on our current production schedule.
-SIGGRAPH, 2009:
The Incident at Tower 37 will be in the SIGGRAPH 2009 Computer Animation Festival! We always talked and dreamed about it, and it finally happened! I bought my plane ticket to New Orleans today, and I can’t wait to go see it on that big, gigantic screen alongside friends and hundreds of similarly enthusiastic people. I feel very proud and fortunate to have been part of such an amazing team of artists and filmmakers that have (see above paragraphs for proof) profoundly shaped my life.
-Miscellaneous:
Other more sundry things in my life… I bought a bike. I spent 300$ on a road bike to take me to and from work every day. Ironically, it was more expensive than my recently plane ticket to San Diego.
I bought a new camera too! Since the untimely demise of my old Canon Rebel, I had been reluctant to buy a new one due to monetary concerns, but the upcoming Ultimate tournament in Wildwood, NJ prompted me to get a new Rebel. This one is smaller, lighter, has a larger image sensor, and can even shoot live action HD footage! It uses H.264 compression, but I couldn’t ask for more from a still camera.
In anticipation of assisting my boss with an FX Phd (www.fxphd.com) class he teaches on advanced Nuke compositing, I’ve been given a semester of classes at FX Phd. I’m taking a class on DSLR cinemetography, crowd simulation with Massive and 3D tracking with SynthEyes. The classes have only just begun, but I’m already having fun with Massive and learning how to better use my new camera.
-The End:
I hope to write more often so I can go more into more depth about individual topics that cross my mind. With the volatile nature of the VFX and post-production industry, who knows… I may have a lot of free time to write!
Tags: Brickyard, FXPhd, Proposal, SIGGRAPH, Surrogates
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