Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1518753
www.postmagazine.com 19 POST MAR/APR 2024 LA. We have a team in Montreal. But the commu- nication is really smooth. We do stuff over Google Hangouts…Everyone's mics are open so they can all speak when they want. I've got the artist's name as an overlay on every shot, so it was really easy for me to see who worked on it. "I'd always encourage people to speak up. Then I got to know all the teams because I would sit in rounds all day and I could get like seven lighting teams coming in and out, and effects and cloth. You get to know the supervisors well and the teams, and this is day in, day out — just constant communication. And that's what it comes down to — communicating. Just creating a nice environ- ment for everyone. "I would always encourage the artists to bring their ideas…I've named looks after artists before. On the first film, we have a 'Pablo' effect because Pablo Holcer came up with this amazing offset effect when Peter gets sucked into the ceiling." Were there any universes or sequences that were especially challenging or memorable to work on? "Definitely! Anything that was brushed was really the hardest thing. Gwen's world was technically and artistically the hardest world to create, and it was because it was based on watercolor. Every shot had a different lighting look because it was all based on Gwen's mood. So typically when you light shots in a CG movie, you can use a lighting rig to run out your whole sequence…But for a lot of these sequences, we would need almost a lighting key for every shot, because shot to shot, it was completely different and you couldn't leverage off of optimizations. You would have to first block out the colors and the light, and then go back and brush it like a painting…I would say Gwen's world was really the catalyst for so much of what we created. "Then, obviously, you have big chase sequences, like Miles on the train in 2099 — a huge amount of planning. You're going from the underbelly of the world, up this vertical highway to a space station. You have so much to deal with, and you have to get the look of picture in animation and the effects. So there's just an endless amount of things. "The Vulture — most complicated character we've ever made. And Punk, and how they're going to in- tegrate into the lighting…I could go on and on about challenges and exciting things for honestly days." You've been in the industry for over 20 years now. What have you seen change? "I think what really excites me are these stylized animated films. For the longest time, I worked in live-action, photoreal effects, worked in animated films, where we would have different character designs, and different color and lighting, but you typically followed the same principles. You do eyes the same way. You do hair the same way — skin, clothing, simulations. What I loved about Into the Spider-Verse, Mitchells vs. the Machines and Across the Spider-Verse is it got us to just rethink and rebuild how we did everything, and it unleashed this artistry in everyone's brain. No challenge is too big, and to attack things and fig- ure out how to do things that you never thought you could. I think that's really been the number one thing. It really invigorated me…It's like you get to that point where you just need to get yourself fired up again. Once you went down that path in the first movie, it was like starting over. We were starting over." Where do you think things are headed, especially with AI and all of these new technologies coming into the pipeline? "I'm excited about Unreal in realtime technology — game engines working their way into the pipeline. I think on the front end, especially going from previs into layout and allowing directors to kind of act like live-action directors and shoot, use a camera, walk around, direct the blocking and set dressing, and scouting, that, I think, is going to make a huge difference in the pipeline. I think, as far as technol- ogy, I'm really excited about that because it'll make it more like filmmaking should be." So it will make things easier instead of more complicated? "Easier and allow directors to really be directors. They don't want to give notes and then come back a day or two later and see it. They can give notes on the fly and be creative, like you're out actually shooting a live-action film." Do you have any advice that you wish you'd known when you first started out? "I had a really hard time finding my first job. I think I sent out 75 demo reels and they were all rejected. I got into the industry where I think it was the first influx of people. But you just have to be persistent, and you have to follow what you love, because if you follow what you love, you're not going to let anybody stop you. And that's kind of what I did. I always knew what I wanted to do, and I just had this tunnel vision to my end goal. You've got to let stuff wash over you. Don't take it personally. Just go all out to set goals. If it's your dream or whatev- er it is, don't let anyone stop you." Artists worked from locations in Vancouver, Los Angeles and Montreal.