Hi all -

2012. As of September I've been in the industry for 15 years. I've got enough to make me feel old.

So I hear Life of Pi is a shoo-in for an VFX Oscar nomination this year. Won't know for sure until this thursday when they are announced. Word is it'll even win. Why?...well, the amazing work by Rhythm and Hues not withstanding, they say that if a VFX nominated film is also nominated for best picture (doesn't have to win...just nominated), historically it always wins best VFX...and word is LOP is in the running for best picture nomination as well.

For my part, I delivered 78 finaled shots, in stereo. While individually they aren't making any news, as a whole the sheer number one person delivered - almost 10% of all the shots - that's unheard of. Made me the third largest vender under MPC's 110 shots. If you count the shots I delvered before the reshoots (most were replaced), my total would be 135...making me number 2. ;) But seriously, it's not a competition. The best VFX show is only as good as the weakest shot...something I had in mind the entire time to keep me going. So I am happy to make them look good and bring home a gold statue for Bill Westenhofer (the VFX supervisor).

What did I do, you ask? The largest chunk (about 50 shots) were window comps. Every shot in adult Pi's home, save for one, was comped by me. Sounds simple but it wasn't. One shot was over 1000 frames long with a moving camera and most had a frizzy, curly haired head in front of the window. Add to that it was in stereo so I couldn't get away with anything less then perfect mattes. Invisible effects. If I do my job right, you'll never know what I did. The other shot that was cool was an underwater wire removal and sky replacement. Fun.

In other news, I am now a member of the Visual Effects Society. Something I've been wanting to do for years, but kept forgetting (i.e. was too busy) fill out the form. Like Siggraph, I get to hang with cool people from my industry. Other perc? Screeners. Getting DVD's of films still in theaters. It's great to see these films I couldn't get around to seeing because I was busy, or just because I really want to see them again. Not to mention my wife gets to finally see recent films. On Saturday I watched The Hobbit (for the 3rd time) in the comfort of my own theater.

I made a slight site redesign as well. It's become more economical to organize my work based on the media rather than skill set since I'm not doing much animation anymore and really concentrating on VFX work. So I have the pages split between Features/Shorts and TV/DVD. Plus the project posters are showcased, which is a cooler way of looking at it. There are still links to clips if they exist, or say a trailer for the film. Resume's redigned as well for better organization.

Enjoy...

- Luciano

Back to the News page