It’s been a little while since I posted a project related post - something I’ve been meaning to do constantly though obviously haven’t - I have been very, very busy. 
Introducing Terminal(working title). A sci-fi drama set within a mining facility on a distant planet. I’ll be heading the Visual Effects as Supervisor on 47 shots including a lot of background replacements, keying and some fully cg scenes.
It’s a pretty exciting, busy period on the project at the moment. After advertising for post crew for doing basic roto and 3d work we had such a huge amount of applications though I’ve now narrowed down to a small team of people all dedicated to making Terminal look fantastic.
Now, back to sorting all these shots out!
-Matt
Published by Matt at July 16, 2008
in Work.
last week a friend of mine called to say that he’d been to an interview for a company he’d befriended through working at Firefly and felt that I’d be more suited to the job - so to send my information their way and chase them up. Which I did.
And as of this week I’ve been working there, Timed in nicely with finishing all the Roto work with Content Lounge, I am now a Jr. Compositor in a Motion Graphics studio called Spov.
Really enjoy both the environment and the work, though yesterday getting to work was a real nightmare. I’ve been hit by some kind of bug/fever and my head was spinning the entire train journey. Body going through intense hot and cold spells. I ended up braving the day at work out though today when I woke up I’m suffering from both the nausea as well as a throaty cough. Taking things slow so hopefully I’ll be improving for tomorrow.
Also had another couple of people throw opportunities my way which I am considering. My position at Spov may only be freelance - though I’m not comfortable with the idea of being a) useless to them or b) having to leave them to take a film industry based opportunity.
Though I’m assuming, will be sending things out on Friday and seeing where the reality stands.
So until next time, to my speedy recovery!
-Matt
I just returned home from a viewing of ‘Lord of Pain’ at the viewing room of a pub in Soho called ‘The Crown and Two Chairmen’. The first time I was able to see my visual effects work (around 70 shots worth) fit in with the complete film.
And I’m ecstatic, really very pleased with how the full piece has turned out - the soundtrack is notably fantastic. Dan’s done a fantastic job in melding the sound and visuals together seamlessly. I really enjoyed watching and felt that in general the project is astounding given a budget of £1100.
There will be a DVD put together shortly as well as some web presence for the film which I’ll link to. I also plan on doing some VFX Before/After footage which I can talk through for the dvd, though I’ll no doubt host it online too. There’s an awful lot of VFX work which isn’t obvious at all therefore : A Success.
Really very very please, Today made it feel feel obvious that all those late nights were absolutely worth the pay off. I am extremely proud to have my name on the credits. Congratulations to Dan, hopefully I’ll be working with him again in the future.
-Matt
Oh man, apologies for the extreme lack of updates lately. As you may have guessed - like has been a little busy.
Last week saw the completion of around 60 Visual Effects shots on Dan Cox’s film ‘Lord of Pain’ - A pretty broad range of work from muzzle flashes, extreme object removal, day for night shots and damage tracked in quite extensively to background elements.
It’s been a pretty wild ride and over the next couple of weeks Dan will be adding the finishing touches to the piece for it to Premiere from the 27th onwards around London. I’ll post up some details shortly.
Great news, as it means I’ll be able to show off my work in a new reel that I plan to concoct over the next few weeks as well as clean up some Shake scripts of the work for a breakdown document. I’ve been very thorough in organizing the shots and the work due to it’s large quantity which continues to make life much easier when it comes to sorting the reel out. Whew.
I’m still busying away with Roto work, so when I have time expect some images to go public.
-Matt
This weekend was spent on a brief hiatus from my other projects to get 12 shots done quick time for Ashley Wings new film ‘Poppies’. The work involved was mainly simple smoke composites and some roto along with a smidgen of tracer fire for extra flavouring.
I’ll post some more news up when I hear more about the projects release as I believe that post production will be finishing very shortly.
-Matt
Published by Matt at May 3, 2008
in Work.
Yesterday was my final day of being a Runner at Diverse Productions Post Dept. I am really glad it’s over - though not because the job or the people were horrible. The opposite is true as they are a group of relaxed, friendly and skilled people - the clients included. I am pleased to have come away from being a runner for six months without any nightmare stories. I was expecting a few.
The reason I am glad to be free is simple : It was extremely difficult to remain positive within a runner’s position when it had on three occasions prevented me from doing freelance roto work on some of this years major movies. And Now, I can move on/up.
Well, sort of. Freelance work currently appears to be a pretty tense and competitive ocean. I will find out pretty quickly though as work starts on a 15-16 week project as a roto artist on Tuesday.
Wish me luck!
-Matt
p.s. Macbook Pro arrived, fantastic piece of kit. Also ordered a new tablet to go with it as my age old Volito (triassic period) doesn’t work with OSX. Also still working on an easy way to work with it at home. I’m thinking of plugging the G4 into the unused 15″ monitor, putting the 360 into the 17″ then sharing the 22″ between the PC and Macbook. (KVM Switch)
Published by Matt at April 25, 2008
in Work.
That amazing opportunity I spoke of recently has fallen through :/
Though the plus side is that I’m in contact with them now, and more opportunities possibly at a lower level (read : somewhere I am not out of my depth) may appear in the future. I spoke with the lead on the phone for a while, a nice guy. Apologetic regarding things, and honest (not including complimentary things about me having what it takes!). I will catch him in the future.
*sighs*
Dissappointing yes, but the end of the world - No. My career still progresses by going into the paid freelance roto job and I still have good communication with another studio. So whilst things are no longer a leap, they are still a step.
I will always persist, and I have no plans on giving up. That’s simply the way I operate. Now.. Back to lord of paaaaain!
-Matt
Published by Matt at April 22, 2008
in Work.
H-Holy shit Batman.
On Saturday I saw a forum post on fxphd posted up by a member I had met briefly at one of the meet ups advertising that the studio he’s with need some Shake Freelancers for a couple of months so I sent an email their way being honest about my skills and that if possible I would love to come on board as a junior.
Sunday I recieve an email telling me they’d love for me to do a weeks trial and that if possible could I see them this week for a meet & Greet kind of introduction. So yesterday (Monday) I head over and meet the lead compositor as well as the chap I had met previously.
All is go, I was confident that I can do what they ask though need to spend more time familiarising myself with Shake - Which I told them. This position is definitely going to require some learning and I felt that now would be a good time to really make a commitment towards my ambitions.
…A £2000 Commitment that looks oddly like a Mac Book Pro with 4Gb Ram and a 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo Processor… It arrives near the 7th.
Things are all a bit chaotic, I have (so it seems) been presented with a golden opportunity. Now I really need to ensure that I do my best not to waste it. It’s safe to say I am apprehensive, albeit extremely excited.
More as it happens.
-Matt.
Amusing amount of work going into a 24 frame shot here
-Matt
‘Tantric Tourists’ premièred last night at the East End Film Festival. I was involved with the project in a small way, lending my compositing talents on a shot and helping a little with the web side of things.
http://www.tantrictourists.com/HOME.html
There’s a trailer available via the website as well as the current news on where/how the project is doing. I missed out on the premiere and am yet to hear how things went. Hopefully well!
-Matt
