A Michael Mann Retrospective

Flickering Myth presents a detailed look at the work of the acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann...


Whether it is a Native Indian raised trapper caught in crossfire of the colonial wars between Britain and France or an investigative journalist undermined by corporate interests, Michael Mann has the remarkable ability to explore the nuances of human behavior within an epic environment. To commemorate the 69th birthday of the Chicago born filmmaker, Flickering Myth has assembled a career overview which contains various insider insights detailing the making of his ten feature films starting with Thief (1981) and concluding with Public Enemies (2009)...


Mann Handled: A Michael Mann Profile
Trevor Hogg profiles the career of director Michael Mann in a two-part article from 2009.


Thief, 1981.

Written and Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring James Caan, Tuesday Weld, James Belushi, Dennis Farina, William Petersen and Robert Prosky.

SYNOPSIS:

A professional safecracker’s plan for going straight spirals out-of-control when he becomes indebted to a crime boss.





The Keep, 1983.

Written and Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Scott Glenn, Gabriel Byrne, Jürgen Prochnow, Ian McKellen, Alberta Watson, Robert Prosky, Morgan Sheppard, Royston Tickner, Michael Carter and Bruce Payne.

SYNOPSIS:

A detachment of the German army is sent to guard a mysterious and strategically important Romanian citadel. When they start turning up dead, the S.S. is sent in to investigate.



Manhunter, 1986.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring William Petersen, Brian Cox, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Dennis Farina, Tom Noonan, Stephen Lang, David Seaman and Benjamin Hendrickson.

SYNOPSIS:

A mentally fragile FBI profiler is drawn out of retirement to catch a serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy.





The Last of the Mohicans, 1992.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Madeleine Stowe, Wes Studi, Russell Means, Eric Schweig, Steven Waddington, Pete Postlethwaite, Colm Meaney and Jodhi May.

SYNOPSIS:

In 1757, North America is the battleground of the colonial powers of Britain and France. Midst the escalating conflict, three trappers from a nearly extinct Native Indian tribe protect the daughters of a British Colonel.



Heat, 1995.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Al Pacino, Robert De Niro, Val Kilmer, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Mykelti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fichtner, Natalie Portman, Danny Trejo and Jeremy Piven.

SYNOPSIS:

A professional thief is hunted by an unrelenting detective in the streets of Los Angeles.



The Insider, 1999.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Al Pacino, Russell Crowe, Christopher Plummer, Diane Venora, Roger Bart, Rip Torn, Bruce McGill, Michael Gambon, Gina Gershon, Philip Baker Hall and Paul Perri.

SYNOPSIS:

The airing of an exclusive 60 Minutes interview with a tobacco industry insider is cancelled because of corporate pressure.




Ali, 2001.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Will Smith, Jon Voight, Jamie Foxx, Mario Van Peebles, Ron Silver, Jeffrey Wright, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mykelti Williamson.

SYNOPSIS:

The movie depicts a decade in the life of Muhammad Ali, beginning with the legendary athlete’s defeat of Sonny Liston in 1964 and concluding with his 1974 'Rumble in Jungle' comeback fight against George Foreman.




Collateral, 2004.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo, Jada Pinkett Smith, Javier Bardem, Bruce McGill, Irma P. Hall, Peter Berg and Jason Statham.

SYNOPSIS:

A Los Angeles cab driver unwittingly becomes the chauffer for a hired assassin.





Miami Vice, 2006.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Li Gong, Naomie Harris, Ciarán Hinds, Justin Theroux, Barry Shabaka Henley, Luis Tosar, Elizabeth Rodriguez, Eddie Marsan and John Ortiz.

SYNOPSIS:

Two Miami Vice detectives go undercover to bring down drug traffickers.





Public Enemies, 2009.

Directed by Michael Mann.
Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Billy Cudrup, Stephen Dorff, Stephen Lang, Stephen Graham, Carey Mulligan, Giovanni Ribisi and Channing Tatum.

SYNOPSIS:

Infamous American gangsters John Dillinger, Baby Face Nelson and Pretty Boy Floyd are targeted in a “war on crime” campaign by the fledgling FBI during the 1930s.




Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

J.J. Abrams does some major networking

With NBC picking up the pilot for the apocalyptic drama Revolution, ABC has become the only American broadcast network left that does not have a project being produced by Star Trek (2009) director J.J. Abrams. An early log line for the show reads:

“In this epic adventure thriller, a family struggles to reunite in a post-apocalyptic American landscape; a world of empty cities, local militias and heroic freedom fighters, where every single piece of technology — computers, planes, cars, phones, even lights — has mysteriously blacked out... forever.”

Over at CW, J.J. Abrams has teamed with One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn to make Shelter which takes place at a New England summer resort where comic and emotional mayhem ensues as the hospitality staff attempts to meet the needs of guests and their own private lives. Fox has added the supernatural prison tale Alcatraz to go along with the science fiction procedural Fringe, and CBS has recently given a full-season order to the vigilante justice series Person of Interest.

Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett

Trevor Hogg chats with Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor Phil Tippett...

“In those days very few people were doing visual effects and it was difficult to find work,” recalls American Visual Effects Supervisor Phil Tippett. “Ray Harryhausen [The Golden Voyage of Sinbad] would do his kind of shows, and every once and a while somebody would do a fantasy or space movie. But generally, studios had disbanded a lot of their visual effects departments. There weren’t that many stop-motion animators so they didn’t do it.” The attitude changed with the arrival of filmmakers George Lucas (American Graffiti) and Steven Spielberg (Close Encounters of the Third Kind). “George and Steven were big fans of the same kinds of movies that we liked and embraced the technology; they had the resources that allowed us to pushed things farther.”

After joining Industrial Light & Magic, Phil Tippett contributed to the scene in the original Star Wars (1977) where Chewbacca plays a game of chess against R2-D2. “Dennis Muren and I built all of the chess figures and animated them.” Stop-motion evolved into go-motion with the sequel The Empire Strikes Back (1980). “Stop-motion is a static puppet which is usually attached to the table or other kind of device that you can adjust with a blue screen incrementally. You basically sculpt the performance by hand. In Empire we attached the Tauntauns to some of the motion-control equipment to achieve a motion blur. It helped the stop-motion artifacts blend into the live-action scene.” The technique was also employed during the attack sequences on the ice planet Hoth with the Imperial Walkers. “By the time of Return of the Jedi [1983], the third Star Wars, everybody was like, ‘Okay, it’s time to graduate from high school now.’ But there were enough different things we could throw in. Dennis Muren wanted to do the Rancor as a big hand puppet which we did. Initially, George wanted the Rancor to be a man in a suit. They built a big suit and it didn’t look good.” The creative effort paid off as the final installment of the original trilogy won a Special Achievement Award for Visual Effects at the Oscars.

Reflecting on his Academy Award-nominated work in Dragonslayer (1981), Phil Tippett states, “The director Matthew Robbins and Hal Barwood, the producer, were friends of George’s. We had a lot of fun working on that. They allowed us to take what we had learned on Empire with the Tauntauns and take it to the next level.” Williow (1988) resulted in another Academy Award nomination. “Ron Howard is an even keel guy and gives good directions. There’s plenty of new and weird stuff in Willow. It was fun. Working with good directors is very rewarding.” Tippett was co-honoured with the Best Visual Effects Oscar for a dinosaur resurrection tale. “Jurassic Park [1993] was a hard one for me in that it was the big transition from stop-motion go-motion to computer graphics. At some point I was obsolete but it turned out that a lot of the computer guys didn’t understand all of the stuff you need to do to bring these creatures to life. We developed a bunch of technology to bridge the gap between computer graphics and stop-motion go-motion.”

DragonHeart (1996) contended for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. “I’ve worked with Rob Cohen in developing the design for the dragon and did not work on the production itself. We did a whole bunch of animatics for scenes to play out the action and gave that to ILM.” Tippett is proud of the picture which brought his Oscar nomination tally to five. “Starship Troopers [1997] was the big one for me. There were so many moving parts. It was a cool war movie. It was visceral and R-rated. I like Paul Verhoeven a lot; our approaches were in sync with each other. That was Tippett Studio's first big foray.” When asked about the infamous comic book adaptation Howard the Duck (1986), Tippett chuckles, “I got to design a wacky thing with a lot of moving parts; it was a fun and different kind of character to do.”

“The good thing about the Twilight series for us is that we could really develop the characters not only in their look but also in their behavior,” states Phil Tippett who has been involved in creating the wolves since they first appeared in The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009). With The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011), a new director meant a different approach for the shape-shifting creatures. “Bill Condon [Gods and Monsters] wanted them lived in, and running through the woods with muddy paws and scraggily hair.” 186 wolf shots had to be produced. “We had about four months when we were prepping all the stuff. There is always this thing between the studios and the directors. The directors want more and the studios don’t want to have to pay for it. There is always a conflict there. We pretty much knew by the time we were starting, what type of shots there were going to be.” Assessing the current contribution by Tippett Studio to the vampire love story, Tippett reveals, “The adjustments we made to do the show are pretty significant in terms of efficiency and resources. These wolves are heavy duty rendering hogs and in the stories there are more and more wolves. We had to be careful about the technology. We would have to revamp as a director wanted different kinds of looks. The animators are really up on wolf behavior. On Breaking Dawn my co-supervisor Matt Jacobs took the art and the technical people to Wolf Mountain; they got into a big pen with some wolves. It was good because you can get a visceral sense of the wolves and we looked a lot up in documentaries.”

“It’s certainly influenced by George in terms of his direction style because like all good directors he’s very inclusive,” remarks Phil Tippett when discussing how his time spent at ILM influenced the way he operates Tippett Studio. “George would say, ‘Here is what we need out of the shot. Now go do it.’ He pretty much took what we gave him. There weren’t any real big issues. In Return of the Jedi there is a scene where the Ewoks roll logs down a hill and one of the Walkers trips over them and falls down. I remember working out that pantomime with George. Generally, he was good about it. He would visit us and we would ask him questions.” The VFX industry has become revolutionized by technology. “The big change has been computer graphics. Up until that point there were only a handful of people who could do what I do and now there are legions of animators.” There is a critical factor required if a VFX facility is to survive. “The key is doing high quality work. It is so competitive. It’s not a level playing field. Countries like India, Korea, China, England, and Australia are more expensive than we are but because of the tax incentives the studios go there.”

There are certain elements required to be a successful visual effects supervisor. “Knowing the moviemaking process, having ideas and not being afraid to speak your mind are the main things,” advises Phil Tippett who has ventured behind the camera. “I’m a lot more sympathetic to the directors. Everybody should be made to direct a movie.” Tippett states, “I would encourage people to go to the Tippett Studio website and checkout Mutantland [2010] which is a little short that we made which was fun. If anybody is interested, I’m posting a bunch of stuff from a film I’m working on my own.” The cinematic project has been in development for the past 20 years. “It could keep going on. In fact I tell some of the guys there’s a title card that says, ‘The End.’ So if I was to have a heart attack in three minutes and they can just slap ‘The End’ on it and we’ll be done.” Contemplating his own ability to survive in VFX industry, Tippett says, “I’m hoping its skill and the attention to detail.” He adds, “Everybody’s creative process is different; it’s a matter of figuring out their take on things.”

Mutantland:






Twilight stills © 2011 Summit Entertainment.

Many thanks to Phil Tippett for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

For more information, be sure to visit the Tippett Studio website here.

Dawn Breaks: The Making of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Bruce Woloshyn

Trevor Hogg chats with visual effects supervisor Bruce Woloshyn...

“I originally was a broadcast technical director doing NHL hockey and CFL football,” recalls Method Studios Visual Effects Supervisor Bruce Woloshyn who decided to make a career change. “I was at NAB [National Association of Broadcasters] in Las Vegas one year when Discreet Logic first came out with Flame. I was so floored with what I saw. I went back to the hotel, got my wife, and dragged her down to the convention centre. I said, ‘I’m going to work for whoever is going to buy me one of those.’ I was already working at a really advanced commercial facility in Seattle. It was six months later when Bob Scarabelli approached me to come to Vancouver to help start Rainmaker Digital Pictures and we were going to buy two Flames.” The native of North Battleford, Saskatchewan believes that there have been two major changes in the visual effects industry. “One of them is going from analog to digital technology. When I first started the best high end effects were all in television commercials because there’s nothing more expensive per-finished-second than a TV ad. The other biggest thing is processing power and storage. The other day I got a disk space report saying something to the effect that we were utilizing some ungodly amount. It was like 87 terabytes or something like that. All I could think of when we started Rainmaker was that, ‘Who the hell would need a terabyte?’”

“When the tsunami hit Japan it was evident pretty quickly that all of the high definition videotape in the world was made in one place,” recounts Bruce Woloshyn as the issue became a significant concern during business meetings. “Sony couldn’t make HD Cam tape because its factory had been damaged; there was now a finite supply of the industry standard in broadcast videotape.” Having at least one playback machine for each of the various digital videotape formats contributes to Method Studios keeping pace with the rapid advancement of technology. “We need to have all the leading edge stuff to do the leading edge work. When you start with a certain technology on a big project often times by the time the project is over you wouldn’t have thought to use it because there would be something better.” Advancements can happen within a year or even six months resulting in complications when creating a technology for a specific project. “We’re only tied to something for as long as we’re working on a show. The second that’s show is over you’re already thinking of using the next thing.”

“We go and gather lighting references with gray and chrome balls,” states Bruce Woloshyn who makes use of HDRs (High Dynamic Range images) when constructing a 360 degree view of the whole set “so we know exactly where the lights were and how they were placed.” Assisting the effort to blend in the visual effects into the actual footage are reports detailing the body, lens, and positioning of the various cameras. “When pre-vizing shots to be filmed in New York for Man on a Ledge [2012] all of the tools we used in Maya were based on what they would have with them on location. We made little artificial cranes and lighting rigs. That’s not always the case because one of the things you have in your visual effects arsenal is the ability to do anything. When you’re trying to make it look like you didn’t do anything, staying true to what could be done on set is key.” The situation is different when dealing with a stylized reality. “I spent years doing the fantasy world thing for the Stargate [Showtime, Sci-Fi Channel, 1997 to 2007] franchise. It’s a little bit easier in a sense that I used to say to the guys, ‘We just need to make it look cool. It doesn’t need to look real.’” Woloshyn is quick to point out “that the number one thing to come first is the story.”

“My background isn’t acting so much,” readily admits Bruce Woloshyn. “I’m privy to be extras in all kinds of things; it’s only because I’m familiar with the creative powers on the show and its fun.” Providing the cast with verbal and image references is important in enabling them to visualize the scope and scale of the scene. “I know years ago people were worried that the advancement in digital technology meant that we weren’t going to need actors and I was thinking, ‘That’s crazy talk.’ We’re always going to need actors because they are the embodiment of the characters.” In regards to the medium utilized in Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) and The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011), Woloshyn observes, “Although motion-capture to make characters is very effective, it is also much more expensive than having the actor perform. It’s the reason why an animated feature price-per-finished-second is significantly more than a live-action feature.”

“When we were doing Breaking Dawn – Part 1 [2011] at the studio here, it was the only film we were working on that wasn’t being done in stereo,” reveals Bruce Woloshyn. “3D takes longer and everything costs more to do it right. I’ve worked on standard pictures which have had the stereo process applied to them later. We’ve also had a bunch of native stereo shows.” Avatar (2009) is an example of 3D being used effectively. “That story benefited from having stereo applied to it, whereas with other movies does it make a difference? Would it make the story better? I don’t know.” Woloshyn remarks, “It is a gimmick and sometimes a gimmick is fun. I can remember taking my kids to see Monsters vs. Aliens [2009] and absolutely, they did lots of gimmicky work but it was part of that type of movie.”

“I’m one of those guys who do not believe in having me between production and the crew,” states Bruce Woloshyn. “I try to do all the things as a supervisor that I wanted to have done when I was an artist.” The Canadian-born VFX supervisor remains connected to his early days in the industry. “My office is equipped with Nuke and Inferno. I still do lots of my own concept work then hand those files off, and go, ‘This is what I was thinking.’” Woloshyn has a hard time imagining the roles of the production designer and the visual effects supervisor merging into a single job. “I don’t know, especially, on jobs of significant scale that would be hard. I’m working on a movie right now with four visual effects supervisors in the same building because the project is so big.” Even though the memory capacity of computers increases this is not the case with the human mind. “We’re riding on the edge of that right now.” He adds, “Visual effects is a team sport and I’m blessed here in Vancouver at Method to have an amazing team.”

Many thanks to Bruce Woloshyn for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Dawn Breaks: The Making of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Adventurous Calling: John Bruno talks about James Cameron

Trevor Hogg chats with Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor John Bruno about his collaborations with James Cameron...

“I was the first guy to breakup a film into multiple vendors and that was on The Abyss [1989],” states American Visual Effects Supervisor John Bruno who has collaborated with filmmaker James Cameron for over 24 years. The underwater tale starring Ed Harris (The Truman Show) and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (Class Action) features an Academy Award-lauded technical achievement in the depiction of an alien life form. “It was written in the script as the water pseudopod; there are only 16 shots of that in the movie. Everybody at the time had their chrome guy and their chrome liquid mercury thing but nobody had done water. By taking surface water, motion, reflection and light and wrapping it around a wired frame grid or tube you got a water tube. We had to say, ‘I don’t know what else to do but we’re going to have to tell ILM we’re going to support them in whatever they need to create this.’ John Knoll [Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol] was there as Dennis Muren’s [Innerspace] assistant during that time and he did a lot of the work.”

“Jim said, ‘Here’s the next one, Terminator 2 [1991]. I’ve a liquid mimetic man. How would we do that?’ I said, ‘I recall on The Abyss the first thing that came out of the computer was a chrome liquid surface.’ They split the image and optically composited so to make it translucent. We had one complete digital composite in The Abyss. On Terminator it was the same thing. It was how are we going to do this? I said, ‘He’s going to be a chrome guy. Why don’t we make him gold? It would be different.’ Jim goes, ‘He’s going to look like a walking Oscar!’ We knew we could do it but the big thing was can we do 41 shots of that? ILM needed an upgrade and more money to setup to do it, and that led to Jurassic Park [1993]. You’re mapping a surface over something and lighting the surface. Jim said, ‘Why should I give those guys money? Why don’t we start our own company? That’s why we started Digital Domain.”

“When you see the jet flying it’s on a crane in camera,” reveals John Bruno who received an Oscar nomination for True Lies (1994). “It’s in a motion base on top of a roof where the city is in the background; we had to paint out the motion base. The actors were never more 15 feet off the surface except when they swung out 355 feet over the street to have the fight over the jet. That was pretty hairy. A crane landed the jet and lifted it up when it took off in the Florida Keys. The bridge was an all miniature explosion and the skyscraper was real.” Bruno added jet exhaust and some interactive elements on the ground. “The Harrier itself looks fake doing what it’s doing. Its like, ‘We can do that.’ All we have to do is suspend it on a crane and it looks exactly the same.”

“I was a co-director for Terminator 2 3D [1996],” says John Bruno of the 12 minute short film which served as a mini-sequel. “The cameras were as big as a washing machine. It was shot on 65mm, filmed at 30 frames per second and projected back at 30 frames per second at the Universal Theatre. It’s pretty spectacular even today.” As for his involvement with the Oscar-winning blockbuster Titanic (1997), Bruno visited the famous shipwreck. “I made four dives. With Jim it’s about research. Knowing how stuff works. You have to be quite an adventurer. If you’re not into adventure it’s not going to work with him.”

“I came in the last year and a half of Avatar [2009],” recalls John Bruno. “I ended up being a supervisor out of Weta. I came back at the end and helped with the reshoots and the additional footage that was shot. I did the training scenes where Neytiri is showing Jake how to shoot bow and arrow, track an animal and kill it. I shot with Jim all of the Jake Amp Suit Quaritch Fight; that was mostly with the amp suit on another small motion base. It was the same technique we used for the jet. But this time we put the amp suit torso with the actor in it and put him on a small motion base that matched the animation the camera was filming. It was all insane. Once we had that done it had to be in 3D.” The motion capture for the 10 feet tall blue skin characters needed to be tweaked; however, the basis of the performances by the actors was retained. “Once the shot was approved it would nine months before you saw it. By the end of September, October, November, and December, the shots were taking three months.” Bruno observes, “Jim has done nothing but visual effects films and knows how to do everything; he just needs people to do it.”

The Abyss water tentacle...



The T-1000...



For more from this interview, check out Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor John Bruno.

Many thanks to John Bruno for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Mission to Mars: Mike Maihack draws John Carter and Dejah Thoris

Trevor Hogg presents an exclusive piece of artwork from illustrator Mike Maihack depicting John Carter and Dejah Thoris...

When looking through the weekly Internet feature BestArtEver posted by Andy Khouri of Comics Alliance, I came across the work of Mike Maihack; the discovery resulted in me interviewing the Tampa Bay, Florida based illustrator for the profile titled Sketchy Details. With The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Borroughs coming to the big screen under the Oscar-winning direction of Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo), I was curious to see how Mike would depict the American Civil War veteran and his beloved Martian princess. Here is the end result along with some insightful comments from the artist himself.

Pencils:


When Trevor commissioned me to draw John Carter and Dejah Thoris, he said, “The environmental sensibilities of Michael Whelan drawn in the style of Bruce Timm.” So I started by looking at a bunch of Whelan’s covers for the Barsoom series, a bunch of Bruce Timm, and then threw all them out of view because they were making me waaaaay to intimidated. I decided to draw something keeping within my own style while still trying to call upon what I remembered from looking at those two Greats.

Flats:


The only thing I was concerned about was making sure John Carter had a slightly darker skin tone than Dejah and the right green to use for the Martians. And lots of red [being on Mars]. If you were to take away all that surrounding red you’d see the skin tone on the Martians is actually more like gray.

Final:


I suppose the only thing left is to talk about is the rendering. Everything on Dejah is meant to be soft; few rigid shapes, subtle gradients, and even the lighting on her right side blurs her slightly. John on the other hand, has much more defined features. There’s more of a crisp differentiation between highlight and shadows, especially, on his left side. I ended up softening it down some though so as not to compete with Dejah. You might not be able to notice it, but the Martians were painted with more of a spongy brush to give more texture to their skin which, for whatever reason, I assumed would be more rough and dry.

Finally, I was planning on the sky being completely red, but I ended up going back and adding in that soft blue, as a [slight] nod to Whelan who often paints his skies a deep, rich blue. I think this was good idea since it draws the eye more to our two heroes, which is the first thing I want viewers to see.

Be sure to check out Mike Maihack's website, which you can find here.

John Carter is released in cinemas on March 9th and stars Taylor Kitsch as John Carter and Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris. Visit the official website here.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor John Bruno

Trevor Hogg chats with Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor John Bruno...

“I met Ivan Reitman who said he could get money to do this movie Heavy Metal [1981],” recalls veteran American Visual Effects Supervisor John Bruno. “We setup a facility with Gerry Potterton in Montreal; there was a tax structure. I did Taarna. Gerry showed me how to do bottom light glows and laser beams. Richard Edlund came to Montreal to talk about Empire Strikes Back [1980] at the Canadian Film Board so we all went. I met him and I said I wanted to show him this movie. He said when you get something I’d be happy to look at it. We were finishing multiplane camera shots of Taarna flying on her bird through a giant skeleton into a power plant. I had these reels and I called Richard. I ran the footage for him and he asked if I wanted to come to ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] to do ghosts for Poltergeist [1982].”

“I spent all my time with Richard out there. It was fantastic. He’s my mentor,” readily admits John Bruno. “The main thing Richard taught me was interactive light. You have to make a three dimensional spot for your two dimensional element.” An example the six-time Oscar nominee mentions involves animating an electrical beam from a magic wand which zaps somebody. “You have to have interactive light practically in the set on that character. A lot of people today add an airbrush glow to things; that’s when it doesn’t look to me real.” Filmmakers were drawn to ILM. “Everything was an experiment. Steven Spielberg would ask for things that were interesting visual effects problems to solve. George Lucas had visual effects problems to solve.” Bruno observes that demanding directors, like Michael Bay, use the facility “to create something impossible and make it look real. There’s a lot of fear involved.”

Ghostbusters (1984) reunited John Bruno with director Ivan Reitman. “I remember it being a little cheesy but that’s what made it funny. The movie from start to finish from script to release date was 10 months. What that did was break all previous rules of how long it took to make a movie.” The Marshmallow Man was a man dressed in a suit standing over a miniature set. “That’s a film we did what we wanted because we didn’t think anybody would see it. The big movie that year was supposed to be Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom [1984]. Ghostbusters became, if not the first, the second highest grossing comedy of all-time.” The picture is memorable for another reason for Bruno who served as the Visual Effects – Art Director. ‘The best experience I’ve ever had in my life was working with John DeCuir on Ghostbusters; he was the ultimate production designer.” Ghostbusters received an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects. “It’s funny stuff. I still quote from it.”

“It was mostly trying to enhance ghost effects,” says John Bruno when reflecting on his Oscar-nominated contribution to Poltergeist II: The Other Side (1986). “We didn’t have an imploding house in that one.” On the subject of Tim Burton and Batman Returns (1992), Bruno remarks, “He was a little quirky. He mostly kept to himself. We worked with the producers who would say, ‘Storyboard this. He had approved this. Just shoot this.’ He’d be there. Stuff would happen. You’d be there and make sure it got shot. You’d send the stuff over. I never sat with him in an editing room. The only director I never did.” The comic book picture contended for Best Visual Effects at the Academy Awards. “We did Catwoman and a lot of stuff with penguins. That was first time I ever did digital penguins; it was a trip.”

“Renny Harlin was fun to work with on Cliffhanger [1993],” states John Bruno who got the opportunity to expand upon his Oscar-nominated work for True Lies (1994) by switching the highflying action showdown from a Harrier jet to a helicopter. “I storyboarded that sequence earlier to get the job. I added [Sylvester] Stallone. He hooks up the ladder to the helicopter and it pulls him out over the cliff. Stallone is hanging there, the engine blows, the copter swings down and they have a big fistfight on the helicopter. That was my era of True Lies; I had the bad guy fight Arnold on a Harrier spinning around.” The sequence utilized a one foot puppet of Stallone and an eight foot helicopter “all shot in camera at a high speed in a parking lot using some very big sculpted cliff face. Then all of the shots were done at practical locations in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. We had the same vertical motion control rig that we used on Batman Returns. We bolted it to the Alps and did these shots where we’re going vertical rapidly filming Stallone. It was a lot of motion-control but all at location. It was quite bizarre.”

“On Alien vs. Predator [2004], with Richard Bridgeland, we had to build a third scale set to match a third-scale puppet queen,” says John Bruno. “We were basically working together all the time. The same thing was with X-Men 3 [2006].” Asked whether the roles of production designers and visual effects supervisors will merge into a single job, the 30 year movie industry veteran replies, “I can draw. I don’t know if everybody can do that. I’m not shy talking to the Art Director or the Production Designer.” Bruno was hired to look after the visual effects for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (2011) and its sequel Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012). “I storyboarded the movie with three other guys whom I have worked with since Heavy Metal. The people I worked with there were Brent Boates from Vancouver, Phil Norwood from California, and Terry Windell. We also had John Mann.”

“I’m looking forward to Hugo (2011). I want to see that,” states John Bruno who is a frequent collaborator with Oscar-winning filmmaker James Cameron. “Jim has already said it’s as good as the 3D we did on Avatar [2009].” As for his own attitude towards the technology, Bruno says, “Done well, it’s really good.” Problems arise when the 2D to 3D conversions are rushed to meet theatrical release dates. “The one thing that bugs me is going to a small local theatre, getting a pair of 3D glasses and its two stops darker when you look through the glasses onto the screen. You go to an IMAX Theatre and on the screen it’s the full amount of luminous on the screen. It’s an issue and it makes me angry. I know what’s 3D is suppose to look like. I have experience there. They’re killing it. They basically turn the power of the light bulb down to save money because those bulbs cost ten grand a piece. It’s frustrating. I don’t want to tell everybody they have to see movies in an IMAX Theatre to have a really good 3D experience but it’s coming to that.” 3D is moving beyond cinema. “Sports are the next thing. I’m doing World Motorcycle in 3D. I’ve been filming that with Vince’s [Pace] rigs for the last three years. We’re starting next season in March.”

“I did Star Trek: Voyager [UPN, 1995 to 2001] for two seasons as a director. I directed the movie Virus [1999],” states John Bruno who may well be stepping behind the camera again. “I’ve been offered something now that I’m working on.” As for some words of guidance in handling visual effects, Bruno advises, “You have to come up with the approach. Bite the bullet and say, ‘This is how we’re doing this.’ And not change course.” Bruno believes, “The big thing as a visual effects supervisor is that he’s only as good as the director. If you’re trying something and they don’t want it or they want something that you don’t think is going to work it makes it complicated. I’ve been lucky.”

For more from this interview, be sure to check out Adventurous Calling: John Bruno talks about James Cameron.

Dawn Breaks: The Making of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Many thanks to John Bruno for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Subtle Manipulation: The Making of J. Edgar

Trevor Hogg chats with visual effects supervisors Michael Owens, Geoffrey Hancock and Ollie Rankin about the making of Clint Eastwood's latest, J. Edgar...

“At first I thought it was a biopic but really what it is a human character study,” admits Visual Effects Supervisor Michael Owens when discussing J. Edgar (2011) which chronicles the half century reign of J. Edgar Hoover as the head of the FBI. “It was similar in form and need as Changeling [2008] in trying to create period moments that were not in your face but were appropriately engaging you in that era. There were several shots like that and they’re always a bit difficult to pull off well.” The Art Department made a significant contribution to the effort. “They had lots of imagery to work off of and it really did help us a great deal to figure out how to build the virtual locations like Washington, D.C. in the 1960s, and then in the 1930s.” The veteran Clint Eastwood collaborator believes, “It’s always a good thing to try to be accurate in whatever you’re presenting.” Owens assigned the task of recreating the past to Method Studios’ facility in Vancouver. “They did a great deal of work on Changeling and Invictus [2009]. We needed crowds and environments; it seemed like the right fit.”



“One of the wonderful things working with Michael Owens is that he has a great read on what Clint Eastwood wants,” states Method Vancouver Visual Effects Supervisor Geoffrey Hancock. “A number of our artists here have worked on multiple Eastwood films so we’re into a bit of a groove as to what is their preferred style.” J. Edgar had its own unique list of requirements. “One of the big challenges early on was getting a handle conceptually [in regards to] what the show needed. What were all the locations going to be? How were we going to portray them? How were we going to create them? How were we going to create them efficiently? How were we going to communicate that to the crew?” An Avid was always setup in the studio to accommodate Owens’ preference of using editorial to view material. “There was enough time in the beginning project that we could pull together references of the different time periods and locations, and then pour through them with Michael Owens.” The extra preparation time proved was beneficial in avoiding the obvious repetition of images. Architecture was studied so “we could really let the audience know one location from another.”



When Geoffrey Hancock had to leave the project, Ollie Rankin was given the task of filling in for him. “I was on the show as the Digital Effects Supervisor which meant that I was at the broader view of the entire 3D side and was responsible for asset creation, the crowd system, lighting and rendering,” explains Rankin. “Unfortunately, a couple months into the production he fell ill; I was asked to step up and take on his role which meant I was the Visual Effects Supervisor for the second half of the production.” Assisting the effort was an onset crew from Method Studios assigned with photographing every filming location and vehicle prop as well scanning the various wardrobes for the actors. “In a lot of instances,” says Hancock, “we were just another department in the production which was leveraging everything else being done so that things wouldn’t have to be reinvented in post.”



A virtual environment, CGI augmentation, and archival footage were all used to make the office scene where J. Edgar Hoover watches the 1969 presidential inauguration parade for Richard Nixon on the television set and reflects upon the same event which occurred back in 1932 with Franklin Roosevelt. “We did a lot of photographic research of the actual parade and there were certain things that Clint had specifically requested storytelling wise,” states Ollie Rankin. “He wanted there to be a visually recognizable iconography between the 1930s parade and the 1960s one.” Geoffrey Hancock explains, “We looked at things we could try to keep consistent like the actual street layout, where the sidewalks were, where people could be or could not be. In the beginning, we thought it would be similar but by the end it was very different between the 1930s and the 1960s.” The real Nixon footage influenced the design of the sequence. “Because we were trying to have a reoccurring visual cues between the two inaugurations, that was in many ways what drove the layout of our 1932 inauguration parade,” remarks Rankin who had to balance the need to be historically accurate with compositional requirements. “There were times where our historic trees had to split the difference in age and maturity between what was actually shot and what would be truly reflective of the time.” Contemplating the significance of the scene, Rankin observes, “That moment in the movie is really telling of change of Hoover’s position in power from the 1932 parade, he stands on the balcony and exchanges a wave with Roosevelt; whereas in 1969, he’s an embittered, embattled old man with no influence at all.”



“The burning of Chicago was another one that took a lot of figuring out in the beginning of exactly how we would show that,” says Geoffrey Hancock. “Would it be street level? Would there be riots? Would it be higher up to show more of the city? That evolved a lot as far as the composition and deciding what to show and what not to show. In the end, it was a very high angle matte painting with a lot of fire elements and interactive lighting.” To help construct the sequence, the Method Vancouver team referenced a previous project with Clint Eastwood and Michael Owens. “The only visual cue we had was one particular shot that both Clint and Michael liked on Changeling,” states Ollie Rankin. “Starting from that we began mocking up photo collages of period buildings and fire; we worked with one of our internal Method concept artists, who came up with a few different options for composition of the overall shot and tried out a couple of different moves. Having settled on one of those that we particularly liked, we contracted Shannan Burkley to render that matte painting to life.” Hancock chuckles, “There was never too much excitement and fire for Michael; he kept pushing for more destruction and mayhem.”



“One of the shots I was most excited about was of the nighttime Broadway District because it is a lively environment,” states Geoffrey Hancock. “There is heavy traffic [and] all sorts of people in the entertainment district coming and going from theatres. The neon signage was a new thing in the 1930s and that was played up on Broadway. It was exciting to research what was all of those old iconic signs, how they were designed and how could we recreate things that look like that.” Adding to the atmosphere for Hancock is the light reflecting off of the wet road from a searchlight turned on during theatrical premiers. When asked whether short shots are easier to construct, Hancock answers, “It is always easier to have shorter shots; there’s less scrutiny but it usually means you have more shots. In longer shots you’re playing up to people’s abilities to travel their eye around the frame and examine everything with closer detail.”



“Michael makes sure that we’re always grounding ourselves in the optics of cinema,” states Geoffrey Hancock who felt the effort paid off, especially, in the ability to emulate film stock. “A mistake a lot of people make is to forget the restraints of real filmmaking technology when they’re designing CGI shots,” says Ollie Rankin. “We worked hard to make sure our camera moves were ones that could be carried out by a real camera. Inserting the element of randomness in a virtual environment adds to its believability. "When you add a flaw or some kind of uniqueness to a digital element it suddenly becomes recognizable. Because a lot of our work is about trying to create things that can be reused, you have to balance it with the need to make them imperfect. A good example of that is our digital crowd system. We had a small cast of 12 people and a huge Wardrobe Department; they had 10 different pairs of trousers, a dozen different jackets, a dozen different hats, and for each of those trousers, jackets, and hats there are maybe 20 or more colour variations. By multiplying altogether all of those permutations you get an incredibly diverse crowd.” As for creating the populous in the 1932 inaugural parade and the racetrack sequence, Rankin remarks, “There were 30 odd crowd shots and they were all quite diverse in styles. In many cases our shot might involve only five or 10 digital people which are not traditionally considered to be a crowd shot but our pipeline here at Method is designed to be flexible.”



Lola VFX, a California-based company, was recruited by Michael Owens to handle some makeup enhancements “which proved to be not terribly problematic but nevertheless a task at hand.” The aging of Leo DiCaprio required no digital alterations but the appearance of the elderly Armie Hammer needed some modification. “We enhanced almost all of his shots as an older man. Clint in afterthought felt Naomi [Watts] didn’t look quite aged enough so we touched up her shots as an older woman. They also took Judi Dench and made her look younger for a few shots when J. Edgar is a young kid.” Owen observes, “It is a very expensive process to do it all digitally. It can be done that way. Usually, a hybrid method is better or physical makeup, assuming it is done really well. The reason is purely cost and time.”

“We had to keep our styles correct for the different eras,” states Michael Owens who had to handle approximately 400 visual effects shots. “All we had to do was make sure that their enhancements looked correct and not artificial. Lola VFX weren’t changing anything in the scene other than that. Whereas creating matte paintings and virtual environments that Method did was all in one house so it was much easier to keep track of the look.” There are hardly any practical effects in the movie. “They had gunshots but that was it.” Reflecting on how J. Edgar compares to the previous films helmed by Clint Eastwood, Owens believes, “It’s different because of the subject matter. Clint never tries to replicate himself style-wise.” He adds, “Whether it makes a billion dollars at the box office I don’t know but I think there are people who will enjoy the character study.”

Production stills © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
VFX images © 2011 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All rights reserved. Images courtesy Method Studios Vancouver.

For more on J. Edgar, visit the official website, along with Method Studios and Lola VFX, and be sure to check out Trevor's Clint Eastwood filmmaker profile, Quick Shooter.

Many thanks to Michael Owens, Geoffrey Hancock and Ollie Rankin for taking the time out of their schedules for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Working with Clint: Michael Owens talks about Clint Eastwood

Trevor Hogg chats with Academy Award-nominated visual effects supervisor Michael Owens about his collaborations with Clint Eastwood...

“Space Cowboys [2000] was my first experience with Clint [Eastwood]. We got along great and it worked out very well,’ recalls Michael Owens who has become the visual effects supervisor of choice for the Hollywood legend. “Clint let me do pre-viz for the last quarter of the movie. I edited it together and we shot it. ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] was thinking I was stepping too far; they didn’t quite understand that was what Clint was asking for.” The experience was a not an easy one for Eastwood. “He got through it fine and wasn’t complaining but I could tell it was harder for him because he had to imagine a lot of things.” Owens goes on to tell a story about his time spent working on Invictus (2009) in Vancouver, British Columbia. “At the end of projects, you usually don’t get a lot of sleep; you wakeup in the middle of the night because you’re worried about something. I turned the TV on in the hotel room and Jedi [1983] was on. I was like, ‘I haven’t seen this for a long time.’ It was terrible. We won Best Visual Effects for that movie and at the time it was stunning. But boy did it not age well. I was thinking, ‘Oh, man. I had a blast on that movie. It was very fun movie to work on. It had great scenes in it.’ Cut to two nights later. I can’t sleep again. I turned the TV on and Space Cowboys comes on and I go, ‘I don’t think I can watch this. It’ll be terrible.’ For some reason I always thought it was a milk toast sort of movie storywise. But I enjoyed terribly working on it.” Watching it on the small screen Owens found himself being captivated by the outer space sequence. “We did a lot of that stuff in miniatures. We didn’t do much digital work. We did some digital doubles.” It was a case of using the right blend of visual and practical effects. “I was thrilled that it held up.”

“Flags of Our Fathers [2006] was a wonderful project to work on. It was a turning point for Clint,” believes Michael Owens. “We were shooting in Iceland and had so much war hardware, people, extras, and the ocean. It was hard to get things to work the way you wanted them.” The visual effects supervisor went back to Iceland as a second unit director to get more footage. “When Clint saw what we could do later in post, he said, ‘I guess we didn’t need all that hardware!’ In some sense maybe he was right. We were right on the cutting edge of trying to get the water and the hardware to work interactively. In hindsight, I was slightly under confident of being able to accomplish it as well as we did. From then on Clint was like, ‘Nah. You’re going to do it.’” Questioned about Letters from Iwo Jima (2006), Owens remarks, “It was a continuation; almost like a sequel but it wasn’t.” A remarkable piece of acting stands out to the visual effects supervisor. “On Letters there is this one shot where the general dies in the hands of the lead young guy; we were filming it and he was supposed to cry. One tear fell out of one eye onto his cheek at the perfect moment; he did one take and Clint looks up and says, ‘Well, that’ll never happen again. We’re done.’”

“It was trying to pick the moments that would payoff the best,” says Michael Owens when discussing Changeling (2008) which is set in 1928. “The other thing was to give the audience a sense of period without hammering them or overstating it. I pointed out the places where I thought it would work and Clint agreed with it. I enjoy the idea that you are an extension of what the filmmaker is doing and you’re trying to get the story to be visually correct.” Owens admires Eastwood. “You need to trust yourself to go forward. What’s brilliant about Clint is he’s very secure, not egotistical, and knows what he wants.” Perfection is not the objective. “His films are not supposed to be polished; that’s one of the charms of them.” However, the Californian admits, “Every once and awhile I’d say, ‘Couldn’t we do another take of that?’ He’ll say, ‘It’s fine.’”

“That was supposed to be one shot,” reveals Michael Owens who became more involved with the production of Gran Torino (2008). “Clint doesn’t cry very well as an actor; he gets all stuffy and messy.” The moviemaker wanted to recreate the moment from Letters from Iwo Jima where the soldier cries a single tear when the general dies. “Clint said, ‘I want something like that to happen. Could you do that as a visual effect?’ I said, ‘Sure.’ I worked out the shot, put in the timing, and he said, ‘Perfect.’” Eastwood felt his character should have a more dramatic response upon learning that the young girl who lives next door to him has been assaulted. “Clint wanted to bang through a glass cupboard; he did that late in shooting. It meant he needed blood and scars on his hands for the last third of the movie. We added scars to his hands. It’s not a big deal at all. We did some of that on Flags where we added scars and dirt on costumes, and we art directed their makeup to make it look rougher. In Gran Torino there were some fights where the guys weren’t beat up at all so we added all kinds of scars, blood and bruises tastefully.”

“We replaced everything except for the players on every shot,” remarks Michael Owens in regards to the rugby matches in Invictus (2009). “There was no other way you could have done that and still have the freedom of the camera which was what I wanted him to have.” It is important to have the ability to improvise. “I know that I need to give him the room to maneuver the way he likes to maneuver.” He carries on and says, “I hardly ever use green or blue screens with Clint because it will slow him down. It would change his photographic style and it wouldn’t look like a Clint Eastwood movie at that point.” Owens is proud of Invictus. “It worked out quite well. That’s one of the favourite movies I’ve ever worked on.”

“Hereafter [2010] would have been a daunting thought to him awhile back but it didn’t faze him,” says Michael Owens who received an Oscar nomination for creating a computer generated tsunami. “It was difficult not to upstage the rest of the movie with that sequence. Yet it had to be gut-wrenching enough that it made you known what her motivation was for being disturbed about life after that. It was push and pull. I hope that we hit it right. Clint liked it and I think it worked well. I like that movie a great deal. It was a challenge to design the sequence so it flowed.”

Comparing the period films Changeling and J. Edgar (2011), Michael Owens observes, “They’re very similar in their requirements for visual effects.” The latest film from Clint Eastwood carries on his tradition of being subtle with the visual imagery. “J. Edgar isn’t a giant visual effects movie; it’s meant not to be noticed at all and hopefully appropriately so. There wasn’t a tsunami sequence or anything like that even though we joked about it. ‘Maybe we should put a tsunami sequence through this scene?’” The sequence where J. Edgar Hoover reflects upon the 1932 inauguration parade required the blending of archival footage, live action photography and a virtual environment. “We didn’t touch anything of Leo [DiCaprio],” states Owens who had to do some CGI fixes to the practical effects. “Armie’s [Hammer] makeup as an older man didn’t quite come across on film as well as they were hoping.” The visual effects supervisor has a habit of not watching the entire picture until it is completed. “On J. Edgar I needed to see the movie because I was more involved.” He recalls, “When I first saw Gran Torino, I said, ‘This is great.’ I hope I have the same opinion of J. Edgar.”

“What I like about Clint and the other directors I have worked with is that they just do drama,” states Michael Owens. “They don’t want the visual effects to be seen and I don’t want them to be seen either.” The process of dealing with Clint Eastwood is straightforward. “I estimate what he would be looking for as a director, I present stuff to him and get feedback.” Eastwood has come a long way from Space Cowboys. “At this point he’s in complete command of utilizing visual effects.” There is a current trend which the filmmaker is likely to avoid. “Clint I can’t quite see doing stereo pictures.” Owens explains, “Clint is a very progressive thinker but he’s just into storytelling.” He remarks, “All of us who work for him get good at knowing where Clint probably wants to go with the material. We get right in the zone and Clint can be the conductor of the nuances he wants to have happen.”

Many thanks to Michael Owens for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview. For more, be sure to check out Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Michael Owens.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.

Image Conscious: A conversation with visual effects supervisor Michael Owens

Trevor Hogg chats with Academy Award-nominated visual effects supervisor Michael Owens...

“I grew up in the Bay Area,” states Michael Owens. “There was no moviemaking there. I fell into filmmaking when I was in high school.” Not wanting to move to Los Angeles, the teenager floundered. “When ILM [Industrial Light & Magic] came to Marine County, it was like, ‘There’s an opportunity for fun.’ I never thought I was making myself a career out of visual effects.” He thrived. “At that time, they were the forefront and you learned a lot visually. We’re working on multiple projects. It was quite a talent pool.” One of the movies Owens helped out with was the third installment of the original Star Wars trilogy. “Jedi [1983] was really fun to work on. I did a lot of spaceships. I also did the speeder bikes chase.” The latter sequence required some ingenuity. “Dennis Muren let me figure out how to do it and I invented this moving camera. It was good camaraderie. I wish the movie had done a little bit better.” The American was recruited for another space franchise sequel, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982). “I would probably say that there was less artistic freedom in the Star Wars because George [Lucas] had it storyboarded out. We even did animatics at the time; they were very crude. Once it got figured out it was do this because it’s what we want. Star Trek was like, ‘That looks cool. Why don’t we show this to the guys?’ You were still working towards a concept.” While at ILM the native of California was part of the production crew for the infamous comic book adaptation Howard the Duck (1986). “I was just a bit player on that one for a short period of time. They needed some help as a cameraman. That was a screwy movie.”

With his creative interests diverging from those of ILM, Michael Owens decided to become a freelance visual effects supervisor. “There was a point where I was looking for more pure drama. I was the only guy who liked doing that stuff and so I got to work with Oliver Stone [The Doors] and Scorsese.” The time spent with Martin Scorsese on Bringing Out the Dead (1999) was memorable. “He had done like zero visual effects and was very uncomfortable with them. We ordered ourselves a blue screen tube. He knew it had to happen but he wasn’t very comfortable so I said, ‘Why don’t you come out to ILM and we’ll do it there. George can come out and sit with you.’ They’re buddies. Marty said, ‘Okay.’ He brought everybody out and wanted me to run it. I never had a director go, ‘No. You go tell the actor what to do.’ I don’t have a problem doing that. I’ve directed commercials and second unit. With Nic Cage [Leaving Las Vegas], it was like, ‘Okay, Nic this is what we’re doing. Imagine this.’ I did that and Marty would be watching me over my shoulder. We’d do takes and move onto the next setup. It was a week of shooting as I recall and by the end of the week, Marty had completely taken over; he was doing all of that because now he was comfortable and knew what it was. Today, he’s all over it. It was an interesting and nice experience to be able to see somebody go through that, and come out and go, ‘Wow.’”

“All the movies I ever worked on you always come down to the wire,” remarks Michael Owens who frequently collaborates with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Clint Eastwood (Hereafter). “The DI [Digital Intermediate] is the deadline. They’re going to film recorders tomorrow. That’s it. You’re done.” He adds, “Everybody is trying to get it done quicker, faster, and cheaper.” Owens admits, “Every once and awhile something sneaks by and you go, ‘Oh, man, I wish could have spent a little longer on that one.’ It usually comes down to time and resources.” Dealing with directors can be tricky as some “feel destined to repeat the style and method because that was their success” while others are “not sure what is needed or are so insecure that if it isn’t exactly what they want it won’t be right.” It is important to remain focused on the main goal. “For visual effects, I look at what needs to happen to help out the story. Even today, I’m one of the guys who do not like to do flamboyant visual effects. I grew up with guys who loved Ray Harryhausen [Jason and the Argonauts] whereas my favourite movie is Casablanca [1942].”

“In fantasy or stylization you can do what you want,” observes Michael Owens who enjoyed 300 (2006). “I used to shoot music videos a long time ago. It doesn’t matter what it looks like as long as it’s cool.” The Oscar-nominee says, “Often time, visual and physical effects were always competing with one another.” Owens was impressed by Christopher Nolan and Inception (2010). “He did a brilliant job of capitalizing of what works best physically and what works best visual effects wise.” Peter Jackson and his adaptation of a literary classic by J.R.R. Tolkien are also noteworthy. “Lord of the Rings did a lot of miniatures and physical effects; they also did a ton of visual effects. When you have the right blend it is great to do.” Forrest Gump (1994) is a personal favourite. “It served the movie perfectly from the creator, writer, the director, and the visual effects supervisor. It felt like the perfect blend. If you’re going to do all in your face visual effects then Empire Strikes Back [1980] and 2001 [1968] are brilliant.”

“Today you can almost do anything and the quality is way better,” reflects Michael Owens. “I remember early on in my career we were like a red headed stepson. Nobody wanted us on the set. They thought we were doing voodoo. They were like, ‘I don’t get this.’ Now, today you’re partnering with all of these people whether you needing a tear to fall or 10,000 spaceships to fly through.” The movie industry acceptance has come with a price. “Quite frankly, the tentpole films coming out are never considered to be good movies which is unfortunate; they’re big visual effects movies that make billions of dollars and are in 3D.” The latest trend in Hollywood has not completely convinced Owens. “The project I’m currently helping out with right now at Method is a post-conversion 3D. I’m not a big fan of 3D myself or stereo. It is a massive headache and complication to what you’re already trying to do. What we do naturally is put square pegs in round holes. This is 10 times worse now. I don’t know anybody you enjoys the process of it.” The technological transition resembles a previous one. “It’s like when you went from the silent era to the sound era. The camera just got nailed to the ground. It’s that same thing. It’s so cumbersome to deal with.”

“At the moment I’m helping out on Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter [2012]. Method needed some help and I said ‘Okay,’” states Michael Owens. “One of the ones I really wanted to work on and was late getting to was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close [2011]. The script is brilliant and has all this cool kid imagination stuff in it. I look forward to seeing that movie.” When asked what is required to be a successful visual effects supervisor, Owen advises. “You need to understand your technique and your tools. Preferably, you need to understand them on the set as well. The other half of it is cinematic artistry.” He adds, “You develop an eye and it doesn’t happen over night. I’ve always loved cinema and I hope I do it well.”

To read about Michael Owens' collaborations with Clint Eastwood, check out the second part of this interview - Working with Clint: Michael Owens talks about Clint Eastwood.

Many thanks to Michael Owens for taking the time out of his schedule for this interview.

Trevor Hogg is a freelance video editor and writer who currently resides in Canada.