Just before Christmas the trailer for the film I’m currently working on, Prometheus, came out. Exciting! Well worth checking out in HD.

Since I last updated this website properly, a lot has happened. I’ve (temporarily) moved countries and am now in London working at the Moving Picture Company. Before that I wrapped up at Animal Logic in October, my last project there being some  shots for Happy Feet 2 where was matte painting and doing some compositing which was nice for a change.

So now my girlfriend, Vivienne To, and I are working in London and traveling around Europe and the UK and are documenting our adventures on a travel blog.

More updates to come.

It’s been far too long between updates. Since last posting, Sucker Punch has come and gone, but I did spend a rather nice easter in the Blue Mountains. Have a look at some of the images over on flickr.

Legend of the Guardians releases today in the US and next week here in Australia. Reviews are mixed, with a rotten tomatoes score of ~50%.  Generally the narrative has not been well received,  yet from what I’ve seen unanimously everyone is raving about the aesthetics of the film. Here are some choice quotes below;

I think this review from Cinemablend.com nails my thoughts overall on the film;

“Take out the dialogue, watch Legend of the Guardians as a silent movie, and this might be one of the best movies of the year. It looks that good. Yes the story’s a mess, but in Guardians Snyder’s team delivers one of the most beautiful pieces of animation ever created. They do it not just with amazing images but by making full use of everything 3D has to offer in a way no one, not even James Cameron, has done before.

That’s right even Avatar, for all its visual brilliance, is no match for the 3D wizardry on display here. [...] I’ve sat through a lot of 3D this year, some of it good, most of it terrible, but no one else has pulled off anything quite like this.”

From the San Antonio Current;

“The animators* should be given a huge amount of credit for this film. They create breathtaking backdrops of golden sunsets and pink dawns, a foreboding canyon (the home base of the Pure Ones) and a magical Ga-Hoole tree that rivals Avatar’s Tree of Souls for luminosity.”

(*Not quite sure why the animators are being given credits for the backgrounds, but still…)

And from Alibi.com there was special mention of the credits sequence;

“The shadow-puppet final credits alone are worthy of some technical Oscar.”

It’s nice that someone noticed. How often do you hear someone say how good the credits were? The credits sequence was done by the matte painting department (with the concept developed by Felicity Coonan, initial tech setup and proof of concept by Alex Ortell with the lead After Effects artist being Chris Zwar). The un-credited people for the credits sequence (oh, the irony) were Dudley Birch, Daniel Bayona, Gareth Young, Heidy Villafane and myself.

Now everyone is waiting on baited breath to see the box office results come Monday. The better the result for Legend of the Guardians the more possibilities for local artists in the future, which is something that the Sydney film production industry desperately needs.

The trailer for Sucker Punch was released today, a film that I just wrapped up on recently. I was fortunate enough to have a few of my shots make it in to the trailer. Have a look for yourself.

The trailer for the Legend of the Guardian’s is out, a film that I worked on for best part of the past year.

An excerpt;

“Like most people who work in the film, television and video game industries, visual effects artists love their jobs. They enjoy both the work itself and the ability to work on a daily basis with so many smart, creative and talented people. However, visual effects houses can be the best, most fun and high-tech sweatshops on earth. Visual effects artists typically work with no contract, no paid vacation, no benefits, and often no paid overtime. And because of the nature of the work health problems such as obesity, tendinitis and carpal tunnel syndrome are common.”

(Thanks to Marcus for pointing me to this article).

Another beautiful short by the People’s Republic of Animation. Watch in HD on vimeo.