Notes on the video: 0:00-1:32 –
Introduction 1:33-2:20 –
What is "Creature Effects"? “It's anything that involves creating something that is lurking deep within the recesses of your imagination. Monsters, aliens, science fiction, any deformities – anything that involves presenting something in front of a camera to be filmed for a movie or television series, that's what we do here.”
2:21-3:20 –
Spectral Motion movie credits “Our first project that really put us on the map as an independent studio is Hellboy. We did the first Hellboy movie and we did the second Hellboy movie, and then we did some Marvel projects – we did both of the Fantastic Four movies, we did two of the X-men movies. My personal portfolio is about 75 or 80 movies long … I've been in the industry a long time.”
3:30-4:21 –
Now is the best time in history to be an artist “The days of artists painting pictures on the side of the road and struggling to make any money selling their portraits is gone. We have video games, we have films, we have television, we have web series, comic books – all of that requires artists and technicians who can help the artists realize their work in whatever medium they're working in. It is possible to have a life filled with creativity.”
4:22-13:22 –
Showroom: Troll hand from Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, mechanical bird Simon from Your Highness, Sammael and Rasputin's Mecha Glove from Hellboy “This is proof that in creature effects, in what you do, art and science come together. It's not just a place for artists; it's a place for technicians, mechanics – I know at my father's shop, they brought in technicians from the aerospace industry who loved creatures and were able to apply their scientific experience to creating characters.”
“That's a great point. It's definitely a right-brain-left-brain kind of industry. We love people who understand both sides of the equation – technical and artistic.”
About Sammael character from Hellboy: “This was a great challenge for us … Guillermo del Toro didn't want any cables going to the character, even though [the character] had all these tentacles on his head that actually moved, so we had to invent a whole new kind of tentacles and create the software that drove all the motors in the tentacles to make it look like his hair was made out of eels. I often get the remark that people thought it was a CG character. Well, I'm happy to tell all of you it's not CG – it's a very real thing.”
13:23-17:20 –
Walkthrough of the process, from script to realization of the characters “We're handed a script for a movie. We go through and read all the places where it calls for an effect – a character, a wound, whatever it is – and we break those out to create a document called a script breakdown. From that document we create a budget. Once we get an approval on that, we start drawing what the effects are going to look like … Once the drawings are approved, we create what is called a maquette in sculpture … a presentation piece that gives everyone a clue as to what the three-dimensional piece is going to look like in their film. Once this is approved, we create the full-sized piece. To do that we have to cast an actor, which means we have to put gooey stuff all over the actor's face, hands, and body to get an impression of them so we can create the sculpture that goes on their body. It's a complicated system, but it really works well.”
17:21-19:22
What education do you need to enter this field? “Because it is such a multifaceted place – there's so many disciplines that are used – I think any artistic endeavor is a viable thing that will apply to what we're doing here. But our designers have to know how to use a computer, they need to know how to use the software to create artistic renderings. Pretty much if you're in an art school and you're learning some discipline, you probably would be able to do something at our studio here.”
19:23-21:12 –
Painting creations “Painting is a very diverse thing. Not only do we have to paint flexible materials and make sure that the paint stays put when it is stretching and moving, but we also have to be able to paint rigid materials and make it look like an automotive finish – it's got to be clean and perfect. … It's one thing to see a sculpture that is not painted – it's interesting because it's sculpture, but once you put paint on it, and it becomes something a little bit more creepy and more alive, it really kind of brings it to life. It's a very exciting part of the equation.”
21:13-22:22 –
How important is collaboration and teamwork in the process? “We rely heavily on the fact that all of our team members work together; they all understand what the next person is doing in the next part of the process, and then it all comes together. That's what really makes things work – when everybody understands each other's needs and each other's requirements and we all participate together that way.”
22:23-30:10 –
Mechanical department: 3D printing, motion methodologies, schooling requirements “It's one thing to create a character that looks terrific, but if he doesn't move, he's just a statue. … Generally we use electronics – servo motors, any kind of thing you have to plug into a power supply – we also use hydraulics, we use pneumatics, but there is no end to the systems that can be used to create movement.”
30:11-33:50 –
Question from student 34:24-37:00 –
Robot Combat League robot prototype “This thing is made almost entirely of steel. The robots are hydraulic, and it is almost impossible to convey how powerful and fast and dangerous these things are.”
37:35-End –
Question from student and closing comments