Cinematographer Ben Davis at BAFTA

One of the best things about BAFTA is its focus on regular lectures and seminars on filmmaking. 

A recent event at the Picture house Central on London’s Shaftesbury Avenue featured an interview with Cinematographer Ben Davis, whose screen credits include Kick-Ass, Before I Go to Sleep and Guardians of the Galaxy. But why should an animator need to know about cinematography? Because animators are film- makers, and anything that helps you to understand the art of visual story telling will make you better at your craft. And who better to learn from than one of the UK’s best cinematographers?

What does a visual effects supervisor do, exactly?

Matt Johnson (left) in Los Angeles on Beverly Hills Chihuahua

What does a Visual Effects Supervisor actually do – and how do you become one? Matt Johnson, veteran VFX supervisor on dozens of Hollywood hits, including World War Z, Into The Woods, V for Vendetta, X Men, and Chronicles of Narnia, explains what a Visual Effects Supervisor actually does for a living, and how an aspiring film-maker might become one.

Are universities failing the UK's visual effects industry?

Pat Joseph, co-founder and chief creative officer of The Mill, certainly thinks so. In this post at the Televisual blog,  Joseph argues that higher education in the UK is not responding to the needs of the visual effects industry, and is not training students of the digital arts to a sufficiently high calibre. Critics of UK government policy argue that tax breaks for the creative industries create unfair competition (see thursday's post about the sad end of Rythm and Hues). But could it be that, despite the tax breaks, the university sector is the achilles heel of visual effects work in the UK?

Life After Pi - the sad end of R&H

In this excellent 30 minute documentary, the film-makers explore the sad end of Rythm and Hues, one of the world's finest visual effects houses, pioneers in photo realistic character animation. The film explores how R&H strove to be the best in the world, but also what was the financial cost of that search for excellence.

The chief villain of the film is the film subsidies coming from countries like Canada and the UK, where the Government offers tax rebates to create financial incentives for work to be done at home, stimulating domestic creative industries. What this leads to, of course, is a competitive auction for visual effects work, with artists acting as "pixel gypsies", following the studios to far-away cities in search of work, as changing tax subsidies send work to different countries.

Producer Carolyn Bates Talks Shop

Carolyn: "Here's a pic of me and BG painter, Cathy Patrick, 1973. on Emergency+4.
 Don Jurwich had taped a xerox of 'The Yellow Kid' over my desk - typical 70's un-PC.
The extreme right side pencil sharpener and phone are Walt Peregoy's."

FLIP: How did you get your start in animation?

Carolyn: Walt Peregoy hired me as an apprentice BG painter At Fred Calvert Productions on Emergency +4 the day I graduated high school. He regaled the BG team with expletive laced stories of his days at Disney and Hanna-Barbera. He admired creative passion and spoke ardently of the beauty in nature. I learned a ton and made friends with a number of folk, many of whom I'd get to work with later: Corny Cole, Libby Simon, Paul Shively, Freddie Hellmich and Amby Paliwoda.

Opening titles to Fred Calvert's Emergency +4, Carolyn's first gig.  

You can almost hear Walt Peregoy bitching.

Framestore opens up in Montreal - and more VFX jobs leave London

The growing and rather depressing trend for jobs to leave London's Soho and head for Canada seems to be picking up pace. Framestore, one of London's leading visual effects houses and the studio which, more than any other, helped to make London a global centre for VFX work, has opened up a new operation in Montreal - no doubt chasing generous Canadian tax credits.

The secrets of Matchmove revealed - by industry veteran Amy Lloyd

Matchmove: it's all about cameras, baby

Matchmove is one of the more technical and less well known departments in the 3D visual effects pipeline. Amy Lloyd was for many years a lead matchmover at Cinesite in London's Soho, and has worked on countless visual effects blockbusters including Harry Potter, X Men, Moon, Battle LA and John Carter. FLIP asked Amy to talk a little about what exactly her department does, and why it is so important in VFX.

Ray Harryhausen Lives!

Mention the film Jason and the Argonauts, and people think of  Ray Harryhausen.  He didn't write it, he didn't direct it, he didn't star in it.  But it's his film.  He produced it, and other fantasy adventures like it around his ideas involving stop-motion animation - an enviable position.

I had seen Harryhausen's work long before I knew his name, which I first heard as a student at CalArts.   Two friends from film graphics, Steve Burg and Shannon Shea, were always talking about this brilliant guy Harryhausen.  For the longest time, I thought his name was Harry Hausen - they never referred to him using his first name.  They had super 8 films of their primitive attempts to ape Harryhausen - pardon the pun.  Shannon was animating dinosaurs, Steve was more about space ships.

Huge cull at Cinesite - more bad news from Soho

Cinesite Europe, my former London employer and (until recently) one of the big hitters in visual effects in Soho, have just made some massive layoffs. They are now losing not just the freelancers and the specialist folks whose talents can be hired and fired, but the key people who run the departments and know how the systems work. These are the staff who are hard to re-hire, difficult to do without.

So, Farewell Then, Vernon Dursley

Richard Griffiths as Uncle Vernon. Copyright Warner Bros

Richard Griffiths, famous to my generation as the queeny upper-class Uncle Monty from Withnail and I (but much better known today as the muggle Uncle Vernon from the Harry Potter series), died last week.

Mill TV to close

Mill TV is no more

Another blow to VFX animation in London - Mill TV, which did award-winning work on Doctor Who and Merlin is to close. Most likely around 25 jobs will go. 

Marc Stevenson on The Animation Workshop

The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark

Marc Stevenson is an animator with a huge wealth of experience in the visual effects industry, having worked on many successful films including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Moon, X-Men, and Charlie and The Chocolate Factory.

Marc recently took time out from VFX work  to teach at The Animation Workshop in Viborg, Denmark, one of Europe's leading centres of animation excellence. In an interview with FLIP Marc talks about his new experience as an animation instructor.

Tax Breaks for UK Animation

Wallace and Gromit would be proud. Copyright Aardman Animation

Chancellor George Osbourne's budget speech yesterday may not have inspired many to believe in Britain's general economic recovery, but it surely gladdened the hearts of animators across the land that his government is committed to some serious tax breaks for the animation and visual effects industry in the UK.

Go green with VFX Solidarity International - Tonight!

VFX Solidarity International, whose remit is to "Unite VFX Professionals and the Digital Artist community worldwide for sound international business standards and practices", is having a "Pi Day" today (as in Life of Pi) for visual effects artists everywhere. It's a Town Hall meeting and everyone with an interest in visual effects is invited.

What Does a Visual Effects Producer Do, Exactly?

Martin Gabriel is a visual effects producer with a long list of successful feature films on his resume, including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  X-Men, The last Stand, and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. He also worked on the TV series Band of Brothers and The Prisoner.

Following the collapse of Oscar-winning facility Rhythm and Hues, FLIP asked Martin to talk about what, exactly, a visual effects producer does, and how a vfx film gets put together. In short - how does the industry really work?

Momentum grows to demand recognition for VFX artists

Ang Lee - ungrateful?

VFX Solidarity International's campaign for recognition for VFX artists is gaining momentum, finding its way into the mainstream press. The Guardian ran a piece yesterday saying that director Ang Lee was "under fire from visual effects artists over Life of Pi speech". Many of the artists who worked on the hugely successful film have been laid off without pay, following the bankruptcy of Rhythm and Hues.

Going Green in support of R&H and the artists who helped Life of Pi win Oscar gold

We're going green in support of VFX Solidarity international, expressing our support for all the vfx artists and animators who helped to make Life of Pi an Oscar-winning success - and got rewarded with a pink slip.

Rhythm & Hues Wins a BAFTA, gets an Oscar nom - and Goes Bust

It seems that Rhythm and Hues is going under. The pioneering VFX studio, responsible for some of the most ground-breaking visual effects work ever done, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. It hardly seems credible that the studio that did such extraordinary work on Life of Pi (you can see FLIP's review of the movie here), has gone bust, even as they collect a sack full of awards, and their Oscar nomination looms.

Phantom Harbor's "Hurry Home for Christmas"

I have to share my favorite Christmas video, created by friend of FLIP Shannon Shea.  I have known Shannon since our days at CalArts thirty years ago, when he was a frustrated student in the Film Graphics Department. He has had a long career as a frustrated make-up effects artist, with a resume as long as Santa's gift list.  He's worked on films such as Predator, Terminator 2, Dances with Wolves, and my favorite Drag Me to Hell, just to name a few.

PHANTOM HARBOR: Merry Christmas 2011 from Shannon Shea on Vimeo.

Where to learn creature animation?

One of the problems that the Visual Effects business in London has had for many years is how to find suitably trained animators - photo realistic creature work is very demanding and the skills involved can be quite different from animating character performances. One school that offers an excellent training (at very reasonable rates) is Rob Hemmings' admirable Animation A-Team. He focuses exclusively on training animators for creature work, aiming squarely at the likes of Frame Store, Double Negative, MPC and Cinesite. The reels his students come up with are hugely impressive - you can see their work, and his website here: Enjoy! - Alex