Freelance Wanted in October !!!

Here's a job offer from Kompost

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We love good concepts, because they work without a because.

About Kompost:

Kompost is based out of new york and switzerland, working closely with talented artists from around the globe. Together we strive to set new standards in the fields of art and design.

Currently we are looking for a freelance After Effects and C4D or Maya motion designer with strong design skills.

DATE: around the 10th of October until approx. 22nd of October

Must be proficient in:
AfterEffects
Cinema 4D or Maya
Photoshop/Illustrator

Experience: 2-5 years

Work will be done in-house in our St. Moritz Office, Travel, Meals and Accommodation will be provided. Your Day rate will be separately discussed.

If interested, please email a PDF resume and a link to your reel or website to work@kompostnyc.com

Please put "Motion Graphics/Designer" in the subject line.

Thank you very much and best regards.
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FABRICE VIENNE from Fribourg to Montreal

Here's the presentation of Fabrice Vienne, who choosed to leave Switzerland (and Fribourg) to go to one of the best postproduction places: Montreal !! After a full year of intensive studies at NAD Centre (National Center of Animation and Design), Fabrice is hired by Buzz Image in 2006.

He start as modeler and then work on spiders sequences as animator on THE COVENANT directed by Renny Harlin. He work as animator / generalist on THE FLOOD.

In 2008, Buzz separated from his film division (now know as Oblique). Fabrice choose to work for the commercial division and work on a big full CG project, BOLO LA PELLICULA, for a market store company in Mexico. On this project, he did the layouts and help for the rigging, animation, texturing and modeling. Since then, he is generalist in a team of 12 artists.

Below, they are some BOLO screenshots and behind the scenes pictures (Fabrice is on the last two).

He is working on the next episode of BOLO.

The making-of for this episode is available here.

Go see the Fabrice Vienne's website for more informations about his work.

TRANSFORMERS 2: exclusive interview of Jean-Denis Haas

Here is a brand new exclusive interview for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN which complete the other one did by Natasha Devaud by giving an eye on the animation and CG aspects of the show

Jean-Denis Haas work since 5 years at ILM, his resume contains big shows like STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST, TRANFORMERS or STAR TREK.
As you have seen it in a past news, Jean-Denis is working on the next movie of James Cameron, AVATAR !!!

He gives us a some of his times to talk about his work on the show

Hello Jean-Denis, can you tell us what was your position on the show ??


I was one of the lead animators on the show.


In what consist your job ??


Transformers 2 was my first show as a lead, so my job requirements changed a bit. Usually you are assigned shots and you animate the characters within that shot according to the direction of the client. As a lead animator I was overseeing certain sequences and made sure that the animators working on shots within those sequences had all the information and help they needed.


On which scenes have you worked ??


Most of my work was focused on the underwater sequence where I helped with previz and animation of shots. I also animate a few shots with Ravage, Optimus Prime & Megatron in the forrest fight, Jetfire, etc.


How is the preparation for a typical shot ??


You check in with a lead or supervisor who will give you the specific direction for your shot. That way you know what's going on and what the action or acting beats are for your character(s). Then you start planning out your shot by either acting it out, shooting video reference or using other tools. Whatever helps you out to get a good idea of what you want to do. Once you're clear about that, you start blocking out the shot.


For the animation, have you used iMocap or keyframe animation ??


I have used both. Some actions can't be mocapped (or would be very difficult and time consuming to do so) and you end up doing it by hand, others will benefit from motion capture takes because you get a lot of subtleties in your animation, which help it make the movement more real.


What was the references for the animation ??


Animators would either act out their scenes or we would study footage found online or through other media. The footage used ranged from fighting bits to acting moments.


Is Michael Bay very specific what he want with the animation or he let the animation supervisor doing that ?
I would say both. He is really good about collaborating with the artists. So either you would get very specific notes from him or he would ask us to come up with something interesting that fits the tone and style of the movie. He has a very good eye for cool shots so either way his comments are very helpful.


What was the most difficult characters to animate ??


That all depends on the definition of difficult. A character can be difficult to animate because of its size, the way it's constructed or any other physical feature, and how it fits and relates with the environment and/or live action plate. Some characters also had more complex acting moments like Jetfire or Optimus Prime. So I would say all the characters might have difficult aspects to them from time to time.


Have you encounter any problems ??


I haven't had any major problems, but that's because the tools and the production team here at ILM are really good at providing you with as many solutions as possible to any potential problems. You never end a day with a feeling of "I can't fix this problem." Obviously you will always encounter complications on a show, but those are usually technical in nature because we push ourselves to do better work than on previous shows.


How many times did you have for this show ??


I worked on Transformers 2 for a couple of months.


What is your next projects ??


Currently I'm working on James Cameron's "Avatar".

Thanks a lot for your time !!

THE WOLFMAN: the trailer

Following the interview of Pascal Chappuis last week, here is the trailer of THE WOLFMAN.

Pascal is sequence supervisor on this show which will be released in 2010.

The visual effects houses are Double Negative, MPC and of course Rhythm & Hues.

CARGO: the premiere

Don't miss tonight, at 8pm, on STAR TV an exclusive documentary on CARGO directed by Ivan Engler !!!

You'll see interviews, film clips and behind the scenes footages !!!

The documentary should be available soon on the StarTV's website...

The movie will be released September 24th.

LAND OF THE LOST: interview of Pascal Chappuis

Pascal Chappuis who is working at Rhythm & Hues give us an exclusive interview of his work on LAND OF THE LOST directed by Brad Silberling.
Before that he has worked on THE GOLDEN COMPASS and THE INCREDIBLE HULK.

I'm sorry the interview is in french only

Salut Pascal. Quel était ton poste sur LOTL ??
J'étais Sequence Supervisor. Ce qui veux dire que je suis en charge d'une dizaine de 'TD lighting' et d'une dizaine de 'TD Compositing' sur une séquence entière du film. En général de 100 a 120 shots.

Sur quelles séquences as-tu travaillé ??
J'ai hérité de la séquence dans le temple quand Marshall et son pote viennent secourir Holly suspendue dans une cage au-dessus d'un brasier. La séquence se termine avec Marshall se faisant avaler par le Dinosaure.

As-tu rencontré des difficultés ??
Ce show a été particulier par le nombre intensif de matte painting ou remplacement d'arrière-plan. Cela devient catastrophique à la vitesse à laquelle ils tournent ces films et le nombre de fois où il faut remplacer ce qu'il y a derrière les 'liannes' du décor ou de la fumée sur le set. Il faut donc créer ou étendre les arrières-plans en 2d pure ou en 3d projections, découper les zones où ils doivent se trouver et retrouver de la fumée proche de celle du jour du tournage à intégrer par dessus pour que tout fonctionne.
Ma séquence aura été intensive dans ce genre d'effets invisible a la fin.

Combien de personnes composait ton équipe ??
Mon équipe était en Inde cette fois. Je revenais d'une année passée avec notre équipe à Bombay. J'ai commencé ce show depuis là-bas et je l'ai fini depuis Los Angeles mais avec mes gars sur Bombay. Une ou deux personnes sur place à Los Angeles pour compléter l'équipe pour certaines urgences et tout roule.
Une expérience particulière que celle de 'diriger' une équipe à distance par vidéo conférence. Très enrichissant et certaine fois assez difficile.

Avez-vous eu un temps de postproduction confortable ou le délai était un peu court (ce qui tant à se généraliser malheureusement) ??
Très très court. Peut-être par notre faute, pour ne pas avoir réaliser l'ampleur du travail avec le nombre d'effets invisible qui venait se rajouter aux effets plus standard de bestioles 3D gesticulant dans tous les sens. Mais bien des rires au dérisoire de certaines scènes qu'on nous demandait de faire.

Il semble que le public n'ait pas adhéré néanmoins. Une bombe au box office américain malheureusement. Le film 'Hangover' l'aura tué. Certainement un mauvais marketing pour un film difficilement cernable. Les Studios n'ont pas touché le public cible avec leur campagne ou plutôt n'ont pas su pour quel public ce film se destinait. Un flop financier en a résulté. C'est les règles du jeu du cinema a Hollywood. Quasiment du Poker.

Quel est votre pipeline logiciel ??
Propriétaire en majeure partie avec un gros complément par Houdini.

Quel est ton prochain projet ??
Je suis sur 'The Wolf Man' avec Anthony Hopkins et Benecio Del Toro tout deux en loup-garous. Sortie prévue en Février 2010 aux US. Nous aidons simplement sur une centaine de shots. Le show est en grosse partie fait par des compagnies londoniennes.

Un énorme merci à toi pour ta disponibilité !