Episode 6 – Master of All; Jack of None

by PJ Foley | Oct 29, 2015 | Blog

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:22:02 — 75.2MB)

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Episode 6: We continue our journey into our Hollywood destinies  while Sean tries to recall all the times he's been fired. Meanwhile, Efram just chooses to win his way into your television.

• Sean got fired from True Lies…
• …And the Playboy News
  • Richard Jeni
• …and Starbucks
• Photoshop leads to a photo restoration job at A and I
• Which leads to performing color correction at Foundation Imaging
  • Sherry Hitch
  • Charlie White
• Efram starts at Project Greenlight, Season 2 (2003)
  • He wanted to create CG bugs for his short
  • Learned Maya via DVD lessons from Gnomon
  • Giant bug short: Insex
  • A generic definition for Maquette. Not to be confused with Chris Marquette, star of…
  • …the giant bug movie is “Infestation” aka “Big Bugs Panic” in Japan, which we always get a kick out of
  • Shout outs to Dilated Pixels, a VFX and Production company in Hollywood
  • Infestation, the first project from Dilated Pixels, received a VES Nomination for “Best VFX In a Miniseries or Special”. Not too shabby
  • And the award we didn't get: that shiny thing in the middle of the page
• Sony Imageworks, now headquartered in Vancouver, Canada
• Dreamwork's Animation; still American
• Situations we often run into while “in the muck”
  • Inheriting or taking over a project and trying to decipher what is going on and how to finish it off
    • Usually not possible to start from the existing assets and solve the issues
• 5k RED footage
• Pipelines!
  • Every studio does it their own way and with their own choice of software and how it interoperates
  • Have your own contingency plan
  • Every size project needs artist orientation
  • Kevin Geiger's FMX/08 YouTube video (there are many parts to this presentation)
  • Life of a Shot with Jeff Scheetz, founder of the DAVE School. Now leading Monkey Chow Productions
  • Working on Roughnecks (IMDb)
• Diversions
  • Efram has just seen Tim's Vermeer
  • Tim Jenison of Newtek
  • PJ likes his HBO Now, now! now!
  • Sean brings up a tear-jerking and profound episode of Radio Lab on donated organs

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Ten Giant Robots is a Podcast!

by PJ Foley | Oct 11, 2015 | Blog

“I'm thinking we could do a podcast.”

The words hung in the air for a moment, and then agreement was struck. We all thought we could. But did we? No, not for months. A little discussion was had here and there, of course. But would the idea come to fruition?

And then, behind my back…

The decision was made for me. The proper space for our recording was no longer in my purview. The microphones of choice were researched. The setup was made. Now all we had to do was SHOW UP.

And it would probably help if we knew what we'd talk about. So, with our writer's brains we knew the best advice was always to write what you know. In this case, we'd just blab about what we know. So, what do we know?

Visual Effects, Storytelling, Production, and navigating the industry of Hollywood as an artist.

As you dive into our pilot, you'll probably notice we're finding our footing. But we soon conclude what we're going to share with you: stories, anecdotes, experiences that might help you enter the world of Visual Effects. Or, maybe we can just keep you company while you hammer away at a shot into the umpteenth revision late at night, again, after everyone else has gone home.

As we go forward, we're going to share advice for newbies and veterans alike. We'll have guests on board that will showcase the figures within the industry as well as in orbit of it. These are the people that can inspire all the directions a career in visual effects can take you.

-PJ