Mike Seymour, Matt Wallin and TyRuben Ellingson celebrate the 200th episode (!) of the vfx show by discussing the creation, history and use of digital characters – from Digital Emily to Terminator: Genisys.
This week’s hosts
Mike Seymour
Mike is a writer, consultant, lecturer and educator and co-founder of fxguide.com and fxphd.com. Mike has worked for many years in R&D and production especially in the area of TVCs where he was known for his pioneering work in compositing on Flame. Mike is an AFI Feature film vfx award winner and a Emmy Award nominee in the USA. Mike currently based in Sydney Australia, but has worked in the USA and London. Mike is a regular contributor to Wired Magazine and makes a mean Margarita. He has a BSc, a Masters and is currently completing his PhD (part time) on Digital Human Faces.
Matt Wallin
Matt Wallin has a degree in Cinema from San Francisco State University and has worked in visual effects since 1992 on multiple projects at Industrial Light and Magic, Weta Digital, Tippett Studio, Sony Imageworks, Warner Bros. ESC Entertainment, Brainstorm Digital and MPC. His film credits include The Mummy, Twister, Star Wars: The Special Editions, Matrix Revolutions, Hellboy, Constantine, King Kong, Watchmen and Jurassic Park 2 among many others. Matt served as the VFX Supervisor for Matthew Barney’s Cremaster Cycle and Drawing Restraint 9. Today he is a tenured professor in the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia. http://mattwallin.com/
TyRuben Ellingson
TyRuben has worked in the film industry since 1989 when he joined Industrial Light and Magic as a Visual Effects Art Director. While at ILM, Ellingson contributed to the creation of ground-breaking special effects in films such as Jurassic Park, Star Wars: A New Hope (1997 Special Edition), The Flintstones, Casper, and Disclosure. In 1995, Ty left ILM to be the principle creature designer on Mimic for Guillermo del Toro. He has since worked with del Toro on Blade 2, Hellboy, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Pacific Rim. Ty’s recent concept designs can be seen in Battle: Los Angeles and Elysium, however he is most recognized as the lead vehicle designer on James Cameron’s Avatar. Ty continues to work as a conceptual designer and is an Assistant Professor at the School of the Arts at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia where he teaches concept design and visual problem-solving.