Thank you so much to everyone who wrote me with kind words on our VES Award nomination. Even though there are four names associated with the nomination for Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture (Jay Cooper, Beth D'Amato, Eddie Pasquarello and Todd Vaziri), the nod belongs to the entire ILM team that worked on "Avatar." Our ILM work for the film was also nominated for Best Single Visual Effect of the Year, for the Quaritch Escape (Jill Brooks, John Knoll, Frank Losasso Petterson and Tory Mercer).
The full credits for the film are here: Avatar: How Many People Does It Take To Make A Movie?, from the Birmingham Sunday Mercury, where you'll see the full visual effects credits for Weta Digital, ILM, Framestore, Prime Focus, Hybride, hy*drau"lx, Buf, Lola Visual Effects, Look Effects, Pixel Liberation Front, and Spy Post. Putting this ambitious film together took the skill, artistry and talent of hundreds upon hundreds of individuals, as you'll see when you read through the credits.Who do the ILM nominations belong to? The folks listed below: the ILM team for "Avatar."
Visual Effects & Animation by
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
A Lucasfilm Ltd. Company
ILM Visual Effects Supervisor JOHN KNOLL
ILM Animation Supervisor PAUL KAVANAGH
ILM Visual Effects Producer JILL BROOKS
Digital Production Supervisor MICHAEL DICOMO
Compositing Supervisor EDDIE PASQUARELLO
CG Supervisors PAT CONRAN PHILIPPE REBOURS DAVID WEITZBERG
Digital Matte Supervisor RICHARD BLUFF
Digital Model Supervisors DAVE FOGLER BRUCE HOLCOMB
Viewpaint Supervisor RON WOODALL
Creature Supervisor KARIN COOPER
Layout Supervisor JOHN LEVIN
Roto and Paint Supervisor BETH D'AMATO
Sequence Supervisors
JAY COOPER, THOMAS FEJES, JEN HOWARD, TORY MERCER, MARK NETTLETON, GREG SALTER, ROBERT WEAVER
Digital Artists Leads
FRANCOIS ANTOINE, JASON BILLINGTON, YANICK DUSSEAULT, CHRIS FOREMAN, CHRISTOPHER HORVATH, FRANK LOSASSO PETTERSON, JOHN SIGURDSON, JIM SOUKUP, TODD VAZIRI, DAN WHEATON
Digital Artists
JOAKIM ARNESSON, JEREMY BLOCH, AMANDA BRAGGS, TRIPP BROWN, CATHERINE BURROW, KELA CABRALES, MICHAELA CALANCHINI CARTER, JEREMY CANTOR, TAMI CARTER, LANNY CERMAK, GRADY COFER, MIKE CONTE, MICHAEL CORDOVA, TIM DOBBERT, SELWYN EDDY III, CONNY FAUSER, SIMON FILLAT, SHINE FITZNER, BRIAN FLYNN, TIM FORTENBERRY, MARIA GOODALE, DAVID GOTTLIEB, GILES HANCOCK, TREVOR HAZEL, SHERRY HITCH, PEG HUNTER, JIRI JACKNOWITZ, PATRICK JARVIS, RYAN L. JONES, KIMBERLY LASHBROOK, ASIER LAVINA, HILMAR KOCH, MARSHALL KRASSER, DAVID MARSH, TIA MARSHALL, MARCEL MARTINEZ, KENT MATHESON, JOSEPH METTEN, CARLOS MONZON, DAVID MORRIS, TIM MUELLER, MYLES MURPHY, DAVID NAKABAYASHI, MARLA NEWALL, BEN O'BRIEN, AKIRA ORIKASA, COS¸ KU ÖZDEMIR, SCOTT PRIOR, EDWARD QUINTERO, MICHAEL RICH, ANTHONY RISPOLI, SHANE ROBERTS, ELSA RODRIGUEZ, BARRY SAFLEY, JEFF SALTZMAN, STEVE SAUERS, JERRY SELLS, JOE STEVENSON, FLORIAN STROBL, ALAN TRAVIS, YUSEI UESUGI, NOAH VICE, KELLY WALSH, DAVID WASHBURN, TALMAGE WATSON, SCOTT YOUNKIN, DEAN YÜRKE, RITA ZIMMERMAN
Animators
JEREMY CANTOR, JEAN-DENIS HAAS, ALEX LEE, ERIK MORGANSEN, STEVE RAWLINS, GREG TOWNER, TIM WADDY, ANDY WONG, JOHN ZDANKIEWICZ
Digital Models and Simulation
LEIGH BARBIER, ANDY BUECKER, DAVID DEUBER, KALENE DUNSMOOR, CHRIS EVANS, CHRIS HAVREBERG, KELVIN LAU, SEUNGHUN LEE, GREG MAGUIRE, SCOTT MAY, STEVE SAUERS, AARON WILSON
Visual Effects Editor JIM MILTON
Production Coordinators STACY BISSELL, MARISSA GOMES
Production Assistants KAT BACHERT, LEE BRIGGS
Production Support MELISSA DE SANTIS, PETER LEBER, MIKE McCABE, PETER NICOLAI, JULIAN SALVADOR, JEROME SOLOMON, MARCI VELANDO, KEVIN WONG
Technical Support SEAN BITTINGER, CHANTELL BROWN, KAI CHANG, RAYMOND CHOU, GEORGE GAMBETTA, SHAHZAD KHAN, FRANKIE KWAK, SAM PENROSE, JESSICA RIEWE
Research & Development AARON ELDER, RONALD MALLET, ROBERT MOLHOLM, JOHN OLMSTEAD, POITR STANCZYK, STEVE SULLIVAN
ILM Executive Producer GRETCHEN LIBBY
ILM Senior Staff LYNWEN BRENNAN, CHRISSIE ENGLAND, CURT MIYASHIRO
INDUSTRIAL LIGHT & MAGIC
A Lucasfilm Ltd. Company
ILM Visual Effects Supervisor JOHN KNOLL
ILM Animation Supervisor PAUL KAVANAGH
ILM Visual Effects Producer JILL BROOKS
Digital Production Supervisor MICHAEL DICOMO
Compositing Supervisor EDDIE PASQUARELLO
CG Supervisors PAT CONRAN PHILIPPE REBOURS DAVID WEITZBERG
Digital Matte Supervisor RICHARD BLUFF
Digital Model Supervisors DAVE FOGLER BRUCE HOLCOMB
Viewpaint Supervisor RON WOODALL
Creature Supervisor KARIN COOPER
Layout Supervisor JOHN LEVIN
Roto and Paint Supervisor BETH D'AMATO
Sequence SupervisorsJAY COOPER, THOMAS FEJES, JEN HOWARD, TORY MERCER, MARK NETTLETON, GREG SALTER, ROBERT WEAVER
Digital Artists Leads
FRANCOIS ANTOINE, JASON BILLINGTON, YANICK DUSSEAULT, CHRIS FOREMAN, CHRISTOPHER HORVATH, FRANK LOSASSO PETTERSON, JOHN SIGURDSON, JIM SOUKUP, TODD VAZIRI, DAN WHEATON
Digital Artists
JOAKIM ARNESSON, JEREMY BLOCH, AMANDA BRAGGS, TRIPP BROWN, CATHERINE BURROW, KELA CABRALES, MICHAELA CALANCHINI CARTER, JEREMY CANTOR, TAMI CARTER, LANNY CERMAK, GRADY COFER, MIKE CONTE, MICHAEL CORDOVA, TIM DOBBERT, SELWYN EDDY III, CONNY FAUSER, SIMON FILLAT, SHINE FITZNER, BRIAN FLYNN, TIM FORTENBERRY, MARIA GOODALE, DAVID GOTTLIEB, GILES HANCOCK, TREVOR HAZEL, SHERRY HITCH, PEG HUNTER, JIRI JACKNOWITZ, PATRICK JARVIS, RYAN L. JONES, KIMBERLY LASHBROOK, ASIER LAVINA, HILMAR KOCH, MARSHALL KRASSER, DAVID MARSH, TIA MARSHALL, MARCEL MARTINEZ, KENT MATHESON, JOSEPH METTEN, CARLOS MONZON, DAVID MORRIS, TIM MUELLER, MYLES MURPHY, DAVID NAKABAYASHI, MARLA NEWALL, BEN O'BRIEN, AKIRA ORIKASA, COS¸ KU ÖZDEMIR, SCOTT PRIOR, EDWARD QUINTERO, MICHAEL RICH, ANTHONY RISPOLI, SHANE ROBERTS, ELSA RODRIGUEZ, BARRY SAFLEY, JEFF SALTZMAN, STEVE SAUERS, JERRY SELLS, JOE STEVENSON, FLORIAN STROBL, ALAN TRAVIS, YUSEI UESUGI, NOAH VICE, KELLY WALSH, DAVID WASHBURN, TALMAGE WATSON, SCOTT YOUNKIN, DEAN YÜRKE, RITA ZIMMERMAN
AnimatorsJEREMY CANTOR, JEAN-DENIS HAAS, ALEX LEE, ERIK MORGANSEN, STEVE RAWLINS, GREG TOWNER, TIM WADDY, ANDY WONG, JOHN ZDANKIEWICZ
Digital Models and Simulation
LEIGH BARBIER, ANDY BUECKER, DAVID DEUBER, KALENE DUNSMOOR, CHRIS EVANS, CHRIS HAVREBERG, KELVIN LAU, SEUNGHUN LEE, GREG MAGUIRE, SCOTT MAY, STEVE SAUERS, AARON WILSON
Visual Effects Editor JIM MILTONProduction Coordinators STACY BISSELL, MARISSA GOMES
Production Assistants KAT BACHERT, LEE BRIGGS
Production Support MELISSA DE SANTIS, PETER LEBER, MIKE McCABE, PETER NICOLAI, JULIAN SALVADOR, JEROME SOLOMON, MARCI VELANDO, KEVIN WONG
Technical Support SEAN BITTINGER, CHANTELL BROWN, KAI CHANG, RAYMOND CHOU, GEORGE GAMBETTA, SHAHZAD KHAN, FRANKIE KWAK, SAM PENROSE, JESSICA RIEWE
Research & Development AARON ELDER, RONALD MALLET, ROBERT MOLHOLM, JOHN OLMSTEAD, POITR STANCZYK, STEVE SULLIVAN
ILM Executive Producer GRETCHEN LIBBY
ILM Senior Staff LYNWEN BRENNAN, CHRISSIE ENGLAND, CURT MIYASHIRO
Wow. That is A LOT of talented people. (Hopefully someday I can be one of those people!) :D
ReplyDeleteTodd, do you think that ILM Supervisor John Knoll will share in the Oscar nomination/award for "Avatar"? Or will it go to just the Weta supervisors? I know that the film is mostly Weta's work, but from what I've read, ILM contributed substantially. But is it enough to warrant a share in the Academy Award with Weta/Letteri?
Also, if I recall, there are certain shots and/or scenes when ILM's work had to coexist with Weta's work. How difficult is that to coordinate? Like, how do you guys go about having Weta's Jake avatar run along the hull of ILM's digital dragon ship? Or having your digital vehicles and AMP suits interact with Weta's Pandora flora?
Also, did ILM work on the giant construction vehicles at the beginning of the film too? Do you happen to know what shots/sequences, etc. that the other companies worked on? Would you like me to stop asking so many questions?
TylerMirage said...
ReplyDelete>Todd, do you think that ILM Supervisor John Knoll will share in the Oscar nomination/award for "Avatar"?
I don't know the names of the four individuals that would be named if "Avatar" gets an Oscar nomination. The list of names are at the discretion of the producers (Landau and Cameron).
>Also, if I recall, there are certain shots and/or scenes when ILM's work had to coexist with Weta's work. How difficult is that to coordinate?
>Also, did ILM work on the giant construction vehicles at the beginning of the film too? Do you happen to know what shots/sequences, etc. that the other companies worked on?
Unfortunately, I cannot answer your specific questions about the nature of our shots. All I can do is point you to published articles about the film, like the ones I listed here. http://fxrant.blogspot.com/2010/01/avatar-and-ilm.html .
Take care! And keep asking questions, even if I'm not allowed to answer them! :)
-todd
You can't answer them?! Are they top-secret? What, are the ILM police gonna' put some digital handcuffs on my computer if you answer them? Are they gonna' ban me from ever entering ILM if I know? ;) (I'm kidding, please don't actually have them do that!)
ReplyDeleteI do realize that you can't/don't know for certain who the supervisors are who will be named, Todd, I was merely inquiring if YOU PERSONALLY think that ILM's contributions to "Avatar" were sufficient enough to warrant a possible share in the Academy Award with Weta's supervisors (*if* "Avatar" gets nominated).
Well, whatever the case, the brilliant artists at Weta, ILM and others did a fanastic job. Can't wait to see what's in store for ILM (and Weta) next! :D
*Also, I really enjoyed the "AMP Suit vs. the Thanator" sequence. Amazing. It was like watching "Jurassic Park" vs. "Transformers"! :D (My two favourite movies.)
Oh, and I will continue to ask questions, yes, because maybe I'll stumble upon a query that you are able to answer. ;) (I'm having better luck with my questions by having you tell me that you can't answer them, then by having my e-mails to ILM go unanswered for the last two years.) :)
Thanks again!
Tyler, ILM did the big mining sequence in the approach to Hell's Gate if that's what you're asking about Giant Construction Vehicles.
ReplyDeleteILM did the re-entry to Pandora, the floyover with narration of the jungle at the beginning, the hell's Gate approach, the Dragon sequences(including its crash), Quaritch's escape, the attack on the Home Tree(from the helicopters point-of-view),numerous cockpit shots with flora and fauna outside the copters, the approach of the copters during the final battle, and numerous other shots that you can see here on this very page during the final battle.
Shanep: Yes, thank you. I was aware of that information, but I wanted some details clarified. For example, I *know* that ILM worked on the big mining sequence in the first act (the shuttle), but I also know that Framestore CFC contributed to the landing as well. I was wondering where the 'switch-off' was, and if ILM did the construciton vehicles TOO, in addition to the shuttle. I mean, common sense might indicate that ILM would do the construction vehicles too (if they did practically the rest of the entire sequence), but I thought that Framestore might've done those, or Weta. In short, is the *entire* "Shuttle Entry to Hell's Gate" sequence done by ILM?
ReplyDeleteI still have so many more questions about the other visual effects companies on the film, and even with all of these articles on the web, some information is still sparce.
Keep the articles coming! :D
I forgot to add that ILM also did the first journey to the Hallelujah Mtns. and the flight to the lab there.
ReplyDeleteAs for "where was the switch-off?", you might have to wait for the DVD commentaries with the fx supes, if one is forthcoming.
Maybe they'll put together a huge behind the scenes book that'll have those breakdowns?
Who knows?
Tyler, if the BAFTA noms are any indication, then the four nominees for "Avatar" are Joe Letteri, Steve Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andy Jones.
ReplyDeleteI still think that's pretty fair.
And Todd, are you putting up your 2010 projects soon? I always look forward to the amusing nicknames you give them before the movie is finished.
Oh, and Todd, love the nickname for your next project! :D
ReplyDeleteI can just Say A Big WoWW to all you guyz who really rocked...Simply Rocked...
ReplyDeleteTruly an Amazing work...
Hats Off to You Guyzz...!!!
Keep Up Your Gr8 Work..!!!