Game of Thrones is probably my favorite project I've worked on. They started calling me the Wall Specialist
because I  just kinda nailed the look.
(Music)
With me is Dan Cregan, FAU Alum, who has worked on some of the most recognizable films
as a senior compositor. Can you explain to me exactly what a senior compositor does?
Well senior compositor is like a chef, what I do is take all the elements
of a film and I put together the final shot. So it's really about making the final shot out various elements,
pick those elements and make them all feel real and kind of blend together.
Can you just take me through what you've done on this project?
Well in Xmen, I was a lead compositor. These two shots in particular where some of my work that I was most proud of on
the show. The compositor has to make sure that the grains of sand are going through the fingers
and nothing is colliding and nothings going wrong. So there was a lot of work to be done on that one.
In the second shot, the Quicksilver moving away with Mystique shot, making Quicksilver zip out of the scene,
replacing Mystique's eyes (Jennifer Laurence was not wearing contacts for this shot) . So even
her eyes are created by me, frame by frame. There is a bunch of different things that were completely
challenging about this shot and it goes by in a split second in the movie and yet that was two
months of work.
I would definitely say that you have had a very successful career, and still have, in effects.
But what has FAU done to help you with that?
Well FAU gave me my start. I got my undergraduate degree here in graphic design which was my original
career goal. And then when I graduated, I came across a graduate program in computer animation at FAU
and I was so excited by the lab and everything I saw there that I was like, "Wow". I mean when I saw
this, you know, this animation program at FAU, I was like, "Hey that takes the things I do best and applies it to film."
And I saw my way, I knew it then, it was the year 2000 and I said I knew exactly what I want and how I'm gonna
get there. So FAU opened that door to me and getting my degree from FAU really set me on the path to
ILM and Weta and everywhere else I've worked, it really was the first step.
Check out Dan's full interview on FAU's Youtube channel.
