- Visual effects, art or science.
Discuss the importance of
both physics and artistry.
Who wants to start?
(laughing)
- I'll start.
(laughing)
It's like peanut butter and jelly, Holly,
I mean, you need both.
No, seriously.
- [Holly] Delicious.
- You know, I think the best artistry
for me personally is when
the science and creativity
blend together.
What's interesting about that
is they're two different
worlds in a lot of ways,
but can you make it technically look good?
Can you make it move correctly?
Does it look right?
Is light bouncing off of it correctly?
All of those sort of thoughts,
all the science behind that,
it's all important
but what will take you beyond being a cog
in a production pipeline
is then, can you apply
that with a creative heart?
Can you apply that to a brief?
Can you abstract it out?
Can you make it have personality?
Can you own it?
There's something to be
said for just knocking out
photo-realistic graphics
and it's an amazing skill set
and that's something that's needed
but in my world,
what I'm always looking for,
does somebody understand science?
Does somebody understand
the technical side
of how to make it look good?
But much more beyond that,
can they own it and can they
add a point of view to it?
Can they add a style to it?
Can they add interest to it?
Can they shape it into the brief
and apply it in a way that's stunning
and get somebody's attention?
- I would say that
something I kinda learned
along the way is that
we tend to approach it
as a craft versus an art,
where it becomes more of the
science-based kind of question,
the idea of building
your tool set in a way
to make it look "correct"
but the correct aspect is a
very artful thought process.
When you look at,
if you're doing compositing work,
and you're trying to take somebody
out of a scene that was
walking in the background
or a logo or something,
it's not a very romantic viewpoint
but it becomes a conversation of,
does my human eye see it
and does it look right?
And it becomes more of a
conversation about light
and the way my brain looks at it
and does it feel right
on this kind of level?
When you move into motion graphics,
it's obviously more in tune to the idea
that it's an artful response,
but without the technical tools
to accomplish what's in your head,
and this is how I feel
about all visual effects.
You have something in your head
that's more romantic and art-driven
and the whole point of going to school
and having experience and practice
is a little less romantic.
It's more building your science toolkits
so that this way,
you can accomplish what's in your head
on a romantic side
but you have the knowledge
of how to actually translate it onto paper
or screen, for that matter.
- Yeah, I think I thought
about this question
before you asked it
and I think that the art really comes
from the idea of what you're gonna create
and the science is just
executing that plan
so that it feels like,
what you created feels like it belongs
and it doesn't stick out.
It doesn't take the
viewer out of the story
that you're trying to create.
That's in it's simplest terms, I think,
what you both were saying,
pretty much the same thing.
- Well, there's a big
reason I got into what I do.
I'm not a good designer like Nate
and his company does amazing work.
I know it looks real
and to make something look real, I feel,
is the art that I've found.
I've done graphics and stuff,
I can get around it,
but I really like to make things look real
or hyper-real, if you will.
One note you'll always get from clients
is make it more organic.
I don't know how many times you've ever,
everybody's heard it.
I hear it a million times,
so think about that right now
and in the future,
when you get asked that,
whenever you're doing
graphics or anything,
think about does this feel organic?
Is it supposed to be organic?
Does my client want it organic?
(laughing)
Is this water organic?
