What equipment, under the command of the nimble fingers and lively imagination of which effects and animation experts, makes clients positively clamber to bask in the results of their combined genius?

While facilities were largely loathe to single out one star from a stable of contributors, each picked a representative embodying the qualities and ethic that make them sought-after professionals in the field. Among prized equipment were typically Discreet Logic’s Flame compositing system and Quantel’s Henry digital effects system, with Avid’s sgi-based compositing system Illusion a new entry.

Following, artists discoursed about the gear they helm, the projects they effect and about those qualities, tangible and otherwise, which separate a computer enthusiast from a special effects and animation artist.

Brian Moylan, Flame artist, Northwest Imaging and FX, Vancouver

Former cartoonist and contributor to cult cartoon classic Heavy Metal, Brian Moylan is now immersed in the paranormal as Vancouver-based Northwest Imaging and fx’s Flame artist.

In addition to contributing to a case of worms for The Outer Limits characters, Moylan recently completed work on the Cannell pilot Them for United Paramount Network. With approval from effects supervisor John Campfens, Northwest designed, modeled and built the space fiends who star in the series and who assume humanoid form but occasionally reveal their true transparent nature.

Moylan used Flame to composite the aliens and capture the moment when the actor’s skin becomes transparent and churning guts become visible.

Moylan says he became Northwest’s Flame artist by default. When the facility made the investment in the system two years ago, he was the only staff member proficient on the sgi platform, an expertise he acquired during a varied career background.

Moylan started in traditional animation 12 years ago in Ottawa, subsequently moving to Vancouver and into computer animation, founding Pacific Post Productions with a colleague and an SGI Iris 4D20. After three years, Moylan joined Northwest as a 3D animator.

Originally a medium-end commercial shop, Northwest began effects work on the first and only season of Universal’s m.a.n.t.i.s., an effects-intensive job that paved the way for the acquisition of a Flame two years ago. Northwest has since taken on a fistful of long-form projects like the Atlantis series Outer Limits, Poltergeist, season one of Sliders, and the pilots for Dr. Who and Captain Zoom.

Moylan asserts that a good creative eye is essential for a successful effects artist. ‘Unless you have people who can really fly on the machines there’s no attraction for people to come to a facility,’ he says. ‘Clients want to come and get creative ideas or be comfortable that the guy is going to make the best use of time.’

He says in terms of emerging talent, prior software knowledge isn’t a primary concern; the ability to pick up on new software quickly and ‘knowing what things should look like’ are paramount.

‘I really look for a feel for the look of a finished effect,’ says Moylan. ‘When you’re working on an effect, there’s no red flag that goes up and says, ‘This effect is finished.’ You need to determine that yourself or you need an effects supervisor to tell you. Some people can take your instructions and go five steps beyond what you asked.’

According to Moylan, Northwest has been bringing prospective artists aboard for trial periods of about four weeks to determine fitness for duty.

The artist says he is a particular fan of pilot work as it affords opportunity for greater creative involvement. ‘Series have such tight deadlines effects supervisors pretty much know what they need when they come in. On a pilot, you’re involved almost from start to finish and help shape the look of the show.’

James Cooper, Mad Dog senior Flame artist, Toronto

With the creation of Toronto’s Mad Dog Digital in spring ’95, James Cooper says he envisioned an increase in the scope of his role as Flame artist and the role of the post facility itself.

‘My take was different in that I really see the Flame and this technology as being less strictly post-production and more integral to the whole production process,’ says Cooper. ‘If we’re doing these jobs, my thinking is that we should have some creative input in them as well.’

Cooper became the Flame point man at Mad Dog after three years in the mixed media department at parent company TOPIX Computer Graphics and Communications and a stint writing code for Toronto’s Colorization, the first shop to Colorize black-and-white film.

The topix mixed-media experience involved immersion in a variety of techniques and technologies. Animation as well as film elements, photography, scanned images and stop motion as well as proprietary code for image processing were employed in the creation of commercial and broadcast design projects.

Cooper learned the Discreet Logic Flint system for a series of Coke ads with director Curtis Wehrfritz, and says he found the experience similar to working in a mixed-media environment – all encompassed in one program.

Coming from a mixed-media background emphasized a strong design ethic, which is still crucial to the work done at Mad Dog, says Cooper, who has parlayed his design skill into print work for a Toronto art director. He says technical competence must come packaged with an esthetic instinct. ‘It’s easier to take an artist and teach them Flame than the other way around,’ he says.

Cooper is currently involved in effects work for Robert LePage’s new feature Le Polygraphe, for which he says he is using film techniques to capture an intense level of emotion on screen.

One scene in the project features a man talking to the object of his unrequited love in a crowded restaurant kitchen, and as they interact in realtime, the rest of the world swirls around them in hyper speed.

With no risk of deromanticizing the moment, Cooper describes the Flame technique, called difference matting, which helped achieve the effect. Shots of the man in the scene alone were put together with shots of the high-speed kitchen scene, and while Cooper says shooting with a green screen would have been cleaner, the beauty of this method is that it actually placed the actor in the scene, with the resultant shadows and reflections accurately captured.

Cooper was also involved in the current Molson ‘I Am’ tv spots from MacLaren McCann and Spy Films’ Pete Henderson for which he used Flame to manipulate the live footage and integrate the dynamic animation created by Bob Fortier at Animation House, rather than just ‘slapping it on top’ of the scenes. For one of the spots, Cooper also composited a snowboarder onto a pristine mountain scene where nature forbade a real one.

He says with technology like Flame it’s important to become involved at the early stages of a project, consulting with agencies and directors from preproduction and shooting through post.

‘I’m looking at Mad Dog as a way to hopefully start to change the way post is perceived,’ he says. ‘Clients I’ve dealt with appreciate the creative input. When they go elsewhere, I’m sure they look for that, which is good for everyone.’

Paul Kirsch, Flame artist, DAVE, Toronto

‘It’s not a calculator,’ says Paul Kirsch of the Flame system. ‘It’s a device you have to use artistically.’

Kirsch brings 17 years of post experience to his job as Flame artist at Toronto’s dave (Dome Audio & Video Effects). He started at Motion Picture Video, working as a colorist and online editor, and did an eight-year stint at Dome Productions, working primarily in a traditional online suite.

When Dome Productions spawned dave last year and acquired a Flame system, Kirsch took over Flame duties.

Kirsch says many effects and compositing folk come from the two main fields of online editing and animation and the Flame system is a crossover device which brings a number of skill sets to the table.

At dave, Kirsch works primarily on long-form projects, including the youth series Goosebumps and the first season of FX: The Series, for which dave just began effects work. The effects-intensive series will utilize Flame and Kirsch’s talents to realize death-defying scenes involving compositing in helicopters, but also for each episode where a New York skyline must be installed for every backdrop of the shot-in-Toronto project.

Kirsch says on projects like Goosebumps a great deal of interaction and creative input goes into the series at the production stage to ensure scenes are shot effectively and outstanding effects are delivered efficiently.

Richard Watkins, Henry editor and effects artist, Supersuite, Montreal

According to Richard Watkins, part of what makes a great effects artist can come down to the ‘love of the sport,’ as it were. ‘There are a lot of hours and work involved,’ says Watkins, who joined Montreal’s Supersuite in 1987 and began making Henry sing about three years ago.

Watkins, who has about 14 years of post experience behind him, says the ability to read clients and go above and beyond what they’re asking for marks an effects star.

‘You have to be able to read clients properly,’ he says, ‘because sometimes they don’t really grasp the full potential of the machine or the person they’re working with.’

Watkins counts himself as a firm Henry fan. ‘I have a great latitude with Henry, I can create all the elements I need myself.’

In addition to commercial projects, Watkins worked on the award-winning Canada/Japan coproduction Hiroshima. He says it took about 10 weeks to create the right amalgam of new and archival footage to capture director Roger Spottiswoode’s vision of the project marking the anniversary of the wwii watershed.

As well as creating a transparent blend of footage, Watkins was charged with packaging the three-hour miniseries in 10 days and producing a black-and-white and a color version of the program. ‘It was my biggest endeavor ever,’ he says.

Robin Hackl, design director, Illusion artist, Image Engine Design, Vancouver

After progressing through the ranks at Vancouver’s Finale Post Production, Robin Hackl, together with Don Thomson, cofounded Image Engine Design to focus on computer graphics and special effects. A year later, the facility, part of Stay Tuned Communications, which includes Finale, Image Engine, Shooters production company and Airwaves sound facility, is the first Western Canadian shop to be up and running on Avid’s new Illusion effects system.

Hackl says the Illusion brings together the best of all possible worlds for the sgi-based facility, which handles commercial production as well as series work.

‘A lot of compositing is required for series work,’ says Hackl. ‘We rely on all our software combined to generate special effects. Illusion ties everything together.’

Hands-on experience was the best instructor for Illusion dexterity, says Hackl. Finale is one of the most prodigious Avid users on the West Coast, which has allowed a learning process for the software as it developed.

Image Engine is using its Illusion on the series Poltergeist, produced by Trilogy and PMP Productions for mgm tv and Showtime, as well as a high-resolution project for the BC Lottery Corporation. The latter, an elaborate multimedia display with 3D animation, had to be rendered and composited for delivery in three times video resolution for a wide-screen presentation.

For a Poltergeist episode in which a character disappears into the hereafter, Hackl says the Illusion handled about eight layers of compositing to achieve the proper ghostly effect.

Hackl, who sprung from a design background, says equipment like Illusion is used at the facility as a design tool, and he emphasizes the value of design and fine arts experience in conjunction with computer graphics know-how.

With all the tools at hand to help lend realism, it is important that the artist has a grip on what reality is, says Hackl. ‘There are a lot of elements to getting a composite shot to work,’ he says. ‘If the compositing isn’t right the viewer may not be able to recognize exactly what’s wrong, but they will know something is wrong.’

Steven Lewis, Henry/Inferno artist, Spin Productions, Toronto

With about eight years of digital compositing experience, Spin Productions’ Steven Lewis has been in on the ground floor of the Harry, Henry and Inferno experiences in Canada, working on the first of each of the systems in the country.

‘I’ve been fortunate to work on cool gear,’ he says of the accomplishment.

With a background in fine art and classic animation, Lewis was working motion-control rigs at Wayne Trickett’s Studio 4:2:2, and when a Harry was purchased to handle compositing, Lewis says he was given the irresistible option: ‘Well you can draw, why don’t you work the gear?’

Equipped with the aptitude to stick and grow with the technology, Lewis continued working on Harry at Magnetic North, and when he joined Toronto’s Spin three years ago, it was to work on Canada’s first Henry system.

Lewis says he is still amazed at the processing power of the equipment he works on and the ability to complete film projects in 2K resolution.

Lewis faced the challenge of shifting from the Quantel to the Discreet Logic platform when he moved on to the Inferno. He says knowing the software cold is mandatory, as is an artistic sensibility. Long gone are the days when a shop could distinguish itself with a fancy toy, he says.

‘At one time equipment made facilities special. It’s a very equipment-saturated market now. It’s the individuals behind the gear making the difference.’

Lewis says some semblance of artistic training and the ability to contribute creatively to a client’s wish list are desirable qualities in an effects artist. ‘When it comes down to it,’ he says, ‘it’s picture making.’

Lewis is currently working on a spot for Silent Sam vodka from Toronto’s Communique destined for a mid-summer cinema release. Compositing for the spot will be done on the Inferno from a digital file created by scanning the negative with a digital recorder. Lewis also recently put the Inferno to use in a Coke spot through Jolly Roger.