How would you explain your job to someone who doesn’t know VFX?

I’m mainly responsible for modeling/texturing, lighting, and environment.
Modeling and texturing are like sculpting and painting but on a computer. The environmental task is basically building the world in CG. Lighting tasks are not only adding lights in the scene, but combining elements such as cameras, FX, layout (environment), characters, animations, etc. Lightning is a matter of shadow (and light.) If there is a practical shot to combine it with, I need to make sure the angle of the shadow and the temperature of the light match the scene. We usually have at least 3 lights to get a nice ambiance. If we have FX that needs lights, such as explosion, we could animate the lights too. After lighting, we will render. Rendering is not a one-click-done situation. We would need to communicate with compositors and create as many passes as they need. They could be foreground pass, background pass, shadow pass, and passes for each FX element, etc. While I'm rendering, I need to keep an eye on the render to make sure that there is no errors happening. The lighting job doesn't end until I can confidently hand off the renders to compositors. So lighting tasks could be quite a lot of work!

What does a day in the life look like?

I start my day with a cup of coffee to wake myself up. I check my notes that I left for the next day and ShotGrid for any notes. If my task is lighting, I will quality check my renders first and hand them off to the compositing team. If I’m dealing with environments, I would try to open the file first thing in the morning to be ready. I work closely with my project lead to make sure that I'm on the right track with each shot.
Before the end of the day, I will leave an update with the team, which also helps me keep track of my checklist.

What are some of your favorite projects? Why?

TUNNEL VISION from the PORTALS music video and Horizon: An American Saga.

I found it fun to work with the environments when I was in college. Although environments are mostly in the background, they support the main characters throughout the whole story. I like that I can help express the style with a hint of an artistic twist. TUNNEL VISION was the first time making an environment with Thierry, our environment master, and I gained a lot of technical knowledge from him. We’ve done 4 more Portal music videos but this first one is the most special because I got to make the entrance of the tunnel by myself with the knowledge I just learned. I felt I was able to see myself growing.

Horizon is probably the first big movie that I was part of. I was working with lighting and texturing. I love texturing because it can directly set the mood of the story. I am constantly thinking about details like: If an object is rusty, where did people grab it the most and why? Where did the wind come from? Where did an item get burned first? What material/resource was available at the time? Texturing just excites me.

Horizon: An American Saga | Directed by Kevin Costner

What's something you wish people knew about what you do?

What we do is not so simple and we always have something to troubleshoot. If the show I watch has bad VFX, I won't be able to focus on the story and I will be constantly making weird faces.

What is something that excites you about your career?

When I can tell stories artistically. Also, maybe more importantly, the people I work with! From my perspective, everyone, every artist has a similar interests and goals: to create something cool. I feel the energy of “let’s improve even more”. I think it's also because we work closely, but it’s nice when we get to see our piece of work come to life and look amazing. I can see everyone's effort!

Are you learning anything new?

At work, all the time. Not only the technical things, but how to be more efficient.

What do you like to do outside of work?

Find places/events I'm interested in on Instagram and pin them on Google maps to plan where to go. I like to explore the city using public transportation (more adventures!) I also like to go to parks, the Arboretum, and botanical gardens.

What's the best advice you've ever received?

When people thank me I should accept it as is! It sounds simple but it’s hard to do when I'm creating something. Even if someone thinks my work is great and thanks me, all I can see sometimes is what is not great. I always think I can do better! It’s not a bad thing as motivation, but if someone thinks my work is great, I am working on accepting it first.