Interview with Visual Effects Stalwart & VES Co-Chair Tim Mc Govern

“I see talented Indian artists working very hard to make the best shots that they are capable of making, which is what I saw in the US when I first started out”

Tim McGovern was an early member of the VES and joined Jeff Okun as a Co-Chair for the VES Awards committee for its first five years. Besides serving numerous times as MC for Awards nomination events, Awards Show & Tell events, Tim has also been involved internationally on behalf of the VES.

He has worked in this industry for 29 years and as a visual effects supervisor for 16 years. In the last year Tim has taken some time off from visual effects to write a screenplay and has begun pitching it.

In an exclusive chat with AnimationXpress's Asmita Bharrati, Tim shares about VFX, his journey, works, VES India Tour and lots more…

(23 October 2007 12:00 pm)

Did you always want to be a VFX professional?
No, because I didn‘t know the job existed when I was young. My way to being a visual effects artist and then visual effects supervisor came by a long series of choices that I wasn‘t aware were leading me to the emergence of CG in visual digital effects and animation. I followed my nose without a road map and ended up here.

Please share how you got into VFX?
I watched a lot of visual effects films as a kid, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet, Jack the Giant Killer, Jason and the Argonauts, and then as a teenager 2001, Close Encounters and Star Wars. These films influenced me greatly, but I never thought of myself as someone who might work in the film industry. I grew up in Chicago - maybe if I grew up in LA or NY I might have thought there was a possibility to do so, but none of my friends’ fathers worked on films. No one I knew had anything to do with making even a film without effects, so I didn‘t expect I ever would.

Then I went to high school and college. I learned photography and multi-exposure / pin - registered still photography and then black and white / later color darkroom work. Suddenly I was creating stills inside of a camera or under an enlarger in the darkroom that composited multiple elements together to make one very interesting image, I loved the work and the resulting images. This work inspired me to pursue work in TV and to do work that reminded me of the multi-exposure film work that I saw in commercials and Network TV Movie Opens in the late 70‘s. After a job in public TV, an independent channel and then network TV, I landed at Robert Abel and Associates in 1981. This was the most innovative group of people I had ever worked with. We were inventing the medium of Computer Generated animation and visual effects. There after a little work in commercials my first Feature Film work was on the movie TRON. In 1982, TRON premiered and I saw my first screen credit - it was exhilarating. Later I got the chance to work on a ground-breaking commercial called Sexy Robot where I worked with Randy Roberts to create the first human motion applied to a CG Character in a commercial or film. I loved the work, the long hours, and the results. From there I joined MetroLight Studios where I won an Oscar for my VFX work on Total Recall, again for convincing human motion applied to a CG character in a motion picture. In 1992 I joined seven others and formed Sony Pictures Imageworks as the founding visual effects supervisor and then a little later as its SVP of Creative and Technical Affairs. I took the eight people in just a few years and grew them to 250 working on films like So I Married an Axe Murderer, Last Action Hero, In The Line of Fire, Speed, Hideaway, Money Train, The Ghost and the Darkness, and As Good As It Gets. In 1998 after Imageworks was 300-350, I left and became an independent visual effects supervisor working directly for the director on films like Stigmata, Equilibrium, and Trapped. The later films became multi-facility and then multi-national productions. I loved working with the best people on any continent.

Which are some of your milestone works?
1990 ACADEMY AWARD "Total Recall" Special Achievement in Visual Effects
1988 CLIO "Hawaiian Punch" - US TV / Cinema Animation - Computer
1987 CLIO "Benson & Hedges Gold POWER" International TV/Cinema Best Graphics
1985 HUGO "Sexy Robot" - Chicago International Film Festival Best Special Effects
1985 MOBIUS "Sexy Robot" - US TV & Radio Commercial Best of Festival
1985 CLIO "Sexy Robot" - US TV / CINEMA Best Animation-Computer
1983 CLIO "7-Up Pacman" - International TV / Cinema Best Beverages
1983 CLIO "7-Up Pacman" - International TV / Cinema Best Graphics
1981 CLIO "NBC Sunday Night at the Movies" - US TV/Cinema Finalist

What is your dream project?
I am working on it right now and it will be worked on India.

What is your opinion on Indian vfx?
It is an emerging market and it is emerging in a huge way. The talent and the hard work is very impressive and can only be a hint of an amazing future. The most important thing for artists is that they make commitments to work and keep them. The most damaging thing that can happen is artists hopping from one job to the other everytime they think they can do better. This happens in the US and I hope it doesn‘t happen in India. The rewards for good work will follow you and there is no need to have dis-loyalty to the project unless they are being mistreated. Too much anxiousness for things to happen too quickly is the biggest potential for failure and disillusionment with Indian talent.

What is the objective of the VES India tour?
To do an assessment of the entire industry in India and figure the best way to nurture and support it to do the best possible work.

What would you like to advise the upcoming vfx artists?
Find your strengths, cultivate them, and then apply them to your work in the most effective way. Work hard and have a passion for doing the best work will only be an advantage for you over anyone else. Also always recognize the talent of those around you and praise them when their work merits it. Everyone needs encouragement and acknowledgement. Great work comes from a passionate, talented and motivated work force - be the force!

Does technology play a very important role in vfx?
It’s huge, there was a time when I was first in the business, when every company was using different computers, different operating systems, different software and needed to R&D all of their own software and hardware. Now this is much more standardized - but hardware and software technology continuously allow us to handle more and more levels of complexity and handle them with greater and higher levels of control. If someone today had to manage personally what software handles now for us - we‘d be capable of 1-10th to 1- 100th of what we are currently dealing with. It is a circular thing - more technology more capability, more control of complex operation, better visual effects.

What is your comment on the statement that most of the times vfx and CG are used as damage control measures?
This is true with some films more than others. Certainly, there are films in the US for which everything is planned, designed, pre-vizzed, and then shot according to a plan. Other times there is chaos and a lack of planning or lack of money that may lead to Damage Control issues. The words "Fix it in Post" happen on all scales of productions. Sometimes during the process there is already enough good work visible in the film to the studio or producers, that additional money is found to fix things. Sometimes if they didn‘t shoot it wrong and get something on film, the film wouldn‘t have survived the process long enough to be judged valuable enough to go on to be finished at all. Directors and Producers have a tricky job. From a post production point of view it is often easy to say, they should have done this or they should have done that. Hind sight and no knowledge of the financial and political nature of every production would make you think that those in charge are not totally knowledgeable, this is not usually the case. The words, "Live to fight another day" are often what producers and directors are thinking when they shoot things in less than ideal situations. Those who win these battles have enough other wonderful things going on in their films to warrant a visual effect bail-out. Those who never got it, majorly underestimated, or were just too blind to see it: usually don‘t get the chance to salvage their disasters. The best work comes of people making good decisions.

How do you judge the quality of vfx work?
Effects should be invisible. Whether it is the monster that emerges up out of the sea grabbing a human and going back down, or a rig removal or sky replacement. Attention to detail, camera angle and focal length, color correction, lighting direction and intensity, reflections, shadows, transparency, sharpness of edges, motion-blur and grain matching are all things that can make a visual effects shot not sell itself as real. Unless all of these details are attended to with the greatest attention - an effect can ring out as false.

What does it take to become a successful vfx supervisor?
A lot of experience in the field, knowledge of everyone‘s job on the film crew and everyone‘s job on the visual effects crew, people skills, organizational ability, extreme creative ability, communication skills, leadership, budget responsibility and the knowledge or experience to deploy your resources in the most effective way at any given moment to get the biggest effect from what you have. A VFX Supervisor must be able to decide with a producer, a director, and a $150-200K crew cost / day whether the take that was just shot will do the job later when everyone is gone and you couldn‘t possibly regroup the actors, crew, set or location to do it again - or whether you need to shoot it again. If you do shoot it again what needs to be different and with this group watching, they will know if you know what you are doing or whether you are faking it.

Does the interaction between vfx professionals from all across the world help? How?
There are many advantages of spreading out work amongst multiple vendors and countries. First of all, you always want the best people who know how to do the work you are trying to do, to do it. Sometimes a company has a specialty – i.e. great water work, wonderful character animation, incredible R&D team, huge work force or cost effectiveness on labor intensive work. Sometimes the cultural issues enhance the suitability of one group over another. Certainly, like minds always seek like minds. Sometime it is a Time zone and efficiency issue. Sometimes it is special creativity are much sought after. Also if you don‘t put all of your eggs in one basket, you can divert work that is unsuccessful with one vendor to another more suitable vendor. Load sharing and the ability to re-balance the load is a huge benefit to those who are judging the progress and results.

Is this your first visit to India?
I‘ve been to India about six times before and this trip is my third this year. I love the people and their drive!

Are you looking forward to the VES India tour?
Yes, I am very much so. I am always interested in meeting bright, talented people who have a passion for visual effects, animation and film. India is such a culturally rich country and its people are its greatest resource.

What is the picture of India that you have in mind?
I see talented Indian artists working very hard to make the best shots that they are capable of making, which is what I saw in the US when I first started out. Some things are universal, and when you see it you know that anything is possible here. Nothing can replace enthusiasm, and talent.
In 2000, N. Madhusudhanan met my very good friend George Merkert. They worked together on Aalavandan. It was a very successful experience and George introduced me to Madhu. I was immediately very impressed with him and we became good friends as well. It wasn‘t long before I was sponsoring Madhu to be the first Indian visual effects person to become a member of the VES. Madhu and I continued to talk and see each other. Then Madhu arranged a trip for me to come to India, at last I was able to see what he and my friend George already knew about India and its artists. Then through many conversations the two of us began to talk about India and the VES. When Madhu came to LA, he, Eric Roth, and I began to talk about how we could consider India for the future and it is through our conversations we are here today. Madhu has always wanted to help India reach its highest potential in visual effects. It was his idea that the VES be in India and for us to be on this trip, through his organizing abilities we are now coming. Through his efforts we have been sponsored for this trip by many generous sponsors.

Apart from VFX works and VES responsibilities, how do you spend time otherwise?
I like photography, swimming, scuba diving, sailing, backpacking, canoeing, flying in helicopters and small planes.

What are your future plans?
I have been writing a screenplay for a film for the last year and a half, I‘m on the third draft and I am very close to showing it to some very interested people. We‘ll see what happens.

sourse- animation express