@Escape_Studios follow: @ANDYVFX

An extended conversation (more than 140 characters) with our Twitter followers. Five questions finding out more about them and what they feel about the industry, with @TobyJOYdigital our Social Media Manager.

Hi, what's your real name AndyVFX , and where are you working?
I'm Andy Maier and my first VFX gig was at age fifteen when I told a director I knew how to do wire removal. I nearly failed high school because I lived in After Effects but luckily got hired on a feature film in Seattle for a year. Directors would send me their raw footage for glass simulation, gun flashes, amputations, blood FX, smoke and dynamic set extension. I ended up dropping out of college because I heard of an internship at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Cool, what's your role in the company, and which projects are you involved with?
I've been at Mars Hill for 5 years and have gotten to travel the world shooting on RED. I'm the Colorist and VFX supervisor responsible for the VFX in the intro videos, meaning I work in After Effects, Maya and DaVinci Resolve every day. We shoot everything on RED (we just got our Epics!) but intro videos for our series are super difficult. Once my director asked me if we could follow a root out of a bean, and down through the ground to wrap around a stone with the logo reveal. I love figuring that stuff out. More commonly we require set replacement/extension for which we use Maya, CameraTracker, and After Effects. Everything gets treated with DaVinci Resolve on a Daily basis. 

Ok, why did you become interested in CG, and how did you get started?
I was always interested in VFX because I would bring ILM books on Star Wars to middle school, and read VFX books during class. I had met directors when acting as a kid, and told them I knew all the VFX programs, so they started hiring me for wire removal, car crashes, bullet wounds, facial alteration, etc. I soon realized that my thing was going to be programs, programs, programs! I was failing college but working on movies. I always dreamed of supporting a family doing what I love, and thankfully I now am. 

Interesting, where do you see your career progressing, and what lies in the future for the VFX industry?
I see my career progressing further into the Indy film/commercial scene in Seattle. I now have a handful of directors that trust me as their VFX supervisor because I've done good work for them and on time. It's invaluable to have those friendships and I often get recommended to their friends by word of mouth. Before I know it I'm crashing things through CG windows, simulating car wrecks or color grading their music videos. At this point in my career it's all about humbly serving these directors, doing a better job than what's expected, and allowing them to have fun with the post process. The VFX industry in Seattle is heading in two directions, firstly because of tax breaks some people are outsourcing to Vancouver, but my niche market are my personel connections, and then finding those others who have no desire to send their projects out of state. A big challenge is to keep upgrading my gear at home to handle 5k, and whatever comes next. I like working on my friends movies, even if I never hear about them again after production, then seeing them pop up on Redbox or Netflix: "Scouts Honor" "Zombies of Mass Destruction" and "Junk" just to name a few.

Thanks, do you have any advice for our students on how they should get into the business?
Always learn programs. I have to know what every possible button or hidden right/middle click that After Effects, Maya and DaVinci can do. So when the director asks me to do something in post, if he doesn't think it's doable in camera because of light restrictions etc, I can explain why it's possible. Also get to know third party trends from The Foundry, Red Giant etc, and live on the edge of updates and pack releases. Most importantly be teachable, and humble on and off set. You don't know everything, and you never know when you will learn something new, but always remember to thank those that help you.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Andy, and we look forward to exchanging tweets in the future.

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See you in the twittersphere!