Matt Johnson is a visual effects supervisor for Soho-based company Cinesite. He got his first break as a digital artist on the 1996 Michael Jordan vehicle Space Jam, and has worked his way up to become supervisor on films as diverse as V for Vendetta, King Arthur and most recently, The Golden Compass, which has now won both the BAFTA and Oscar awards for its effects. He tells me about his inspirations, aspirations and tribulations…
What inspired you to join the industry?
It’s kind of weird and a bit of a cliché but basically I first saw Star Wars when I was six and like many people, I can vividly remember going to see the film. I can remember going to the cinema with my dad, sitting there and coming out convinced I was either going to work in the film industry or become an astronaut.
My parents were very encouraging or indulgent, look at it how you will, and I was given a standard 8mm film camera when I was about seven and I started making little films with my Lego, making models and blowing them up.
What are the most impressive and most disappointing visual effects you have seen in the last 12 months?
I think the best visual effects probably just for technical accomplishment is Transformers. They just sit in very nicely and I know some people who worked on them. It’s tricky to say what the worst visual effects are because you don’t want to judge anybody’s work, but there was one particular shot, a matte painting shot in the Ang Lee film Lust, Caution that I remember standing out. I thought the film was terrific but I just remember that bit did take me out of the movie, maybe because I am looking for it more than some other people.
Do you think the human eye will always be able to tell the difference?
Well I supervised King Arthur, and that had at least 625 visual effects shots in it but the idea was that they didn’t really want it to be a big visual effects film. Some of the reviews said it was great to have a blockbuster that didn’t have lots of VFX.
It was shot in August in Ireland during the heat wave of 2003 and most of the time it was raining so every snowflake is CGI and the backgrounds are all ‘snowed up’ and CGI, as was the big frozen lake sequence - even the ground they are walking on is CGI. I think I prefer working on films where the audience hopefully won’t be aware of everything.
Could you explain a bit more about your new project Beverley Hills Chihuahua?
Sure. I discovered a shocking statistic the other day in TIME magazine which said that the American public spent 35.9 billion dollars last year on their pets. Now I’ve been to LA quite a lot and you do see these Chihuahuas and those kinds of dogs in elaborate outfits and Chanel dresses and jewellery, so this film essentially reflects that. Drew Barrymore’s voicing Jamie Lee Curtis’s pampered Chihuahua and I can’t give too much away but she is taken out of her Beverley Hills lifestyle and goes to Mexico, where she is helped by a German Shepard voiced by Andy Garcia. It’s one of those sort-of road movie comedy things…with talking dogs in.
Does it bother you when a project you’ve worked on receives a lacklustre critical response, such as Underdog or Eragon?
It goes with the territory. Like I said earlier, most of the films I personally enjoy tend not to have digital effects, so you know what you’re getting into. I mean, a movie with a talking dog [Underdog] is never going to win the academy award for best picture.
The films that we tend to work on with digital effects tend to be ones that are better received by the general public than by the critics at large, so it’s rare but enjoyable when a film comes along that receives both critical and box office success.
What is the most satisfying sequence you’ve worked on?
I think for various reasons it is probably the ice battle in King Arthur because it really was a sequence that was made for visual effects. It was shot in Ireland in the summer of 2003, and at the time stuff like that hadn’t really been done.
I think it was either Variety or The Hollywood Reporter that said it was one of the best cinematic fight sequences of history or something and it was just like, wow, you know, that there were these 275 shots done back to back, and literally everything involves visual effects.
It sounds a bit poncey but when I was at the premiere of the movie, it got a round of applause at the end, and there was just a lot of stuff involved in making it work.
What is your favourite film of yours to watch?
It’s terrible, but it takes me a long time to sit and watch them and enjoy them. I haven’t seen The Golden Compass yet for example. I’ll probably give that another 6 months or so before I watch it. V for Vendetta I quite enjoyed, and I was watching a bit of Shanghai Knights the other night and that was quite a fun film to work on as well.
Is the reason you get sick of seeing them because of the heavy workload involved?
Yeah, it’s very, very hard to disengage your brain. I was at the BAFTAS and I wouldn’t say it was painful - that’s too strong a word - but all the memories came flooding back, and I just thought I’d got over it and put it all behind me only to sit and have someone talk about it all over again. It’s just very hard to see something that you know so well, it’s nice to have a bit of separation.
I suppose it’s a bit like writing an essay at college or something; once you’ve done it, you’ve done it, and the last thing you want to do is read it again.
Regarding The Golden Compass, how do you split duties as a VFX supervisor on a project of that scope between yourself and your colleagues (Sue Rowe and Ben Morris)?
Most of the films I’ve worked on I’ve been the overall supervisor so I’m left in charge of everything but on a film like The Golden Compass, because it’s so huge they need a lot of different companies to get involved in the effects, so in that case Ben and his team would do the polar bears, and then we would do a lot of the environments and other characters and Rhythm and Hues in the States would do the monkey and things like that so basically we’re trying to play to peoples strengths and interests.
Do you do a lot of compositing?
Yeah, I used to be a compositor when I first started. But I mean, we would do [on The Golden Compass] everything from full creatures to fur shading as well as creating London and Bolvangar. I tended to do a lot of work with the environment stuff. I don’t know – I guess they thought I did ice for King Arthur so I could do it for Bolvangar.
Was the Bolvangar sequence the most complicated for Cinesite?
It sounds glib but they’re all complicated for different reasons. All the stuff with the demons in was complicated, just because there was so many of them and they involve technically complicated things like fur, but I think Bolvangar was complicated because we had to a) maintain the look and b) do background work that would then be given to Ben’s guys [at fellow London house Framestore CFC] to put the bear in and so the logistics of that scene were complicated and there were a lot of shots to keep track of.
Have you ever clashed with directors or got frustrated with production teams who don’t understand visual effects?
I think the thing about that is, they shouldn’t have to, as visual effects supervisor it is your job. If you’re doing your job properly you should be able to steer them and guide them towards what it is that they want, because at the end of the day you’re there to realise their vision and get it up on the screen.
What inspired you to join the industry?
It’s kind of weird and a bit of a cliché but basically I first saw Star Wars when I was six and like many people, I can vividly remember going to see the film. I can remember going to the cinema with my dad, sitting there and coming out convinced I was either going to work in the film industry or become an astronaut.
My parents were very encouraging or indulgent, look at it how you will, and I was given a standard 8mm film camera when I was about seven and I started making little films with my Lego, making models and blowing them up.
What are the most impressive and most disappointing visual effects you have seen in the last 12 months?
I think the best visual effects probably just for technical accomplishment is Transformers. They just sit in very nicely and I know some people who worked on them. It’s tricky to say what the worst visual effects are because you don’t want to judge anybody’s work, but there was one particular shot, a matte painting shot in the Ang Lee film Lust, Caution that I remember standing out. I thought the film was terrific but I just remember that bit did take me out of the movie, maybe because I am looking for it more than some other people.
Do you think the human eye will always be able to tell the difference?
Well I supervised King Arthur, and that had at least 625 visual effects shots in it but the idea was that they didn’t really want it to be a big visual effects film. Some of the reviews said it was great to have a blockbuster that didn’t have lots of VFX.
It was shot in August in Ireland during the heat wave of 2003 and most of the time it was raining so every snowflake is CGI and the backgrounds are all ‘snowed up’ and CGI, as was the big frozen lake sequence - even the ground they are walking on is CGI. I think I prefer working on films where the audience hopefully won’t be aware of everything.
Could you explain a bit more about your new project Beverley Hills Chihuahua?
Sure. I discovered a shocking statistic the other day in TIME magazine which said that the American public spent 35.9 billion dollars last year on their pets. Now I’ve been to LA quite a lot and you do see these Chihuahuas and those kinds of dogs in elaborate outfits and Chanel dresses and jewellery, so this film essentially reflects that. Drew Barrymore’s voicing Jamie Lee Curtis’s pampered Chihuahua and I can’t give too much away but she is taken out of her Beverley Hills lifestyle and goes to Mexico, where she is helped by a German Shepard voiced by Andy Garcia. It’s one of those sort-of road movie comedy things…with talking dogs in.
Does it bother you when a project you’ve worked on receives a lacklustre critical response, such as Underdog or Eragon?
It goes with the territory. Like I said earlier, most of the films I personally enjoy tend not to have digital effects, so you know what you’re getting into. I mean, a movie with a talking dog [Underdog] is never going to win the academy award for best picture.
The films that we tend to work on with digital effects tend to be ones that are better received by the general public than by the critics at large, so it’s rare but enjoyable when a film comes along that receives both critical and box office success.
What is the most satisfying sequence you’ve worked on?
I think for various reasons it is probably the ice battle in King Arthur because it really was a sequence that was made for visual effects. It was shot in Ireland in the summer of 2003, and at the time stuff like that hadn’t really been done.
I think it was either Variety or The Hollywood Reporter that said it was one of the best cinematic fight sequences of history or something and it was just like, wow, you know, that there were these 275 shots done back to back, and literally everything involves visual effects.
It sounds a bit poncey but when I was at the premiere of the movie, it got a round of applause at the end, and there was just a lot of stuff involved in making it work.
What is your favourite film of yours to watch?
It’s terrible, but it takes me a long time to sit and watch them and enjoy them. I haven’t seen The Golden Compass yet for example. I’ll probably give that another 6 months or so before I watch it. V for Vendetta I quite enjoyed, and I was watching a bit of Shanghai Knights the other night and that was quite a fun film to work on as well.
Is the reason you get sick of seeing them because of the heavy workload involved?
Yeah, it’s very, very hard to disengage your brain. I was at the BAFTAS and I wouldn’t say it was painful - that’s too strong a word - but all the memories came flooding back, and I just thought I’d got over it and put it all behind me only to sit and have someone talk about it all over again. It’s just very hard to see something that you know so well, it’s nice to have a bit of separation.
I suppose it’s a bit like writing an essay at college or something; once you’ve done it, you’ve done it, and the last thing you want to do is read it again.
Regarding The Golden Compass, how do you split duties as a VFX supervisor on a project of that scope between yourself and your colleagues (Sue Rowe and Ben Morris)?
Most of the films I’ve worked on I’ve been the overall supervisor so I’m left in charge of everything but on a film like The Golden Compass, because it’s so huge they need a lot of different companies to get involved in the effects, so in that case Ben and his team would do the polar bears, and then we would do a lot of the environments and other characters and Rhythm and Hues in the States would do the monkey and things like that so basically we’re trying to play to peoples strengths and interests.
Do you do a lot of compositing?
Yeah, I used to be a compositor when I first started. But I mean, we would do [on The Golden Compass] everything from full creatures to fur shading as well as creating London and Bolvangar. I tended to do a lot of work with the environment stuff. I don’t know – I guess they thought I did ice for King Arthur so I could do it for Bolvangar.
Was the Bolvangar sequence the most complicated for Cinesite?
It sounds glib but they’re all complicated for different reasons. All the stuff with the demons in was complicated, just because there was so many of them and they involve technically complicated things like fur, but I think Bolvangar was complicated because we had to a) maintain the look and b) do background work that would then be given to Ben’s guys [at fellow London house Framestore CFC] to put the bear in and so the logistics of that scene were complicated and there were a lot of shots to keep track of.
Have you ever clashed with directors or got frustrated with production teams who don’t understand visual effects?
I think the thing about that is, they shouldn’t have to, as visual effects supervisor it is your job. If you’re doing your job properly you should be able to steer them and guide them towards what it is that they want, because at the end of the day you’re there to realise their vision and get it up on the screen.
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