On January 14, the Asian American Committee’s (AAC) meeting included the event, Visual Effects Approaches for Directors and DGA Teams. In a conversation moderated by Director/VFX Supervisor Van Ling, VFX On-Set Supervisor Viki Chan, Director/VFX Supervisor Johnny Han, and VFX Producer Maricel Pagulayan discussed utilizing both new VFX technologies and classic techniques for better creative storytelling.

During the conversation, Pagulayan noted her work is all about balancing production requirements with the creative and strategizing how to achieve the vision within the given budget. She shared the importance of fostering communication between the VFX and AD team, making sure to document everything on set as there are often entirely new ideas to tackle once you reach the edit, so having full set documentation will give the VFX team the ability to re-create scenes and set pieces accurately as any unexpected requests arise.

Han pointed out that he tries to communicate exactly what he needs from AD teams and said, “I can sacrifice this ball and chart since you’re only moving the camera 5 inches, but when we do the next setup, I really need that.” He also acknowledged the importance of communicating why you need something, so AD teams don’t feel your requests are random and will understand how taking five extra minutes to gather data now, can save the production time and money later in the edit.

On the topic of data wrangling, Chan noted it’s important to get as much information as you can on set and revealed, “There are thousands of artists that will touch one VFX shot, and they weren’t on set, so the handful of people who serve as the ‘eyes’ on set, are responsible for gathering all necessary data. ‘Where was the camera, how was it rigged, how many feet did the blood splash?’ The more info you have in post, the easier it is to convey what was happening on set, and recreating the same conditions and colors in post will make it as real as possible.”

About the Asian American Committee:

The Asian American Committee (AAC) was created as a networking group to provide a forum for interests and issues that concern Asian-American Guild members. Through outreach efforts in the entertainment industry that emphasize career development and skills enhancement, the committee provides a variety of networking opportunities as well as screenings, seminars and discussions with industry professionals.

• For more information about the Asian American Committee, click here to visit their webpage.