VFXTalk sits down with Wayne England from Sway Studios
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Wayne England - Artist, VFX Supervisor/ CG Supervisor S/W/A/Y/ Studio
Wayne England is a C.G. supervisor and VFX supervisor at Sway Studio in Los Angeles, California, where he has contributed to a large array of high-end photo-realistic commercials and projects. A twelve year industry veteran, he is a two-time Emmy nominated and Emmy winning visual effects artist, the recipient of a Clio award and a V.E.S. award for his work on the U2 and Green Day video, “The Saints are Coming”
Before joining Sway, Wayne worked with many top visual effects houses in Hollywood as a freelance digital artist. He started his career at Will Vinton Studios and has worked at Digital Domain, Planet Blue and Area 51. He received his bachelor of arts from The Evergreen State College, and studied under a dual Masters Program in Experimental Animation and Music Composition at California Institute of the Arts.
About SWAY Studios
http://www.swaystudios.com
Wayne was introduced to SWAY by its founder, Mark Glaser, and initially worked as a freelancer on several projects. The depth in understanding the 3D-effects process and the quality of the work produced at SWAY lead him into taking a full time position which has evolved into VFX Supervisor.
SWAY Studio is one of the top visual effects shops in North America. SWAY’s aim is to help advertising agencies eliminate traditional views of how their products are seen and enable exciting new creative ideas. The goal is to create unforgettable imagery and to confuse the viewer into believing that everything is real with no thought about effects. SWAY’s proprietary software, the SWAY Driving Simulator has been used to create stunning visual effects and spots for Chevy, Mazda, Pontiac, Hyundai, Hummer and Toyota. This software replicates the performance of any vehicle with complete precision.
We sent over some great questions posted by the vfxtalk community, and mixed in a few of our own, so lets see what Wayne had to say!
Could you please start off by introducing yourselves and giving us a little background information pertaining to your current job/role, and your background in the industry
WE: I am currently C.G. and VFX supervisor at Sway Studio. Prior to Sway I had been working for about seven years as a freelance artist collaborating with various VFX companies in the Hollywood area. Before that I worked at Digital Domain, Planet Blue, Area 51 and started my career at Will Vinton Studios. As far as education, I received a bachelor of arts from The Evergreen State College and studied under a dual masters program in Experimental Animation and Music Composition at California Institute of the Arts.
What would you say is coolest thing about your job and what do you feel are the most important attributes in a VFX Supervisor?
WE: There a number of different things that together can make my job really satisfying and exciting. On one level, it’s the opportunity to be really creative, to work in innovative ways with new tools, discover new methodologies and with that new aesthetic realms. Anytime you have a vision in the minds eye and you find yourself coming close to creating that 'world' in front of you - that is especially gratifying. That also touches on the second part of the question, regarding the most important aspects of a visual effects supervisor, which I think can be summarized in the ability to have the vision in mind and be able to recognize the necessary points along the pathway that will lead to realizing that vision. On larger projects, that involves a community of people, and working with other creative artists, directors and producers and support, is another really satisfying aspect of the job - the element of how you work with a team and how you communicate as whole. It all gets upped a notch when the project is itself an exciting one, such as the U2 video we recently collaborated on, or some of the projects we're currently working on.
When did you decide to start in the visual effects field? After high school, college, or earlier? How much would you weight education compared to skills and effort?
WE: I decided this was what i wanted to do when I was a freshman in college, at the time I was a music composition major. I started to visualize phenomena in my minds eye in relation to music and this lead me to experiment with and study animation and C.G. As for Education, it all comes down to how the work looks and its quality. School has its advantages because of the structured environment and curricular. On the other hand there are many who have taught themselves through experimentation on their own initiative and gone on to have great careers. For me it made sense to go to school - it wasn't just visual effects I was learning at the time. But again, at the end of the day, it depends on the quality of the work.
Having started out as a freelancer and worked your way to the top, do you have any advice for up and coming VFX artists on how to make it out there in California?
WE: It depends on what you want to do in visual effects. If there is a specific aspect of visual effects that excites you, I'd say focus on that - do what you love, since that passion will fuel your efforts. Then when you have a result in that area, it might stand out a little more. If it does that, people will recognize it and know that you have a talent in that area, which will likely translate into other areas. Doing a project you define is always a good way to learn and shows good initiative. On that front, here is what I would consider to be very good tip; always find good reference for what you are attempting to create and try to match it.
What do you see as the most important thing when creating the amazing VFX that SWAY do?
WE: There are a combination of factors with some having more precedence than others depending on the project. Overall though, what lays the foundation for doing good work, is planning and anticipating the needs of the project insofar as time and resources, in alignment with our team of quality artists. Another aspect is the importance of having an environment where you feel you’re generally having a good time on the job within the creative community.
How much RnD does SWAY do in house? Do you use mainly off-the-shelf tools or do you develop a lot of your own (in terms of both 2D and 3D)?
WE: We have developed quite a bit of our own in house software from complete software packages such as Sway Driver to many innovative software tools and scripts for both 3d and 2d. We also do extensive in house R&D as far as techniques and methodologies which adds to our preparation for projects such as the U2 video as I was describing earlier. We also have very good direct lines of communication with the creators of most of the software we utilize, using the new aspects of software in beta form.
Are there any plans to release the sway driving simulator as a standalone product, similar to how pixar sells renderman?
WE: The answer is not at this point. You'd have to have a conversation with Mark Glaser the owner of Sway to get the real scoop on that though!
What’s in store next at SWAY? I hear you are going to be getting into film work and have a few projects lined up – can you share some information on this with us?
WE: We are currently expanding and working on many exciting high profile projects, with nine active jobs and several more pending. A lot of the work we have in now is especially beautiful and innovative, which I'm personally inspired by. We just wrapped up our first feature project and are opening our doors to more of that. With all the work and expansion into our new facility, we are also on the lookout for quality artists to join us.
Print EmailWayne England - Artist, VFX Supervisor/ CG Supervisor S/W/A/Y/ StudioWayne England is a C.G. supervisor and VFX supervisor at Sway Studio in Los Angeles, California, where he has contributed to a large array of high-end photo-realistic commercials and projects. A twelve year industry veteran, he is a two-time Emmy nominated and Emmy winning visual effects artist, the recipient of a Clio award and a V.E.S. award for his work on the U2 and Green Day video, “The Saints are Coming”
Before joining Sway, Wayne worked with many top visual effects houses in Hollywood as a freelance digital artist. He started his career at Will Vinton Studios and has worked at Digital Domain, Planet Blue and Area 51. He received his bachelor of arts from The Evergreen State College, and studied under a dual Masters Program in Experimental Animation and Music Composition at California Institute of the Arts.
About SWAY Studioshttp://www.swaystudios.com
Wayne was introduced to SWAY by its founder, Mark Glaser, and initially worked as a freelancer on several projects. The depth in understanding the 3D-effects process and the quality of the work produced at SWAY lead him into taking a full time position which has evolved into VFX Supervisor.
SWAY Studio is one of the top visual effects shops in North America. SWAY’s aim is to help advertising agencies eliminate traditional views of how their products are seen and enable exciting new creative ideas. The goal is to create unforgettable imagery and to confuse the viewer into believing that everything is real with no thought about effects. SWAY’s proprietary software, the SWAY Driving Simulator has been used to create stunning visual effects and spots for Chevy, Mazda, Pontiac, Hyundai, Hummer and Toyota. This software replicates the performance of any vehicle with complete precision.
We sent over some great questions posted by the vfxtalk community, and mixed in a few of our own, so lets see what Wayne had to say!
Could you please start off by introducing yourselves and giving us a little background information pertaining to your current job/role, and your background in the industry
WE: I am currently C.G. and VFX supervisor at Sway Studio. Prior to Sway I had been working for about seven years as a freelance artist collaborating with various VFX companies in the Hollywood area. Before that I worked at Digital Domain, Planet Blue, Area 51 and started my career at Will Vinton Studios. As far as education, I received a bachelor of arts from The Evergreen State College and studied under a dual masters program in Experimental Animation and Music Composition at California Institute of the Arts.
What would you say is coolest thing about your job and what do you feel are the most important attributes in a VFX Supervisor?
WE: There a number of different things that together can make my job really satisfying and exciting. On one level, it’s the opportunity to be really creative, to work in innovative ways with new tools, discover new methodologies and with that new aesthetic realms. Anytime you have a vision in the minds eye and you find yourself coming close to creating that 'world' in front of you - that is especially gratifying. That also touches on the second part of the question, regarding the most important aspects of a visual effects supervisor, which I think can be summarized in the ability to have the vision in mind and be able to recognize the necessary points along the pathway that will lead to realizing that vision. On larger projects, that involves a community of people, and working with other creative artists, directors and producers and support, is another really satisfying aspect of the job - the element of how you work with a team and how you communicate as whole. It all gets upped a notch when the project is itself an exciting one, such as the U2 video we recently collaborated on, or some of the projects we're currently working on.
When did you decide to start in the visual effects field? After high school, college, or earlier? How much would you weight education compared to skills and effort?
WE: I decided this was what i wanted to do when I was a freshman in college, at the time I was a music composition major. I started to visualize phenomena in my minds eye in relation to music and this lead me to experiment with and study animation and C.G. As for Education, it all comes down to how the work looks and its quality. School has its advantages because of the structured environment and curricular. On the other hand there are many who have taught themselves through experimentation on their own initiative and gone on to have great careers. For me it made sense to go to school - it wasn't just visual effects I was learning at the time. But again, at the end of the day, it depends on the quality of the work.
Having started out as a freelancer and worked your way to the top, do you have any advice for up and coming VFX artists on how to make it out there in California?
WE: It depends on what you want to do in visual effects. If there is a specific aspect of visual effects that excites you, I'd say focus on that - do what you love, since that passion will fuel your efforts. Then when you have a result in that area, it might stand out a little more. If it does that, people will recognize it and know that you have a talent in that area, which will likely translate into other areas. Doing a project you define is always a good way to learn and shows good initiative. On that front, here is what I would consider to be very good tip; always find good reference for what you are attempting to create and try to match it.
What do you see as the most important thing when creating the amazing VFX that SWAY do?
WE: There are a combination of factors with some having more precedence than others depending on the project. Overall though, what lays the foundation for doing good work, is planning and anticipating the needs of the project insofar as time and resources, in alignment with our team of quality artists. Another aspect is the importance of having an environment where you feel you’re generally having a good time on the job within the creative community.
How much RnD does SWAY do in house? Do you use mainly off-the-shelf tools or do you develop a lot of your own (in terms of both 2D and 3D)?
WE: We have developed quite a bit of our own in house software from complete software packages such as Sway Driver to many innovative software tools and scripts for both 3d and 2d. We also do extensive in house R&D as far as techniques and methodologies which adds to our preparation for projects such as the U2 video as I was describing earlier. We also have very good direct lines of communication with the creators of most of the software we utilize, using the new aspects of software in beta form.
Are there any plans to release the sway driving simulator as a standalone product, similar to how pixar sells renderman?
WE: The answer is not at this point. You'd have to have a conversation with Mark Glaser the owner of Sway to get the real scoop on that though!
What’s in store next at SWAY? I hear you are going to be getting into film work and have a few projects lined up – can you share some information on this with us?
WE: We are currently expanding and working on many exciting high profile projects, with nine active jobs and several more pending. A lot of the work we have in now is especially beautiful and innovative, which I'm personally inspired by. We just wrapped up our first feature project and are opening our doors to more of that. With all the work and expansion into our new facility, we are also on the lookout for quality artists to join us.