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Interview with Kyle McCulloch – VFX Supervisor of ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’, Speaker at 2014 VFX Summit
26 Nov 2014 : Seán Brosnan
With credits including such blockbuster films as ‘Gravity’ and ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, Visual Effects artist Kyle McCulloch, who is based in London working for VFX giants Frame Store, will be speaking at the 2014 VFX and Animation Summit which takes place in the Science Gallery on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November.

IFTN spoke to McCulloch ahead of the summit - open to students, graduates, educators and professionals working across VFX, animation and games - about his impressive array of past VFX work.

IFTN: Are you looking forward to speaking at the VFX Summit?

Kyle McCulloch:‘Oh very much so. I wasn’t able to go last year because of a scheduling conflict so I’m really excited I get to be a part of it this year. I think it’s a really exciting group of speakers and I’m sure we’ll have a lot of cool stuff to talk about.’

What do you know of the growing VFX industry here in Ireland?

‘I don’t know very much of it but what I can say is that there are a lot of really talented Irish artists here in London. Top to bottom, all the ones I have met and worked with are up there with the very best of what they do so it really shows that there is a training and character of people that are coming out of the Irish studios that is really world-class.’

So, just tell us a little bit about your background then? How did you end up working on such massive blockbuster films as ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’ and ‘Gravity’?

‘Well, I got really lucky! I studied film at university and was very lucky to get my start in the traditional animation industry in New York City and then kind of over the last 17 years I have worked my way up and done different jobs. I was working out in San Francisco about 2009 when a colleague of mine who was working in London called and said they were looking for people working on one of the last Harry Potter movies and I really wanted a chance to do that! So, I applied and got a job and I have been here in London ever since. And that really worked out because London has really become one of the centres for VFX work. Between Double Negative, Frame Store and MPC, London is doing some of the best work in the world so it’s a really exciting place to be working.’

Tell us about work in ‘Gravity’ which led the way last year with ten Oscar nominations and won the VFX Oscar. It was obviously a huge undertaking…

‘It was an incredible opportunity to be a part of that project. It was something that they were working on here at Frame Store when I started back in 2009. When I finished work on ‘Sherlock Holmes 2’, they offered me the chance to be in the comp team which I was excited to do. It was only after I had started on the show that they needed someone to look after one of the teams basically; the team that was doing Planet Earth. I was really fortunate to get that opportunity and I spent a year managing the team of artists who were making all the planets that went into the background of a bunch of the ‘Gravity’ shots so it was an incredible project to be a part of; it was really challenging but I am really grateful that I got to do it.’

So, what would draw you to a project then? Are you constantly looking for new challenges, new equipment to use and more innovative projects?

‘To a degree, I think it’s always more interesting for anyone to be working on something where they are learning and growing. I don’t think anyone ever wants to sit and keep doing the same thing again and again. That’s one of the advantages to working in the Visual Effects industry because it is constantly growing. The cutting edge of what is possible kind of moves every year! Being able to work at a facility like Frame Store where they are constantly pushing that envelope and trying to do the very best work in the world means whatever project is your next project, you are going to be reaching for new technology and pushing the boundary of what we’re capable of.’

What film would you consider to be your greatest challenge so far?

‘Every project has got its own challenges. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ was challenging because there was a huge volume of work to be done in a very short space of time. I mean, we were really only in post-production on that for around seven or eight months which isn’t long at all. ‘Gravity’ was challenging because we were doing something that has never been done before and even though we had a lot of time to work on it; everything we were doing we had to figure out ourselves. It really just depends. Every project has its’ own up and downs and varies in what’s going to be challenging about it.’

You obviously have a very impressive filmography that may be the envy of many but are there any films over the past 20 years that you wish you could have worked on?

‘Well, I was always said I would have loved to have worked on the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy; I think those films were a real touchstone, a moment where I felt like the Visual Effects industry shifted, when it came into its’ own and the world recognised them as industry leaders and I really enjoyed those films. I remember walking out the theatre wishing that I had worked on them.’

How closely would you work with a director on a big-budget VFX project?

‘It depends. On a film like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ where my team was bringing one of the main characters of the film to life – when you’re doing that kind of work you end up working very closely with the director and we had an amazing relationship with James Gunn on that – he was such a pleasure to work with, he was very involved and had such a clear vision for who he wanted the characters Rocket (Bradley Cooper) and Groot (Vin Diesel) to be that it made our job a lot easier. But other times, you know, movies nowadays are so big and there is so much VFX work that goes into it that there may be 15 or 20 Visual Effects companies working on a film. Depending on what you are doing, it may not be necessary for you to be speaking to the director every week. That’s when you end up working a lot more with the Visual Effects team that are on the show to deliver the work.’

What advice would you have for anyone Irish people wanting to get into the VFX industry?

‘Well, in a lot of ways, I think any Irish person wanting to get into this business is very fortunate because they live right next door to one of the biggest VFX centres in the world (London). On top of that; I think what you’re seeing now is more and more production work going to Ireland itself. We just finished work on ‘Dracula Untold’, the entire film of which was shot in Northern Ireland and I believe some of the VFX of ‘Game of Thrones’ was carried out in Dublin too (at Screen Scene). The idea that having a huge centre here in London means that work starts to move to other countries and it definitely helps Irish people wanting to get into VFX to be so close to it. It’s much tougher for people in places like Brazil or Asia to try and break into a studio being so far away from any of the A-lister VFX studios. In Ireland, there is definitely a lot of opportunity for networking and talking to people in the industry and I think that’s the first thing you got to do if you’re interested.’

What’s next for you?

‘Well right now I am working on a movie called ‘Pan’ (new Peter Pan fantasy film starring Hugh Jackman and Rooney Mara), which is being directed by Joe Wright. That trailer has just been released so we’re pretty excited about that. So, we will be working on that until about June next year and after that I don’t know. We will see what the next project will be!’

Supported by Screen Training Ireland, Animation Skillnet and Enterprise Ireland, the second Irish VFX and Animation Summit is taking place in the Science Gallery on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th November with McCulloch and many other leading VFX leaders slated to speak. More details can be seen here.





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