Motion Sickness, a creative studio that specializes in visual effects and design, was looking for all the right assets for a trailer they worked on for the new mobile game, Operation: New Earth. Our stock footage proved to be perfect for helping them burn down a crashed spaceship!
We were able to interview Jen Chiu, Creative Director and Owner at Motion Sickness, on their work for this trailer. Chiu graduated from New York University for animation and graphic design. Soon after, she started her career in the entertainment industry as a motion design artist and compositor.
Before we get into the interview, check out the official video!
Tell us a little bit about Motion Sickness. Who are you?
Motion Sickness is a creative studio that specializes in visual effects and design. We produce commercials and creative content for brands, games and tech companies. I co-founded Motion Sickness in 2009 with our VFX Supervisor/Art Director, Keith Stevens. He graduated from Gnomon School of Visual Effects and worked in film, TV and commercials as a CG artist.
Our complementary skill sets enabled us to execute large scale work as a 2-person team. Even though we’ve grown since then, we still keep the small but mighty studio mentality. We have a great team of multi-skilled artists that love wearing as many hats as we do.
Other than VFX, what else were you guys involved with for the Operation: New Earth trailer?
We handled the on-set VFX Supervision, all the VFX work, as well as the editing. The schedule was extremely tight. Thankfully, we had amazing clients, cast, and crew. We’ve been working with the production company Dark Forest Digital for years.
They understand how important proper VFX supervision is so we were given ample time and room to do our thing on-set. This is crucial to executing the VFX in post fast and efficiently. We shot in the desert, at Blue Cloud Ranch in California. The weather was nice but the sun was brutal. We ended up having really awkward sunglass tan lines on our faces for a few weeks.
What made you decide to give ActionVFX a try for the "Operation: New Earth" trailer?
Generating all the smoke and fire in CG would have been insane for the time we had. The ActionVFX library was awesome. The amount of variation and the quality of the footage was everything we were looking for. TheStructure Fires were perfect for the spaceship crash and we couldn’t find any other stock footage like it.
Instead of waiting for simulations, we had the ability to jump right in and focus on putting the fire where we wanted it and choosing what characteristics we wanted it to have by layering and tweaking the footage in compositing. This really freed us up to keep pushing the quality of the overall piece and delivering something that we are super proud of. What was your experience using ActionVFX stock footage for the project?
The ActionVFX stock footage really saved us so much time and resources for this project. I will definitely continue using ActionVFX as a highly recommended resource. The footage quality is well beyond other stock footage collections, and there’s an added plus that most ActionVFX footage is provided pre-keyed as well as originally shot.
What advice would you give to someone who wants to get into the VFX industry, but isn't sure how to break in?
My advice to someone starting out in the VFX industry is to research and find the best schools for the skill-set you want to have. You want a school where you are trained by “currently working” industry professionals. Technology and software change all the time and you need to be trained on current industry standards. Schools will lay a great foundation but also be prepared to keep learning. You will always have to keep up with the times to have a successful VFX career.
Get involved with the VFX community. Go to conferences and seminars. Join Facebook groups, blogs and VFX contests. Talk to artists/studios that you admire, ask questions and seek advice. ____
It's always great to see our products helping our customers create realistic VFX throughout the industry. Thank you, Jen, for answering our questions, and for providing us the media for this post! To see more of Motion Sickness' work, check out their website.
First time here? ActionVFX creates action stock footage products for VFX and Filmmaking, centered on user feedback. (We also have some great free stuff!)
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