author = "Michael Falkenstein"
In college, I was a part of Engineers Without Borders, which 'builds a better world through engineering projects that empower communities to meet their basic human needs'. With my college's EWB chapter, I traveled to Morocco twice to work on engineering projects. The first time I went as a team member to help finish a bridge as a logistics lead. The second time I went as a team leader to lay the foundation for a piping system. We prepared throughout entire semesters for these trips. In these trips, I was able to apply skills acquired in the military in order to work on a team and make a real difference in people's lives. Article covering the finished pipeline
I recently read an article on how 'First Man' shot a lot of their vfx 'in-camera' and its benefits. They built 30-foot semi-circular screens to display videos of sky or space. Then would strap the actor, Ryan Gosling, to a cockpit and focus the camera on him. The camera would then see the reflection from the screen on the actor's helmet and eyes. This would save on elaborate compositing work needed to add the reflections in.
I have a large background in martial arts and dance, including classical ballet. Animation, and specifically the utilization of motion capture and how artists through the pipeline can plus and enhance that performance is probably one of my favorite aspects of vfx. One of the corresponding videos that inspired me the most in college is seeing Benedict Cumberbatch act in a mocap suit for Smaug in The Hobbit. His performance couldn't be transposed onto Smaug's rig, but the animators still used that data as inspiration for their work.