Season 01

During Pre-Production on Interstellar, I started designing the look and style for the  Interfaces and computers along with Coplin LeBleu and Sal Palacios.  I worked with the Production Designer Nathan Crowley to discuss what he was looking for in terms of look, style, and tech.  He didn’t want to go too high tech/futuristic.  The film takes place in the future but, almost all technology is abandoned or repurposed to focus is on agriculture and farming.  There isn’t really anything new being designed or built anymore, so they are limited on resources and whats left. We Designed all the console graphics for the Lander,  Ranger, and the Endurance. 

Along with all the ship screens, We designed and programmed TARS screens. The programming and engineering was all done by Rick Whitfield and Vince Parker.

During Pre-Production on Transcendence, I started designing the UI along with  Vince Parker, Coplin LeBleu, and Sal Palacios.  I worked closely with the Production Designer Chris Seagers, he had a specific look and style he was hoping to bring to life. It was a challenge from the beginning, because the director Wally Psfister wanted to have all the graphics done live in camera. The hardest set to achieve that on was Eve's apartment. Most of what you see is all done in camera with rear projection on screens and glass.

I came onto Live Free or Die Hard late during production. I was asked to jump in and help with the animations and designs for the playback graphics. I helped design and animate screens in the FBI Headquarters, Gabriels Computers, MTA, Van and F-35 Jet.  Some of the graphics were built to be interactive and some were just loops. Then once we got through all of production, I came back to Design and animate new the elements for post production.

During Post Production I would sit with the editor Nicolas DeToth and the Director Len Wiseman and go over the shots that needed to be changed.  I would match the graphics to fit the cut and story changes.  After making the changes and building slap comps for editorial to get approved, I would send the content to VFX or I would export straight to film for the full frame shots.

Pelham Began in 2008 here in Los Angeles. We started by doing a lot of tests with design layouts and projection screens. After the tests were complete  I started to design the final layout and interface for the MTA Headquarters. The hard part was knowing that entire MTA screen was to be built as one giant screen. It was actually 5 2k rear projectors that were being fed from 5 different computers to be in running sync. We also made it so that each one was interactive so that we could trigger them based on the scene and actors movements. 

When  we started filming I would have my meetings with Tony Scott the Director and Chris Seagers the production designer to go over the upcoming scenes and show them the graphics and how they work. Sometimes I would sit with the actors and run through the graphics with them if needed. While we were filming I would be next to Tony waiting for him to give me a cue to start the playback or match it to the actors performance.

During Post Production we made some changes and added a few new shots for VFX to burn in. I would design and animated the new elements and drop them into the cut for editorial to approve. After they were approved, I would send the elements to VFX for the final burn in.

During Pre-Production on surrogates, Geoff Mandell and I started designing the look and style for all the surrogate Interfaces and computers.  After meetings with the Production Designer Jeff Mann we finally locked the look of the Surri Interfaces and controllers. 

Our first BIG set was and the Surrogates monitoring headquarters. You can see in the shot below just how many monitors and screens needed to be filled. It was all practical and no burn ins, It was all shot on the day.  There are around 200 monitors being fed by 100 computers showing the POV of all the surrogates being used all over the world, and Bobby the controller had 13 monitors on his desk that we could control. 

Some of the other sets that needed graphics were Canters Secret office and his wheelchair, The FBI Headquarters, The hospital, and all of the surri chargers and stations. For the chargers, there were monitors installed in the units and they had laser cut panels over them to look like little custom screens. So i designed the graphics to fit the mattes on the monitor covers. The military set each soldier had a unit setup with his POV, Current Location GPS, and his vitals and stats. They also had to be interactive so that at anytime if a soldiers Surrogate unit needed to get shot or killed it could be. 

During Post Production I would sit with the Director Jonathan Mostow and go over the shots that needed to be changed or redone based on changes to the story or cut.  We would make changes and I would do the Temp burn-ins/Slap Comps for his approval, then I would send the content to VFX or I would export straight to film for the full frame shots.

I started working on Green Lantern around March of 2010. During Pre Production I talked with the Art Director François Audouy and the Production Desisgner Grant Major about the Video Playback Graphics needed for the film. One Set in particular was the C & C trailer that takes place in the beginning of the movie. This set was the U-CAV control station. They wanted the graphics to look like real/current Military tech. So I did a lot of research on Drones, Unmanned Military Aircraft, and the software that controls them. After the designs are Approved I would then begin to animate the graphics. Some of the graphics are just loops that play in the background and some are hero/scripted graphics which have to be interactive for on set playback.

The Underground bunker was another set we did a lot of high tech medical/lab screens for. I this set they wanted to have a realistic looking CT Scan of Abin Sur’s Body. For that, the character was modeled in 3d by Vince Parker. I then took the model and sliced it into many layers to replicate the scanned look and created the following, along with many other screens.

Then During Post Production I designed and animated graphics for VFX to replace. This included the cockpit displays of the F-35 jet and the heads up display to overlays. I would also make changes to some of the monitor graphics based on story or content changes. I would make slap/temp comps for editorial to cut in for approval. Once approved the graphics would be sent to VFX or I would export straight to film for the full frame shots.

CHUCK is an American action-comedy/spy-drama television series created by Josh Schwartz and Chris Fedak. It began with season one in 2007 and ended  with season five in 2012. I started working on CHUCK after the pilot, then worked on almost every episode (90) after that.  I met with Josh and Chris to discuss what they had envisioned for all the tech and interactive graphics for the show. I came up with some concepts and worked with a designer Geoff Mandell and we came up with the DNI interface. This was the interface/system that the secret government facilities would be using throughout the show until we got to season 5. Thats when Chuck bought out the buymore and started his own operation. So the Castle set was completely revamped. I designed and animated the new Charmichael Industries Systems and interface. Some of the graphics were built to be interactive, so that the actor or on set playback person could trigger and control them.

There  were a lot of gadgets/props involved in chuck as well. Sometimes I would design elements or animations for the Props department to go on/into a prop.  That also included all the phones and hand held devices with screens. Sometimes I would make the elements to be replaced later in post. I developed interactive phone apps that would allow the actors to use the phone like a real/custom phone during filming.

In Post Production I designed and animated graphics for VFX to replace. Sometimes it was a monitor or display that needed to be added. Other times it was a Holographic HUD “Heads Up Display” or even designing Chuck’s Ability flash effect.  I would also make changes to some of the monitor graphics based on story or content changes. I would make slap/temp comps for editorial to cut in for approval. Once approved the graphics would be sent to VFX or I would export straight to film for the full frame shots.

I started working on Tropic Tunder during Production.  I met with the Production Designer Jeff Mann to talk about the Video Playback Graphics needed for Les Grossman’s “Tom Cruise” Office. In this scene Speedman “Ben Stiller” has been kidnapped and they have tracking software and GPS data running trying to find him. The people that kidknapped him called asking for money to release speedman or else. They are using their voice and cell phones to trace the location of the call. The rest of the playback is automated document scanners that are finding legal documents regarding speedmans contract and deleting/changing them.