Best of Demo Reel « John Gajdecki

You need a vfx supervisor that knows production and not just post. The quality of your shots and what you will be able to do in post is determined by how you shoot your plates and scenes.

Ed Bates

Best of Demo Reel

My current Demo, both Feature and long form Television. I was the Senior VFX Supervisor for each project, was on set with the director, Prod Designer and DP and worked directly with the Editor and Lead Artists or Sequence Supervisors.

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Breakdown

	Stargate Atlantis - Pilot The City of Atlantis rises from the bottom of a very distant ocean. Maya models and particles, practical elements, Inferno comp. Nominated for Emmy, Won Gemini for Outstanding VFX in Series or Pilot.
	Slither - Feature Alien Parasites infect the Earth, again. We flashback to their glory days.World creation, CG creatures. Won at Comicon for highest body count, 2006.
	Slither - Feature Grant changes as a result of his parasitic infestation. Large scale prosthetics by Todd Masters, CG tenticles by In House artists.
	Stargate Atlantis - Pilot A flashback to the city of Atlantis being left behind. CG ships with digital and physical atmospherics.
	Damaged Care We shot textures from a boat off the shore, and projected them onto a very simple CG model. Very quick, very easy.
	Stargate Atlantis Pilot Our hero’s escape though the stargate is blocked by Wraith ships. CG renders for ships and gate, comped in Inferno.
	F-18 Test Very large scale miniature exploded as it was dropped towards camera on cables. I loved the sense of movement and momentum we achieved by shooting it this way.
	Bullet Time tests Bullet time / High Speed photography comped over a BG Still of an unsuspecting city.
	In the Name of the King Uwe Boll's big budget feature based on the game Dungeon Siege.
	Three Moons over Milford A Comedy about how people would react if the end of the world was imminent. Maya built, comped in Fusion.
	Slither - Feature Alien Parasites infect the Earth via asteroid. Some current theories suggest this is how life really arose on the Earth. Really...
	Slither - Feature Worms approach the home of some innocent, if rather colourful,civilians.
	Slither - Feature Solitary worm crawls towards, well, you know. CG parasite worms designed by In House team, and animated, rendered and compled at Image Engine.
	Slither - Feature A murder of worm crawls towards, well, you know. Is a flock of alien parasitic worms really called a murder, like a murder of crows ?
	Slither - Feature Alien Parasites infect this guy, so we blew his brains out. Some current theories suggest this is how life really arose on the Earth. OK, not really.
	Slither - Feature Good Old Boy is sliced open by the Grant monster. Practical element was shot for the blood and guts, tracked into body which was itself projected to alter perspective as it opened.
	Slither - Feature Tentacles of Grant monster attack Elizabeth Banks. Tentacles started out as practical effects but became full on digital effects in all but one shot. Try to spot it.
	The Hole 3D - Feature Joe Dante’s film about kids who find a secret hole in their basement. Our rollercoaster location was fogged in, we could not see to the far end of the structure. We went back to survey and shot tectures, then built a beautiful CG model.
	The Hole 3D - Feature Smoke Dad. Dane’s father emerges and re-forms out of smoke laying around on the floor. The biggest R&D effort of the project, keeping CG smoke looking like the elements we shot, but maintaining a realistic sense of depth in Z axis.
	The Hole 3D - Feature Mechanical platform spun while camera craned up and away. Entire digital environment was conceived after principle photography, as it became obvious that stereo was way easier than we expected and we’d be way under budget.
	Fallen - Miniseries Angles who had been banished from Heaven fight for our souls and defeat Lucifer. Actors were shot on greenscreen with a computer controlled flying rig. Backgrounds were shot as stills and projected into simple geometry for parallax in the camera moves. Great fun with a great producer, Ed Bates.
	Fallen - Miniseries Fire Swords were the Angel’s weapons here on the earth. During the shoot the actors used Lexan props that lit up, casting interactive light on the actors.
	Fallen - Miniseries Actors were shot on a huge greenscreen stage, flown from a computer controlled flying rig. BG was tiled up from stills and projected onto simple geometry.
	Fallen - Miniseries CG wings modeled and rigged feather by feather. The plate was shot to give us some nice back lighting on the feathers, which made for a very pretty shot.
	Fallen - Miniseries 20’ tall spinning pillar of fire was engineered and shot as a practical element.Elements were tiled up and comped in Fusion.
	Other Side of Heaven - Feature, Disney Missionaries in South Pacific confront their doubts in a huge storm. Plates were shot in New Zealand dry-dock. Waves were textures shot off the Santa Monica Pier and modeled in Maya.


	Thanks Many thanks to Richard Greenwood for helping me cut this reel, and with the site. The music is from the Truman Show, but was never used in the movie. Composed by Burkhard Dallwitz.