DM: It certainly isn’t natural. I never used to be able to do that. I directed a film when I was in college, and in talking with the actors I had to learn that. You make a choice at some point on whether you want to work for somebody else or you want to be the boss. If you’re going to be a boss, you have to talk to people, and you have to learn how to do that well. Everyone offers guidance differently. I like to try to bring solutions to a dialogue, and I know some people don’t. They will say here’s what the problem is, you figure it out. That’s another way of working, and it may be easier actually on the TDs than the way I do it. I still wish I was directly involved in doing the shots. I feel like I can be making a contribution when I see some of things that sometimes the TDs can’t see, and lead them in the right direction. Maybe the problem is that the key light is slightly off to one side, and the fill light needs to be a little more orange. Whatever it is, they just can’t quite see it and I try to help them with that. Also, I’m the one at that moment they need to please, so they’ve got to work to make me happy, so that hopefully I can make the director happy. You’ve got to be working for somebody, and it’s going to go faster if you can talk to them directly. The TDs and everybody else are part of a team. Within the team, the individuals are all trying really, really hard to make things look right. They all want to learn and do a good job, so people are open to suggestions. When things get hard is when they can’t quite see it, or the director’s changing his mind all the time, or I’m changing my mind because something’s not working. That’s where it gets difficult. And then everyone has to have patience just to get through it. That goes all through filmmaking. That happens on live-action sets all the time. There are always situations where the director’s uncertain and you have to go back and do something again, or the actor didn’t like something and you have to do it again. That’s just part of working as a team, and that goes on with anything creative.

DP: After all you’ve done, all of the amazing work and Academy Awards, is it still fun for you?

DM: Yes! It is still fun. You know, I do think we need another big shot in the arm. I’m not sure what that’s going to be, but I like the idea of 3D IMAX films, if they can get those looking really great. That’s the thing I’ve seen that has just really knocked me out. The moments when those 3D IMAX films have worked are like you’re living the experience. Most of the time they don’t work, but there’ll be moments in the film where it’s like you’re there and you’re doing it. It’s just phenomenal. I’d like to find something else like that, but I haven’t seen a big breakthrough coming up in the CG world. We’ve got the same sort of tools and we’re just making them better and faster. We’re going to be trying a digital human soon, but it’s all still kind of the same thing. I’m still enjoying it, though, and there are still new challenges. I love spectacle. As long as there are spectacle movies where I can see things I can’t see in the real world, I’ll be doing them. I’ll be working on them and enjoying them.

To learn more about lighting and compositing and other topics of interest to animators, check out Inspired 3D Lighting and Compositing by David Parrish; series edited by Kyle Clark and Michael Ford: Premier Press, 2002. 266 pages with illustrations. ISBN 1-931841-49-7. ($59.99) Read more about all four titles in the Inspired series and check back to VFXWorld frequently to read new excerpts.

David Parrish (left), Kyle Clark (center) and Mike Ford (right).

David Parrish went straight to work for Industrial Light + Magic after earning his master's degree from Texas A&M University. During the five years that followed, he worked on several major films including Dragonheart, Return of the Jedi: Special Edition, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, Deep Blue Sea, Galaxy Quest and The Perfect Storm. After five years with ILM and a short stay with a startup company, he was hired by Sony Pictures Imageworks to work on Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Series editor Kyle Clark is a lead animator at Microsoft's Digital Anvil Studios and co-founder of Animation Foundation. He majored in Film, Video and Computer Animation at USC and has since worked on a number of feature, commercial and game projects. He has also taught at various schools including San Francisco Academy of Art College, San Francisco State University, UCLA School of Design and Texas A&M University.

Michael Ford, series editor, is a senior technical animator at Sony Pictures Imageworks and co-founder of Animation Foundation. A graduate of UCLA’s School of Design, he has since worked on numerous feature and commercial projects at ILM, Centropolis FX and Digital Magic. He has lectured at the UCLA School of Design, USC, DeAnza College and San Francisco Academy of Art College.