This series gives us an insight into the varied and colorful roles we all play at Technicolor Creative Studios, spotlighting our talent and bringing their story to the center stage. Chris Burn, Global Head of Production at MPC shares how he got into the industry, advice to his younger self, and his favorite projects of all time.
How did you get into the visual effects industry?
I started in the VFX industry mostly by accident and luck. It wasn’t a well known career path at that time. I knew I wanted to somehow blend art and computer science, which was not a common mix, and I was fortunate to gain a place at Bournemouth University studying Computer Animation. On graduating, I joined the Magic Camera Company at Shepperton Studios, as a compositor in 2000.
If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
Apart from buy property and start your pension investment as early as possible? Be open to change, this industry is still young, there are plenty of opportunities to take, try everything and keep learning.
Talk us through your favorite MPC projects
I’m going to pick out two stylistically different projects, 1917 and The Lion King. Having started in this industry as a compositor, I’m excited by seamless invisible effects – especially seamless cuts, mixing of multiple takes and augmenting the action. 1917 is a wonderful example of seamlessly building on top of shot photography in a way that is unnoticeable to the general audience. Talking animals doesn’t normally fit in the invisible VFX category, however the incredible attention to detail through the enormous amount of work to bring The Lion King to the screen allows you to believe in the world you are watching. To blend an animated feature with real world aesthetics take an incredible amount of skill.
What excited you the most about working at Technicolor Creative Studios?
It’s a great mix of exciting top-tier projects, high caliber of talented individuals, and a highly ambitious company.
What are your predictions for the world of VFX in 5 years?
I think the future is exciting for visual effects. Our jobs are to deliver images that have never been seen before and to keep pushing the limits of what is possible. Audiences what to be surprised and excited, so there will always be a demand to innovate and deliver work that leaves the audience thinking ‘how did they do that?’. There is also a demand for more content, both film and episodic projects, all of which requires VFX work in some way, which will lead to the blending of post-production VFX and in-camera VFX through techniques like virtual production. Visual effects at both ends of the scale will need innovation and expertise.
Discover more from our talent at Technicolor Creative Studios, and check out MPC to explore our visual effects work in film & episodic.
