[FRAMED] FX Supervisor, Edward Ferrysienanda, London

If you could travel back in time, which film, TV series, advert, or immersive project would you love to have worked on?

Interstellar. I love sci-fi that’s heavily grounded in reality. I really appreciate that they took a lot of our latest scientific understanding as a foundation to build the story. As I’m sure many of you already know, Kip Thorne, the Nobel Winning Physicist actually collaborated with Nolan as a science advisor to ensure everything in the film is as accurate as possible. He even wrote a book (“The Science of Interstellar”) on this topic that I absolutely love and recommend.

The ironic thing is, I WAS working in DNEG at that time! It was my first junior job in the industry. I was on another project and I had no idea all the great stuff they were doing a few floors up from me. So I suppose it’s more that I would like to travel back in time with my skillset and knowledge now, so I can contribute to the pitch & development. I would especially love to work on the FX on the water planet & Tesseract.

Oh and the first Pacific Rim, because cool giant robots and kaiju. Can’t beat that.

Which Framestore character do you feel you’re most like?

Paddington, I am clumsy and bump into things a lot.

What fictional world or place would you like to visit?

Faerûn from Baldur’s Gate 3. I’ve spent more hours than I’d like to admit on this game since it came out. Absolute masterpiece.

Your career highlight to date:

It’s a tough one. I’ve had the privilege to experience some really fun things. I had the chance to be a guest speaker in London Houdini User Group and a couple of universities, did my own FX Course / teaching, did interviews with SideFX, and worked on some really fun shows.

Still, the biggest highlight for me was being on the FX team for The Jungle Book (2016). It was my second show in the industry, and the very first time seeing my name on the big screen. For it to win the Oscars was such a surreal feeling. While I felt like I only played a small part as a fresh junior, the mix of gratitude, seeing how proud my family and friends were, and watching 14 months of hard work come to life was something really special for me.

Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in VFX?

I’ve always loved movies as a medium. However, growing up in Indonesia in the 90s, you don’t think much about movies beyond the fact that they just come out, and you go watch them. There wasn’t a lot of information about how it was made, or even if it was a feasible career path. When I graduated high school, I decided I wanted to do architecture because that’s what you pick if you want a mix of creativity as well as scientific principles in your work.

I had the opportunity to go to the UK for my studies and it was then that I found out there is a whole VFX industry and you can study it! I fell in love with it and decided to pursue the field with all I have, and the rest is history.

The DREAM project would entail:

An original script, small-ish team, with an emphasis on storytelling. Produced with just a small enough budget (relatively speaking) that we have to get creative in problem-solving, move fast and not get bogged down in hundreds of iterations. I’d say similar to Ex-Machina, or Arrival.

How do you explain what you do to someone who doesn’t work in VFX?

You know the explosions, fire and destruction that they do on set? I do that but with computers. No, I don’t get to meet Tom Cruise.

Describe your career journey into the exciting world of VFX.

Once I decided to pursue VFX, I gave it my all and managed to get into the undergraduate program at Bournemouth University. I spent 3 years there learning and working with really great peers. When I graduated, I got the chance to work with DNEG for a bit, then to MPC on The Jungle Book (2016) and other shows for a couple of years. That was a really great learning experience and the team was an absolute blast to work with. From there I went to Framestore until today.

What does the day in the life of an FX Supervisor look like?

The day would vary depending on the project lifecycle. In the beginning/preproduction stage, it would be a mix of building quick small setups for tests and RnD, bidding, resource and crew planning and a lot of spreadsheets.

Once we’re in the full swing of production, it would be a mix of building master setups for specific FX, dailies, running internal reviews and supporting my team’s work (technical as well as resource management).

Framestore is, to you, in three words:

World-leading, pragmatic, people-oriented.

Best thing about your work environment?

The office is really nice. I love the openness of the architecture. More importantly though, the colleagues and the company culture. I can say with certainty that out of all the major VFX houses, Framestore has the right balance in how the business is run while still advocating for artist’s growth and stability. Yes, it’s not perfect and the industry has gone through its fair share of turmoil this past couple of years. But I felt like management tries to be transparent and straight with artists throughout the process which I appreciate. This culture filters down to how our department is run and I feel that I can focus on pragmatic problem-solving with my team and managers rather than playing ‘politics’. (I swear I don’t get paid to say this! 😆)

Framestore is great at:

Building a strong collaborative team.

Favourite artform?

Books / written artform. Why not movies? I’ll explain. We hear the common saying, “Oh the movie is great, but I still preferred the book”. I think this has a lot to do with how words and stories are interpreted in each of our minds differently. To me it’s precisely because of this that it’s special — It allows our imagination to fill the gap in a way that no other tangible medium can match. So I guess more precisely, my favourite artform is imagination.

Favourite image?

“A Reception in the Harem” by John Frederick Lewis (1873)

Most recently, this painting has really captivated me. Something about the color palette and composition, especially with how the light reflects on the wall.

I’ve had it as my desktop wallpaper for a while now. I found out recently that it’s on sale from a private collector. If anyone has a spare £800,000, let me know. 😂

What’s your favourite movie/ series/ advert/ immersive experience and why?

• Perfect Days (2023) — Love the message and cinematography
• Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown (TV Docuseries) — Really interesting cultural exploration and I love Bourdain’s writing
• Scavenger’s Reign — Honestly one of the freshest sci-fi concepts and visuals in a while. Highly recommend this!
• Pantheon (TV Series) — Really creative writing and visuals
• Invincible (TV Series) — Reminds me of those perfect Sunday morning cartoons when I was a kid, with more blood.
• Interstellar — need I say more?

What is the last piece of art (e.g. music, film, TV, writing etc.) that inspired you?

Currently reading “The Travels” by Marco Polo. Yes, that Marco Polo from the 13th century. It’s really fascinating!

How do you unlock your creativity?

I find disconnecting from the internet and going back to tangible media and nature really helped. There’s something special about the slower pace of ‘search of inspiration’ when you have to put in more effort than a couple of clicks. It allows my mind to process and make new connections.

From where do you seek inspiration?

History, culture, nature, and most notably from my interactions and conversations with people. I find the freshest ideas usually come when you’re not looking.

Who in the industry do you admire most and why?

I can’t say I have a single figure to pinpoint. I think it’s the collective experience that has been inspiring to me. I really like how collaborative the industry is. Colleagues and friends in all the companies I’ve worked in share the same passion. They don’t feel threatened to protect “trade secrets” or anything like that and are always happy to help and talk about our ideas. It makes for a really welcoming and creative environment. I sometimes had to pinch myself and ask, is this really work? It feels like just a bunch of people doing a really fun thing together.

Share the best piece of advice you’ve ever received:

Mind your own business. In a sense that don’t compare yourself to others. You have your own path to success, and you can get there in your own way, in your own time, as long as you focus on the goal and consistently work at it.

What tech/innovation could you not live without?

Internet. For the good and the bad it does to the world, I think it’s still a net positive for everyone.

What tech/innovation deserves the hype?

CRISPR and all the Biotech advancements in the last couple of years. I’m always astounded at how smart these scientists are and I think it will have a huge benefit to mankind going forward.

What tech do you need that hasn’t been invented yet?

Teleportation. Take remote work to a whole new level! I want to pick up breakfast in Bali before going into the office please!

Edward Ferrysienanda you’ve been [FRAMED].