[FRAMED] Head of FX, Alex Whyte, Melbourne
If you could travel back in time, which film, TV series, advert, or immersive project would you love to have worked on?
It wouldn’t have to be too far…Blade Runner 2049 or Dune. They are both amazing films. The reason I love them so much is that they highlight that you can’t have good VFX without a good story and a good film crew. There’s too much rubbish being put on the screen these days.
Which Framestore character do you feel you’re most like?
Probably Piglet…I feel like life is “constantly having to overcome new fears”
What fictional world or place would you like to visit?
Hogwarts would probably be pretty fun…like Hogwarts early days with the HoneyDukes Express…not Hogwarts “doom and gloom” towards the end of the series where everyone’s a bit “fighty”.
Your career highlight to date:
Getting my haircut at the barbers and hearing them talk about watching Mad Max Fury Road and being able to say “I worked on that”. It’s always a good feeling when people you’ve never met before have seen your work and have something positive to say about it.
Who or what inspired you to pursue a career in VFX?
Originally it was a lecturer in my Interior Architecture course at UTS. We had to make an animation using 3dsmax and I discovered that I quite enjoyed fiddling around with it. He mentioned that I should pursue it further because I had some skill in it…and so I did!
The DREAM project would entail:
Denis Villeneuve, Hans Zimmer, sci-fi, 3-day weeks, work trips to Japan and an unlimited supply of good coffee (oh wait we already get good coffee beans delivered to our office each week).
How do you explain what you do to someone who doesn’t work in VFX?
The easiest thing to do is to point them to some breakdown footage with a green screen and say “see how there’s nothing in that shot? Well we turn the green into magic…” and then flutter your hands like a magician and throw glitter in their face. I then explain that the movement of the glitter as it spins through the air is the responsibility of the FX department. We simulate physically based things.
Describe your career journey (into the exciting world of VFX).
I started in advertising as an assistant at a tiny studio in Sydney kind of doing everything and learning it at the same time. Editing, motion graphics, 3d modelling, filming. I always wanted to get into directing and tried making music videos in my spare time as a bit of a creative outlet. I think that made me realise that I wanted to work in a field that I was a bit more passionate about and so knocked on a few film studio doors. I was fortunate enough to meet Ineke Majoor at Iloura (now Framestore) who let me have a go. As I didn’t have any film VFX experience or a film reel she offered to put me in Match Move and see how I went. From there I naturally seemed to gravitate towards FX (though I think of myself as a generalist) and one thing led to another and here I am! As much as I like to think I’m a hard worker I can’t discount the luck that has led me to where I am today.
What does the day in the life of a Head of FX look like?
Support mainly. I have to support my team to be able to achieve the work on their plates. That can be many things like making sure they have the right tools for the job, planning the future resource schedules to make sure we don’t get overworked or even jumping into the thick of it when times are busy to get some shots done. The Melbourne office is fairly newly integrated into the wider Framestore pipeline, so last year has involved a lot of absorbing as much information as I can to be able to help point the team in the right direction to understand how the new pipe works. It’s been a monumental task.
Framestore is, to you, in three words:
Does great work.
Best thing about your work environment?
We have a proper cafe-sized espresso machine and beans from St Ali to go with it. I love coffee. I used to be a barista and love that I can still utilize that skill.
Framestore is great at:
Just making good work. I like that Framestore isn’t tied to one universe or theme. I think their brand attracts a diverse range of clients which makes for interesting work.
Favourite artform?
Music videos. I think what makes them so unique is that it is the reverse of filmmaking. Instead of the music being made for the visuals, the visuals are made for the music. When I hear music, I get such strong visuals in my head as to what it looks like and I find it so fascinating seeing what other people interpret that as being. Also, the short length makes it accessible to all kinds of people to experiment with.
Favourite image?
I don’t believe in a singular favourite thing as there’s just too much you experience in life to definitively say that any one thing is the best. There’s so much interesting imagery out there, including the images made by AI (oooh controversial). The Hubble telescopes picture of the Pillars of Creation is pretty stunning. I always get lost looking at that picture thinking about the scale of existence on earth.
What’s your favourite movie/ series/ advert/ immersive experience and why?
Again, I don’t believe in a favourite movie… I think there’s just very memorable experiences, and there’s a whole lot of them. Guillermo Del Torro’s “Pans Labyrinth” was one such experience. That film seemed to captivate me and awoke an interest as to “why” I found the movie so beautiful. I think I was at an age where I started realizing how good films can really affect your emotions. Speaking of emotions, the scene in the Pianist where Wladyslaw Szpilman plays Chopins Ballade №1 in G Minor in front of the Nazi officer, all the while the can of pickled cucumbers he so desperately wanted to eat resting on the piano in front of him…incredible piece of cinema.
What is the last piece of art (e.g. music, film, TV, writing etc.) that inspired you?
I saw Caroline Polachek at a show recently…I didn’t really know who she was but my partner brought me along and I was really impressed by her performance. I always love looking at the lighting and how they craft the show within the static/real-world constraints of the stage…it’s so different to making VFX.
How do you unlock your creativity?
I haven’t actually done it in a while but I used to find a cafe with a suitable sitting spot where I could observe the street and take an A5 book to doodle in. I find the older I get the less time I seem to find for this.
From where do you seek inspiration?
Going to the cinema always seems to inspire me. There’s something about the darkness of the space, the richness of the sound and the smell of popcorn that allows you to be fully engrossed in a film. Walking out of the cinema always reminds and inspires me that I am a part of the industry that creates these stories for a living.
Who in the industry do you admire most and why?
I don’t really idolise any one person but I have a lot of admiration for all the tutorial makers out there. I’m self taught and I have a lot of respect for all the people of the internet, who take it upon themselves to put tutorials and knowledge out there because I would be nowhere without them. An example would be Matt Estela’s Tokeru wiki for all things Houdini which is an incredible resource.
Share the best piece of advice you’ve ever received:
Someone once told me that you can’t predict the future, the only thing you can do is create opportunity and the rest will follow.
What tech/innovation could you not live without?
Sponge on a stick. I don’t have a dishwasher and life would be miserable without sponge on a stick.
What tech/innovation deserves the hype?
Sponge on a stick…more seriously I think AI deserves the hype. It feels like it’s one of those moments in history that fundamentally changes everything, like you always read about the industrialised revolution in books, except you’re living the history. It is scary how quickly the technology is moving.
What tech do you need that hasn’t been invented yet?
Green data storage. The FX department can generate huge volumes of data and I often wonder about the total amount of data being output by the world at any given point and how it will only accelerate into the future. I wonder if we could utilise the world around us to store that data in a similar way that they’re investigating storing energy in mountains.
Alex Whyte you’ve been [FRAMED].
