[FRAMED] Senior Compositor, Evan Langley, Los Angeles

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

As a kid, I was obsessed with dinosaurs. 12-year-old me would absolutely love to have worked on the original Jurassic Park.

What fictional world or place would you like to visit?

I think the society that’s depicted in Star Trek is really inspiring. The idea of humanity coming together in a united front to solve the climate crisis and our economy, and then going on to explore is such an optimistic view of the distant future.

Your career highlight to date:

Going to the cinema and watching Oblivion in 2013 was the first time I ever got to see myself in the credits of a movie. I’ve worked on lots of cool stuff since then, but getting to see my name up there on the big screen for the first time was really something special.

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

I was born and raised in SoCal, in a suburb south of Los Angeles. Growing up there, I think half the kids at school dreamed about getting to work on movies in one form or another.

The DREAM project would entail:

A fully CG sci-fi project — something along the lines of the episodes Blur makes for Love Death Robots. I love working on that type of stylized cinematic.

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

Usually I ask what the most recent big movie they’ve watched is, and ask them to think about part of it with a huge environment that couldn’t be shot for real, or computer generated characters or effects like explosions or destruction.

I explain that we have a team of people that creates each of those individual elements, and then I’m the person at the very end who takes each layer and combines everything together into one finished shot that looks real.

Describe your career journey into the exciting world of VFX.

I dived into VFX quite early, starting with a student copy of After Effects as a teenager. (After Effects 5.5, before Creative Suite even existed!) I got an incredible opportunity right out of high school to work at a tiny company in my hometown that produced visual effects for music videos. I spent a few years there before they, unfortunately, went out of business, but those years of experience taught me an invaluable amount about compositing and connected me with people in the industry. After they shut down I spent a crazy year getting up at 5:30 in the morning and making a 3-hour commute to Los Angeles to do freelance compositing work because I couldn’t afford to live in the city. Those first years were a real grind, but it was all definitely worth it!

What does a day in the life of a compositor look like?

We usually start the day with a team meeting where each department presents their latest work. Whatever elements from departments that end up being approved by the supervisor or creative director — matte paintings, CG renders, effects — get passed on to compositing, and I start integrating those elements into the shots that I’m assigned.

Framestore is, to you, in three words:

Talented, passionate artists.

Best thing about your work environment?

Feeling valued as an artist is the thing that makes me most appreciate Framestore. I’ve worked for some companies that make artists feel extremely replaceable, and are disappointingly transparent about caring only about executives and shareholders. Getting to be a part of a company that makes me feel like they actually care about me as an artist, and about the quality of work that we put out, is amazing.

Framestore is great at:

Putting their best into every single project. I’ve heard film executives joke about some VFX studios putting their “B team” on a project, and being disappointed with the results. Framestore only has an A team. Every single artist I’ve worked with here is proud of their work and puts their all into each project. I believe this has a lot to do with my answer to the previous question, in regards to us all actually feeling valued as an important part of the team.

Favorite artform?

I really love interior design. My wife and I have spent a lot of time designing and remodelling our house over the past two years, and it’s one of the most challenging and rewarding things I’ve done. Much like visual effects, it’s a medium where both an artistic eye and a technical approach are required. I love designing a striking space and then going in and figuring out how we can technically execute it.

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

It’s almost impossible to pick a favorite piece of media, but if you forced me to choose I’d probably say Alex Garland’s Annihilation (2018). It’s unbelievably rare to watch a movie with such unique visual and sound design. I think it captures the idea of something truly “alien” in a way nothing else I’ve seen does. For me, the biggest draw to film and visual effects is that it allows you to create things that you could never see in real life. That film really beautifully executes the idea of presenting something totally unique.

What is the last piece of art that inspired you?

I would say purely from a visual standpoint, Alien: Romulus. The cinematography and art direction in that film were exceptional.

How do you unlock your creativity?

Perhaps this is an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really think creativity is something you can “unlock.” I believe creativity is less like a door and more like a muscle — the more that you exercise it, the stronger it’ll become. I spend a lot of time exercising those creative muscles, between my work, my own personal creative projects, and being inspired by consuming media that showcases other artist’s creativity.

From where do you seek inspiration?

My biggest source of inspiration is definitely in photography. So much of compositing is understanding how cameras and lenses work. Photography is a unique art form in that you’re given a subject, and you have to figure out how to capture that subject with very limited control of how much you can change it. It’s about understanding the angles, the composition, and the lighting to draw your eyes to the parts of that subject that you want to see and pull them away from the parts you don’t want your viewer to focus on.

Who in the industry do you admire most and why?

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Joe Kosinski on a couple projects, and I have such a huge respect for him, both as a person and an artist. He has such an amazing eye at capturing images that are both beautiful and totally photoreal, and despite being one of the most highly successful people in Hollywood he’s still such a down to earth, nice dude who gives so much credit to those around him. Being in VFX dailies with him felt like seeing a kid in a toy store who was just excited to get to play with cool things.

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

Years ago, when I was struggling with a lot of anxiety, my therapist told me that we waste so much of our energy thinking about solutions to problems that might happen, but haven’t yet. If you think about it, practically all of those things you’ve worried about never actually end up happening. He told me to try to only spend my energy worrying about problems in the present that actually exist. That advice has really stuck with me and made a huge difference in my life.

What tech/innovation could you not live without?

My coffee maker.

What tech/innovation deserves the hype?

Remote work. The way we can now collaborate with artists all over the world and remove the barrier of physical location is genuinely life-changing for so many people.

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

I collect mechanical watches, so I would really love it if someone made a normal looking metal watch bracelet with biometric sensors in it. That way I could wear an analogue watch but still get all of the same health information you’d get from a Fitbit or smart watch.

Evan Langley you’ve been [FRAMED].