Compositor Travis Nobles wanted to work on films ever since he saw The Lord of the Rings. Through an unexpected journey that led him from the United States to Germany and then to New Zealand, he finally got to work for the company that brought CG Gollum to life: Weta Digital. Before Weta, Travis's resume includes several Emmy-winning seasons of Game of Thrones, where he got to composite a number of the show's iconic dragon shots.

Travis came on the show to discuss his work and the role of a compositor on an effects-driven production. Some of the things we discuss include

• How someone can get started as a compositor
• Skills a compositor needs to work on big effects-driven projects
• How filmmakers can make things easier for their post-production teams
• Ways indie filmmakers can save money on visual effects
• What it was like working on Hugo and why the stereo 3D on it turned out better than most films
• How some of the dragon shots in Game of Thrones came together
• Dealing with unsettling content that comes with an adult-show like Game of Thrones 
• Travis’s transition to Weta Digital and how he prepped for his work on Mortal Engines, Weta’s upcoming film slated for release in December 2018

 

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To hear more about how the miniatures in Hugo were created, check out this interview I did with Jeff Jasper, the digital effects supervisor who oversaw the film's train crash.

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Sponsor for this Episode nsavides productions – I make videos and tell stories. Some of my videos are here. # Say hello: [email protected]

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Related Things

• Travis Nobles' site

  • Twitter
• Nuke,the preeminent compositing program mentioned by Travis
• VFX breakdown of Pixomondo's work on Season 6 of Game of Thrones

• Weta Digital 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IRsFc2gguEg

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• Shortcut for the podcast: nicksav.show

Music for the show provided by Rob Costlow.

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Films & Shows Mentioned

• Avatar 
• Game of Thrones 
• Hugo 
• The Lord of the Rings 
• Meet the Feebles 
• Mortal Engines 
• Star Wars: The Force Awakens 
• Super 8 

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