Pro Video Podcast 51: Hugo Guerra - Director and Visual Effects Supervisor

Pro Video Podcast

Hugo has an extensive career as an award-winning Director and Visual Effects Supervisor across games cinematics, film and commercials. Previously, leading the Nuke team at The Mill London. Host Blair Walker discusses his company, clients and projects.

Show Notes: Compiled by Matt Lloyd

01.30 - Hugo’s Desk 02.00 - Hugo’s background 04.00 - Nexus productions 04.20 - Head of Nuke at the Mill for four years 05.48 - Now directing cinematics for the games industry 06.30 - his Oaklake horror short is nearing completion 07.00 - http://www.firewithoutsmoke.com/ 07.30 - Hugo says: making game cinematics as the dream job for motion designers/compositors 08.17 - The drawbacks of only working on films on the one hand, or commercials on the other 09.40 - Hugo’s favourite part about working for games companies is that he gets to work alongside like-minded people on the client side. 10.30 - “I don’t mind doing smaller things because I have creative control over them” 11.15 - Co-directing with Will O’Connor: The Walking Dead and Mario Rabbids trailers 12.35 - “What fascinates me about the games industry… it’s like the opera of [our] time” in Wagner’s words, it’s a modern day gesamtkunstwerk, a synthesis of all art forms 14.00 - The creative process for the Walking Dead trailer. 15.50 - Vertex keynote on the Walking Dead and the "evolutionary" approach when developing a project 16.10 - "I always prefer to have time than money for a project" 17.00 - "I always use the same tools: Nuke, Photoshop, Maya and Redshift" 18.00 - "My students are obsessed by... knowing the tech... what matters is that you know composition and colour, art theory, then you can be an artist on any software" 18.50 - "Maybe this is because tech is more tangible than creativity" 19.15 - When at the Mill, Hugo used to have a hard time finding artistic people to hire, people who have taste. 20.15 - People forget the basics are the most important thing to learn 20.50 - Hugo's classical art background informs all his work now. 22.00 - Hugo's FXPHD courses 22.35 - "I don't believe that teachers should not do production, so I split my time between production and teaching" 23.06 - I believe in sharing: I want to share as much of my knowledge as possible because eventually some of these people are going to be working with me. I believe it's my responsibility to share my knowledge because I was so fortunate to work on these projects, so why not share that knowledge so that we all together can advance the art form. 25.15 - Sharing knowledge as an opportunity to connect with people. 26.00 - How Hugo's breakdowns are winning him new work 27.32 - Hugo's Desk "You Just Have To Be Better" series 29.25 - BBC God Only Knows 34.35 - Guerilla film-making: being a supervisor and also being hands on (see Robert Rodriguez on this topic) 36.00 - The Mill is totally focused on results; it doesn't get stuck on the process and is completely software agnostic. 37.30 - Leonard In Slow Motion 39.00 - Motion control 39.15 - "Spanish" (or budget) motion control techniques. Whilst we’re on the topic, this guy has a million budget ideas for budding film makers 40.45 - The ultimate trick for the VFX supe: really get to know the crew, the 1st AD, the DOP, weeks before the shoot, take them for a beer, grab lunch. Then you'll be listened to on set. 43.00 - Technical process behind Leonard

46.00 - Pro Video Picks Inspiration - YouTube Channels: Every Frame A Painting Channel Criswell Art Regard Now You See It

For relaxation: LGR: Lazy Game Reviews

Inspiration and Influence: Cinema Directors Stanley Kubrick David Lynch David Cronenberg John Carpenter Sergei Eisenstein Max Ophüls

Games: Silent Hill series Shadow Of Colossus The Last Guardian

Art: Every "Art Of" film book

Inspirational Video Of The Week: Under The Skin

Follow Hugo Online: @hugocguerra - twitter Hugo's Desk - Youtube patreon.com/hugosdesk

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