Seeing is believing.
Half of the reason I got into After Effects was because I knew it would help me accomplish a college project. The other half due to being profoundly inspired by YouTube legends like FreddieW and Corridor Digital. I relished the chance to manipulate my own footage to expand reality into something far more fantastic and exciting. And with YouTube tutorials augmenting Andrew Kramer’s sage tutorials, I was off to the races.
While at this point in my career the bulk of my After Effects portfolio is motion graphics, I’ve still had more than a few chances to stretch the old VFX and compositing muscles over the years, and have even gotten to serve as VFX supervisor on several shoots. Below is a sample of some of the VFX work I’m most proud of. I’m going to make a proper reel for these in the future, but if you have questions about any of these projects in the meantime, don’t hesitate to reach out!
No Recess
I served as VFX supervisor and half of the 2-man VFX team in this Long Story Short written, directed, and edited by the incredibly talented Ed Cipolla. This short film was shot entirely on green screen; the classroom and set dressing were all created by either manipulating stock 2D and 3D assets, or creating them from scratch. The classroom was edited in Blender and then imported to After Effects via Element 3D. Once I’d gotten good plates and angles to Ed, he worked his magic in Final Cut to tailor the visuals to suit his vision. The end result is a bittersweet nostalgic masterpiece that I’m thrilled to have been a part of. See the full short here, and a cool VFX breakdown here.
Something Alive
Director Erik Lu approached me with a question: “Do you think you can make a bunch of pieces of paper float in the air?” And of course I said yes, absolutely. Using downscaled scans of the genuine props imported directly into After Effects via Element 3D, I worked to get the papers feeling moving organically, translucent in front of light, and color corrected nicely into the scene. The result speaks for itself! See the full music video here.
The Comeback
When the Maestro Filmworks 2019 summer interns decided they wanted to make a Long Story Short about a wacky fight scene with video-game style effects, I leapt at the chance to be VFX supervisor. Together we made a short but sweet tribute to over-the-top fights and anime finishing moves. And while I’m very happy with how the VFX turned out, nothing sells an effect quite like a good leaf-blower! See the full short here.
Nintendo Switch Trailer (Parody Edit)
Not to get political, but I needed a creative outlet to cope after 2016. The Nintendo Switch had just been announced, and I saw incredible potential for parody in that announcement trailer. After days of rotoscoping, compositing, and editing, I had more than just a quick joke…I had a portfolio piece! And come on… “Escape while you escape?” I’m still proud of that one. See the full video here, and some before and after comparisons here.
Saarthee Vision
A rush order is never relaxing, but sometimes it can prompt innovation and yield amazing work. Our team was given this project on an incredibly short timeline, but with me on set as VFX supervisor making sure … Watch the full advertisement here.
Mind’s Eye
In 2022 Tom Quigley approached Maestro Filmworks to see if we’d be willing to help create VFX for his upcoming short film. A short film inspired by the Legend of Zelda? I couldn’t agree fast enough, and the rest of the team agreed. While our roles were small in the grand scheme, I was very proud of my contributions, specifically making the forest chase scene a bit more exciting with some impacts and debris, and enhancing the eyes on the forest imp. View the full film here.
Mind’s Eye
No VFX portfolio is complete without some lightsaber effects, and with Andrew Kramer having recently gifted everyone the tools to do so, I was eager to put them to the test in my own Long Story Short! They may be elegant weapons for a more civilized age, but to me they will never go out of style. See the full short here.