Bill Westenhofer

Last updated

Bill Westenhofer is an American visual effects supervisor. He worked for Rhythm and Hues Studios until its closure in 2013.

Contents

Early life and education

His hometown is Brookfield, Connecticut, where he graduated from Brookfield High School in 1986. He then earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Engineering from Bucknell University in 1990. [1]

Westenhofer also received his master's degree at the George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science in 1995, where he studied the use of dynamics in physically based animation. [2]

Career

In 1994, he joined Rhythm & Hues as a technical director, and Westenhofer's lighting and effects animation work was featured in Batman Forever and numerous commercials. He was promoted to CG supervisor for Speed 2: Cruise Control , and continued in that role for Spawn , Mouse Hunt , Kazaam and Waterworld . [3] His other VFX supervisor credits include Elf , The Rundown , Stuart Little 2 , Men in Black II , Cats & Dogs , Along Came a Spider , Frequency , Stuart Little , and Babe: Pig in the City .

In 2005, Westenhofer supervised a team of 400 digital artists on The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe , which was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. Later he would win both the BAFTA and the Academy Award for the 2007 release The Golden Compass , [4] and 2012's Life of Pi in 2013. [5] During the Academy Awards, when Westenhofer brought up Rhythm and Hues' financial issues during his speech, the microphone was cut off, which prompted many protests by the visual effects industry. [6] He had intended to say: [7]

"What I was trying to say up there is that at a time when visual effects movies are dominating the box office, visual effects companies are struggling," Westenhofer told reporters. "And I wanted to point out that we aren't technicians. Visual effects is not just a commodity that's being done by people pushing buttons. We're artists, and if we don't find a way to fix the business model, we start to lose the artistry. If anything, 'Life of Pi' shows that we're artists and not just technicians."

Westenhofer also worked as VFX supervisor for Wonder Woman , released in June 2017. [8]

His latest project is Black Adam , which was released in October 2022. [9]

Appearances

Westenhofer was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Framestore</span> British visual effects and computer animation company

Framestore is a British visual effects and computer animation studio based on Chancery Lane in London, England. The company was founded in 1986. Framestore specializes in visual effects for film and prestige TV, advertising, rides, and immersive experiences. It is the largest production house in Europe, employing roughly 3,000 staff, including 1,000 in London, and 1,500 across studios in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Montreal, Melbourne and Mumbai.

Richard Baneham is an Irish animator and visual effects supervisor, who has worked on several film series, including The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, the Chronicles of Narnia films and the Avatar franchise. Amongst other awards, Baneham has received a BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects and an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 2009, both for his work on Avatar, and a further Academy Award in 2023, for visual effects on Avatar: The Way of Water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhythm & Hues Studios</span> US visual effects and animation company

Rhythm & Hues Studios was an American visual effects and animation company that received the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1995 for Babe, in 2007 for The Golden Compass, and in 2012 for Life of Pi. It also received four Scientific and Technical Academy Awards.

DNEG is a British-Indian visual effects, computer animation and 3-D conversion studio that was founded in 1998 in London, and rebranded as DNEG in 2014 after a merger with Indian VFX company Prime Focus; it was named after the letters "D" and "Neg" from their former name.

Scanline VFX is a global visual effects and animation company founded 1989 in Munich. The studio was led by VFX Supervisor Stephan Trojansky. The company has 7 locations including Munich, Stuttgart, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Montreal, London, and Seoul.

Dean Wright is a film director and visual effects supervisor, best known for his work on The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Barron</span> American visual effects artist (born 1961)

Craig Barron is an American visual effects artist and creative director at Magnopus, a media company that produces visual development and virtual production services for motion pictures, television, museums and multimedia platforms.

<i>Life of Pi</i> (film) 2012 film by Ang Lee

Life of Pi is a 2012 adventure-drama film directed and produced by Ang Lee and written by David Magee. Based on Yann Martel's 2001 novel, it stars Suraj Sharma in his film debut, Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Rafe Spall, Gérard Depardieu and Adil Hussain in lead roles. The storyline revolves around two survivors of a shipwreck who are on a lifeboat stranded in the Pacific Ocean for 227 days. One is a sixteen-year-old Indian boy named Pi Patel and the other is a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.

Mir Zafar Ali is a Pakistani movie visual effects artist. He was a member of the team that won the Academy Award for best visual effects for the 2007 film The Golden Compass. In 2012, he was a member of the team that won the Academy Award for best visual effects for The Life of Pi and in 2014 he was a member of the team that won the Academy Award for the film Frozen. He is the first Pakistani to have been connected with an Academy Award-winner for Best Visual Effects.

Gregory S. Butler is an Academy Award-winning American visual effects supervisor. He graduated from Suffield High School in 1989 and afterwards entered Hampshire College. Despite his initial plans to study history, a work-study job with the audiovisual equipment in the library made him interested in film production. Butler graduated in 1993 with a major in film, television and theater design. Afterwards he moved to California to work for Industrial Light and Magic for 9 months, where after intern work he managed to become an assistant in the effects department, starting with assistant credits in The Mask and Forrest Gump. Following a job at Rocket Science Games until the company's bankruptcy in 1996, Butler went to Tippett Studio and did effects work in Starship Troopers and My Favorite Martian, rising up to a technical director job, and Cinesite for Practical Magic. While reluctant at the requirement of moving to New Zealand, Butler was convinced by his writer-actor brother to jump at the opportunity of working for Weta Digital in The Lord of the Rings. Among his achievements was working on the creation of Gollum. for which he was awarded a Visual Effects Society Award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Rosenbaum</span> American film visual effects supervisor

Stephen Rosenbaum is an American visual effects artist and supervisor, and has worked on numerous movie, tv and music productions, including six that have won Academy Awards. He has been nominated three times for an Academy Award and two times for a BAFTA Award. He has won both awards twice for his contributions on Forrest Gump and Avatar, and has played artist and supervisor roles on such pioneering films as Jurassic Park, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, The Abyss, X2: X-Men United, Death Becomes Her, Contact and The Perfect Storm.

John Nelson is an American visual effects supervisor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects for his work on the film Gladiator (2000) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017). He has also been nominated for I, Robot (2004) and Iron Man (2008).

Paul J. Franklin is an English visual effects supervisor who has worked with visual effects since the 1990s. Franklin won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects and the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects for Inception (2010), and won a second Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Interstellar (2014). He shared the wins with Andrew Lockley, Peter Bebb, and Chris Corbould. Franklin has also been nominated for an Academy Award for The Dark Knight (2008). He was nominated for BAFTA Awards for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).

Guillaume Rocheron is a French visual effects supervisor who was born in 1981 in Paris. He began his career in 2000 at the Paris-based BUF Compagnie and after five years there, he got invited to work for the Moving Picture Company. He won the Academy Award during the 85th Academy Awards for the film Life of Pi in the category of Best Visual Effects. He shared his win with Donald R. Elliott, Erik-Jan de Boer, and Bill Westenhofer. In 2020, he received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects, and second win, for the 2019 film, 1917, at the 92nd Academy Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laraib Atta</span> Pakistani VFX artist (born c. 1987)

Laraib Khan is a Pakistani VFX artist. She has worked for Hollywood films, including 10,000 BC, The Chronicles of Narnia, Prince of Persia, Godzilla and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Bennett</span> British visual effects artist

Sara Bennett is a British visual effects artist who won a 2016 Academy Award for the best visual effects in the film Ex-Machina. She is a co-founder of Milk, a visual effects studio headquartered in London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milk VFX</span>

Milk VFX is a British independent visual effects studio. It was founded in London in 2013 and is known for creating complex and innovative sequences for high-end television and feature films.

Trevor John Wood is an English-American special effects artist. He won an Academy Award and was nominated for one more in the category Best Visual Effects for the films The Golden Compass and Prometheus.

Michael L. Fink is an American visual effects artist. He won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the film The Golden Compass, and was nominated for another for Batman Returns.

Christian Manz is a British visual effects artist. He was nominated for an Academy Award in the category Best Visual Effects for the film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. He has also been nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. He is represented by the visual effects studio, Framestore, where he also serves as a creative director in the film division.

References

  1. ↑ Dirk Perrefort (May 14, 2010). "Teacher inspired Brookfield's Oscar winner". Gloucester Daily Times . Archived from the original on July 31, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  2. ↑ Alexa Millinger (February 28, 2008). "Alumnus wins Oscar for "The Golden Compass"". The GW Hatchet . Archived from the original on July 11, 2012. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Rhythm & Hues Studios :: Features :: VFX Supervisors :: Bill Westenhofer". www.rhythm.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. ↑ Rick DeMott (February 10, 2008). "Ratatouille Smells Sweet at BAFTAs". Animation World Network . Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  5. ↑ "The army of Narnia: Bill Westenhofer reveals the magic behind the beasties". Los Angeles Times . February 25, 2009. Retrieved June 18, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Biggest Oscars snub: A shark attack on the VFX industry". The San Francisco Chronicle.
  7. ↑ "Uninterrupted Statement from "Life of Pi" VFX Winner".
  8. ↑ "Gersh, CEC, WPA Book Clients". Variety. August 7, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  9. ↑ "Bill Westenhofer". John Hughes Institute. Archived from the original on April 18, 2021. Retrieved April 18, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.