Brian F McLean (born January 19, 1977) is an American special effects person.
He was born in Syracuse, New York. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture in 1999 from Boston University.
He is the director of rapid prototype at Laika. McLean is known for his works on acclaimed stop motion films such as Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings for which he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination at the 89th Academy Awards, [1] [2] that he shared with Steve Emerson, Oliver Jones, and Brad Schiff. [3]
In 2016, he was awarded a Scientific and Engineering Award – an Academy plaque; at the Academy Scientific and Technical Awards from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science that he shared with Martin Meunier for pioneering the use of rapid prototyping and 3D printing in character animation-stop motion film productions.
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
2009 | Coraline | Facial structure supervisor |
2012 | ParaNorman | Creative supervisor: replacement animation and engineering |
2014 | The Boxtrolls | Creative supervisor: replacement animation and engineering |
2016 | Kubo and the Two Strings | Director of Rapid Prototype |
2019 | Missing Link | Director of Rapid Prototype |
The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature is given each year for the best animated film. An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' performances are created using a frame-by-frame technique, a significant number of the major characters are animated, and animation figures in no less than 75 percent of the running time. The Academy Award for Best Animated Feature was first awarded in 2002 for films released in 2001.
The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creating the film's visual effects since 1980.
Charles Henry Selick Jr. is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his gothic horror films and for directing the stop-motion animated films The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Monkeybone (2001), Coraline (2009), and Wendell & Wild (2022). Selick is also known for his collaborations with the late voice actor and artist Joe Ranft.
Jan Jaroslav Pinkava is a Czech-British-American producer, director, writer, and animator. He directed the Pixar short film Geri's Game and served as co-director and co-wrote the story for Ratatouille, both of which went on to win Oscars.
Laika, LLC is an American production company specializing in stop-motion animation and forthcoming live-action feature films, commercial content for all media, music videos, and short films. The studio is best known for its stop-motion feature films Corpse Bride, Coraline, ParaNorman, The Boxtrolls, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Missing Link. It is owned by Nike co-founder Phil Knight and is located in Hillsboro, Oregon, part of the Portland metropolitan area. Knight's son, Travis Knight, acts as Laika's president and CEO.
Coraline is a 2009 American gothic stop-motion animated dark fantasy horror film written for the screen and directed by Henry Selick, based on the 2002 novella of the same name by Neil Gaiman. Produced by Laika, as the studio's first feature film, it features the voices of Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Keith David, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., and Ian McShane. The film tells the story of its eponymous character discovering an idealized alternate universe behind a secret door in her new home, unaware that it contains something dark and sinister.
Kiyoshi Saitō was a sōsaku-hanga artist in 20th-century Japan. In 1938, he issued his first prints in his now famous "Winter in Aizu" series. Saitō was one of the first Japanese printmaking artists to have won at the São Paulo Biennale in 1951. Saitō's early works depict villages populated with local Japanese with a high degree of realism and three-dimensionality. His more mature works merge modern elements with Japanese tradition. His prints feature architecture and plant life flattened in two-dimensionality.
Graham Annable is a Canadian cartoonist and animator. He is the creator of Grickle, published by Alternative Comics, and one of the founders of the Hickee humor anthology. Annable has created works for the television, film, video game, and comic book industries.
Christopher Shannon Tindle is an American animator, storyboard artist, television writer, screenwriter, and film director. Tindle's work on the television series Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends received an Annie Award nomination in 2005 for Best Character Design in an Animated Television Production. Later, at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for "Go Goo Go", while the episode was also nominated for Outstanding Animated Program.
Travis Andrew Knight is an American animator, producer, director, actor, and former rapper. The son of the Nike co-founder Phil Knight, he has worked as the lead animator and current CEO for the stop-motion animation studio Laika, and directed the films Kubo and the Two Strings (2016), Bumblebee (2018), and the upcoming Wildwood (2025).
Brian Van't Hul is a visual effects artist. He won the Academy Award during the 78th Academy Awards for the film King Kong in the category of Best Visual Effects. He shared his win with Joe Letteri, Christian Rivers and Richard Taylor.
Kubo and the Two Strings is a 2016 American animated action fantasy film produced by Laika. It is directed by Travis Knight with a screenplay by Marc Haimes and Chris Butler from a story by Shannon Tindle and Marc Haimes, and it stars the voice roles of Charlize Theron, Art Parkinson, Ralph Fiennes, George Takei, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Brenda Vaccaro, Rooney Mara, and Matthew McConaughey. Set in feudal Japan, the film revolves around Kubo, a young boy who wields a magical shamisen and whose left eye was stolen during infancy. Accompanied by an anthropomorphic snow monkey and a human - stag beetle hybrid, he must embark on a quest to defeat his mother's evil twin sisters, Washi and Karasu, and his power-hungry grandfather, the Moon King, who is responsible for stealing his left eye.
Arianne Sutner is an American film producer and animator, best known for producing the stop-motion animated film Kubo and the Two Strings. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at both the 89th Academy Awards and the 92nd Academy Awards.
Adam Valdez is visual effects supervisor. Best known for his works on Oscar winning films The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) and The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) as an animation head, though did not get the nomination. Valdez worked as lead visual supervisor in acclaimed films such as 10,000 BC (2008), The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008), John Carter (2012), World War Z (2013), Maleficent (2014), The Jungle Book (2016) for which he won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects at 89th Academy Awards. In 2020, he received his second Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects for The Lion King (2019).
Steve Emerson is an American visual effects supervisor. Known for his works at LAIKA as a visual effects supervisor in acclaimed films such as Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings (2016) for which he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination at the 89th Academy Awards. that he shared with Oliver Jones, Brian McLean, and Brad Schiff
Oliver Jones is a British special effects supervisor. Known for his works at LAIKA as a visual effects supervisor in acclaimed films such as Coraline (2009), ParaNorman (2012), and Kubo and the Two Strings for which he received Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination at 89th Academy Awards, that he shared with Steve Emerson, Brian McLean, and Brad Schiff.
Brad Schiff is an American stop-motion animation supervisor. Known for his works at Laika as an animation supervisor in acclaimed films such as ParaNorman (2012), The Boxtrolls (2014) and Kubo and the Two Strings for which he received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects nomination at the 89th Academy Awards.
Kubo and the Two Strings (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is the soundtrack album to the 2016 film of the same name. The album featured original score composed by Italian composer Dario Marianelli, with a cover rendition of The Beatles-band member George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" performed by Regina Spektor. The score consisted of traditional Japanese music blended with Western and Eastern sounds, was recorded using ethnic instruments from Japan, in addition to modern instruments and orchestra, in order to create that feel.