John Berton

Last updated

John Andrew Berton Jr. is an American computer graphics animator and visual effects supervisor. His most recent completed project is Bedtime Stories . He also worked in India, supervising effects on the film Krrish 3 . [1] In the fall of 2013, he joined the faculty of Drexel University in Philadelphia.

Contents

Education and early career

Berton holds a B.A. in Communications and Film from Denison University, where he was also a writer-performer for a small radio comedy troupe called Pith. After a brief stint as a disc jockey, he joined the acclaimed Computer Graphics Research Group (CGRG) computer graphics program at Ohio State University, later known as ACCAD (The Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design). [2] There he earned an M.A. in Art Education/Computer Graphics. This led to artistic and experimental work at Cranston/Csuri Productions, an Ohio-based early CG company founded in 1981.

In 1986 Berton joined Mental Images, a software company that also had a production division to help develop their renderer. Together with Rolf Herken, Axel Dirksen, Hans-Christian Hege, Robert Hödicke, Wolfgang Krüger, Ulrich Weinberg and Roger Wilson, he created an animated film (also called mental images [3] ) that was well received at SIGGRAPH, NICOGRAPH and Prix Ars Electronica. [4]

ILM work

Many of Berton's best known films were made during his tenure at Industrial Light and Magic, which began in 1990. These include Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (also 1991), The Mummy (1999), and Men in Black II (2002), among others. By 1992 he was a CG department manager, by 1997 a digital effects supervisor, and in 1998 a visual effects supervisor. Many of the films on which Berton worked have received awards and nominations in visual effects categories, including the 1991 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the 1993 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for Jurassic Park . [5] Berton's last film for ILM was Men in Black II, in which he also had a cameo role as an alien postal worker. He has also appeared as himself in several programs and featurettes about computer graphics.

Independent work

Since leaving ILM, Berton has been digital effects supervisor on I, Robot (2004) and visual effects supervisor on the 2006 film Charlotte's Web . Producer Jordan Kerner explains that Berton was hired for Charlotte's Web because the filmmakers needed someone "who had been involved with field that had a tremendous amount of fully 3-D, computer-generated characters who have to convey thoughts and emotions." The film's visual effects were produced by five different companies, but it was Berton, according to Kerner, who "drew those elements together." [6] After Charlotte's Web Berton worked with Director/Screenwriter David Goyer on a proposed stereographic thriller for Walt Disney Pictures, followed by supervising the visual effects on Bedtime Stories , also for Walt Disney Pictures. This film, directed by Adam Shankman, stars Adam Sandler and Keri Russell and was released at Christmas 2008. In August, 2011, Berton traveled to India [7] for a two-year stint as Visual Effects Supervisor on Krrish 3, a sequel to the 2006 Bollywood film Krrish .

Awards

Berton's personal awards include the Monitor Award for Best Computer Graphics Animation on the 1984 Super Bowl, the Nicograph Grand Prize for Computer Animation for the short film Snoot and Muttly, and an Honorable Mention from Prix Ars Electronica for Mental Images. [5] He was twice a finalist for nomination for the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, in 1999 for The Mummy (1999) and in 2002 for Men in Black II. He was nominated for Best Visual Effects by the British Academy for Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) for The Mummy in 1999. In 2006 he was nominated for Best Visual Effects by the Visual Effects Society for Charlotte's Web (2006).

Personal

The University of Hawaiʻi at Manoa welcomed John Berton into their teaching staff for the Academy of Creative Media, in fall of 2012.

Related Research Articles

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American motion picture visual effects company and computer animation studio that was founded on May 26, 1975 by George Lucas. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lucas founded, and was created when he began production on the original Star Wars, now the fourth episode of the Skywalker Saga.

<i>The Mummy</i> (1999 film) 1999 American action-adventure comedy film

The Mummy is a 1999 American action-adventure film written and directed by Stephen Sommers, starring Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah and Arnold Vosloo in the title role as the reanimated mummy. It is a remake of the 1932 film of the same name. The film follows adventurer and treasure hunter Rick O'Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the City of the Dead, with librarian Evelyn Carnahan and her older brother Jonathan, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest with supernatural powers.

The Prix Ars Electronica is one of the best known and longest running yearly prizes in the field of electronic and interactive art, computer animation, digital culture and music. It has been awarded since 1987 by Ars Electronica.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Sims</span> Computer graphics artist

Karl Sims is a computer graphics artist and researcher, who is best known for using particle systems and artificial life in computer animation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Knoll</span> American computer graphics professional

John Knoll is an American visual effects supervisor and chief creative officer (CCO) at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM). One of the original creators of Adobe Photoshop, he has also worked as visual effects supervisor on the Star Wars prequels and the 1997 special editions of the original trilogy. He also served as ILM's visual effects supervisor for Star Trek Generations and Star Trek: First Contact, as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean series. Along with Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall, Knoll and the trio's work on Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest earned them the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.

John Charles Dykstra, A.S.C. is an American special effects artist, pioneer in the development of the use of computers in filmmaking and recipient of three Academy Awards, among many other awards and prizes. He was one of the original employees of Industrial Light & Magic, the special effects and computer graphics division of Lucasfilm. He is well known as the special effects lead on the original Star Wars, helping bring the original visuals for lightsabers, space battles between X-wings and TIE fighters, and Force powers to the screen. He also led special effects on many other movies, including Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, Stuart Little, X-Men: First Class, Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2.

Doug Chiang is an American film designer and artist. He is vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm and previous Chief Creative Officer (CCO) at Lucasfilm.

<i>Charlottes Web</i> (2006 film) 2006 film directed by Gary Winick

Charlotte's Web is a 2006 fantasy film based on the 1952 novel by E. B. White. Directed by Gary Winick and written by Susannah Grant and Karey Kirkpatrick, it is the second film adaptation of E. B. White's book, and live-action/CGI remake of Paramount's 1973 animated feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. The film stars Dakota Fanning, Kevin Anderson, and Beau Bridges, with voices provided by Dominic Scott Kay, Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Thomas Haden Church, André Benjamin, Cedric the Entertainer, Kathy Bates, Reba McEntire, Robert Redford, and Sam Shepard as the narrator. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phil Tippett</span> American film director

Phil Tippett is an American film director and visual effects supervisor and producer, who specializes in creature design, stop-motion and computerized character animation. Over his career, he has assisted ILM and DreamWorks, and in 1984 formed his own company, Tippett Studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Virtual cinematography</span> Also referred to as CGI

Virtual cinematography is the set of cinematographic techniques performed in a computer graphics environment. It includes a wide variety of subjects like photographing real objects, often with stereo or multi-camera setup, for the purpose of recreating them as three-dimensional objects and algorithms for the automated creation of real and simulated camera angles. Virtual cinematography can be used to shoot scenes from otherwise impossible camera angles, create the photography of animated films, and manipulate the appearance of computer-generated effects.

Mental Images GmbH was a German computer generated imagery (CGI) software firm based in Berlin, Germany, and was acquired by Nvidia in 2007, then rebranded as Nvidia Advanced Rendering Center (ARC), and is still providing similar products and technology. The company provides rendering and 3D modeling technology for entertainment, computer-aided design, scientific visualization and architecture.

Tom Bertino is a professional animator, formerly Animation Director and Visual Effects Supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerner Optical</span>

Kerner Optical was an American practical visual effects company based in San Rafael, California.

James Morris is an American film producer, production executive and visual effects producer. He is currently general manager and president of Pixar. Previously, he held key positions at Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) for 17 years.

Habib Zargarpour is an Iranian visual effects supervisor, computer graphics supervisor, art director and creative director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Letteri</span> American visual effects artist

Joseph Bruce Letteri is a senior visual effects artist, winner of five Academy Awards, four BAFTA awards and four VES awards. He is the current Senior Visual Effects Supervisor of the Academy Award-winning Wētā FX having joined the company in 2001. He has received several awards and nominations as visual effects supervisor, the latest being Avatar: The Way of Water, and previously for War for the Planet of the Apes. He attended Center High School (Pennsylvania) in 1975 and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1981. He gave the keynote address at UC Berkeley's December Convocation on 19 December 2010.

<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.

Chris Lawrence is a visual effects supervisor. Lawrence and his fellow visual effects artists received an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for the 2013 film, Gravity. In 2016, Lawrence received his second Academy Award nomination for his work on the film, The Martian, at the 88th Academy Awards. In 2018, he received his third Academy Award nomination for his work on the film, Christopher Robin, at the 91st Academy Awards, and received his fourth nomination in 2021, at the 93rd Academy Awards for the 2020 Netflix film The Midnight Sky. He is the eldest son and heir apparent of Sir Henry Lawrence, 7th Baronet of Lucknow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rob Coleman</span> Canadian animation director

Rob Coleman is a Canadian animation director; he is currently the creative director at Industrial Light & Magic's Sydney branch. Previously, he was the Head of Animation at the award-winning Australian visual effects and animation studio, Animal Logic from 2012-2021.

Steven "Spaz" Williams is a Canadian special effects artist, animator, and film and commercials director.

References

  1. ↑ "Clients". Rocket Science Talent website. Rocket Science Talent Inc. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
  2. ↑ Carlson, Wayne. "Part 6: The development of OSG". History of CGRG/ACCAD at The Ohio State University. Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design, Ohio State University. Archived from the original on 2006-09-02. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  3. ↑ "Prix Ars Electronica". mental images movie. mental images. 1987. Archived from the original on February 11, 2006. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  4. ↑ "Alumni: John Andrew Berton Jr". ILMfan web site. ILMfan.com. 2003-09-19. Archived from the original on 2007-03-04. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  5. 1 2 "John Berton". The Mummy video site. Universal Studios. 1999. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  6. ↑ "Filming in "Radiant" Victoria Australia". About the Film. Charlotte's Web Movie official site. Walden Media / Paramount Pictures. 2006-12-15. Archived from the original (Macromedia Flash) on 2006-12-19. Retrieved 2006-12-18.
  7. ↑ Berton, John (2011-08-31). "India!". DelusionDog VFX Blog: India. Retrieved 2012-02-25.
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.