Nina Saxon (born 1953) is an American graphic designer, film titles designer, and founder of Nina Saxon Film Design.
Nina Saxon (born 1953) is an American graphic designer, film titles designer, and founder of Nina Saxon Film Design.
Nina Saxon was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and grew up in the California San Fernando Valley. [1] She attended the University of California, Los Angeles where she began studying psychology with aspirations of becoming a psychologist, but was drawn to animation after taking a course as an elective. [1] [2] As a student, her first short film depicted a childbirth shot on location at a Planned Parenthood intercut to music. The film helped her to win the Jim Morrison Film Award, [3] [4] a scholarship presented to UCLA films students that exhibit professional promise, and demonstrate artistic talent in film and television directing and producing. [5] She completed a BA in animation with a minor in Psychology. [1]
Saxon's first job was a six-week project in Mill Valley with academy award-winning director John Korty. [3] [4] It was on this production that she met her mentor, editor Donn Cambern. [1] Utilizing his connections, Cambern assisted Saxon in obtaining a visual effects position with the optical house Modern Film Effects for the fist Star Wars film. It was on this production that Saxon learned about rotoscoping. She used this technique to create the red laser bullets and blaster bolt effect for the three Star Wars films. [4] [1] [6] According to Adam Beckett, Saxon was responsible for the shooting and animating these shots. [7]
After Star Wars, Saxon took a position with Robert Abel and Associates, a visual effects company responsible for innovative effects seen in films such as The Andromeda Strain (film)(1971) and Tron (1982). Here she expanded her technical skills and learned how to paint with light. [4] Light painting is a photographic technique in which the movement of a light source during a long exposure photograph produces a drawn visual record of the movement exposed onto one image. [8]
As one of a dozen designers specializing in movie title design in the mid-1990s, she was considered one of the most sought after according to Benenson of the New York Times. [2]
In 1998 Saxon was hired by New Wave Entertainment as VP and creative director of their design group. New Wave is known as a movie marketing company that developed movie trailers, TV spots, and print ads for studios such as Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Co., and Columbia Tristar Pictures. The addition of Saxon allowed New Wave to offer title design services to their clients. [9]
Saxon's title designs, as well as those created by other designers of the time, represented a shift in aesthetic and philosophy of the form. During the 1970s, Hollywood faced challenges with a new rating system and increased competition from independent production companies. These challenges resulted in a shift in title design from one that was lengthy and set apart from the rest of the film to one focused on brand development, the "logo title". During this time, studios preferred titling that branded the film with a "logo opening" and could be repurposed in printed design. This style of titling set the "logo-title" apart from the rest of the credits which were placed over the opening sequence of the film. [10]
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The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Picture is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society starting in 2002. While the award's title has changed several time within this period, the recipient has always been a visual effects-heavy feature film; film's with more background effects work have their own category, the Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture.
The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society starting from 2002. Since its inception, the award's title has gone through six title changes, and one major category shift. First awarded in 2002, the award was titled "Best Character Animation in an Animated Motion Picture" and given to the best character animation in an animated film, with no specific character cited. This would change in 2004, when the category was re-titled "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in an Animated Motion Picture", and given to visual effects artists for work on a specified character. as well as the voice actor for the character. The category was again re-titled in 2008, this time to "Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture". In 2015, it was titled "Outstanding Animated Performance in an Animated Feature", but changed in 2017 to "Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature", its current title.
The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society starting in 2002. While the award's title has changed several time within this period, the recipient has always been a visual effects-heavy television episode. Episodes with more background effects work have their own category, the Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode. Until 2012, miniseries and television movies had their own category.
The Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project is one of the annual awards given by the Visual Effects Society, starting from 2002. Since its inception, the award's title has gone through several title changes, and one major category shift. First awarded in 2002, the award was titled "Best Character Animation in a Live Action Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial" and given to the best character animation in a televised program, with no specific character cited. This would change in 2004, when the category was re-titled "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program", and given to visual effects artists for work on a specified character. The category was again re-titled the following year, this time to "Outstanding Performance by an Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program, Commercial, or Music Video". In 2008, it was titled "Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Broadcast Program or Commercial", but changed in 2014 to "Outstanding Performance of an Animated Character in a Commercial, Broadcast Program, or Video Game" and once again the next year to "Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode, Commercial, or Real-Time Project". In the title changed to "Outstanding Animated Performance in an Episode or Real-Time Project" and, finally, in 2017 to "Outstanding Animated Character in an Episode or Real-Time Project"