John Gaeta

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Gaeta in Taormina, Sicily in 2021 John Gaeta E.jpg
Gaeta in Taormina, Sicily in 2021

John C. Gaeta (born 1965) is a designer and inventor, best known for his work on the Matrix film trilogy, where he advanced methods and formats known as Bullet Time.

Contents

Career

John Gaeta was born in New York City and grew up in Shoreham, Long Island; he entered New York University's Tisch School of the Arts to study film, and acquired a BFA degree with honors in 1989. He was introduced to the industry as a staff production assistant for the Saturday Night Live film unit, as well as doing camera and lighting work for a variety of media types and makers. [1] Some of these early work experiences included holography with Jason Sapan, stop-motion animation with Peter Wallach, motion control with Bran Ferren, nature documentary, filming birdlife for National Geographic Explorer , timelapse and experimental photography in Namibia, Africa on Miramax's first feature, Dust Devil. [2]

After co-supervising development for 3-D paint effect stylizations and LIDAR laser scanning (Reality Capture) for the film What Dreams May Come, which won the 1998 Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Gaeta began his first solo effects supervision project for The Wachowskis' science fiction film, The Matrix .[ citation needed ]

In 2000, Gaeta won Best Visual Effects at the 73rd Academy Awards for his work on The Matrix, alongside Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley and Jon Thum. [3] The same year, Gaeta was brought on as the senior visual effects supervisor to complete the Matrix trilogy, including The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions . These films were created in parallel and featured over 2000 visual effects shots. Many were photographed and post-processed at a custom-built complex called ESC, located at the Alameda Naval Base near San Francisco. Overall conceptual design as well as research and development was initiated for the final two installments in January 2000. The centerpiece innovations and new methodologies presented through the Matrix universe were the creation of "Virtual Cinematography" and "Virtual Effects," phrases coined by Gaeta in 1999 and 2000. [4]

In 2022, Gaeta took the role of Chief Creative Officer at Inworld AI, a company that powers the memories, behavior, and dialogue of AI NPCs and characters. [5]

Awards

Related Research Articles

<i>The Matrix</i> 1999 film by the Wachowskis

The Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the Matrix film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano, and depicts a dystopian future in which humanity is unknowingly trapped inside the Matrix, a simulated reality that intelligent machines have created to distract humans while using their bodies as an energy source. When computer programmer Thomas Anderson, under the hacker alias "Neo", uncovers the truth, he joins a rebellion against the machines along with other people who have been freed from the Matrix.

<i>The Matrix Reloaded</i> 2003 film by the Wachowskis

The Matrix Reloaded is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the sequel to The Matrix (1999) and the second installment in the Matrix film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Gloria Foster who reprise their roles from the previous film, while Jada Pinkett Smith was introduced in the cast.

Bullet time is a visual effect or visual impression of detaching the time and space of a camera from that of its visible subject. It is a depth enhanced simulation of variable-speed action and performance found in films, broadcast advertisements, and realtime graphics within video games and other special media. It is characterized by its extreme transformation of both time, and of space. This is almost impossible with conventional slow motion, as the physical camera would have to move implausibly fast; the concept implies that only a "virtual camera", often illustrated within the confines of a computer-generated environment such as a virtual world or virtual reality, would be capable of "filming" bullet-time types of moments. Technical and historical variations of this effect have been referred to as time slicing, view morphing, temps mort and virtual cinematography.

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References

  1. "Matrix2: Bullet Time was just the beginning. F/x guru John Gaeta reinvents cinematography with The Matrix Reloaded ." ( Wired , May 2003)
  2. "Artist Profile: John Gaeta". Archived from the original on 2016-04-07. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
  3. John Gaeta, Janek Sirrs, Steve Courtley, Jon Thum Academy Award Acceptance Speech - Academy Awards Acceptance Speech Database , retrieved 2021-09-17
  4. "'The Matrix' Revealed: An Interview with John Gaeta" (VFXPro, March 9, 2004)
  5. Morris, Chris (September 9, 2022). "How the creator of 'bullet time' for 'The Matrix' wants to transform the metaverse". Fast Company. Retrieved March 14, 2023.