Newsletter of the College of Architecture at Texas A&M University
Former students from Texas A&M’s Master of Science in Visualization Sciences program made major contributions to “Up,” the current cinema smash from Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios.
“Up” follows the tale of 78-year-old balloon salesman Carl Fredricksen, who fulfills his lifelong dream of a great adventure when he ties thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the wilds of South America.
What he doesn't realize until it's too late is that an overly optimistic 8-year-old Wilderness Explorer named Russell has stowed away on the trip.
Six former visualization students had leadership roles in creating the film: Jean-Claude Kalache, director of photography/lighting; Gary Bruins, effects supervisor; John Halstead, sets supervisor; Robert Moyer, character shading and groom lead, Eric Andraos, sets materials lead; and Mitch Kopelman, technical lighting lead.
Also contributing to the film, a critical success that led box office receipts in its opening weekend with a $68 million gross, were Christina Garcia and P. Antonio Piedra, set dressing artists, Patrick James, a matte paint technician, and Landon Gray, a sets technical developer.
Helping with the film’s lighting were Angelique Reisch and Kim Ross, key lighting artists, and Don Bui, a shot lighting artist.
In the effects department, Jon Reisch contributed as a development and effects artist, and Chris Chapman and Keith Daniel Klohn were effects artists.
Sue Maatouk-Kalache provided production support, and Eric Peden was on the rendering pipeline group team.
In addition to hiring visualization graduates, Pixar supports the Texas A&M program through visiting artist lectures, one-on-one reviews of student work, and scholarships for current students given by former students who work at Pixar with matching funds from the studio.
The program, created in response to clear indications that digital visualization was going to play a highly important role in digital communication, began as the Visualization Laboratory in 1988 in the College of Architecture. The Department of Visualization was established in January 2008 and in Fall 2009 the department will begin offering a Bachelor of Science in Visualization degree.
The Department of Visualization’s website can be found at
www-viz.tamu.edu.
- Posted: June 9, 2009-
