How to deliver the greatest possible quality while meeting the director's artistic objectives and, simultaneously, staying within a limited budget?
The main challenge was, firstly, to improve the quality of the previous films in the saga, while setting up a new workflow as well as creating a pipeline connected to the different departments. To achieve this, we had a department of only 4 artists, very limited technical resources per artist and a long project ahead of us with more than 650 shots, with effects as varied as magic, explosions, destructions, water simulations, etc.
With this scenario, the plan had a very clear focus, EFFICIENCY. The FX department would be in charge of designing the entire process, from layout to shading, without overlooking the rendering and the first pre-compositions of each effect, that would serve as a guideline for the Lighting and Compo departments.
The challenge awaited! A great deal of effort from a strong team of artists, together with process management and optimisation, led them to achieve excellent results in this grand adventure.
David Blanco, "White", started his professional career as a Compositor and Motion Graphics Designer for advertising spots and short films, later specialising in visual effects.
He had his first opportunity in Atrapa la Bandera and funnily enough, years later he returned to the same studio to take on what would be his first departmental supervision.
After working at Lightbox Animation Studios, he was part of the team at El Ranchito for 5 years, a time of constant learning and great growth as an artist and professional. There, he specialised in volumetric type effects and developed fire, smoke and explosions for series such as Game of Thrones The Long Night (season 8), Locke and Key or Shadow and Bones (season 1).
Later on, he had the opportunity to face new challenges and continue to grow in Lightbox Animation Studios as FX Supervisor of Tadeo Jones 3. Once this challenge was over, it was time to take another big leap as he joined WetaFx in ambitious projects such as Black Adam or The Last of Us.
Finally, it has been like returning home and he is once again part of El Ranchito as Lead FX, working on several projects at present.
