Introduction
On the 12th and 13th of December, four of the Entertainment Industry’s top Designers held a showcase of
their work at the Asian Cilvilization Museum. The event saw Alex Alvarez (Gnomon Workshop, Avatar), Scot Drake (Disney Imagineering), Neville Page (Avatar, Cloverfield, Star Trek), and Feng Zhu (Transformers, Star Wars Ep.III) share their working techniques and experiences with the audience. The speakers treated the audience to a look at the kind of work that goes into major Hollywood productions.
The first speaker was Alex Alvarez. Alex talked about his role in creature development on James Cameron’s “AVATAR”. He also showed how to quickly develop 2D ideas into 3D models. Alex used examples to highlight how rapid protoyping on 3D can be very useful to the 2D visualization process. He also goes on to stress the importance of understanding design when working in production.
Next up was Scot Drake. Over the years, Scot amassed a wealth of experience working in Disney Imagineering, Disney’s theme park design division. He shared with the audience on how the importance of
the entertainment experience to consumers drives his designs. Using the Disneyland Monorail as an
example, he explains how designers collaborate with various departments to bring ideas from paper to
full-scale operational machines. He then proceeds to demonstrate the various techniques he uses at work.
After the demo, Scot chatted with the crowd that gathered around him. Giving tips and also talking about Disney’s worldwide intern recruitment drive.
The second day of the showcase saw Neville Page talking about his creature work on various films like AVATAR and Cloverfield. He then proceeded to show how he uses his traditional sculpting knowledge to aid him in digital sculpting. He explained how having a strong grasp in design fundamentals allow a designer to work across all fields.
Next up is Feng Zhu, founder of FZD School of Design. Feng starts by sharing some behind the scenes photographs when he was working at various studios. He then moves on to demonstrate how he paints
and how these paintings are used in the industry.
Next up was a Question and Answer session with all four Designers. Here, the speakers answered a variety of questions from the audience. They touched on topics ranging from software, to their thoughts on education and the industry.
Neville takes the time to answer questions about breaking into the movie industry, and also later shares with the audience how he tackles professional hurdles like mental blocks.
Here, Scot relates to the crowd one of the most valuable lessons that he learned when he started working in the entertainment industry. Each speaker then goes on to share their most memorable experience in the industry.
After the Q and A, Neville took time to sign a few autographs. At the same time, he shared how some of the designs featured inside the “Art of Avatar” were developed.
Alex, Scot and Neville continue to give a few words of advice to aspiring students. This informal chat session continued on as the inqusitive crowd gathered to learn more about the industry and the work that goes
into it.
As the event comes to a close, the speakers continue to chat and take photographs with the crowd. Here, the students from Singapore Polytechnic posed for a picture with the Speakers.
Closing
After two days of constantly being fed visuals from the speakers, it is no doubt that many in the audience
will be truly inspired. However, I do feel that beyond the visuals, the real value lies in the personal
interaction the crowd got from the speakers. Everybody here at FZD would like to take this opportunity to extend our gratitude to MDA for making this event possible, Wacom for providing us with our lucky draw
prizes, and last but not least, Graham Perkins of Rune Entertainment for being our emcee.
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