Interviews
Meet Team CGI
Name: Juan Navedo
Age: 24
Location: New York City, Manhattan
Real Day Job: Teaching Seniors the basics
of Windows XP, Word and
Internet. Soon I will be holding advance classes in the evening. Also, in the
same building, I am the sites Network Administrator.
How did you get into CGI: Personal
interest really. Came with the package of having interest in filmmaking in
general.
Why do you enjoy CGI: Besides the fact
that it is the future of filmmaking in either big or small doses I would have to
say that I enjoy it because I like challenges (only in things I know I'm good
at). It's a whole new world I have to learn and even though I've learn quite a
bit, there is much I still have to learn.
What CGI things are you working on/have worked
on for Tremors of the Force: I don't think I'm A) Allowed to say and B)
We don't have shot assignments yet.
Projects you've been apart of doing CGI for:
Well I've been apart of a very very small project called "Eyes of The Force". It
was mostly like a favor for a friend. But you can easily tell which parts of CGI
work I've done and which was done by the other amateurs my friend got to help. I
know, a project is a project but you just don't mixed CGI with claymation, It
was awful. Apart from CGI though, I've done a project helping Ken Lawton (Durbnpoison
from TFN) with his entry in the 2004 Lightsaber Competition. You won't see it in
the credits because he totally butchered my name (Mike Navarro).
Programs you use/Computer you run them on
specs.: These are my computer specs.; 200GB HD, P4 HT560, 3.2 GHZ, ATI
Radeon X300 128 MB of Video RAM, 1GB of RAM
Here are the programs I use; Adobe After Effects 6.5 Pro, Premiere 1.5 Pro,
Encore (for DVD authroing), Audition 1.5, Photoshop CS, Illustrator CS, 3Ds Max
7, Vegas Video 5 (I want Vegas Video 6 though), HDR Shop, Particle Illusions
3.0, Goldwave, Icarus, DVD Shrink, DVD Decrypter (sp?), YASA VOB to MPEG, I
think that's about it.
Any advice to aspiring CGI artist: Like
rotoscoping, it's a very long process but it's worth it at the end, just keep at
it. It's best to do what I did, study the program first, then use it. Allot of
people get the program then goes around bothering everybody asking question you
can easily find in the manual. If you study the program first, then use it, it
will save you a lot of time.
Meet team BTS! (Behind the scenes)
Name: Samantha B
Age: 22.5
Location: Lake Ronkonkoma, Long Island. You know when you watch The Weather Channel, where the little airport symbol is on the middle of Long Island? I live right by there.
Real day job: Full time college student. Its rough, but it must be done!
What got you involved with Tremors of the Force?: I almost didn't get involved with it actually. There was a pretty bad snowstorm, and I just moved into my apartment and I pushed back my audition, and if it wasn't for Julian (Who I consider to be my younger brother) I would have never gone. I'm friends with Johnny so he was understanding. As for how I got involved with the rest of the stuff, I don't really know. I just said t Johnny one day.. Hey, want help? From there I just started to accumulate titles.
What kind of
choreography experience do you have?: I have about 13 years of karate
experience. I can use nunchacus and a bow staff pretty well. I also have
gymnastics and ballet under my belt, so it helps with the gracefulness you will
be seeing with Dalena in one scene.
What kind of film experience do you have?: Almost none. Before this, I was in my first short film called Jedi House. Its been downloaded something like over half a million times, its on the force.net, and other sites, pretty cool. Outside of school plays, nada. This will be my first big film. I am excited to see the end product even if I'll be finishing graduate school by the time its done.
What kind of costume/set knowledge do you have?: This I have tons of knowledge in. I've been making costumes for 4 years, and I have worked on building sets for a musical I was in 4 years ago as well. I learned a lot of stuff from Spat as well. He's a good teacher.
So you're the website master? How did that come about?: I actually LOVE constructing websites. When Johnny said he was going to make a little one, I said Hey, I can get us some good cheap hosting with some goodies, and make it look really nice. And he said, go right ahead. It took me awhile to be happy with the design, and I'm satisfied now, But not totally happy. I self taught myself Java, CSS and HTML in high school when I was in advanced C++ class. Yeah so I am a bit of a computer geek.
What do you think of your character Aria? Is she like you in anyway? Aria and I are a little bit the same. She is a lawyer with this spunky, rebellious attitude, and I'm studying to become a lawyer and have a unique rebellious go get em' attitude myself. Aria has a brother - Jared, and I also have a brother named Chris. Except my brother isn't a sith lord or anything. I think. Aria's life has been filled with hurt and death and constant battles, and I can relate very well with that. One of my scenes requires a lot of emotion and I was really concerned about it, so much so I ended up asking Shane Felux (Revelations director and actor) for advice during celebration 3 one night at the bar. Since then though, I have some real emotions I can draw from, so I hope I can bring some reality into the role. (Of course, thanks to Shane for the advice!)
Is there anything you want to share with people out there?: Never give up on your dreams. If you really want something, but can't do it because something gets in the way, at least try to get involved with your dreams in any capacity, even if its small. I've always wanted to act, and working in these small films helps keep my dreams alive. Never give up on a dream. It might take awhile, but if you want it, go get it.