Virtual Reality

Visual effects expert Brian Jennings,might have 35 Hollywood film productions under his belt,but in India he is more famously known for his work in this year’s Kamal Haasan starrer,Dasavatharam. “It was one of the most gruelling assignments in my career,” says Jennings,51,who was in Delhi to deliver a lecture to animation students of Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics at FICCI auditorium.

A veteran VFX supervisor,Jennings gained recognition in Hollywood for creating computer generated cartoons in the title sequence of the popular Hollywood movie,Honey I Shrunk the Kids. Having moved to Chennai,three years ago,after retiring from Hollywood ,his first project in India was an Indo-European film First Fear,starring Jackie Shroff,which is yet to take off. For Dasavatharam though,he knew his work was cut out. “I was exposed to a totally different work environment. I had to cope with long breaks in the creative process,unlike how I have been used to working in the US ,” adds Jennings ,who was the senior visual effects supervisor for the movie.

His job included supervising the team of technicians in the production unit and suggesting changes. “I was the one who would pull out a solution from my bag of tricks each time,” he smiles,talking of the tsunami effect,which he recreated with the help of computer-generated graphics. Jennings also gave the final look to a temple scene in the beginning of the movie,making it look lifelike. “We took over 2,000 shots and filmed across 12 studios for almost over a year to complete the film. And we could shoot with only one actor everyday to create the visual effects for their characters,” he adds.For now though,Jennings is turning author with a soon-to-be finished animation guide for students.