Annette Wullems, best known for her VFX production work on blockbusters such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy, King Kong and Prometheus, has joined Framestore's film VFX team as sr. producer on Jupiter Ascending, the Andy and Lana Wachowski film due for release in 2014 starring Mila Kunis and Channing Tatum.
Wullems is a veteran producer and has worked on many feature films that have become synonymous with breaking new ground in the world of VFX such as Avatar. Involvement in such productions has given her the opportunity to work with directors including Peter Jackson, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg and Ridley Scott.
As a native Kiwi, Wullems hails from New Zealand's Weta FX. She began her career by working for advertising agencies during the 1970s before entering TV production the following decade. Her talents span both on-set and VFX production, having worked on the pre-production of Lord of the Rings building props and miniatures, costumes and make-ups, before Peter Jackson invited her to produce the film's VFX in post production – her first taste of what she calls "the dark side."
Framestore's joint managing director of film, Matt Fox, said: "Annette is an incredibly well-known and respected talent in the VFX world. So we're thrilled to have her on board. She joins our film team at a very proud moment, having just completed the visual effects for Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity."
Wullems, said, "Framestore instantly feels like a 'people company'. It has a family spirit, culture and energy that enticed me to be part of it. Plus, London is a very vibrant place to be. I'm excited to work with the team and be part of the company that is about to share Gravity with the world."
Craig Henighan Sounds Off On “Deadpool & Wolverine”
Hollywood lore has it that character actor Edmund Gwenn--while on his deathbed--quipped, “Dying is easy, comedy is hard.”
The second part of that darkly witty utterance remains all too true today as Craig Henighan--a Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Oscar nominee in 2019 for Roma--can attest in that he had to grapple with the sonic of being comic for this year’s box office hit, Deadpool & Wolverine (20th Century Studios/Marvel Studios).
The degree of inherent difficulty was ramped up even further because Deadpool & Wolverine had to seamlessly bring together high action-adventure exploits with moments and dialogue that tickled the funny bone. There’s a mesh of humorous banter--a staple of the franchise--along with major spectacle replete with explosions, fights, an impactful score and off-the-wall musical numbers.
Henighan explained that among the prime challenges for him from a sound perspective was having to make sure every joke landed within the construct of a superhero film. The tendency for a tentpole movie of this variety, he noted, is to gravitate towards big, loud audio spanning music, dialogue and sound effects. But the unique comedic element of Deadpool & Wolverine necessitated that re-recording mixer and supervising sound editor Henighan strike a delicate balance. “You need to get out of the way for the comedy,” he related. The jokes in a superhero film become “a real dance” as Henighan had to establish a rhythm that did justice to both the comedy and the action as the narrative moves back and forth between them--and sometimes the funny and the high energy, high decibel superhero dynamic unfold simultaneously in a scene or sequence. The “sonic fabric” has to... Read More