Visual effects luminary Syd Dutton, co-founder of effects/matte paintings house Illusion Arts, has come aboard Zoic Studios to help helm its digital matte painting and feature film endeavors. Zoic’s relationship with Dutton began during the shop’s filming of the feature film Serenity.
Launched in 1985, Illusion Arts created thousands of shots and matte paintings for more than 200 feature films. The studio’s body of work included effects for Milk, Aeon Flux, Narnia, The Bourne Identity, The Fast and the Furious, X-Men, Batman, Total Recall, Mad Max and the just released Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian.
Dutton made his first industry mark in the matte department at Universal Studios where he learned the technique of motion picture matte painting from resident matte artist Albert Whitlock. Following the retirement of Whitlock, Dutton and visual effects cinematographer Bill Taylor set up the independent effects studio Illusion Arts. When Taylor and Dutton decided to close Illusion Arts, both Dutton and Zoic embraced the opportunity to collaborate, with Dutton becoming a part of the Zoic team.
Chris Jones, Zoic CEO/creative director, said of Dutton, “As a mentor, he will be able to bring classic ideas and techniques to a whole new guard of visual effects visionaries. Zoic Studios has always embraced new technology while continuing to evolve the classic techniques of visual effects creation and we feel that Syd Dutton is the perfect complement to this philosophy.”
Digital studio Zoic, with operations in Los Angeles and Vancouver, B.C., is involved in commercials, viral advertising, episodic TV, feature films and the gaming industry.
Cinematographer Pepe Avila del Pino Discusses Residente’s “313,” Winning An ASC Award
Pepe Avila del Pinoโs second career nomination for an American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) Award earned him his first win earlier this week in Los Angeles--for outstanding achievement in music videos on the strength of the Residente-directed โ313โ featuring performances by Residente, Sรญlvia Pรฉrez Cruz and Penelope Cruz. The cinematic, stirringly beautiful โ313โ opens with Penelope Cruz narrating in Spanish, reflecting on the meaning of life and the passage of time. She is joined by ballet dancers who are said to represent time while Cruz represents life itself. The ethereal music video brings us the essence of time in our lives. Residenteโs life and time are seemingly controlled, respectively, by Cruz and the dancers from the outset. But towards the end of the video, Residente starts to orchestrate his own time and life. What canโt be denied, though, is that time is fleeting as Cruz and Residente begin to disappear before our eyes. Avila del Pino, AMC, is best known for his work in television and features. In fact, his alluded to first ASC Award nomination came in 2018 on the basis of the TV pilot for The Deuce, directed by Michelle MacLaren. Over the past seven years, Avila del Pino has lensed select music videos--all for his friend, Residente (a.k.a. Rene Perez Joglar). The Residente videos have thus become passion projects, done out of โpure loveโ with the same close-knit team. The โ313โ song and video were especially personal to Residente in that they were both inspired by a friend who had died about a year earlier. To win an ASC Award for this particular project is most gratifying for Avila del Pino--not only because of the videoโs significance to Residente, but also the deep feelings the DP has for the ASC.... Read More