Battlestar Galactica:
The Second
Coming trailer preview:
Artists
INTERVIEW
WITH KENNETH THOMSON, JR.
By Michael Faries
BattlestarGalactica.com spoke with Kenneth Thomson,
Jr., Computer Generated Images (CGI) Artist Extraordinaire for
the Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming trailer) back in
September 1999. The interview was slightly delayed as Ken and
his wife, Mildred brought their second child into this world on
September 10th: Ethan James Thomson. Ethan arrived at 3:55PM Pacific
Standard Time, weighed in at 7 pounds, 1 ounce. His brother,
Christopher, was very happy to have him join the family.
Here's a two part question: First, how did you learn your
skill? Secondly, what (and/or who) inspires you?
Well,
when I was just in the first grade back in 1971, Star Trek
went into syndication. I had watched it before when it originally
aired, but my only memory until then was an episode with Kirk, Spock
and "George Washington." Of course, it was really Abraham Lincoln,
but for some reason that was the way I remembered it. Anyhow,
between Star Trek and the Apollo Moon Landings that were
going on at the time, my interest in space was very prominent, and
remains so to this day. At an early age, I started reading about
movies and special effects, mostly Famous Monsters of Filmland and
books about Frankenstein, Creature from the Black
Lagoon, etc. My parents had a Super-8mm movie camera, and let me
play Star Trek and film the adventures. I was hooked on movie
making ever since.
When
Star Wars came out, I got serious about it, and wrote a
script/ comic storyboard, then bought all the Don Post masks, and
Kenner toys and made a 45 minute silent epic called STAR WARS
EPISODE 4.5 "THE RETURN OF DARTH VADER." I also read a lot about
John Dykstra's contributions to both Star Wars and
Battlestar, and decided that I wanted to do that kind of work
when I grew up.
While I
was making this film, Battlestar Galactica premiered on ABC.
From that point on, I started to write a Battlestar story, to
make that into a movie as well. Sadly, there were no Don Post Cylon
helmets, or Viper Pilot uniforms to be had at the time, so it got
put on the shelf. When Battlestar Galactica was canceled, I
even circulated a petition at my Junior High School, and got over
300 signatures to bring it back. Then Galactica 1980 came
along and killed off all the reasons I liked Battlestar (ie.,
the ORIGINAL CAST AND PREMISE!), so I was left disappointed.
Years
later, I started an original story idea, based in a medieval fantasy
world, called Demonslayers. That was when I got into
computers. I'd been reading every effects article I could find from
CINEMAGIC and STARLOG, to books in the library. The movies
TRON and The Last Starfighter convinced me that CG was
the only way to make films out of my home if I wanted to do that.
So, I bought an AMIGA computer, and learned to animate on it. It was
so cool because I'd set up an animation to render, then go to class,
come home and it was done. Of course that was pretty primitive stuff
compared to what we're doing now for The Second Coming. Of
course, we still w-a-i-t for rendering!
Can
you tell me about some other "series/movies" (or game projects) you
have worked for?
In
1990, I partnered up with a friend of mine named Jeff Bryars who'd
worked on my Demonslayers project with me, doing cg effects
for clientele that needed animated logos, etc. That company was
called DIGITAL MASTERS. That went on for a couple of years, and we
met another couple of artists at a convention in my home town of
Austin, Texas. Josh Logan had a company called MAKEUP AND MONSTERS
and John Funk had a huge collection of Star Trek models he'd
custom built with lights and electronics.
We all
teamed up and formed ART OF ILLUSION SPECIAL EFFECTS STUDIOS. That
pretty much consisted of us sharing the bills for a studio where we
could work on our productions together, but we all learned from each
other, and worked on some fun projects like a Haunted House called
Frightline III, that was headed up by Bryan Brown, who became
our fifth partner. The Frightline III featured many original
masks and props built by the Art of Illusion team, as well as sound
effects and general grunt work.
AOI had
a few convention appearances in Austin, showing off what we could do
for cheap! That's when we met Bjo Trimble, who was a guest at the
con. We took her out to dinner, and had a nice time. We kept in
contact with her, and a few years later, she remembered us well
enough to contact John Funk about a new show called Space
Cases that was being produced by Bill Mumy and Peter David for
Nickelodeon and Cinar, inc. John gave me a call because they were
going to need a cgi model for the pilot.
Since
most everyone else had moved on to other endeavors, he and I formed
ANIGMA FX GROUP. We needed computer network support and brought in a
friend of mine named Jason Spinazzolo to handle that end of it. We
did 22 seconds of animation for the pilot that never aired. The show
did get made thanks to our efforts, but it was produced in Canada,
and they had their own FX department on staff when it went to
series.
Two
years ago, I sent in a demo reel to New World Computing, the
producers of the Might and Magic series of fantasy
role-playing/strategy games and was hired. I made the move to
California and have been enjoying it immensely. A whole world of
opportunities has opened up for me here.
So,
when did you get contacted by the Battlestar Galactica: The
Second Coming crew? Inquiring minds want to know...
Well, I
had read Richard's book, Battlestar Galactica: Armageddon and
that was my first look at Battlestar in years. I wasn't even
aware of the revival until I went to see him at the Pasadena Grand
Slam convention in April. I just had this idea that here was someone
still doing Galactica the way I'd like to see it done, and of
course it was Captain Apollo himself!
So I
took along my portfolio to see if he'd like to pitch it as an
animated series using cgi, like Starship Troopers is
currently being done by Foundation Imaging. But then I realized he
was already nearly finished with an even better project, and could
use someone to do cg Cylons. Actually, I was somewhat shocked when
he immediately asked me to come to their production meeting the
following Wednesday night. Of course I said "sure" and it's been a
roller coaster since.
How
did that happen? (How were you contacted? How did you get involved?)
I went
to the meeting after reviewing everything available on the internet
and collecting resources I'd had in boxes for years, (including my
old Battlestar script, hehehe) and met with the rest of the
cgi team. We divvied up the shot list and got started making models.
Were
you brought onboard with one specific task?
I
worked primarily on 3d cylons. The new mech types, the flying
drones, the 3d versions of the original cylons, and the new human
chip Cylon. I also made a new Imperious Leader and throne room,
which I based on drawings by Andy Probert, who also worked with us
via long distance and internet from Texas. I did quite a few
compositing shots, putting Baltar in a hangar bay (built by Lee
Stringer and Gabriel Koerner), putting Apollo in space in his Viper
for a shot or two, and blowing up another unfortunate pilot, as well
as doing some planetary flybys for Starbuck's daughter, Ciena.
I also
did animatics with Mike McAdams, which were essentially moving
storyboards for several of the space battles that appear in the
trailer. I also created the turbo effect for the Vipers, and did
some rotoscope work, adding laser fire to a shot where Apollo dives
and fires his blasters. Oh yeah, and I got to blow up Kobol, the
planet where the human race began. Kind of an honor, I guess, right
up there with Baltar's.
Richard is a very inspiring person. What did you learn
from him?
Richard
is a really talented, and people oriented person. He's also a bit
like Tom Sawyer, because he gets a lot of people to work on things
for FUN, which means no money! Hahaha. But, sometimes that's the
best way, because you can have this unlimited budget when people are
donating their energy out of love for something. I had played a
little Tom Sawyer in my days of filmaking and knew that it's really
a rare priveledge to get to do something like this, and all the
great opportunities that come from it.
Did
you find yourself contributing to the story process? ("Let's try
this, etc.")
You
bet. Although the story of the show was already written and
copyrighted, Richard really listens to our ideas and let's us run
with them regarding the look and feel of our scenes, which gave us
the leeway to have some creative freedom. We had several weeks of
brainstorming sessions and design work to do before we started our
end of production.
For
example, all the designs were not set in stone, and I was able to
suggest future uses for the mech Cylon design that weren't in the
script, because I felt these cylons should be able to operate in the
vacuum of space, to board ships, etc. So there were a few little
extras we got to throw in. But for as for the story itself, it was
already set in place. I think Richard realizes that we're all able
to contribute solid ideas, especially the fans of the show.
One
thing Battlestar Galactica did was leave about a million
directions it could have gone. It's like a prelude to a series. It
takes a peek at the what-ifs we all ask when we get philisophical,
and so opens up endless possibilities. That's why I think it should
make a comeback, and why Richard should be leading that revival.
I don't
personally care to see something that spoils the original. I mean,
it was a great show! It doesn't need to be re-invented. That is a
waste of time, and a simple attempt to cash in on a franchise when
an old show is re-made that has nothing to do with the original. If
Star Trek had been re-cast with different actors, it would
have flopped, in my opinion. Creating a Next Generation ended
up being succesful for Star Trek because they honored the
original, not ignored it. I think the same is true of Battlestar
Galactica.
At
this year's San Diego Comic Convention, Richard joked during the
Battlestar Galactica panel session that he was publicly
apologizing to all of spouses/families of those involved on the
trailer for their sacrified time/efforts... So how did yours feel
about it?
Yeah,
that's funny because he was talking to my video camera at that
moment. My wife was pregnant with our second son all throughout the
production of the trailer, and she was threatening bodily harm if he
didn't let me finish it up. Of course, she was only kidding, but I
think Richard felt a little guilty! My son Christopher is best buds
with Richard. They always have a good time when he comes over to
work on the trailer at my place. Chris keeps on building those Lego
fleet ships and vipers for Richard to put into the show!
Ken,
how did the unveiling of the trailer move you?
Well,
the first time I saw it was at Richard's house at that first
meeting. There were two tapes. One was the actual trailer as it
existed at the time, and it was impressive if not completely
polished. I remembered being very excited, because even then, I
think it could have sold the show. Then he brought out another tape
with some effects that were done by Foundation Imaging that were the
level he wanted us to achieve if not surpass. They were really good
shots and I felt a bit intimidated. But we busted our butts and did
a whole slew of new stuff that made it into the trailer, and the
whole thing turned out incredible!
It
must have felt wonderful to sit on that panel after the finished
trailer was shown for the first time to the public.
It was
great!
We're seeing an increase in the numbers of new
Battlestar Galactica fans. Some of them, new and old, want to
be a part of this production. What would you recommend to someone
who wants to break into the CGI field?
Get a
PC, buy 3d Studio Max or Lightwave and start animating. If you want
it, go after it. Eat, sleep and breathe 3d animation, and you've got
a good chance of getting into it. Read about it. Go where the work
is.
Do
you wish someone had given you this advice?
Well,
that's what I did, personally. It just seemed the only way to make
it happen. Nobody just hands you the chance these days--if they ever
did.
Do
you have any favorite designs? I would think that the new Cylon
design from Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming is what
you are most proud of.
Yeah, I
like 'em all. I'd like them even better if I'd had more time to make
them perfect in every way. But they turned out fine for what we did.
I wanted to do more, but I wasn't there when they shot it last year,
so I had only certain angles to work with. I would have liked to do
more shots that integrated the Cylons I did with the live action
elements. Maybe if we do the series... :) I'm actually most proud of
the collection of all the shots put together that compose the entire
trailer. In that context, everything becomes a work of art. I like
Mike's Battlestar a whole lot. I also liked James Betteridge's
Scarlet Viper.
It
looks like Ralph McQuarrie influenced your work...
Richard
showed me a picture of the Ralph McQuarrie painting, and said he'd
like that design for a more sinister Cylon, which I thought was a
cool idea. I had already created the original for that first meeting
with Richard, and just modified it to create the new one.
Any
additional influences?
Andy
Probert had also sent me several design sketches that had a big
influence on my stuff. I'll ask him about posting some of his
drawings soon so everyone can see them.
Do
you have a favorite episode (or episodes) from the original
series?
The
pilot, "Lost Planet of the Gods," "The Living Legend," "War of the
Gods," "Greetings from Earth," "Hand of God." I really liked them
all, but those stand out as favorites.
So
many fans are adamant that many of the original elements from the
show remain in a new Galactica production. Richard appears to
be listening to the fans on this. Can you tell us about old and new
designs in the trailer?
I think
it's fantastic to include the old and the new together! You get the
best of both worlds that way! Heck, I've got old computers that I
still use even though I've got new ones that are state of the art.
If you've got limited resources that are hard to replace, you're not
going to have a lot of shiny new designs.
You're
going to get prototypes on a limited run. Improvements to existing
designs where possible, and cannibalization of older ships for raw
parts to keep the fleet going. If it's possible, the fleet is even
more rag-tag, but now armed to the teeth, and a bit leaner, meaner
and faster.
Is
anyone tackling a new robotic daggit design? "Muffit II" from the
original series seems so outdated these days.
I'm not
supposed to tell anyone, but what the heck? The new Imperious Leader
is really MUFFY! Just kidding. He isn't in the trailer, that's all I
KNOW for sure. There's always talk about creative cameos and how to
keep him from being another Jar-Jar. :)
<laughing> True. Any particularly funny moments
while making the trailer?
Well,
Richard got a kick out of my son saying he wanted to play "Foxey" in
the trailer.
Any
particularly challenging moments?
Not
exactly. The whole project was challenging. Mostly it was trying to
do 4 to 5 shots at one time, and juggling what I was doing on it, as
well as my real job keeping me extremely busy. That's why it is
imperative that anyone who wants to do this stuff really love to do
it, because for the duration, you don't have a life!
Any
last thoughts? Any non-Galactica projects you want to talk
about?
Demonslayers! Support your
local filmmakers! Check out my web page if you're looking for something
to fund! DemonslayersProductions.
Thanks, Ken!
.
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