Cecile Marie Tecson – Visual effects artist

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Cecile Marie Tecson – Visual effects artist
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Cecile admitted that she started at the bottom in the industry and worked her way up. Her first job in Hollywood was as an intern for Entertainment Tonight inside Paramount Pictures, where she mostly climbed shelves; putting back lots of old video tapes in the tape library. "I thought it was fun just being on the set. But, I also realized that it’s not as glamorous in the entertainment industry and it is definitely a lot of hard work." She then moved on to a post-production studio called Creo, where she worked as Client Services/Runner. "I made sure the clients, such as producers and directors, were attended to if they needed anything from coffee to lunch. I also delivered those final tapes to the next studio."

A great trait of Cecile is her willingness to learn, which opened new doors for her to becoming a visual effects artist. "I was open to anything really. I learned everything from traditional art in the form of painting and drawing, to learning computer art in the form of graphics or editing video. I loved it all. In Creo, I tried to learn everything there from working as a Tape Operator assisting in laying off the final product for commercials, music videos, and movies. I would stay late after work learning new computer programs for 2D Visual Effects. I had so much fun learning to paint and roto, which is a technique of manually creating a matte, like cutting people out of a live-action plate so it may be composited over another background. I remember the other artists saying, "Just throw her into the pit," where they just gave me a lot work amongst the many artists. I really had no choice but to learn and balance my many hats at work. They were the best mentors," Cecile related.

Within 6 months at Creo, Cecile was promoted as a roto artist, and eventually, became a visual effects artist. In her two years in the company, Cecile worked on Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle and many TV Commercials and Music Videos for stars such as Celine Dion, N.E.R.D., Kelly Clarkson, and Shania Twain. Then, she joined a company called RIOT where she worked on more commercials and movies such as Hostage, Paycheck, Die Hard ‘Live Free or Die Hard’, The Spirit, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. In January 2009, RIOT merged with Method Studios, known in the industry as an international award-winning provider of Visual Effects for some of the world’s best movies, commercials, and music videos.

Of the many movies that she has worked on, Cecile says that Wolverine is her favorite project. "In a scene in that movie, the Wolverine jumps off his motorcycle, takes his claws and rips through the helicopter that is trying to kill him. The helicopter then spins out of control, falling to the ground and explodes to pieces as he walks in front of it. It’s an amazing effect because this falling helicopter in real life had all these wires attached to it in order for it to spin, and dummies as the helicopter operators. My job was to make sure the dummies were not seen, wires were removed, and that all the helicopter parts were falling in a balanced way. Some parts were not meant to fall off, such as the top of it, so I had to paint in the top of the helicopter back on as it spun around frame by frame."

Another scene showed Hugh Jackman who starred as Wolverine, jumping out of a water tank and running out completely naked. Anointed by US Magazine last November 2008 as the "Sexiest Man Alive", Jackman in that scene was actually wearing beige underwear. "I had to do some "butt work"; meaning, I had to recreate a butt by digitally painting in one while Wolverine was running. He already has a great butt, but I hoped I made his butt look even better!" Cecile said with a smile.

The hardworking VFX artist confessed that she works long hours, 10-12 hours everyday. But Cecile says it is all worth it. "It’s challenging and exciting to see the raw footage given to us and use our ideas in bringing the imagination to life through visual effects. Every shot I’ve worked on is never the same and each has a different challenge in getting the work done. We want to make things as real as possible for the viewer," she said.

Tecson’s upcoming work is a movie called The Time Traveler’s Wife with Eric Bana and Rachel McAdams: A romantic drama about a Chicago librarian with a gene that causes him to involuntarily time travel, and the complications it creates for his marriage.

"I did some challenging work for that movie and I love the two actors, so I’m very excited for when it comes out in August. The next project that I’m about to work on is the re-imagining of the horror movie, Nightmare on Elm Street set for 2010," said Cecile.

Cecile hopes to work in Visual Effects for a long, long time, but she would love to do her own art on the side. "I also would one day love to teach art to kids. That would be so much fun!" she said smiling. Meanwhile, Cecile makes it a point to live each day to the fullest. "Because my mother passed away from cancer in 1997, when I was just 18, I’ve always seen life differently and really try to live it to the fullest. She’s given me strength and the passion to love life and people."

"Studying more Visual Effects tutorials is also key. In fact, that is my advice to aspiring Pinoy artists who would like to get into the industry. Keep learning! Everything from Photoshop to other computer programs called Discreet Combustion and Nuke. I’m constantly reading and doing tutorials. Watching movies and going to art shows is good too! Absorb it all like a sponge and don’t give up."

( www.asianjournal.com )

( Published on July 11, 2009 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A8 )

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