Working on Oscar-nominated films – all in a day’s work for USW graduates

Ahead of the Oscars this weekend, we spoke to Animation and Computer Animation graduates from the University of South Wales who have worked on some of this year’s nominated films.

The 96th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday 10 March in Los Angeles, honouring the most successful films released in the past year – including Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, and Nimona.

Jakub Kupčík, who graduated from Computer Animation in 2018, and Matt Jones, who graduated from Animation in 1996, both worked on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

Jakub said: “My role on the film was Senior Lighting Artist. I took all the 3D elements from the other departments and did a final render with the lighting, split into multiple layers. Then I assembled those rendered layers together, applied all the comic-style effects, along with overall colour adjustments into a final image.

“I was absolutely mind-blown to see the crazy amounts of passion everyone on the team had for this project. Everyone was putting in their best and the directors pushed us to really bring every shot to the next level. I was able to learn so much from them just by listening to their feedback and how they think about a shot.

“I feel that the first Spider-Verse movie showed everyone how much more animation could be that we haven't seen before, so working on the sequel felt a bit like being part of an important piece of animation history.”

Matt added: “I was a Storyboard Artist on the film, from April 2020 to June 2021. My favourite part of the process was visualising the back-story of the villain, Spot, in a stylised black and white scene which was inspired by the comics of Sergio Toppi.”

Joseph Lewis, who graduated from Computer Animation in 2009, animated on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3, which is nominated for Best Visual Effects. He said: “I was responsible for a couple of shots involving Rocket, the raccoon character, whereby I was tasked with creating a believable performance for him.

“As part of this, I took inspiration from his past performances on previous films, as well as shooting reference footage of myself and my kids – stepping into Rocket’s shoes to fully explore his personality through movements and acting.

“I was also responsible for animating more than 50 of the characters on a single shot which, although it was only 3-4 seconds long, took a lot longer than the Rocket shots. It included eagles, tapirs, penguins, monkeys, ferrets, kangaroos, ravens and wolves, as well as arm replacements for the main characters.

“A stand out moment for me, was seeing the Visual Effects Supervisor enjoy a piece of reference that I shot so much, that he showed it to James Gunn [CEO of DC Studios] who commented about it being one of his favourite pieces of reference on the film.”

Jason Meah, who graduated from Computer Animation in 2007, was Lead Environment Modeller on Nimona, which is nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

He said: "My role involved supporting other modellers on the team, working with other departments along the pipeline to resolve and present issues, as well as building environments, props and vehicles based on the amazing artwork that inspired the film.

"I enjoyed the whole creative process, from the environment to the props and the whole exploration of design, which made it a very enjoyable experience.

"Without doubt, the stand out moment for me was seeing an early version of an environment that has been through all the departments, and seeing the team's reaction when it is fully surfaced and lit through a shot camera."

Gareth Hutchinson, Course Leader in Computer Animation at USW, added: "It's absolutely incredible to see our former students go on into the industry and contribute to such high-quality projects. It's a real testament to both their talent and hard work, as well as a reflection of the good start we give them through the professional level of teaching and support provided by the staff at USW. We love watching how their skills and careers develop over time on such exciting projects - it makes it all worthwhile."

See the full list of Oscar nominations at the Academy Awards website: https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2024