Phil Linturn: Technology, Time and Post Production

Chief operating officer at Glassworks, Phil Linturn, looks at the ongoing march of technology and how its evolution is impacting on the world of post production.

Time is the Holy Grail of post production, as it was 20 years ago when Glassworks threw open its doors. The time it takes to do things and the time we have to do them has changed.

The difference is that when we made Aero Dancing Mouse [below] in 2000 we pioneered a new way of making CG fur. It took 48 hours to render a single frame. Today, it would take three minutes. Whereas an artist would use Flame or Softimage, now that same artist uses half a dozen different tools.

With a mapped world and a tired space race, technology is our gladiatorial arena of exploration. We have a thirst for bigger, better ideas and it is our way of realising them.

But, technology is not an end unto itself. It’s not a craft. It’s not a skill. It’s a tool. It allows incredibly clever and creative people to push the envelope within our world of consumer experiences.

What makes us tick is people with the imagination to use technology in unknown, groundbreaking ways. Any company that is smart will not be chock full of people who know how to use their kit. It will be chock full of people who are open to trying out new things and solving a particular problem with a cocktail of technical capabilities.

Jordi Bares, Glassworks creative director of 3D, believes this myriad of radical approaches is a game changer: “It’s hugely important that there’s no longer one solution that fits all. Instead, we have an ecosystem of faster tools that are very specialised”.

How does this filter back to agencies and production companies? Time. Jordi sees increases in speed meaning that “artists are able to focus way more on the actual creation of pixels rather than the technicalities of building something”.

As we blast off into more software and platforms than ever before, it seems there’s no stopping technology’s march. But, in advertising, with our short, sharp turnarounds, it’s vital not to let it overcomplicate creativity. The 14th Century philosophical principle Occam’s Razor states: “Entities should not be multiplied unnecessarily.” It means, the simplest answer is often correct. Creativity is the goal at the end of the road less travelled; don’t deviate from the path to get there.

Urs Furrer, senior VFX artist in our Amsterdam studio, has been in Las Vegas, a guest of The Foundry’s at NAB: “It seems technology is really focussing on workflow and collaboration. Highly specialised companies are communicating with each other, which means less problems in the commercial world.”

All of this gives VFX artists the freedom to concentrate on the vision of creatives and directors. There is no doubt in our minds that advertising is only rippling the surface of technology’s potential. Now, more than ever, it is the responsibility of VFX studios to offer its artists the platform to match the creative hunger.

One area making waves is our Technologist division Xavi’s Lab, winner of eight Cannes Lions in 2014. Xavi Tribo lives and breathes technology, having spent a lifetime “breaking down the barriers between the machine and the user”.

What Xavi’s Lab focusses on is “not necessarily building something technologically new, but something memorable using emergent, every day technologies”. Whether it’s drones, subwoofers or facial recognition software, they use existing software to make links between previously unrelated fields in original and interactive ways.

Technology enables us to take risks, to leap into the unknown. But it can’t do it for us. In 1998, when we worked with Chris Cunningham to create Bjork All is Full of Love, it was achieved by finding a practical rather than technical solution. Aka, the human touch.

People are the glue. A boutique, independent VFX studio such as Glassworks prizes them above all else. We have a cross-pollination of people from the worlds of advertising, film, architecture, design, science and even medicine.