CAREER STORIES
WHEN PIGS FLY Paton’s work on Poor Things helped create the colourful, fantastical world in which the film is set
One of the most challenging shots Paton worked on was for the 2014 film RoboCop . “In this shot, I had to fully remove him. It was a very long shot where he was walking along before getting onto a motorbike; there were flashing lights and window reflections. It was super tricky,” explains Paton. “I think because prep is the way you progress up into comp, people assume it’s quite easy. But it can be one of the most challenging things to do in 2D sometimes. I am most proud of my recent work on Poor Things , because it was such a unique and creative project. One of the shots I worked on was the large shot in Alexandria, where the actors are on the stairs and the camera pulls out to reveal the full landscape. It was an unusual mix of live action, miniature and CG. “ Poor Things was such a collaborative project and for me, the visual effects in that shot helped drive the storyline. What made the project challenging was that it was extremely technical, but also very creative in quite a unique way. Our usual workflows didn’t necessarily work for this kind of project, so we basically needed to throw the rule book out the window.”
“ All Of Us Strangers was directly after Poor Things and that was a very different project, using more invisible visual effects,” she adds. “The final shot, when the actors are lying on the bed and the camera pulls out, was a particularly challenging shot. We did it all in 2D and it took about four months. It was a creative process working with the director and getting his vision for the work. He had a specific idea of what he wanted; it was about trying to translate it into the film.” Despite being a small company, Paton enjoys the variety of projects that Union offers. “Every day is so different in VFX, which is why I love this career. At Union, you get to work on arthouse films that are so unique and varied. “It is part of my driving force to progress in this industry, as women are massively underrepresented. It’s absolutely vital to change that bias in the industry and work against it. It’s slow progress, but it is improving. Union has been a great place to work in terms of encouraging diversity. I don’t want to be treated differently; what’s important is just to be treated the same and be given the same opportunities.”
WHAT MADE THE PROJECT challenging WAS IT WAS technical BUT creative IN A UNIQUE WAY”
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