Interview with Director Gary H. Lee on short Film Hector Corp.
One-Liner / Summary: A psychological thriller about a company, Hector Corporation, that must take extreme measures to manage their employees with some very unexpected executioners.
Genres: Comedy, Horror, Thriller, Fantasy, Satire, Culture, Social Issue
Preferred Screening Formats: DVD, Blu-Ray, HDCam/D5
Available Screening Formats: BetaSP, DigiBeta, DVCam
Aspect: 2.35 (SCOPE)
Sound: Dolby SR / Dolby Digital
Film Run-Time: 10 minutes, 30 seconds
Main Credits:
| Written and Directed by: |
Gary H. Lee |
| Produced by: |
Luke E. Watson |
| Director of Photography: |
Oliver Fitzgerald |
| Original Music, Sound Design and Mix: |
Jamey Scott |
| Production Design: |
Richard Bennett |
| Previz / VFX: |
Dorian Bustamante |
Cast: Roger Horn as Victory Gray
Preston Smith as Chris Wright
Andrea Monier as Anne Watson
Stan Haptas as Radio Announcer
Luke E. Watson as the President
Filmmaker Bio: Gary H. Lee
Gary Lee started his professional career while he was a student of the Art Center in Pasadena. During his second term at school, at the age of 19, he was recruited by LucasFilm to work on Star Wars Episodes 2 and 3 at the Skywalker Ranch as a Cinematic/ Pre-viz Artist. The opportunity was a result of an animated short he directed during his high school years. Gary was the youngest on the team to be hired or involved on that aspect of the Star Wars.
After several years, Gary decided to pursue his dream of working on his own personal projects. He left Lucasfilm after Star Wars completed and headed back to Los Angeles in order to develop and create some of his thoughts and projects. The short, "Hector Corp.", was one idea Gary really wanted to produce. He realized making "Hector Corp." would require certain capital he lacked during that period. He was then hired to work on cinematics for Dreamworks Animation and with the money saved from that, “Hector Corp.” came to life.
Gary has been involved in the camera works department for several major Dreamworks Animation productions, including "Over the Hedge", "Kung Fu Panda", and Dreamworks' first stereoscopic 3D film, "Monsters Vs. Aliens". He is the soul contributor for some of the major sequences on both "Kung Fu Panda" and "Monsters Vs. Aliens".
Gary Lee was recently promoted as the primary cinematographer for "Kung Pu Panda 2" and is in charge of the films entire cinematic style. At age 28, he is the youngest person ever to be the head of a department on a major studio film at Dreamworks Animation.
Production Notes:
Director Gary H. Lee set out to make a short thriller that makes a statement about certain aspects of today's corporate society. "Hector Corp.", was inspired by the current climate of "corporate down-sizing". To Gary, the practice of corporate down-sizing represents the idea that heads of corporations have a god-like ability to save or destroy people's lives. "Hector Corp." is meant to be an exaggerated, entertaining story of a battle between good and evil told through this very scope.
To create this exaggerated social satire. Gary Lee decided to take this film to an imaginary place by creating digitally generated environments. Mainly because "Hector Corp." involves a completely animated character. To match up with the concept of this unique character (Penguin) of the film. An artistically digitally generated world not just blend fantasy with reality, but also gives this short a very stylized look.
Hector was a very ambitious and unique project. The ten and a-half minute short was created as a prominently 3D-animated production, using green screen recording techniques for the live-action portions and composition onto artificial backgrounds in a post-production phase that lasted close to 3.5 years. The film’s actors were put to a great challenge as their co-stars did not “practically” exist. The performed independently to set cures and props which were later placed into the production using Maya and AfterEffects programs.
The principal footage of the film was shot over 2 days, on a green-screen soundstage in Los Angeles. Production moved quite smoothly until director Gary Lee reached post and realized that much of the footage from their F900 had ghosting and artifacts. The unusable footage was discarded, resulting in reshoots which took place 8 months after the first shoot due to money and scheduling issues. Post-production was the most time consuming process, as there were only 2 artists who were able to devote time to the massive special effects required. Spending ever free moment out of his own full-time job, Gary overcame these obstacles to eventually create an entertaining and very unique short film.
Panel Opportunities:
Along with screening “Hector Corp.” comes a great, unique and audience-compelling opportunity to feature a panel on the popular current art of CG Filmmaking and the incorporation of live action and animated element s into this state-of-the-art, hybrid form. Gary H. Lee and (optional) other filmmakers from DreamWorks Animation discuss the challenges and opportunities of CG filmmaking and current industry trends, especially the latest rise in 3D, stereoscopic exhibition. The filmmakers will also walk the audience through the basic “101” process of creating an animated/live-action hybrid feature, using films like “Hector Corp” and others as an example. Perfect for students of CG and Animation, and any fans of the animated, thriller and fantasy genres.
Trailer:
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