Erin V. Ramos
Head of Effects Animation
Wish, Walt Disney Animation Studios
Erin V. Ramos started at Walt Disney Animation Studios in 2014 to do development work on the water animation pipeline on Moana, for which she and her team won an Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production. From there she went on to serve as an Effects Supervisor on Frozen 2, and she was Head of Effects Animation on Encanto and Wish.
How would you describe your job?
My team is in charge of the effects work, which can range from large-scale destruction to creating magical sparkles. What I love about effects work is that it’s a mixture of art and science. It’s a lot of physics-based work, but we use that foundation to create effects that are beautiful and believable. We strive for believability, not necessarily realism.
As Head of Effects, I oversee all the effects work on a show and make sure everything stays consistent with the shape language of our film. I also work with the Production Designer to make sure our effects match the given artwork. Every day I review my team’s work and decide whether it’s ready to be shown to the directors or whether it needs more tweaking. It’s a lot of strategizing and planning but is also very creative.
What are the biggest challenges of your job?
As an effects artist, you only have to worry about the shot you’re working on; but as Head of Effects, you have to worry about the entire movie and make sure we’re keeping continuity. Having to keep that bigger picture in your head—juggling multiple sequences and a wide variety of effects—is quite challenging, and I rely heavily on my production team to make sure everything is scheduled correctly and that everybody has something to work on. I don’t know what I would do without my production team—they’re top-notch!
What are the best parts about being Head of Effects?
Some of the best parts of my job are when I’m in director review, and my artist is presenting their work. By this point, I’ve seen their work multiple times and given all the notes I need to, and I feel like it’s ready to be shown to the directors. I leave it up to my artist to present their work and feel incredibly happy for them when they get their shot approved. It’s a great feeling knowing how much work my artist has put into a shot and watching them put their best foot forward and succeed. I’ll never get tired of that.
Do you have any advice for aspiring Head of Effects?
Communicate well! I think the great part of working at this level is that we get to be in the story rooms early and pitch our own ideas for how the effects can work with the story. It’s a skill to be able to speak up in a room full of other department heads and share your ideas with confidence. It’s also important to be able to communicate notes effectively to your team. The clearer you can be with your art direction, the better time the artist will have, and the more efficient things will be.
Jason Mayer
Head of FX
Kung Fu Panda 4, DreamWorks Animation
Jason Mayer started his film career in live-action FX, with his first feature credit on the BAFTA Award-winning VFX in The Day After Tomorrow. Soon after, he jumped over to animated features at DreamWorks Animation and has contributed FX to 19 features along with a variety of commercials, specials, and theme park rides. He just completed his 19th year at DreamWorks, which has included Annie and VES Awards for FX contributions. Among his career highlights are The Croods, all three How to Train Your Dragon films, both Boss Baby films, and the Kung Fu Panda films. He is currently Head of Effects on Kung Fu Panda 4.
How would you describe your job?
An animated feature can have between 500 to 1,200 effects (FX) shots. It requires a team that can range in size from 15 to 50, depending on the schedule. The Head of Effects (HoFX) oversees that department. The HoFX will periodically review script pages, storyboards, and pre-vis/layout as editorial continues to refine the cut, to call out where FX are needed, and to provide a bid for the resources required. As those sequences progress through the pipeline, we often revisit these bids once models, characters, and animation are completed. It is crucial to stay in contact with leadership of other departments to achieve success. We provide feedback on ways to retain the creative intent while simplifying the cost of the work. We also call out any specific technological or visual development required in the FX to achieve the vision of the director. The HoFX is also responsible for casting out these tasks to the members of the team. We use a combination of an artist’s strengths in the various categories of FX like fire, water, clouds, destruction, etc., and then balance that against career growth. A goal on every film is to give every artist something that will grow them in some way, enhance their expertise, or improve their demo reel.
What are the best parts about being HoFX?
You are the conduit for your department into the show leadership and will often get to discuss with the director what their vision is and what are the relevant story moments. They are relying on you to bring your experience to offer suggestions to further that storytelling with the FX animation while staying within your budget. At the studio department level, you also play a role in hiring new talent. This helps shape the department’s talent pool with great people that support each other. One of the most rewarding parts of my job is to see people thrive in their roles, be recognized for their contributions, and grow into leaders themselves.
Do you have any advice for aspiring HoFX?
Trust is the number one thing you must have to be an effective leader of any department. A career of high performance is helpful and can help foster initial trust that you’ve walked a mile in your team’s shoes, but look for opportunities to help lift up your fellow coworkers as you’re seeking that promotion.
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