Mark Chavez, a Singapore based professor, animator and director has done it again with a Vengeance!!! In a gala awards ceremony held at the famous Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills and attended by luminaries of film and media including Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight. Vengeance + Vengeance directed by Chavez was honored with the Best Animation Award.
Vengeance+Vengeance is now the recipient of 9 awards from film festivals such as Marbella International Film Festival (2012), Vegas Cine Fest (2012), Urban Mediamakers Film Festival (2012), AHOF’s Savannah International Animation Festival (Apr 2013) and competitions such as the Love Unlimited Film Festival (2012), The California Film Awards (2012), The Accolade Competition (2013), and the Canada International Film Festival (Jan 2013).
The film is directed and written by Mark Chavez and stars voice over by Amelia Jaishree, Bob Feldman and Mr. Chavez himself. The work is funded by Interactive Digital Media R&D Project Office, Singapore through the National Research Foundation/Media Development Authority. Wong Jing Cherng held the helm of visual development for the film while the Music & Sound Design is done by Philip Tan Chin Wen.
Vengeance+Vengeance is an 18 minute 30 second film, authored the Unreal Development Kit. The movie is designed in three different states: extreme, standard and cute. Initially these states were tested in an interactive morphing-design playback system. The current work is created in a director driven system. It is part of a research project titled ‘Cinematics and Narratives’ based on creating stories within real-time visual toolsets. The story is a contemporary adaptation of “The Hunter” by Richard Stark (AKA Donald E. Westlake) placing the protagonist voiced by Miss Jaishree in the role of Parker.
The logline goes as follows: In a world where scientific achievement has merged the boundaries between man and weapon, one woman stands apart. The Resnick Corporation through advanced genomic research stands poised to control weapon development with an advanced soldier prototype. The only problem, the prototype has gone wrong.
Mark Joseph Chavez is an assistant professor at NTU’s School of Art, Design and Media, Singapore. With 25 years of professional animation industry experience, he has worked on performance interactive animation in laser-light for rock concerts and tradeshows, crowd simulation for DreamWorks’s Prince of Egypt, was a lead artist at Acclaim Entertainment for Alien Trilogy a Playstation 2 game (the first PS2 game to use motion capture) and has done CGI motion graphics for television commercials and Japanese game shows titles doing storyboard, design and execution at Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS).
In an exclusive interview with Animationxpress.com’s Ishpreet Chandock, Mark expressed his delight on winning the award and more.
Here are the excerpts of the conversation...
First all, congratulation for the award, tell us what was your first reaction on winning this award?
This is the 9th award with the first being in Marbella, Spain. It was quite a pleasure receiving the award however given the nature of the festival I should have been more prepared with a better acceptance speech.
Vengance+Vengance is a recipient of 9 awards, are double digits on the cards soon?
The next award will put me into double digits. If this does indeed happen I will be quite please however I am anxious for the next chapter. I am happy to say that here in Singapore and through the University I did manage to get another round of funding though for a different research outcome not directly related to Vengeance+Vengeance.
Who would you like to share this success with?
Of course this is shared with all of my crew. The credits are as follows:
Directed by: Mark Chavez
Visual Development: Wong Jing Cherng
Original Music & Sound Design: Philip Tan Chin Wen
Written by Mark Chavez
Storyboard by Mark Chavez, Wong Jing Cherng
Voice Over
Lily: Amelia Jaishree
Resnik: Bob Feldman
Stan: Mark Chavez
Modeling Lead: Lim Yuanwen
Surface Design Lead: Chan Yinghol
Rigging Lead: Boon Yifei
Animation by Ang Yizhi, Hazel Kyi Phyu Hnin, Nguyen Hieu Hanh, Stefani Irwin
Software: Harry Hak Hyun Kim, Aung Sithu Kyaw, Thet Naing Swe
Layout: Ram Prasad Devanathan, Sailaja Sruthi Yadlapati
Opening Sequence: Mak Hon Keat, Ajin Joseph Vattamakkal
Additional Modeling: Antoinette Jade, Florence Sjah, Han Shengyi, Jing Ting Tan, Lee Jun Yi, Nguyen Pham Hai An (Sea), Shu An Lauren, Trinh Dinh Quan
Motion Capture Test: Fung Chun Hong, Pok Sim Loong
UDK Colorist: Goh Hui Ying
Additional Animation: Kanan Abdul Kader Mohamed Ali, Siew Zhi Zhong, Jerome
Student Coordinator: Han Shengyi
Research: Chang Yun-Ke, Liu Linyi
Additional Research: Alexander Bernard Halim, Indrayani Gunawan, Ting Keng Boon,
Research Assistants: Ang Wei Tyng, Qwah Ying Hwa Malcolm, Tan Hui Huang Isabella, Yap She Fong,
Additional Dialog: Daniel Keith Jernigan, Tissina George
Technical Support: Teo Cheng Lim,
Administrative Support: Lew Huey Shan, Seah Mui Choo
What are you working on currently?
I currently am working on research related to a content development think tank. My goal is to create 50 idea pitches of various focuses though primarily looking at humorous content. This work is comprised initially of three page treatments with simple sketched characterizations and scenarios. I will further support these ideas with talking online characters who can pitch their world to visitors of their home on the web.
How important is recognition of talent in today’s times?
With the troubled Visual Effects industry going through evolution and change, looking back I am quite happy that I decided to come to Singapore and take up university research. The time committed has enabled me to renew my creative skills and reposition myself as a creative force rather than exclusively as a production artist. I think this is what every artist serious about their field should strive to do. As artists we must develop what it is to be able to communicate in a visual language. This will enable us envision new ways of understanding and managing life’s problems, possibly creating alternative coping mechanisms both real and intangible that are more relevant to living in today’s society.
Do you feel the pressure after all the accolades your previous work has received?
No I do not feel pressure rather I feel the desire to do more work and get more things done. I do worry about financing in this regard.
Do expectations of peers, people bother you?
Here at the university the expectations seem to not be related to creative tangible outcomes. In academia sometimes there can be some uncertainty as to what the jobs expectations actually are. In relation to my film-making career however I am clear on my own expectations and have only financial support for production and distribution to concern myself with. These expectations are quite clear and achievable.
Is there any scene or shot you would like to do differently in Vengeance+ Vengeance?
I would like to rework the chase sequence. I don’t think it was well done. I would change it by adding more zip cuts and camera movement as well as reactive physics.
Anything you would like to say to the readers of AnimationXpress
Thanks for the support from AnimationXpress. In regards to publicity for the project you guys have always been there and I do appreciate it.
The 13th Annual Beverly Hills Film Festival was held at the world famous TCL Chinese Theatres located at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard.
Trailer: https://vimeo.com/48230830
