Simon Stanley-Clamp - Visual Effects Expert

Visual Effects Supervising Compositor on Black Hawk Down
So you want to film a helicopter crashing.
Plan A. Drop a real one, packed with explosives and stand well clear.
Plan B. Build a scale model in 3D and photograph it with the latest computer gizmos.
Simon Stanley-Clamp from special effects powerhouse Mill Film explains why you get the bigger bang with the model - and all from the safety of their Soho studios.

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CV
Stanley-Clamp studied graphic design at West Sussex College of Design. He spent 17 years doing graphic post production work on news, current affairs and in animation houses before becoming a key compositor on New Line Cinema's Lost In Space. He joined Mill Film in 1998 as a 2D senior compositor and has worked on a number of films including Babe II: Pig In The City, Enemy Of The State, Gladiator, Cats And Dogs, Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone and currently, Black Hawk Down.

Your old job title - a `2D Effects Compositor'. What does it mean?
Visual effects post work is divided into 2D (two dimensional) and 3D. In the context of visual effects, 3D effects people create objects and animations in true 3D space, an object that could exist beyond the confines of the computer monitor. 2D is essentially taking final elements, be they filmed or 3D computer generated sequences, into a 2 dimensional environment to create a new image or composite. The 2D supervisor is senior to the 3D supervisor because, ultimately, the 3D elements have to be blended into the film which is, after all, a 2D image. The process of blending all the effects elements into one picture is called Compositing.

When do you become involved with a script?
Right from the scripting stage. Mostly before it's even been financed. Producers come to us with a script - or more helpfully a list of shots they think need effects. We do a `breakdown', taking a couple of days to give them an estimate of how much it will cost. They go away and try to raise the money and, if the film goes ahead, come back to us then we can work on scheduling the shots, assigning artists and kit etc.

Do you have an influence on the script?
At this stage, very much so. The producers might not have enough money and need to take elements out. We often suggest easier ways of doing things, effects that are much less labour intensive or set ups that are less complicated. It's a shame because we come across some great effects in good scripts that never see the light of day.