Education/training
Is this the face of global destruction?A Seneca graduate helped destroy the world last summer -- well, sort of. TOM BARTSIOKAS |
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 [ 2006-09-27 ] |
Giovanni Nakpil had his visual effects on display in the Tom Cruise blockbuster War of the Worlds.
Giovanni Nakpil, a 1997 Digital Media Technical Production graduate, has become a master of movie mayhem, creating galactic battles and fierce alien machines.
Working as a 3D modeler for Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) -- the award-winning visual effects shop owned by Star Wars creator George Lucas -- he continues to add blockbusters to his already impressive resume. They include the final chapter of the Star Wars saga and one of the biggest science fiction movies in recent years: War of the Worlds.
Giovanni's love of drawing and Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) led him to study at Seneca College where his passion for the whole visual effects process was reaffirmed.
The Digital Media Technical Production program -- called Computer Graphics when Giovanni took the program -- prepares students for successful careers in the computer graphics and digital media industries.
"There were a lot of talented professors that I learned a lot from," Giovanni recalls. "When I left Seneca, I knew I really wanted to work in CGI."
FILM CREDITS
For nearly five years now, Giovanni has been working at ILM. The first ILM project he worked on as a 3D modeler was Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones. Today, his film credits include Van Helsing, Dreamcatcher, Matrix Revolutions, Pirates of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
"I never would have dreamed that I would be working for ILM," says the 29-year-old Star Wars fan. He was recruited to ILM after working for animation companies in Toronto and Texas.
His goal was to work with his idols, Lucas and Steven Spielberg. And that's just what has happened since he arrived at ILM. His Seneca training has allowed him to take on greater challenges with each film, culminating with a chance to work on Spielberg's World of the Worlds project.
"I think the biggest highlight for me, or the most satisfying, was being able to work on War of the Worlds. It was like winning the lottery."
Giovanni created the giant laser blasting alien machines in War of the Worlds -- considered to be a major character in the film -- and the alien probe that threatens Tom Cruise.
But just like his filmmaking idols, Giovanni would eventually like to move behind the camera and direct. In the meantime, he continues to remain busy at ILM.
For more information about the Digital Media Production program at Seneca visit: www.senecac.on.ca/fulltime/DTP.html
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