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A Close Shave
The Men of ShaveFX bring Revelations to Life
At a Glance:
Names: Dave Gau & Shannon Honaker
Age : 36 (Dave) 33 (Shannon)
Occupation: Animators, Designers at ShaveFX, Inc.
Location: Richmond, VA
REVELATIONS titles: CG Team animators
Preferred software: Maya, anything made by Adobe and Apple
Websites: www.shavefx.com, www.superior1901.com, www.davegau.com
RTOF: How did you hear about REVELATIONS?
SHANNON: A long time ago on a website far, far away.... I first saw it looking through theforce.net long before Shane ever contacted us to work on his masterpiece.
DAVE: Actually, REVELATIONS heard about us. Shane Felux was searching for animators and CG artists to join the REVELATIONS team, and he called ShaveFX
out of the blue. I guess we're also lucky enough to be just down I-95 from REVELATIONS Central.
RTOF: What's your background? How did you get involved with computer graphics?
DAVE: I have a B.S. in Film & Video production from Rochester Institute of Technology. I graduated back in '89, when computer animation was done on an
Amiga and the Cubicomp was da bomb. My senior film was a hand drawn cel animation called "Fanaround". In 1987 or '88, I went to the Toronto Animation Festival. A company called Pixar debuted their hot-off-the-press print of a little ditty called "Tin Toy." I was drinking a beer with this guy named Steve Jobs at an after party when I started thinking how cool that would be. True
story. Iım sure he remembers me. He never calls, though....
SHANNON: I attended Virginia Commonwealth University in the Communication Arts program but left to do animation. No beers with famous people.
RTOF: Where has your work been featured?
SHANNON: Some local, national broadcast spots, MSNBC, Frontline (PBS), Discovery Channel.
DAVE: And prominently in my parents' VCR.
RTOF: So how does working on REVELATIONS differ from your past work?
SHANNON: I have never had the chance to work in this genre before, and I have grown up with the Star Wars universe.
DAVE: Or rather IN the Star Wars universe. Typically, our work is exciting stuff like animating wastewater treatment facilities or flying logos. So the day-to-day stuff is far from Star Wars.
RTOF: So that was the appeal?
DAVE: It's Star Wars. We're Star Wars geeks. Well, Shannon is.
SHANNON: (expletive deleted)
DAVE: The simple fact that we were both the prime age for the original trilogy means Star Wars is simply a part of us. So working on something of this
tremendous quality is a privilege. Kind of an homage.
SHANNON: And the experience and working with the huge pool of talent that has been assembled to finish the effects work on this film.
RTOF: How much of your time does REVELATIONS take?
DAVE: Not nearly as much as we want.
SHANNON: We have been very busy taking care of regular clients for the past few weeks but I am looking forward to getting back in to REVELATIONS. It would be real easy to get caught up in the effects work for this film so I have to be careful and make sure I have a least a few days straight to work on it.
DAVE: Donating time is very rewarding, providing you actually HAVE time.
RTOF: What tools/capability do you wish you had for REVELATIONS?
SHANNON: The super computer at Virginia Tech to render on!!!!!
DAVE: And the psychic ability to predict the lottery numbers. Then my winnings would allow us to devote 100% of our work time to REVELATIONS. A rich guy
wanting to fund us would work, too. Any takers? Bill Gates? Anyone?
RTOF: Who or what has been your greatest influence in pursuing the effects field?
SHANNON: I would say the movies I grew up with... Star Wars and Alien mostly.
DAVE: Ditto. And I'd add some Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek, too. And Raiders.
RTOF: Where do you get your inspiration?
SHANNON: I meditate for hours everyday, lots of green tea and Fig Newtons.
DAVE: Demo reels of kick-ass effects companies.
RTOF: What is the greatest challenge you've faced as a visual effects artist?
SHANNON: Having the time to get the look I want. I never seem to have enough time or the client never has enough money!
DAVE: Working with Shannon. (gets smacked) Actually, working in a one-man shop for four years and a two-man shop for the past year. We donıt have the benefit of learning from constant contact with a large group of other animators.
RTOF: What's been your worst moment on this project?
SHANNON: Shane is really slow to pay.... I call daily.... I leave messages asking for my paychecks.... I know Shane is busy so maybe one day he will get
around to it.
DAVE: Working with Shannon. (gets smacked)
RTOF: What's your best?
SHANNON: When I finished my first scene, that was really cool. Now if I can just get done with the second!
DAVE: Seeing the killer trailer finally produced! All of the talent involved with film is amazing, and it was a great rush to see what I'm a part of. Even though my contribution was far from finished in time to actually be IN the trailer, it was still inspiring to see.
RTOF: So, if you knew back then, going into the project, what you know now... would you still do it?
SHANNON: Hell yes.
DAVE: I'm not any smarter now, so of course!
RTOF: What advice would you offer someone looking to do this type of work?
SHANNON: MAKE SURE THEY PAY ON TIME!
DAVE: DONıT WORK WITH SHANNON! (craftily avoids another smack)
RTOF: What do you hope to take away from the project?
DAVE: The ability to brag that I was a part of the best independent Star Wars film ever produced. Bragging rights. Even if my contribution is 1/1,000,000th of the film.
SHANNON: The satisfaction of knowing that I worked on this fine film. I am really excited about seeing the final piece!
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