Behind the [screens] #5
Welcome to the fifth part in our series of ‘Behind the [screens]’ an intro into the worlds of our super talented team here at FOTW and a little bit about them and what life looks like in lock down. Adrian Larsson is up next to share his thoughts…
Name: Adrian Larsson (Junior Motion Designer)
Working for FOTW since: 05/06/2018
How long have you worked at FOTW?
Two years as of June!
What’s your favorite piece of work to date at FOTW that you’ve worked on?
Sky Ultimate On Demand. It was fun to do something that wasn’t a white world (nickname for our white virtual sets you’ll find in many of our Sky Ads) and had some cool effects and lighting techniques.
What made you decide to get involved in the creative industry?
There was no other choice. I’ve always loved creating things, and I was hooked from the first day I used Thrausi to shatter a cube in Cinema 4D R11!
How has COVID changed the way you work?
Working from home has made me appreciate and miss my desk setup in the FOTW Studio a lot more, and I am planning to make changes to my home desk to make it more suitable for long term work.
A lot of unnecessary or tedious tasks have been streamlined, including using digital amend sheets and forms in place of paper. The freedom and comfort-ability of working in your own space, while requiring a certain level of self-discipline, is a breath of fresh air. Hopefully this can remain an option in the future for many workplaces, as productivity stays about the same while happiness increases. (your mileage may vary)
What’s the best part of working at FOTW?
The people. Cliché, but 100% unquestionably true. Love you guys.
Whose work inspires you / What Motion Designers do you admire and how does their work influence your work?
Ash Thorp, Simon Stålenhag, Pablo Dominguez, Cornelius Dämmrich, Raphael Rau, Louise Meijer, Marek Denko, Johan Hägg. To name a few…
How do you stay current with the technology and processes in the industry?
Reddit, Youtube, Vimeo, and every Siggraph stream that exists. Consume it. Just read everything that’s ever been published on the internet and you can have an okay foundation to build upon.
Favorite Film?
Too many.
I’m a sucker for a good heist movie, where the Oceans trilogy is unbeatable.
The dark knight trilogy is probably the best take on the superhero genre.
For mysteries and plot twists, The prestige, Inception, and Memento.
I love everything by Quentin Tarantino. Garden state is great. Scott Pilgrim equally so.
Damn, you can’t just ask a question like that.
Redshift or Octane – What’s your preference and why?
Octane, due to a few proprietary workflow features which suit my style and what I want to do later in my career. For some jobs, I’d never use Octane. Ray exclusion/inclusion is currently impossible on a per-object basis, which kills it for some mograph work.
All render engines are just tools, with their own pros and cons. They all use the same basic mechanics with slightly different buttons, and there is no excuse to not know both of them in order to apply the one that fits the job.
Any advise for the next generation of Creative / Motion Designer?
Don’t get into this business unless you absolutely love having to learn new things every day. It requires so much knowledge of not only multiple art-forms, but an equal amount of technical skill and troubleshooting. And time. So much time. It’s worth it, though.
Like what you see?
If you fancy a chat about what we do, give us a call on 01582 881144 or drop us an email hello@falloffthewall.com. We’d love to hear from you!