Jurassic Park artist on how to create great VFX

There's a sculptor called Ken Price, and he once said, "A craftsman knows what he's going to make and an artist doesn't know what he’s going to make, or what the finished product is going to look like."

In visual effects, the challenge is finding that balance. There's a danger of becoming hyper-focused on what's 'wrong' with a picture, and that's death for an artist. Working on Star Wars and Robocop, we never thought much about what was wrong with a shot. We just thought about how to make it better.

My advice is to be subversive, have faith in your crew, and understand that audiences just want to be amazed. If you can embrace the childlike ability to want to be amazed, to pick a crew of people you believe in and give them guidelines, and then be excited about seeing where they go with it, you start to really understand how filmmaking is a creative process instead of a colour-by-numbers.

How to be a better VFX artist by Phil Tippett

Tippett specialises in creature design and character animation. His career began in 1975 and saw him working on many blockbusters including Jurassic Park

That's why, whenever possible, I prefer to work with real objects. That's what appeals to me about stop-motion animation. When you're photographically documenting something rather than artificially reconstructing it with a computer, it's a representation of a real thing, not a virtual thing.

As opposed to working from an intention towards an objective, a real object tells you a lot about what it wants to be. Things can change and evolve. The best directors and artists and supervisors understand this. Working with a team like that, it's like being invited in to play.

How to be a better VFX artist by Phil Tippett

Tippett's fascination with creatures began in his childhood and carried him all the way to Hollywood

Words: Phil Tippett

Phil Tippett is a movie director and VFX supervisor and producer who specialises in creature design and character animation. He has worked on projects from Star Wars to Jurassic Park, winning numerous awards along the way. This article originally appeared in 3D World issue 184.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

The Creative Bloq team is made up of a group of design fans, and has changed and evolved since Creative Bloq began back in 2012. The current website team consists of eight full-time members of staff: Editor Georgia Coggan, Deputy Editor Rosie Hilder, Ecommerce Editor Beren Neale, Senior News Editor Daniel Piper, Editor, Digital Art and 3D Ian Dean, Tech Reviews Editor Erlingur Einarsson and Ecommerce Writer Beth Nicholls and Staff Writer Natalie Fear, as well as a roster of freelancers from around the world. The 3D World and ImagineFX magazine teams also pitch in, ensuring that content from 3D World and ImagineFX is represented on Creative Bloq.