By Tyler Callister
One of Ersi Zhao’s most significant projects in Academy of Art University’s School of Animation & Visual Effects (ANM) was the short film, “Tranvia.” Using a node-based visual effects software called Nuke, the 2015 ANM alumnus transformed a historic San Francisco trolley car into a creepy tunnel of horror.
“I helped create the spooky fog and cracking windows that surround the main character,” he said. “It made it feel like the trolley car was closing in.”
The film’s visual effects supervisor, 3-D Animation Executive Director Catherine Tate, recently won “Best Visual Effects” in the CortoEspaña’s Fugaz Awards for 2021.
Tate said that Zhao’s visual effects style was perfect for the surreal movie.
“He’s a naturally talented art director,” said Tate. “And his signature style of dreamy effects fit in well with the film.”
Six years after “Tranvia” was completed, Zhao’s visual effects can now be seen across the entertainment world. As an art director and compositing supervisor for Ingenuity Studios in Los Angeles, Zhao has worked on Taylor Swift music videos (for the hit songs “Lover” and “You Need to Calm Down,” among others); the Showtime series “Super Pumped”; and Jordan Peele’s Academy Award-winning film “Get Out.”
These days, Zhao has worked on so many major film and TV projects with Ingenuity Studios that he can’t remember them all.
“It’s hard to keep them straight,” he said with a laugh.
He also works in one of the most collaborative entertainment industry fields. With layers of effects and editing, each scene touches many hands before any given project is finalized.
“Billions of frames from movies, TV shows, and commercials come from tens of thousands of talented artists’ day and night efforts,” he said. “Our job truly is teamwork.”
Zhao explained that a typical day involves him managing a team of other artists.
“My job as compositing supervisor involves working closely with a show’s visual effects supervisor and Ingenuity’s visual effects supervisors,” he said. “Then I will work with our whole team to plan how to create these effects as efficiently as possible.”
Zhao, who earned his M.A. in animation and visual effects, said that spirit of collaboration is what he learned most from the Academy. He noted that StudioX, the Academy’s in-house animation and visual effects studio overseen by ANM, taught him the power of teamwork.
“Studio X prepared the other students and me for the whole production pipeline, which includes many people,” he explained.
At 37 years old, Zhao’s path, from childhood to the Academy and now his current professional role, has been long. Growing up in Inner Mongolia, his mother was a computer science professor, and his father was a judge. Zhao began his career by studying architecture and engineering design, earning his B.A. and his first M.A., but he found that avenue too constricting.
“There were too many rules and regulations in architecture,” said Zhao.
He soon found inspiration for a new career path in the film “Inception”—Christopher Nolan’s mind-bending epic about architects who build dream worlds. Zhao became interested in how filmmakers created those wild special effects and realized he could use visual effects to make almost anything.
“It was such a different and exciting world that Christopher Nolan built with the help of visual effects. As we see in the movie, architects can build anything they dream up,” he said. “And as visual artists, we have the ability to make the impossible possible and create entire worlds to inspire millions of people around the whole world.”
Taking his newfound interest online, Zhao searched for a place where he could learn to use digital technology to create “something beautiful.” He discovered the Academy and moved to San Francisco in 2012 to pursue his M.A. in visual effects.
As a student, Zhao thrived during his years at the Academy, setting the foundation for his work in the industry. Tate, his instructor in several classes, said that Zhao always seemed a natural fit as art director.
“He stepped right up and had a very specific vision for visual effects,” said Tate. “He seemed to have a natural talent for it.”
Zhao continues to enjoy the creative outlet that the visual effects field gives him personally and the value of working with others—something instilled in him at the Academy.
“There is something to learn from everyone,” he said. “So, you have to be humble.”