By Kirsten Coachman
Preparing students to enter the real world following graduation is one of the main pillars of Academy of Art University. StudioX, the premier VFX program in the School of Animation & Visual Effects (ANM), is one such avenue for students of all majors to have an opportunity to add real-world credits to their résumé before receiving their diploma. Previous StudioX film projects include the Oscar-nominated “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Fruitvale Station,” “Strawberry Mansion,” and “Gonzo Girl.”
Last fall, StudioX students were assigned to their latest feature film project, “Omni Loop,” written and directed by Bernardo Britto.
The film stars Emmy winners Mary-Louise Parker (“Angels in America”) and Ayo Edebiri (“The Bear”) and centers on a quantum physicist named Zoya Lowe (Parker) who has a black hole in her chest and a week to live. To keep from dying, Zoya takes a pill to transport her back a week, which she has relived countless times until one day, she runs into Paula Campos (Edebiri), a young student studying time, inspiring Zoya to use her looping final week to find a way to save herself.
Though the work StudioX completed for “Omni Loop” was relatively straightforward, “it was still a very tight deadline,” said 3D ANM Executive Director Catherine Tate, who was referred to the project by Josh Penn, a producer on “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
For the initial meeting with Britto, Tate, ANM Production Manager Anwei Chen, and StudioX student leads Kassandra Bravo (B.F.A. ’25) and Davis Forge (B.F.A. ’25) met with the director to discuss the scope of the work.
“We discussed the work, shot by shot, let them know what we need to get started,” shared Tate.
Like in a real-world studio, the shots were brought in for the team, who often work and collaborate remotely, to get started. Once added to the R.Lab—ANM’s remote desktop system—the shots are organized and set up in a web-based program, Production Flow Tracking.
“[R.Lab] allows us to display what we’ve done and send [to] a client, and they can comment on it,” explained Tate, the senior VFX supervisor on the film. “That’s how we generally communicate about shots. And then go back and forth and back and forth until we’re done.”
For “Omni Loop,” StudioX worked on 26 shots, from creating 3D smoke for a computer explosion to compositing in a one-horned rhino and bird poop falling into live-action shots. Key to the storytelling was the nose bleeds that Parker’s character would get throughout the film, which the students had to track onto the actor. A blood element also had to be composited onto her face as Parker moved and turned her head in scenes.
Once shots had been worked on, it was time for the review process. Students would turn their work in on Tuesday evenings for review during their Wednesday afternoon class. A student producer on the film would gather the submitted work and put together a playlist for review with Tate and the student leads.
“Once we decide what is ready to show the director, we’ll assemble a client playlist,” said Tate. “And [Bernardo] was one of the directors who actually came into the class via Zoom every week. We would show him the playlist, we would get his critiques, we would also send it to him so he could see it at a higher resolution. And he would give us any additional comments.”
From there, the students would make changes based on Britto’s feedback and the following week show the director the next round of work.
“And then as we get closer to the end where the deadline is coming, we had a few meetings between the classes just to get more work turned around,” added Tate.
Britto’s regular meetings with StudioX to review the work being completed was an “invaluable experience” for Tate’s students.
“It helps them interface with professionals,” said Tate. “Because a lot of our job—yes, there’s an art part of it, yes, there’s the production part of it—but a lot of it is about communication and being a team and about working as a team.”
The StudioX team was comprised of 21 students—including Bravo and Forge—as well as Ryan Molini (M.F.A. ’24) and Lashay Riley (M.A. ’22/M.F.A. ’24).
Bringing a filmmaker’s vision to the big screen is not always easy, and the students admitted that the time crunch they were under to deliver their work before the film’s world premiere at SXSW earlier this year was challenging at times.
“We did only have a semester and a half to get all of the work that they wanted done, and it wasn’t super simple work,” said Bravo, who served as StudioX’s senior VFX production manager. “There was a lot of intricate visual effects work that needed to be done. So I’m very proud of my team that they were able to manage in such short notice, putting in all the time and the hours to make sure that we got what we needed to hand off to the client.”
“This is such a push and we’re having to get it all out, and we are all banding together,” added Riley, who worked as the compositing supervisor on the film. “So I’m most proud of the students who I’m working with just coming together and being able to complete this in such a short amount of time.”
With different schedules to work around, the student supervisors needed to be as available as possible to connect with members of their team throughout the week to make sure that week’s work was completed. In addition to communicating over Discord, Riley and Forge led workshops for any students needing help with a particular shot.
“A lot of times, artists hit roadblocks on their shots and just need guidance or another eye on their shots,” said Forge, the associate VFX supervisor on the film. “And we either help them fix a problem or help guide them to the right way of going about their shot.”
When communicating back and forth with the client, VFX Production Manager Ryan Molini shared that his role on the film was akin to being “an air traffic controller.”
“I ran daily sessions and coordinated meetings with the clients and any sort of communication that needed to go from artist to client or client to artist,” said Molini.
Of his time in StudioX, Molini added: “It is such a nice experience to be able to live inside of a studio setting alongside faculty members that have also done it, where there’s a little bit more guidance, and it allows you to work with real-world clients on real-world projects, with a bit more help than you may get at a traditional studio. And I think that allows for more growth at a quicker pace.”
“Every project is not the same, so it really gives a whole different experience on timelines, how to understand and talk to clients,” said Bravo. “Also, what kind of work is out there. Some shows are a little easier. Some shows are very intricate and have all these crazy ideas that they want to contribute. So it’s really exciting to see and bring their idea to life.”
“First, I like that [StudioX] simulates an actual production studio, so I’m able to get experience while still being a student,” said Riley. “And secondly, I really like the community of the artists being able to work on shots together and help each other. And I learned so much working from other artists.”
“I’ve been a part of Studio X for a long time, and to see how big the community has grown each semester from the time I started to now—and not only the community but the leadership, our two leads, our production team, everyone—it’s grown so big that sometimes our workshops don’t even turn into workshops,” said Forge. “It’s more just us sitting on Zoom together, talking while we work on projects. To be a part of that community is what I’m proud of. I think it’s just been getting better and better each semester.”
Talking with the students of StudioX, there’s an air of undeniable camaraderie between them. Tate credits the student leadership for the community they’ve created through working on different projects within StudioX.
“I have never been more impressed with the level of student commitment, especially with our leaders in StudioX. It’s phenomenal,” said Tate. “Discord is blowing up like every day, and they’re creating their own workshops to help the newer students. We would never be able to manage this if it weren’t for the student leadership.”
With “Omni Loop” being released in theaters and via digital retailers this past month, it’s not just a chance for the students to see their work on the big screen; it’s an opportunity for their loved ones to see what they’ve accomplished during their time at the Academy.
“It’s really good for [our students] to have something tangible to show the people in their lives something that they’ve done in school,” said Tate. “That they can show their family and friends that they have the IMDB credit and that they have the credit on the film. I would call it the cherry on top.”