a hello and another website

[cthunig]

hi all!

my name is chris and for the last few months i have frequently been visiting mattepainting.org, feasting on the impressive work on display here.

after a bit of html hassle i managed to put up a site of my own a few days ago, so i thought now would be a good time to drop in and say hello. living up here in London i believe this could be a great way to keep in touch with the worldwide "guild" :wink:.

here's a sample of some of my older work:

http://www.thunig.com/content_01/images/work/mp_001_a.jpg
done at Duran, this was painted over a geometrie the company provided. the background buildings were pretextured by the city texture team (which i was also part of) and then painted over.

there's some more at www.thunig.com (http://www.thunig.com/).

other credits include Troy, AvP and very recently Kingdom of Heaven.

thanks very much!

[P.Nagle]

Awsome work Chris!!!!

I like the Troy paintings alot!

how is working on films in england? i am intrested in moving there once i am done with school.


Hope to see your Kingdom of Heaven stuff soon!


-P.Nagle

[tobiasth]

Wow, very impressive work, like it so much!
I hope we can see more stuff from you soon!
U r welcome.

[lightwell]

Very very nice work. I liked the Cell Block D label - god is defnitely in the details!

JM

[cameo]

Great work Chris, love the mood.

Cant seem to get the link to your website working though, is it down at the moment?

[imothep85]

EXELLENTS works, ;) want more :p

[Jensen]

Wow. I remember one of your paintings very clearly, the 'lux lucis' concept with the two panthers, girl, and the foreground hand of a dead person with the pool, (perhaps on Sijun a long time ago). I'm extremely glad to see you re-appear with such wonderful work. Your mattes look excellent, and the detail has definitely carried into your concept work. Nicely done!

Good luck, and thanks for sharing.

- Patrick

[brad]

Great work,
Love the concept arts too.
This is one of my favorites;
http://www.thunig.com/images/work/ca_005_a.jpg

[smooth]

Your skills are really good. Nice work. Your textures are amazing.
+smooth+

[cthunig]

wow, thanks so much for the warm welcome guys, it's much appreciated!

P.Nagle, if you're willing to cope with the insane prices, the unreliable transportation system and unfriendly winters London is a good place to be for film. a lot of big budget work has been coming in the last 2 years, mainly due to the lease back system and the city's great studio tradition. how long it will last, who knows. recruiting has slowed down a little recently since people are more likely to be passed on from production to production, but positions still become available as special needs arise (e.g. fluid FX TDs are hot at the moment). as i'm sure you know most of the vfx houses are located in Soho and the community is relatively tight knit and international (well, as much as anywhere in vfx i suppose). in terms of working conditions i can only speak for MPC. no complaints from me. since i have seen different in other places, it must be said that the atmosphere here is generally just as friendly and fair as it is professional. freelancers are usually paid on a day to day basis which includes any overtime put in during the week. weekends, if you do need to spend them at the company, are paid like weekdays. usually you're fine, but as productions draw to a close it becomes more likely to have to sacrifice a few saturdays or sundays. that's just my two cents- if anyone knows better please correct me. though personally i am not exactly sure if London is a great place to grow old, all in all you should definately give it a go at some point if you're up for it!
ack... sorry, didn't mean to write a novel!

cameo, i think i screwed up on the link in my signature. it should be fixed now. apologies!

jensen, you are right, i did post the image quiet some time ago. you have an amazing memory ;-). it's an embarassingly old piece so i'd better get some of the newer stuff up quickly to make up for that.

tobiasth, lightswell, imothep85, brad, smooth, thanks very much for
for the kind comments! it's good to be here.

[smooth]

I forgot to add...MPC got picked up by Techinicolor. Any visible changes in management?
I'd like to see some detail shots of your work if it's ok. Esp those nice ladscapes.
welcome to the community!

+smooth+

[P.Nagle]

cthunig thanks for novel!! whenever i ask someone about living in soho/london they just say "yea its great!! ect. ect." its nice to hear that the film industry is good over there. The only way i can deal with high living cost is if I get a job I guess, but that does not really bother me because I live on very little money as it is right now being in college in all!

-P.Nagle

[cthunig]

thanks smooth! as far as the takeover goes: since the deal was made it's business as usual. as someone from the lower ranks i didn't notice anything whatsoever.

here are some close-up views. unfortunately i have all the larger files from Troy zipped up on a disk at home in Germany, so all i have here is film res. :?

http://www.thunig.com/bin/mp_001_b.jpg

http://www.thunig.com/bin/mp_001_c.jpg

http://www.thunig.com/bin/mp_009_c.jpg

http://www.thunig.com/bin/mp_011_c.jpg
the city is a slight paint over of a 3D element provided by the city-team

P.Nagle, yup- i believe it's tough here without a steady job, though i do know some people who get by quiet well despite longer gaps between projects. don't get me wrong, i'm not saying that you need to starve if you work in vfx here, i simply reckon that with the insane rents and all there's a little less left at the end of the month than in, let's say, Wellington or whatever. sounds like you're prepared anyway. :-) where are you studying?

[P.Nagle]

Hey cthunig,

I am currently studying at the art institute international of minneasota....which is probley one of the least vfx oriented states in the whole country!

My goal when i am done with school is to be at a level where I can get a junior matte artist or compositor position(preferably as a matte artist), but I will take whatever I can get!

-P.Nagle

[cthunig]

Sounds good, you do your thing. I don't think the orientation of the school will matter much on your resume later.

I visited Minneapolis and St. Paul in '95, it's quiet an interesting place. First time I had ever seen the Mississippi, that was quiet something.

[P.Nagle]

Ya the Mississippi is pretty cool the frist time you see it! I am planning on doing a period shot of minneapolis along the river around 1900 some time here i just have to compile reference photos! It should be fun though.

-P.Nagle

[cthunig]

Cool, be sure to share it with us when it's done!

[mu.gt-r]

Hi cthunig !
Your works are very great!
Your matte painting of 'Troy' was so cool. I love it!
I'll try to build a huge chinese ancient city for my personal projact.Could you give some suggestion to me how to treat with it ?

[Jay_Gladwell]

Chris, outstanding work! I love your attention to detail, and the lighting is remarkable.

Jay