Christopher Friesen has built an impressive career in visual effects, growing from a digital media graduate to Senior Art Director at Framestore, with his talent and dedication earning recognition at top industry awards.
My journey into visual effects and motion graphics was a bit of a long one. My undergraduate degree was in digital media, which gave me a very broad foundation in design, 3d, video, and web design. I was living in a small town without much of a creative industry so I kind of fell into an unrelated job. After that I decided to go to grad school at The Academy of Art to focus on compositing and matte painting, but even after completing that degree I struggled to find my way into vfx for film or advertising.
I eventually got an in-house position with a sporting goods brand where I was responsible for all photography, video, motion design, and 3d. I used this opportunity to build foundational skills in photography and editing, but also to push my abilities in 3d and motion design. After a few years of working there, I caught a break and was given a freelance generalist referral, so I quit my job and took a leap into freelance.
I was living in Chicago at the time, and I ended up successfully freelancing for a couple of years with different studios around the city doing both Nuke compositing and generalist CG. During this time, I also pivoted from using Maya and 3d Max to exclusively using Houdin.
After several freelance stints with Framestore, they offered me a full-time position as a senior FX artist. I’ve been with Framestore since, growing from an FX artist to my current role as a Senior Art Director.
I’ve always really enjoyed photography. I used to borrow my mom’s old camera when I was a kid and took a lot of pictures. In high school, I took some graphic design classes which was kind of a gateway into my interest in motion design and visual effects. I never really made videos in my younger years, but I really grew interested in filmmaking in college in the digital media program. Some of my favorite projects were the short films we wrote and directed.
After a few years of working in FX I was starting to lose a bit of interest in typical FX of recreating realworld physical phenomena. I was growing more and more interested in abstract fx and how I could get back into the motion design/filmmaking of my time as an in-house artist.
At this same time, some opportunities opened up at Framestore and I was able to kind of raise my hand and express interest. Since that point, I’ve been able to continue working my way up to leading teams, pitching on new work, and being a bridge between design and visual effects.
I’m really proud of the opening film for “OFFF” that I wrote and co-directed with other creative directors from the three US Framestore offices.
I’m also proud of the work the team and I did on “One Piece”. It was less of a motion design job for me and more of an FX challenge, but I really enjoyed it.
I’m not sure I have a specific style. A lot of times I’m trying to match a look requested by the client, but my work tends to fall into a slightly grittier and moodier place than a lot of the super clean motion design that’s out there right now.
My process tends to start with a brief or reference pull and then I typically dive straight into Houdini. I do a lot of style frames and motion tests at the beginning of projects. For style frames, I’ll lay out geo quickly and kitbash from asset libraries or create quick simulations, but I’ll spend more time on lighting and shading to get the style I’m looking for. Then I take those renders into Nuke. I tend to get the final look to only 70 or 80 percent in Houdini and then I pull it all together in Nuke. I use the same process once frames and motion tests are approved to execute the final shots, which means I have a solid base to start from, and a lot of the problems have already been solved.
It’s obviously easier to tell a story in an animation or film because you can use sequences and editing to control pacing and action. For a single frame, I like to think of it as a paused frame from an animation, so I typically have a moving camera or objects to get motion blur into my frames. This gives the frame a feeling of movement and life. Lighting also plays an important role and can help tell a story or set a mood.
I really enjoy abstract themes and styles in motion design and finding ways to blend that with either live action or animated character work.
It took me a long time before I was able to get my foot in the door at Framestore. What I’d tell an aspiring artist is to stay motivated and to continue working on your technical skill as well as your artistic eye. With AI and easier to use tools coming out all the time, one thing that can still set you apart is great taste and a really good eye.
It’s a competitive industry where relationships matter so try to network at industry events and work on personal work where you can really push your unique style.
I’m constantly inspired by all the amazing work being done by other studios and individual artists. It’s a fine line between being inspired though and getting discouraged if your own work isn’t measuring up.
There are a lot of trends, in motion design specifically, and I feel like we’re starting to reach the end of the trends that started within the last 10 years or so. I’m really excited to see what styles and trends emerge in the next few years.
I hope students take away that there is more than one way to accomplish a task. Especially when it comes to whether to procedurally animate something or to simulate it. I feel that my workflow is a bit unusual, and I hope they learn from my process, but also that they are able to grow and expand on their own unique process.
Additionally, I hope the use of vex and building procedural setups and tools helps them gain a better understanding of Houdini and how to leverage the power of Houdini to step up their motion design work.
But that’s not all! We have some incredibly cool news to reveal next week, so stay tuned for an announcement that promises to elevate your VFX journey.
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