A day in the life
Discover the typical daily work routine of Digital Domain’s experienced animator, Frankie Stellato
Digital Domain’s experienced animator Frankie Stellato breaks down his daily routine
Frankie Stellato has more than 14 years of experience as an animator, which he now channels into his role as animation supervisor at Digital Domain, one of the biggest and most well-respected studios in VFX. More recently Stellato has been putting superheroes in motion, earning himself credits on the likes of Aquaman, Ant-man And The Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-man: Homecoming. His credits also include video game projects such as a live-action trailer for Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey. He has also devoted time to mentoring the next generation of animators, teaching them the ways of character animation using Autodesk’s Maya. 3D World caught up with Stellato recently to find out about his typical day-to-day routine.
8:00am Generally, I will start my day by catching up on some emails while I get ready for work. On my walk to the office I’ll half-listen to an audiobook while prioritising what tasks I need to tackle as soon as I get in, if there is any. Once in the office, I have somewhere between half an hour to an hour to get those tasks done and prepare for animation dailies.
9:30am At Digital Domain, I find it pays to be artistically and technically proficient in both the upstream and downstream departments. Understanding what all departments need from animation tends to make planning for the entire project much easier and more efficient. With this knowledge, I’ll review shots with animators and give notes that I know make sense for the show and all departments on it. I’ll then curate the list of reviewed shots and
present them to our VFX supervisor or directly to the client for approval.
11:00am The challenges I face tend to change with every project. That’s what is so great about VFX. Each project is a different puzzle with lots of pieces that make a beautiful picture. Lately, I’m having to give notes on some fairly complex shots and I’m finding interesting challenges in how I word my notes. A note said one way may be perceived in two totally different ways by two different animators. It’s important that I am as clear and concise as possible.
13:00pm The people are the best thing about being an animation supervisor, hands down. I love dealing with people and seeing the amazing things they can do with just the spark of an idea for their shots. It’s really exciting to pull the creativity out of someone when you let them show their take on a particular shot. That’s not to say that all shots have this freedom but a lot can be found in even the simplest looking of shots.
15:00pm I use Autodesk’s Maya for anything animation related. To review shots with animators I use our in-house review software DMX with RV. On rare occasions, I will open Foundry’s Nuke for small miscellaneous compositing needs in my animation. We have lots of in-house tools specifically for animation at Digital Domain, created by our lovely pipeline supervisors and animation technical directors, that allow us to get our shots done efficiently and effectively.
17:00pm The day ends with a review for shots I’d like to send to the client. Once that list is complete and sent off, I will see if any animators have any last-minute questions for me so that they can hit the ground running in the morning.
17:30pm I have many ways of unwinding after work. I play video games, watch movies and TV shows. I’m also learning Unity, C# and Blender while working on some simple games. I know that sounds like work but it’s a different kind of creative outlet for me.
“I LOVE DEALING WITH PEOPLE AND SEEING THE AMAZING THINGS THEY CAN DO WITH JUST THE SPARK OF AN IDEA”