Matthew McCrory the technical director of Flushed Away
When you go to the new animated film "Flushed Away," which opened last week, it’s going to be hard to pick out Matthew McCrory’s work. The West Dundee native is not a voice; that would be the work of Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Bill Nighy and Ian McKellen. Nor is McCrory one of the film’s animators. His title reads “technical director.” Don’t worry, the question of what a tech director does was my first to him.
And there’s a reason you see only images from “Flushed Away” for this article — technical directors just don’t do headshots.
Bayer: What does a technical director do? McCrory: (Laughing) I get asked that a lot. It’s not always the most straightforward thing to answer. It’s a range of responsibilities. Whenever an artist might not be able to perform a certain task because the technical challenges are too great, a technical director will come in and come up with a solution. In addition to that, there are various software development tasks that tech directors take care of.
Bayer: Being from West Dundee, what was your path? McCrory: I went to Dundee-Crown High School. And then, it’s actually strange. I went to flight school in Florida first. I was going to be a pilot for about a semester until I saw a presentation from someone who went to that school and got a job at Industrial Light & Magic, which is a special-effects house on the West Coast. It really got me hooked. I came back to Chicago and went to North Central College in Naperville and majored in computer science. While there, I got an internship at Argonne National Laboratory, and I was doing software engineering, very similar to the film industry. I didn’t actually apply to DreamWorks; I don’t know how they found me. But I got a call. “Shark Tale” was my first film.
Bayer: For your job, does the story actually matter to you. McCrory: It is more motivating if you like the story. If you are going back to your desk and doing hours of work, it’s a lot better if you think it’s a really cool project, so I would say yes.
Bayer: How many animators were involved with “Flushed Away”? McCrory: I think in the range of 60 to 70.
Bayer: In this film, it’s animation that makes it look like clay, correct? McCrory: Yeah, we tried to emulate Aardman’s claymation style that they have used on their other films like “Wallace & Gromit” and “Chicken Run.” It’s the first time we have done that technique. It’s the same software as our other shows; it’s just the animation style that’s different. The animation of the characters is not as smooth as you typically see in a computer-animated film, and that’s because we’re trying to make it look like the clay that gets moved from frame to frame.
Bayer: In a project like this, how much communication do you have with the two directors? McCrory: In a position like mine, I don’t come into contact very often with the directors. There are other directors as well, like the art directors, who are in charge of the look of the film. I work in the lighting department as a tech director and there were a few opportunities where I light some of the shots in the movie, and when you do that, you go to dailies and show your shots to the art director. They give you feedback on what they think and what they would like changed.
Bayer: How long did the process take to film “Flushed Away”? McCrory: I think it was about three and a half years. I worked on the movie for a little over a year. It’s a long process.
Bayer: Do you meet any of the voices on the films? McCrory: No, we see them occasionally when they visit our campus for whatever reason, but we never really talk to them.
Bayer: In future projects, are there other positions you hope to pursue? McCrory: At this point, I’m really curious about a lot of the different aspects of the movie-making process. I’d like to get my hands on different areas. I’ll actually be doing some lighting work on my current project.
Bayer: Your next project is “Kung Fu Panda”? McCrory: Yeah, lighting artists are contributing more directly to the actual look of the film. They get shots that have been completed in all other stages of our pipeline and at that point, you need to simulate the look of realistic lighting. It takes quite a few lighting artists to create that effect.
Bayer: Growing up, were you drawing a lot, did that start this idea for a career? McCrory: Yeah, I was really into art, especially in high school. I spent all four years doing all the art classes that I could and even some outside of school. And that’s the type of people you’ll run into a lot out here. They’ll have that mix of artistic and a technical side.
Bayer: Anything you love and miss about Chicago? McCrory: The food, for one. Chicago has such a rich culture, much more history to it, and that’s what I really like about it. Not to mention the seasons, which I am missing.
Bayer: Do you have to live in Los Angeles for your career? McCrory: Just about. I think there are a couple other studios starting to spring up; there’s one well-established studio in New York, but outside of that, it’s all out here.
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