Warsaw Grad Working On Films Like 'Oz'
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By David [email protected]
Computer 3D artist Aaron Hamman, 25, son of Ned and Cindy Hamman, Warsaw, also has done work for the Discovery channel’s “Dinosaur Revolution” program and for the film “Hotel Transylvania.”
During his senior year at WCHS, Hamman started researching where to go to school for computer graphics and animation. Graduating high school in 2006, he then went to Westwood, Chicago, Ill., for about a year.
Hamman, however, was not happy with Westwood’s program. He felt it didn’t have the tools he needed to pursue a career, so he pulled out of the program.
Then he found Full Sail University in Florida. He took the 2-1/2-years accelerated program to earn his bachelor’s degree.
“They have a really good program,” Hamman said during a telephone interview Monday afternoon from Los Angeles.
He had to take out “loads” of student loans to cover his living expenses because there was no time to work. The accelerated program is “24/7,” he said.
Finishing in 2009, Hamman moved back home and started applying for positions in Los Angeles. Through a friend, he learned that it was hard to get work out there if he wasn’t local because studios tend to hire locally. They don’t want to pay moving expenses, or hire someone who will just flake out on moving out west.
For a month or so, Hamman moved out to California to crash on a buddy’s floor. He didn’t have much luck with finding work. He started considering moving back home.
One day, while he was sitting out on the steps of a buddy’s apartment talking about the industry, a guy walking his dog past the apartment overheard their conversation. Affiliated with Digital Domain production company, the man told them about a project he was involved with.
“We helped him on a project he was working on. He introduced us to several companies out here,” Hamman stated.
It was part coincidence and part good timing, but that’s how it works out in Los Angeles, Hamman said. Every single job Hamman has landed was word of mouth and not something he applied for.
“It’s very political. Everyone out here knows everyone else. You don’t want to burn any bridges,” he said.
Hamman was able to land a contract with Sony for “Hotel Transylvania” and “Oz”
“Disney is the parent company and hires a number of visual effects houses. Sony was the main house,” Hamman said.
For “Hotel Transylvania,” Hamman did a number of environment and character modeling and texturing. His work was mostly environments, and he did a lot of exterior and interior castle shots, but he also built the hearse involved in the chase in the film.
“Hotel Transylvania” was in production for about seven years and went through four different directors.
With “Oz,” Hamman said, “I had a cool sequence.” Any time in the movie the characters are in a bubble and going over a vast area, with mountains in the background that look like animals, that’s Hamman’s graphic sequence.
“I got to build those environments and I did those graphics,” he said.
He also worked on the flying monkeys and the witches.
“It takes us a ridiculous amount of time sometimes for a scene that you might see for just seconds. It could be weeks. The bubble scene (in ‘Oz’) was like months,” said Hamman.
Typically, a concept artist comes up with the design work and artists like Hamman use that to build the environments, characters or other features. With the “Oz” bubble scene, Hamman said, he was told they needed mountains that looked like animals so he had to come up with them.
There was a lot of back and forth work on it with the visual effects director until the style was agreed upon and finished.
If you look closely, Hamman’s name appears in the closing credits.
Currently, Hamman’s contract with Sony has ended and he’s looking for his next opportunity. He’s talking to Digital Domain and other studios to see what they have coming up. He talked to Disney at one point, and is just putting feelers out there, he said.
Work in his field of computer graphics is very “feast or famine,” he said, but he’s gotten used to it. As he furthers his career, he knows his next job may be just a phone call away.
“When movies do well, it’s good,” Hamman said. “That’s (‘Oz’) going to be on my resume.”
For any high school students interested in pursuing a career in Hamman’s field, Hamman offered some advice.
“Really search yourself to find out what you want to do. If you have a burning passion to do this, start looking early at different schools and programs to find out what you really want to do. The school needs to have the equipment and teachers with experience to train you. Start looking at professional work and figure out what makes it look cool,” Hamman suggested.
In college, don’t compare yourself to other students. Compare yourself to professionals who are out in the field competing for jobs you want, he said.
A big help to Hamman also was his family, especially his parents.
“They were very supportive. They let me find my own passions in life and backed me up on it. That has a lot to do with what I’m doing today,” he said.
To see the 2012 show reel of Hamman’s work, visit http://vimeo.com/57735224
Hamman’s website, hammanart.com, currently is down, but once it gets back up and running he also will have some of his work displayed on the site.
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Computer 3D artist Aaron Hamman, 25, son of Ned and Cindy Hamman, Warsaw, also has done work for the Discovery channel’s “Dinosaur Revolution” program and for the film “Hotel Transylvania.”
During his senior year at WCHS, Hamman started researching where to go to school for computer graphics and animation. Graduating high school in 2006, he then went to Westwood, Chicago, Ill., for about a year.
Hamman, however, was not happy with Westwood’s program. He felt it didn’t have the tools he needed to pursue a career, so he pulled out of the program.
Then he found Full Sail University in Florida. He took the 2-1/2-years accelerated program to earn his bachelor’s degree.
“They have a really good program,” Hamman said during a telephone interview Monday afternoon from Los Angeles.
He had to take out “loads” of student loans to cover his living expenses because there was no time to work. The accelerated program is “24/7,” he said.
Finishing in 2009, Hamman moved back home and started applying for positions in Los Angeles. Through a friend, he learned that it was hard to get work out there if he wasn’t local because studios tend to hire locally. They don’t want to pay moving expenses, or hire someone who will just flake out on moving out west.
For a month or so, Hamman moved out to California to crash on a buddy’s floor. He didn’t have much luck with finding work. He started considering moving back home.
One day, while he was sitting out on the steps of a buddy’s apartment talking about the industry, a guy walking his dog past the apartment overheard their conversation. Affiliated with Digital Domain production company, the man told them about a project he was involved with.
“We helped him on a project he was working on. He introduced us to several companies out here,” Hamman stated.
It was part coincidence and part good timing, but that’s how it works out in Los Angeles, Hamman said. Every single job Hamman has landed was word of mouth and not something he applied for.
“It’s very political. Everyone out here knows everyone else. You don’t want to burn any bridges,” he said.
Hamman was able to land a contract with Sony for “Hotel Transylvania” and “Oz”
“Disney is the parent company and hires a number of visual effects houses. Sony was the main house,” Hamman said.
For “Hotel Transylvania,” Hamman did a number of environment and character modeling and texturing. His work was mostly environments, and he did a lot of exterior and interior castle shots, but he also built the hearse involved in the chase in the film.
“Hotel Transylvania” was in production for about seven years and went through four different directors.
With “Oz,” Hamman said, “I had a cool sequence.” Any time in the movie the characters are in a bubble and going over a vast area, with mountains in the background that look like animals, that’s Hamman’s graphic sequence.
“I got to build those environments and I did those graphics,” he said.
He also worked on the flying monkeys and the witches.
“It takes us a ridiculous amount of time sometimes for a scene that you might see for just seconds. It could be weeks. The bubble scene (in ‘Oz’) was like months,” said Hamman.
Typically, a concept artist comes up with the design work and artists like Hamman use that to build the environments, characters or other features. With the “Oz” bubble scene, Hamman said, he was told they needed mountains that looked like animals so he had to come up with them.
There was a lot of back and forth work on it with the visual effects director until the style was agreed upon and finished.
If you look closely, Hamman’s name appears in the closing credits.
Currently, Hamman’s contract with Sony has ended and he’s looking for his next opportunity. He’s talking to Digital Domain and other studios to see what they have coming up. He talked to Disney at one point, and is just putting feelers out there, he said.
Work in his field of computer graphics is very “feast or famine,” he said, but he’s gotten used to it. As he furthers his career, he knows his next job may be just a phone call away.
“When movies do well, it’s good,” Hamman said. “That’s (‘Oz’) going to be on my resume.”
For any high school students interested in pursuing a career in Hamman’s field, Hamman offered some advice.
“Really search yourself to find out what you want to do. If you have a burning passion to do this, start looking early at different schools and programs to find out what you really want to do. The school needs to have the equipment and teachers with experience to train you. Start looking at professional work and figure out what makes it look cool,” Hamman suggested.
In college, don’t compare yourself to other students. Compare yourself to professionals who are out in the field competing for jobs you want, he said.
A big help to Hamman also was his family, especially his parents.
“They were very supportive. They let me find my own passions in life and backed me up on it. That has a lot to do with what I’m doing today,” he said.
To see the 2012 show reel of Hamman’s work, visit http://vimeo.com/57735224
Hamman’s website, hammanart.com, currently is down, but once it gets back up and running he also will have some of his work displayed on the site.
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