Meet the Artist - Francesco Lupo, Groom TD, MPC London.
Whilst VFX newbies often gravitate towards the 'big' disciplines like modelling, lighting and animation - it can often be the less celebrated career paths like Groom that offer equally interesting, challenging and rewarding work.
Always looking to raise the VFX bar, the MPC Groom team is currently getting to grips with (amongst other shows) a re-imagining of Disney's The Lion King. Bettering the jaw-dropping photo-real animals created for The Jungle Book is the task at hand which will be no mean feat.
Groom TD Francesco Lupo - now enjoying his second stint at MPC - took a break from the studio floor to share some thoughts on the joys of grooming and his career to date...
What is your name, job title and how long have you been at MPC?
My name is Francesco Lupo, and I am a Groom TD - or simply a ‘groomer’ - and a Modeller, too. I had a 2 year spell at MPC earlier in my career. After working elsewhere I returned to MPC in August 2016.
What and where did you study?
I attended the Art College in Italy, in Corato, a small city close to my hometown. I studied mostly Jewellery and all the things related to the traditional Arts - drawing, sculpting, painting.
After the Art Master qualification, I decided to quit studying and start working as an offline graphician, because at that time, the Internet wasn’t still so common as it is today.
How did your education prepare you for a role in VFX?
It didn’t - because my goal was a completely different kind of job: a goldsmith!
But since that kind of after-school career needed extra years of study, additional classes, specialized training and lots of money (of course), I abandoned that career path.
For some years I dreamed to enter the magic world of comics, but it proved to be a hard to pursue career in Italy.
The first software I used was Lightwave 5.5c. I taught myself modeling and rendering basics using that software and it helped me get my first job in an animation company.
How did you get started in the VFX industry?
I worked for 6 years in an Animation Studio in Italy but I’ve always been attracted by VFX. This attraction pushed me to go beyond the cartoon style of my job in Italy. At the time, I only worked as Modeller and I was determined to approach this new subject because it was so appealing to me. I loved the idea of stopping work on bald characters!
I knew that MPC was one of the few companies that had a real Grooming department. Tools like Yeti, Xgen, Ornatrix were yet to be created. The only tools were Shave n Haircut and Maya Hair/Fur.
Since modelling and grooming are linked disciplines, I decided to explore the grooming world and never looked back.
I remember I made some hair samples that allowed me to join MPC as a groomer. When I think of my early works, this makes me cringe a little...
Commitment, perseverance and passion are the key words to keep in mind to become brilliant and be noticed.
What single piece of advice would you give someone looking to get into the industry?
People must strongly believe in what they do: if they want to join VFX companies they must be aware that recruiters and whoever looks at their works want to see cool stuff.
Commitment, perseverance and passion are the key words to keep in mind to become brilliant and be noticed. Networking is ok, but if your works are not so remarkable, it would be hard to be noticed.
Stand out always in a positive way, both as artists and as human beings, of course. Be humble but not too much, be always willing to work in a team, because the “team”, in most part of the VFX companies, improves the quality of the shots.
What’s so good about Groom?
The thing I love the most about Groom is that I don’t have to the UVs! I’m kidding, of course.
Grooming is cool because you have to have a super trained eye on details: working on a hero hairdo for a digital double, a bird with all his feathers or an animal completely covered in fur is a constant challenge to me to do my best.
Of course, everything depends on production times and how much this asset can be seen in the shot.
The quality is constantly improving, and there are always interesting projects.
What excites you most about your job at MPC?
I had my first experience at MPC. I still remember that during my first week at work, 4 years ago, my first HUB (MPC internal shot viewing system) access was a nightmare. At that time Man Of Steel was about to deliver, and, as I looked at modeling and grooming daily and at the rendered shots, my jaw dropped on my desk - it was such a step up from what I was used to at an animation studio. The quality is constantly improving, and there are always interesting projects.
Can you share any inside info on any exciting projects you are working on?
At the moment I am working on a movie called The Solutrean – the MPC Groom team have delivered some incredible work on that movie that I am very excited about seeing in the cinema.
What’s your favourite shot that you’ve worked on in your career?
At Framestore I worked on a recently released movie, The Beauty and The Beast. I did some ostrich feathers for the dinner sequence where they sing “Be our guest”. Well, probably this is one of the sequences that made me smile the most since I’ve been doing this job, mainly because it brought me back in time. I remember I went to the cinema to watch the animated movie with my six-year old sister in 1991. Now she’s 31.
What’s your favourite VFX movie?
Young Sherlock Holmes, because there’s a 10-seconds sequence about the one that we can indicate as the first CG character in history: a stained glass knight (above).
I remember that this sequence impressed me very much. I was only about 10 years old. But I was definitively impressed by Star Wars and Jurassic Park. Everything started from here. I still feel fired-up as I watch the old trilogy.
We try to support each other and we always try to share everything, maximising our job to the best and making it more and more efficient.
How would you describe your team?
The Grooming team is actually one of the best I have worked with since I’ve started my groomer career inside VFX, and I feel lucky for that. During The Jungle Book project, the Grooming team was so huge it nearly had 30 people working on it - it was the biggest team MPC has ever had. It was such a great experience that maybe I will experience again with The Lion King and further projects in the MPC pipeline.
We try to support each other and we always try to share everything, maximizing our job to the best and making it more and more efficient.
One of the grooming team rituals is the Friday breakfast: every Friday, each of us, in turn, bring the breakfast for all the teammates.
Which 3 words best describe your job?
From the emotional point of view: patience, details, fluffiness. From the technical point of view: clumping, sub-clumping, scraggle.
What major developments in technology do you see in VFX over the next 5 /10 years?
I am not so sure, given how fast thing evolve, but I suppose that VFX world will be affected (as it is already happening) by real-time engines and VR.
Moreover, within 5/10 years the Full CG actor realism levels will be so significant that the viewers could be confused.
Today, the uncanny valley is always lurking!
What do you think the biggest challenges in your role?
After seeing the grooming and realism levels in Life of Pi and The Jungle Book, I think that there are really few unreachable things concerning grooming…
However, I think that it’s really challenging to make realistic cats and dogs, but it’s true that you can perform a perfect groom, but then if the animal’s movement is bad, it can lose all the realism appearance given to its fur.
What inspires you?
Everyday life - especially the animal world. Cats and birds are for me so inspirational. It may sound crazy but you could just lock me in a room with dozens of cats: I could stay there for eternity. Obviously, I would get out from there covered in scratches, but happy.
How would you describe your approach to work?
Even though I’ve been doing this job for 4 years, every time I receive a new task, easy or challenging, nice or awful, I do it with passion, trying to do my best. Even if you’re the latest person working on that asset.
Be thrilled and happy. Always. Even when Maya crashes…
Another important thing: prank your teammates, otherwise you can get bored.
What does it feel like to work as part of a Global team at MPC?
As a CG lover, I feel lucky because of my job, especially in places like MPC and Framestore.
Even today, after almost 11 years, my job and passion are the same thing. I try to express my skills at the highest level every time I receive a new challenge to accomplish.
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Want to join Francesco at MPC and take your turn to buy breakfast for the team? We're now hiring in London - apply online at www.mpc.jobs or email [email protected]