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<title>An Interview with Mojo</title>
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<h2>An Interview with Mojo</h2>
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Conducted by Chuck Becker
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<<a href="mailto:Necromancer@pol.org">Necromancer@pol.org.</a>>
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<p>
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This interview was originally published in The Zocalo, a free, weekly
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electronic newsletter devoted to Babylon 5. To subscribe, send your
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first name, e-mail address and state/country of residence to
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<a href="mailto:katana@indirect.com">katana@indirect.com.</a>
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<p>
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Well boys and girls it's time for another trip into Mister CGI's
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neighborhood. Today our special guest is.... (Can you say guest? I knew ya
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could!) It's the man, the myth, the legend.... (drum roll please) Mojo from
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Foundation Imaging. This week I had a great opportunity to bend Mojo's ear and
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ask him all the questions you "the readers of The Zocalo" have posed to me. I
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will give you
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the answers as they were given to me. See if you notice a similarity between
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the way Mojo answers questions and the way JMS answers questions. Sorta Kosh
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like!! I'm thinkin they have been hangin out a litttttle too long together.
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<p>
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The questions asked were ones I had and ones you the readers of The Zocalo
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sent to us. This
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interview was conducted by e-mail and I want to thank Mojo for taking the time
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to answer the questions. Thanks also to Amy Berry for chasing him down at the
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Con.
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<dl compact>
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Are you still using the modeler on the Amiga or have you switched to P.C.?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We were running Video Toasters on Amigas, but we switched over the PC's last
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summer when LightWave became available for the intel machines. They're much
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faster and we need all the speed we can get!
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Who is Mitch the effects guy?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Mitch Suskin was the on-set FX supervisor last year. This year it's Ted
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Rae.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Who is responsible for what? Does each artist have his own area of speciality
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or do they work on one shot from beginning to end and do everything for
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that shot?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We have a lot of artistic freedom. Ron Thornton has final say (until it
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goes to JMS), but we (the animators) pretty much interpret the script in our
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own way. We usually do a shot from start to finish... sometimes when I'm
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directing, I'll rough out the shots in wireframe and then hand them over to
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someone else. John Teska (the other supervising animator) gravitates
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towards creature stuff and character animation and I like space battles.
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However, we all do a bit of everything!
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Who created the Nakaleen feeder? How was it designed?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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The Feeder was designed by Ron and the boys at Optic Nerve. (Optic Nerve
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are the guy's responsible for the B-5 make-up for one of many things) It was
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created entirely in the computer, except for the close-up shots of the 'tongue'
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attaching itself to the actor's face. Some of the texture maps that made up
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it's body started out as a scan of butcher meat, and I think a few medical
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reference books were used as well.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Kosh in FON: How much is makeup, and how much is CGI?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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There was an actor against a blue screen,(See my article in Newsletter #
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31 for an explanation for blue screen) but we added the wings & the glow.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Who designs and creates ship cgi?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Most of the ships are designed by Ron, although we are all welcome to
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design and build new ships as they appear in scripts. John Teska was
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responsible for the Narn Transport and the Centauri Liner, while I handled the
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smaller Centauri Warbird.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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How long does it take to design and create a regular shot (like Shadow
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ship shots, Narn crusiers etc). What is the approximate cost for one of these
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shots?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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It takes anywhere from a half day (simple B5 establishing shot) to 2 or 3
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days (major explosion) per shot. (Here comes Kosh,Whirr, whistle, beeeeep) They
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all cost exactly X amount of dollars
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per shot. :-)
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Why did MOJO disappear and where did he go? (Enquiring minds...)
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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He didn't pay his Netcom bill and got too busy to reinstate his account.
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Look for him soon on America's Most Wanted.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Using amigas and macs?? How many?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We're now using Amigas & Toasters for live screen displays on
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'Hypernauts.' B5 is done with PC's and DEC Alphas, while several Macs are used
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for compositing and 2D effects (PPG blasts and such).
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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What new and exciting cgi stuff is looming on the horizon in the near
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future???
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<dt>
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Cue Kosh again (Rattle ,burp, sound of breaking glass)
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Keep watching...
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Who has final approval of cgi?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Ron at Foundation, Joe for B5, but, in the end, the VIEWERS decide!
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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What are cgi deadlines like? How far in advance do they work?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We get around 2 weeks per show, but if an episode is very FX heavy, JMS
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will
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try and follow it up with less FX intesive stories to give us more time on
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the hard shows.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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What has been the most challenging cgi effect to create? Why?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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The toughest yet is probably episode 8 from season 3, "Messages from
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Earth." You'll have to see it to understand why... other wise, The Feeder was
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a
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nice challenge, since it was our first creature... "Voice in the Wilderness"
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had our first atmospheric and semi-planetary shots, so that took some
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experimentation... the battle from "Coming of Shadows" was a personal
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struggle, since it was the first sequence I directed and it took a lot of
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work to make it so hard-hitting... the Kosh sequence was tough not because
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of Kosh, but we had to build the entire garden! People are so caught up
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with seeing Kosh they seem to have missed that the entire inside of the
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station has been built in 3D!
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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Any nifty/funny/annoying cgi stories regarding the shop, the crew, etc?
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<dt>
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Cue Kosh Again!(Gregorian chant,fingernails on a blackboard,chirp)
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Yes.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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How are cgi artists trained? Good schools/how to learn & break into the
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business?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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School is not neccessary, but can help. I learned the basics of 3D
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animation at home on my Amiga. No one at Foundation has a degree in
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anything to do with computers (although I did go to film school). Cal Arts
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in Valenica, CA (where we are located) has a good computer animation
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department, as does the School of Visual Arts in NYC. I also think it's
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important to not just learn the technical side of 3D, but the creative side,
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which is more or less filmmaking. A lot of new animators are very adept at
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working the software, but have little knowledge of how to make a movie,
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which is exactly what the 3D animator does - make little movies inside the
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computer. Learning the basics of lighting, composition, editing and film
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theory are things I personaly consider more important than all the computer
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classes in the world. It will certainly help you get ahead! If you want to
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go to school for this sort of thing, see if you can major in CGI and minor
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in film/video. That would be a winning combo.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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How do the people get along? Is it a team effort or do folks 'do their
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own thang'?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We all hate each other, but are forced to get along for the good of the
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show! Don't you know by now that computers are making everyone anti-social?!
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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What is more important: physics or looks?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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We do the real physics as best we can, but in the end the shots have to
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LOOK
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right, not BE right. Artistic integrity always wins out.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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How picky is JMS?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Very.
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<dt>
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C.B.
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<dd>
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How picky is Ron?
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<dt>
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Mojo
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<dd>
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Depends how many beers he's had.
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</dl>
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<p>
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Sounds like my kinda guy. Well there ya have it. Okay so I'm no Barbara
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Walters but it was a fun interview. It weally weally was!
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Remember if you've got questions you can E-mail me at Necromancer@pol.org or
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send your questions to the newsletter for me. To subscribe to The Zocalo, send
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your first name, e-mail address and state/country of residence to
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katana@indirect.com. If you have ideas send them on in. Thanks again to Mojo
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and to Amy. Be seeing ya!
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<pre>
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</pre>
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<h5>
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Last update:
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October 16, 1995
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