Māris Āboliņš has been in the film industry since 2007, he has worked on more than 50-60 films and series and calls himself a veteran of computer graphics.
“In the film industry, the terms are as follows. Special effects are those that are created on the field – smoke, artificial blood, wind, rain. Computer effects are properly called visual effects, but of course they can also be called computer effects or computer graphics effects. So will not be a mistake,” explained Áboliņš.
Master of visual effects Māris Āboliņš.
Photo: Santa Lauga / Latvian Radio
We are used to seeing visual effects in fantasy, historical or action movies, but in fact these days they are also used in very mundane movie scenes where we don’t even notice them.
“In a way, these war films, fantasy films and also historical films are my favorite. My hobby is, let’s say, working on historical films, but also in ordinary films, which are set in modern times or are not so filled with all kinds of active actions, there are various moments, what needs to be fixed. Maybe there is an advertising sign in the frame or, let’s say, a house needs to be painted, or the actor looks too worn out, he has wrinkles, then they need to be removed. So there are all kinds of little things,” said Āboliņš.
He revealed that he used to joke with his colleagues – nowadays directors have become a bit lazier because they trust that they can correct mistakes afterwards.
“Once upon a time, there were no such opportunities, and I really wonder, and many people in my profession wonder, how the directors and the film crew were once able to cope with creating, let’s say, huge historical scenes without any computer effects,” Āboliņš admitted.
Visual effects can be divided into two parts – one is planned in advance, and the other is random, when you have to fix something that went a little wrong on set.
Laima Slava and Māris Āboliņš
Photo: Santa Lauga / Latvian Radio
“The planned ones are usually large and long-term, they are in the frame for a long time. Usually it is also associated with a lot of work, therefore also with time and budget, and the better you plan them, the better the result. I must also say that often when planning you can hide that situation, you can bypass it or make it many times more effective, or you can avoid computer effects altogether. Therefore, planning is a big part of the effects,” said Āboliņš.
Once the film’s script is developed and the producer begins to assemble the film crew, the visual effects artist is introduced to the script. The specialist carefully reads the script, familiarizes himself with it and already marks the places where visual effects are likely to be needed. Then the planning starts from this moment. Visual sketches are made and planned filming locations are visited until finally the filming itself begins.
He learned computer graphics through self-study
Aboliņš is not ashamed to call himself a veteran of computer graphics. He has worked not only on domestic films and TV series, but also spent a year and a half in London, working directly on historical scenes, such as the TV series “Taboo” with Tom Hardy and the famous BBC series “War and Peace”.
“I was hardened by the British work culture and discipline. I really gained a lot from it, because one of the ways I approached it was to be the first to come to work and to leave work as one of the last,” said Āboliņš.
He revealed that he learned the profession through self-learning and wants to inspire both young people and maybe an adult to consider this profession as one of the possibilities to do in life.
“I achieved practically everything with passion and diligence.
It all started with my childhood friend and I just trying to make all kinds of videos with the computer programs that were available at the time. They were some silly drawings, experiments with video. That’s how we gradually made a music video for the musical association “Cyberpunk”, which gained some resonance,” said Āboliņš.
This video was noticed by the employees of an advertising agency, and they decided to hire the two young people. Later, they were also noticed by Andrejs Īkis, offering to get the first professional experience in the film industry, working on the film “Guardians of Riga”.
“With that, professional work in the film industry began. It must be said that the road was quite rough at the beginning, because no one knew what we were doing. We were such alternative young people, and our first office was in a former shoe warehouse – two by three meters without windows. Then, when we had worked there for a year, colleagues said – you have proven that we will not get you away, all respect,” Āboliņš shared his experience.
Among the most recent Latvian works to which he has devoted his time, Āboliņš mentioned the new multi-part feature films “Pansija pilī” and “Soviet Jeans”.
“I am a patriot of Latvian cinema, and it gives me great pleasure to observe how Latvian cinema grows. If I start working on “Guardians of Riga”, then little by little its positive curve goes up, to a greater number of cinema films and a better product. You could especially see it on [Latvijas] centenary,” said Aboliņš.
2024-02-02 09:39:13
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