Shyam Kannapurakkaran

VFX Artist

Branch Chief of the Emerging Technology Branch of The Creators Society

Shyam Kannapurakkaran and I met by playing a little bit of FaceTime tag. For those of you wondering, FaceTime tag is like phone-tag, but with your face. Now that I’ve explained that really complicated concept, let’s move forward. Shyam was polite as can be, but I could tell something was going on in his workplace. There may as well have been a siren blaring above his head. He informed me that the increasing number of COVID cases on set has made the schedule unpredictable and tight. Although we had to cut our distressed meeting short, I was able to grab a lot of information from him that you will enjoy.

Let’s start with Shyam’s job in simple terms. He is a Virtual Production Technical Artist at Stargate Studios. For some of you this makes sense. For others, it sounds like something out of The Matrix, so let’s continue explaining, “My role on set is to design, build and operate virtual production systems for TV shows and movies. In the last couple of projects, I have been doing it on my own, but previously I would inherit the work done by the chief developer and operate it on set making the necessary changes. Virtual production / in-camera VFX is a technique used to capture VFX (film) shots while on a principal shoot, thus avoiding any post VFX work.”

Alright. That techie talk wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be, hazaa! I understand.

According to Shyam, “At Stargate we have two systems, one where the background content (full CGI) is in a real-time interactive system (unreal engine), and the other where we do direct playback (photographic plates) from a custom synced playback system. There is also a hybrid technique where we combine photographic plates with the game engine. Every project is a different setup. The system we choose to use heavily depends on the creative, the budget and the time that we have available for setting it up.” He has worked on TV shows like Earth to Ned for Disney +, Good Trouble on Hulu, Station 19 on ABC, and most importantly Mariah Carey’s Magical Christmas Special - the Queen of Christmas herself.

So how did Shyam get started with Virtual Production and “Matrix-type” sounding jobs, you ask? Well stop asking me questions and let me tell you! He started working as a stereoscopic artist at Disney Animation on Wreck it Ralph and  went on to work independently as a production/post-production artist for VR/AR experiences. The term “XR” was also brought into the conversation, to which I got even more confused, but quickly found out “XR” (extended reality) is an umbrella term for so many types of visual experiences.

Before you get too ahead of yourself, no, 4D-Theatres do not fall under the term XR. (You know, the movie theatres where a big dog on the screen sneezes and a bunch of mist shoots into your face?) What a silly question to even think about. Although Shyam did say, technically they should fall under XR…

The type of experiences Shyam has created under the umbrella term of XR include, “VR (360 videos - both mono & stereo, interactive experiences that are made in a game engine - both sitting & walkable), AR (any AR experience - can be CGI/photographic, AR portals where you have a portal/doorway in your real environment that will take you into a virtual environment. AR experiences are most commonly deployed on a mobile platform), Virtual production (set extensions, virtual stages, digital green screen, etc).” So what I got from that is, he created The Matrix.

His passion for creating things like The Matrix started in his childhood. “I would tinker with electronic parts that were available at home, to make art pieces, mostly involving lights and small LEDs. Sometimes I would get in trouble if my curiosity led to breaking my parent's gadgets, haha.” This led to a natural progression into using computers to create art. He received his undergraduate degree at the National Institute of Calicut in Architecture. This gave him an incredible understanding of composition, space and volume, which created the foundation he works on to this day. He continued his studies at Texas A&M where he developed the technical side of 3D art, and graduated with an MS in the Visualization Program. “The MS in the Visualization Program was a unique course designed to train students with art backgrounds on the technical side and vice versa. Even though I had experience in computer programming, it was not to the level that someone would use for computer graphics work, so I had to work really hard to get better at it.”  I thought I should include that quote of his, for those who don’t know what a Visualization program is. Not me though. I knew exactly what it was.

Shyam has an illustrious career, so it must have been hard for him to narrow down his favorite projects, but I forced him to choose anyway. He said, “My favorite is 'Tarang'. It was an experimental short film that a couple of my friends and I did at Texas A&M. We had to build everything for the project from scratch and it was a lot of fun. Professionally I would say, ‘Earth to Ned’. It was at Jim Henson Studios and it was an incredible experience working with the super talented puppeteers.” 

Disney

It’s really heartwarming to see someone so successful be proud of some of their earliest works. We should never underestimate our developing skills, because that freshness can bring out a raw, honest, and original quality in our work. Shyam is currently working on a new show for Netflix that he cannot talk about so, STOP ASKING.

For those younglings or newbies interested in the VFX World, heed these words of advice:

“I would advise them to stay current and be constantly adapting to the changing landscape of production. They should be willing to unlearn and pick up new concepts, tools, and workflows to be successful. Technology, media consumption, and quality standards are changing rapidly, and it is very important to keep up with them. I was part of the Los Angeles 3D Club, which helped me a lot to grow as a stereoscopic artist. I was also part of several VR and XR groups, some hobbyists, and some professional groups. I took every opportunity I got to volunteer for events and summits which has also helped me get my foot in the door with companies and other professionals.”

Shyam also earned the deserved crown of Branch Chief of the Emerging Technology Branch of The Creators Society. We members have access to talk, hang out with and learn from Shyam through our animation community!  #blessed He loves to teach, and he currently mentors through the VES Mentorship Program, so get on those applications VFX crowd! Shyam is a hot commodity. You don’t want to miss your chance to work with the man who created The Matrix. Shyam would like to clarify though, “I did not create The Matrix, although it inspired my pursuit for the cutting edge of technology & art.” Tom - ay- to, to - ma - to.