Applied Esoterics David Glicksman: Technical Director, Visual Effects Artist, Creative Technologist, Motion Graphics Generalist(310) 382-0688
david@appliedesoterics.com
Anki Drive – Adventures in CG Supervision
This jobs was an unexpected challenge, and was unexpectedly rewarding. After coming on board to do previz for a toy commercial at Laundry! Design, I ended up acting as CG supervisor, TD, and production VFX consultant. Our team was incredibly small relative to the production quality we were able to pull off, and it was […]
Moby Dick Opera Projections
“Along with a new opera, a new chapter in opera history may have opened Friday night at Winspear Opera House. Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick distills several longterm trends in what might be called—with either approbation or disdain—a ‘special effects’ opera.”
Aurora Unveiled!
My secret media installation is now live!
As best we know it’s the world’s largest, most complicated permanently installed media sculpture. For NDA reasons I still can’t go on an all-out media blitz, but here’s a gallery of images.
Secret Giant Interactive Installation Project
Q: What is more than 20 ft tall, has 50,000+ addressable LEDs, 5 miles of cabling, hundreds of laser cut components, and runs on the same show control hardware that powers stadium sized rock shows?
A: I can’t tell you….. yet.
But here’s a cool video of one of our LED panels!
Blowing stuff up for National Geographic
Through some strange twist of NDA loophole magic I’ve been cleared to release this clip from an upcoming Nat Geo channel documentary. I was asked to imagine what a second (third? fourth?) ice age would do to the Golden Gate Bridge. I only had two weeks worth of evenings and weekends available, but these days […]
Look… The Sun is Rising
It turns out that a can of spray foam, some painter’s tape (for face tracking dots), and my iPhone’s camera can go a loooooooong way.
2012
Once upon a time, I locked myself in a dark and windowless room, Thirteen hours a day, Six days a week, For nearly year, With nearly a hundred Of the slobbiest, stinkiest, Most talented people I’ve ever met. When we emerged, blinking into the sunlight, we had produced two and a half minutes of badass […]
The Avengers: Battle For Earth
I had been stalling for a while on getting caught up with Maya, especially for VFX work, but Wolf & Crow gave me the perfect opportunity. W&C let me join the team for The Avengers: Battle For Earth even though none of my VFX experience had been with Maya, and within a month I was […]
Pepper’s R&D
My good friend, Moses Journey, and I are cooking up an interactive Kinetic Sculpture. We can’t say much about it yet, but here’s a peek at some early R&D. Very early R&D. If you aren’t familiar with the Pepper’s Ghost illusion (or holograms, if you believe the Coachella promoters), then read up! This setup consists […]
Ad Infinitum
Ad Infinitum is a kinetic sculpture that my good friend Moses Journey and I designed for the 2012 Infiniti Digital Art Competition. I made this video as part of our proposal and, with any luck, I’ll be building the real thing as well.
Augmented Shadow Puppetry
So this is a bit old already, but I made this video while doing RnD for a larger project with my good friend Moses Journey. It’s amazing how much you can accomplish with just some magic markers, a latex glove, After Effects, and a healthy dose of idiocy. For the stout of heart, I also […]
54th Grammys spot for the Foo Fighters
Wolf & Crow asked me to be CG Supervisor on this job and, perhaps foolishly, I jumped at the opportunity. I worked as CG Supervisor, pipeline developer, VFX Artist, and cheerleader. We accomplished the Herculean task of finishing two months worth of work in something like three weeks, and nobody died in the process.
Considering how little time we had, I think it came out rather well!
Puppet Time!
So I have this niece, Julie, who’s 3 years old and super cute, and who loves puppets. The first time I picked up one of her bears (or was it a dolphin or something?) and had it say “Hi Julie!” she said Hi right back and went on talking to him. She wasn’t excited, or […]
World’s Greatest Dad
I worked on this Yahoo Mail spot for over at SDF-1 and had a blast. Cel animators drew all of the characters, so I was tasked with building a toon-shaded CG world to put them in. I especially enjoyed making the fake hand-drawn fireworks in the fake hand-drawn stadium at the end.
Art of the Title features John Carpenter’s The Ward!
About a year ago I had the great fortune to work on the opening titles for John Carpenter’s The Ward – and it’s finally released! The job was at my favorite now-defunct design shop, Shadowplay Studio. Working as the sole fx artist on an already tiny team, I had total creative freedom and I loved […]
John Duganne, Noser
My brother, John, was born with cerebral palsy and uses adaptive technology to overcome his given difficulties. John can’t use his hands, and has trouble speaking clearly, but with his power wheelchair and an ever evolving suite of gadgets, he’s accomplished more than most people I know. He’s made it through school and college, traveled […]