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by Matthew Jones
Mike Miller
has the unique and magical talent to make things
happen – at least, he knows how to make it look
like things happen. Miller’s job is to bring
life and excitement to motion pictures through
animation and special effects. To most people,
that would sound like an exciting and
challenging career. They don’t know the half of
it.
When moviegoers pile in to see
DreamWorks’ Shark Tale when it opens
on October 1st, they will expect to
be plunged into a world of wonder, rich with
captivating color, real and relatable
characters, and a staggering depth of talent –
the film features entertainment icons such as
Will Smith, Robert De Niro,
Angelina Jolie and a host of other A-list
stars.
They probably won’t be thinking
about the years of development that went into
it. They won’t ponder the pioneering technology
and programming required to bring it to
fruition. They won’t be thinking about Mike
Miller, and probably won’t stay long enough to
read the film credits where he is listed as
Head of Effects. But there is an amazing
story that is a deep and rich as the film.
Miller is a man of distinguished
accomplishments in the field of animation and
special effects. He has been involved in, or
has overseen the special effects for some
visually stunning and captivating films,
including The One, with martial
arts superstar Jet Li, The Lord of
the Rings: The Two Towers, which won an
Academy Award for Best Visual Effects
in 2002, Hollow Man, with Kevin
Bacon and the hit sci-fi comedy
Evolution.
Creativity and inspiration are
the key ingredients of his success. When asked
where he draws his inspiration, Miller’s answer
is simple – “Inspiration comes from the desire
to make a great film.”
An Uncharted Path
to Success
According to Miller, the process
of making a great film involves a massive team
effort at every level and within each
discipline. For the animation team, that means
sitting down with the art department and
starting from a clean slate.
“We have a fantastic art
department that starts things off for us,”
explained Miller of the creative process for his
films. “We sit down and ask ourselves ‘what
should this scene have? How does the
environment interact with the characters?’
Then, we boil these ideas down into one,
cohesive vision.”
“Our job is to recreate (the
vision) on the computer,” said Miller.
While that may sound like the
easy part, it certainly wasn’t. When Miller and
his team set out to create Shark Tale,
they were moving into uncharted territory. This
would be the first full computer generated
animated feature film ever created at
DreamWorks’ Glendale facility.
Miller and his team needed to
create a film that would match or exceed the
quality projects coming out of Pixar,
which made the Academy Award winning
Shrek and this summer’s blockbuster Shrek
2. In order to do that, Miller and his team
had to create their own tools and software – a
process that took two full years to complete.
The effort, however, was worth it. Now, Miller
and his team have the tools to create future
animated features that will represent the
highest-quality offerings in the industry.
“(When people watch movies I have
worked on), I want them to think ‘Wow, I’ve
never seen that before,’” explained Miller. “I
want them to think it was unique, interesting
and visually stimulating. (I want to create) an
environment they have never seen before.”
Bringing Color to
Animation
If developing a quality product
is the end goal, then diversity is certainly an
important ingredient in that. According to
Miller, there is a slow, yet steady increase of
minority talent – a young, driven group that
will hopefully change the face of the industry.
“Every year, I see more
African-Americans in the industry,” said
Miller. “But when you try to find African
Americans in supervisory roles, the numbers
dwindle.”
“If I am a trail blazer, then I
take a lot of pride in that,” he continued. “I
hope that a child of any other race could look
at what I’ve been able to do and say ‘I can do
that, too.’”
Miller is confident that young
professionals of all ethnic backgrounds will
find their way into the industry, if that’s what
they want to do.
“I’m absolutely hopeful for the
future,” said Miller. “(Young professionals
have to see that) this is a career that they can
do. More and more (minorities) are going to
schools like CalArts (one of the leading
creative arts schools in the country). There
are a greater number of schools that have
departments that can prepare people for this
industry. I think African-Americans will take
advantage of that.”
In addition to the increased
attendance and participation by ethnic students,
Miller believes that many of the obstacles that
stop minorities from pursuing other fields
aren’t as prominent in animation.
“If you decide to do it, it’s not
impossible,” said Miller of overcoming
roadblocks to success. “You don’t have to have
a PhD or a Masters degree. You don’t have to
have a $50 art degree or an expensive
portfolio.”
While Miller is very optimistic
about the future of diversity in his field, he
is very realistic about the present. While
minority participation is on the rise, the
industry’s workforce is still far from being
representative of society. According to Miller,
much more can be done to reduce the gap.
“The industry needs to reach out
to minority schools,” said Miller. “They need a
dedicated effort – programs to cultivate
talent. It’s easy to recruit at CalArts. They
need to recruit at Morehouse (College).
You can recruit the same way at Howard
(University) that you do at Stanford
(University).”
In addition to a lack of effort
at the recruitment level, Miller believes that
lack of awareness of animation or special
effects as a career option within emerging
communities is also a key obstacle to achieving
true diversity within the industry. According
to Miller, if young, bright minority candidates
knew about the opportunities, they would pursue
them.
“I know (quality minority
candidates) are out there,” said Miller.
“They’d be fantastic. They just don’t know the
opportunities exist.”
Miller: Confident
about the Future
For the time being, Miller is
still an anomaly. As Head of Effects for all
important features at DreamWorks, Miller he is
one of the most powerful Black men in the
business.
While his road has not been an
easy one – it has required hard work, long hours
and lots of sacrifice - as success often does in
any field – he doesn’t feel like race has been
an obstacle to success.
“There have never been moments
(in my career) where I felt deprived of
opportunity because of race,” said Miller.
“I’ve never been in a meeting where someone
didn’t respect my opinion. I’ve never let
(race) be an obstacle. If someone has a problem
with my race, that’s something they have to deal
with.”
Miller has had issues of his own
to deal with, including a family that initially
didn’t understand his decision to go into a
creative field.
“My family thought I was crazy,”
said Miller. “My grandmother still calls (what
I do for a living) cartoons. My mother never
thought it was a field I could be (financially)
successful in.”
They stood by his side, however,
and that made all the difference for Miller.
“Even though they thought I was crazy, they
supported me, even when they couldn’t see the
path,” he continued. “They thought I’d be broke
and living at home at 30.”
But Miller saw a much brighter
future ahead, and in the end his optimism
prevailed. He has a good feeling about the
industry, as well, as he sees a future of
diversity, inclusion and creativity in the
animation field. The industry can only benefit
from it – and in his view, Shark Tale
certainly has.
“We tried to bring a uniqueness
to (our film),” explained Miller. “We
incorporated a lot of funk, soul, R&B and hip
hop. (Other animated features) use a lot of
safe music. Hopefully, others will look at what
we’ve done and see (top quality).”
If the industry takes notice,
then they will act, according to Miller. “We
need to get more women involved – more
minorities involved,” concluded Miller. “It
would only make the final product better.”
The End
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