We were lucky to catch up with Duolin Ge recently and have shared our conversation below.
Duolin, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
I grew up in an artistic family. My father is a film director, and my mother, who was an actress in her youth, later became a makeup artist. From a young age, I was immersed in an artistic atmosphere and excelled at painting during my childhood. Every week, my father would take me to the cinema, a tradition that lasted for many years and accompanied my childhood.
I still remember the sense of awe I felt when I first watched the Star Wars series from Hollywood. The impressive lightsaber duels and the majestic fleets left me wondering how they were created while simultaneously mesmerizing me. I asked my father how it was done, and he told me that, as a director, he had worked with visual artists and believed these were the works of digital visual effects artists. From that moment on, I decided I wanted to become a Visual Effects Artist one day, and I was determined to go to the United States to learn this craft.
Later, I watched other remarkable films like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Jurassic Park, and Terminator. These movies further solidified my thoughts and decision.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Duolin Ge, and I am a visual effects artist from China, currently residing in Vancouver, Canada. I’m a VES member and National Active of Television Academy.
After graduating from university, I went to San Francisco to study 3D Animation and Visual Effects at the Academy of Art University. During my three and a half years of study, I hardly took any breaks because I needed to improve my English while learning various new knowledge in visual effects. I used all my time, including before bed, weekends, and holidays, to study. Many times, I fell asleep at my computer, but it was through this effort that I was able to master a large amount of software and technical knowledge and improve my aesthetic skills in a relatively short time. After earning my MFA degree, I received my first offer from a Hollywood visual effects studio, and I immediately went to Los Angeles to start my career.
As a professional Visual Effects Compositor, my job is to provide clients with pixel-perfect final images. Since our work is the last step before color grading and going to the big screen or TV, we need to ensure the perfect integration of all visual elements, from initial shooting to various 2D and 3D visual effects. In the early days as a VFX Compositor, I handled tasks such as green screen, tracking, 3D environments, digital matte paintings, integrating 3D characters with live-action footage, aging or de-aging characters, and combining large particle effects like explosions and natural disasters. As I gained more experience, I transitioned from a single compositor to a compositing lead, and now to a compositing supervisor. This role involves communicating with clients, understanding their specific needs for visual effects, evaluating costs, leading and coordinating the team, and solving challenging shots. It has been interesting to evolve from an artist to someone who leads a team to solve bigger problems.
The companies I’ve worked with have had clients including Netflix, Disney, Apple TV, Warner Bros, Tencent, and iQIYI, among other industry giants. I have worked for many top Hollywood VFX companies such as Crafty Apes, Encore VFX, Ingenuity Studios, and Aaron Sims Creative. The projects I’ve worked on include films, TV shows, commercials, and music videos, such as The Flash, Supergirl, Doom Patrol, Boss Level, Taylor Swift’s music videos, and Extraction 2. You can find more details on my IMDb page.
The most fulfilling part of my work is seeing the client’s satisfaction when we deliver high-quality, challenging projects on time. This satisfaction comes from both my hard skills, such as using professional software and my aesthetic abilities, and my soft skills, such as leading the team and coordinating artists to work more smoothly and efficiently. Additionally, seeing my work on the big screen and my name in the credits brings a sense of accomplishment that money can’t buy.
In 2021, as a compositing supervisor, I led a team in the production of a live-action commercial for the gaming company Fun Plus. We had the privilege of working with Orlando Bloom, who played the role of Legolas in the Lord of the Rings trilogy—a character I greatly admired. Growing up watching his movies and then having the chance to collaborate with him as a visual effects artist was an incredibly fulfilling experience!
Following that, I continued to lead my team and collaborated with Retina Imageworks, a small visual effects company founded by a friend. We were involved in the production of “The Wandering Earth 2,” the largest sci-fi film in China’s history. Using advanced visual effects technology, we de-aged actors by several decades, working on hundreds of shots.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
There is an old saying among artists: “Art comes from life but transcends it.” For me, the most valuable aspect of being a visual effects artist is our ability to take common elements from everyday life and, using various techniques and technologies, elevate and transform them into something extraordinary. We allow viewers to experience familiar things from an entirely new perspective.
For example, there was a project where we needed to turn a live-action actor into a mysterious and dangerous creature. I immediately thought of my friend’s cat, which indeed seems mysterious and dangerous to me (its claws are quite something, lol). I observed the cat’s eyes and incorporated their characteristics into the actor’s eyes, enlarging them by 30%. This instantly created a sense of mystery. Additionally, we added a CGI crocodile tail to the character, making him look formidable. See, cat’s eyes and a crocodile’s tail are things that exist in our everyday life, but through realistic visual effects, placing them on a human creates a completely different sensation.
Another example is the apocalyptic effects we create, such as in the film “Geo Storm,” where we produced lightning effects capable of destroying everything, representing the dangers of man-made weapons. We helped the film bring these effects to life, allowing the audience to experience an end-of-the-world scenario with awe. These are things that might be possible in reality, but you certainly wouldn’t want to experience them for real. That’s where movies come in—you can safely experience them on screen.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
As an artist, I have mixed feelings about NFTs. Firstly, I have created NFT works myself, using Blender to render some cool pieces and experimenting with the NFT platform. NFTs can give our artworks a unique mark, helping to ensure their originality and protect intellectual property. They also represent a potential source of income by selling our NFT creations. If you are a well-known artist, your works could bring significant profits in a short period, inspiring many artists to be more creative.
However, NFTs also have some downsides. I believe they lack sufficient regulation, which might lead to excessive marketing or even fraud in some areas. Additionally, NFTs are highly risky, with significant value fluctuations, requiring caution.
Personally, I think that with proper regulation, NFTs can be a vibrant and exciting innovation, worthy of promotion with a cautious approach.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://vimeo.com/772393011?share=copy
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/duolin_ge?igsh=ZzM1Yzlza2lrMGFi&utm_source=qr
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100006587771149&mibextid=LQQJ4d
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duolin-ge-3a8a3ba7
- Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7737560/
