Chaos

What are you looking for?

podcast banner

Garman Herigstad — Visual Effects Educator / Writer

393_Garman_Herigstad_Full.png

An epic career deserves an epic podcast. During Garman Herigstad's 35-year journey in CG, the Houdini wizard has traveled to over 30 countries and worked on everything from real estate commercials in Bangkok to Disney videogames and Hollywood movies. At the same time, he’s taught at prestigious institutions, including Savannah College of Art and Design and Gnomon, and he even completed his most recent degree in his 60s.

Garman recounts his humble beginnings in greetings cards, through to economic highs and lows in Asia. He talks about his VFX work, including researching global weather patterns for a time-lapse sequence in The Time Machine, immersing George Clooney in Houdini-generated water for O Brother, Where Art Thou?, and working on Black Adam. Garman also shares valuable lessons on managing time and the importance of keeping notes. The episode ends with a particularly touching story of what inspired 52½ Feet, his autobiographical screenplay.

Links:

Garman Herigstad's website >

Garman Herigstad on IMDb >

Garman Herigstad on LinkedIn >

Garman Herigstad on YouTube >


393_Garman_Herigstad_Full_YouTube.png393_Garman_Herigstad_Full_YouTube.png

0:05:39 Typesetting, education, and greetings cards

0:20:39 Early computer visualization with videotapes

0:25:12 Weather, architecture, and commercials in Asia

0:42:04 Back in the USA for "A Bug's Life" videogames

0:46:19 VFX for "O Brother, Where Art Thou?"

0:55:45 Music, and weather for "The Time Machine"

1:07:58 Balancing work and life and teaching

1:17:13 "Beowulf" and "Castaway"

1:24:39 Returning to DD for "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Stealth"

1:35:22 Recent work including "Black Adam"

IMG_h96auu.jpg
About the author

Christopher Nichols

Chris is a CG industry veteran and Director of Chaos Labs. He can also be heard regularly as the host of the CG Garage podcast which attracts 20,000 weekly listeners. With a background in both VFX and Design, Chris has worked for Gensler, Digital Domain, Imageworks and Method Studios. His credits include Maleficent, Oblivion and Tron: Legacy.

Originally published: September 19, 2022.
© Škoda Design

Subscribe to our blog.

Get the latest news, artist spotlight stories, tips and tricks delivered to your inbox.

By submitting your information you are agreeing to receive marketing messages from Chaos. You can opt-out at any time. Privacy Policy.

Chaos
© 2024 Chaos Software EOOD. All Rights reserved. Chaos®, V-Ray® and Phoenix FD® are registered trademarks of Chaos Software EOOD in Bulgaria and/or other countries.