CGI Visionary Jeff Kleiser (Kleiser-Walczak Construction, Synthespian Studios) | CGI Fridays - Episode 2
06/17/22 • 51 min
If you’re a fan of Stargate SG-1 then you should know Jeff Kleiser’s name.
It’s not your fault if you don’t, he can’t be found in a single episode of the show, but along with CGI Fridays host Ed Kramer, and future podcast guest Frank Vitz, they created the visual language of 1994’s Stargate movie – the iconic kawoosh of the Stargate opening and morphing helmets of the Jackal Guards and Horus Guards – that are now indelibly linked to the series.
But how we got there has more twists and turns – and Tide – than you might expect from a résumé that groans under the weight of visual effects triumphs.
Jeff Kleiser's full IMDb profile reads:
The Legen of Ne Zha (visual effects supervisor: synthespian studios)
Defrost: The Virtual Series (TV Short) (vfx consultant)
RoboCop (visual effects supervisor: Perception NYC)
Ra.One (visual effects supervisor)
Surrogates (visual effects plate supervisor: Synthespian Studios)
X-Men: The Last Stand (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Scary Movie 4 (visual effects supervisor: Synthespian Studios)
Slither (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Fantastic Four (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
Son of the Mask (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Exorcist: The Beginning (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
Scary Movie 3 (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
X-Men 2 (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
The One (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
X-Men (creative advisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Video short) (animation director)
The Rage: Carrie 2 (digital effects executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (digital effects producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
It's My Party (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Judge Dredd (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (Short) (animation director - uncredited)
Stargate (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
Clear and Present Danger (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Luxor Live (Short) (visual effects supervisor)
If you’re a fan of Stargate SG-1 then you should know Jeff Kleiser’s name.
It’s not your fault if you don’t, he can’t be found in a single episode of the show, but along with CGI Fridays host Ed Kramer, and future podcast guest Frank Vitz, they created the visual language of 1994’s Stargate movie – the iconic kawoosh of the Stargate opening and morphing helmets of the Jackal Guards and Horus Guards – that are now indelibly linked to the series.
But how we got there has more twists and turns – and Tide – than you might expect from a résumé that groans under the weight of visual effects triumphs.
Jeff Kleiser's full IMDb profile reads:
The Legen of Ne Zha (visual effects supervisor: synthespian studios)
Defrost: The Virtual Series (TV Short) (vfx consultant)
RoboCop (visual effects supervisor: Perception NYC)
Ra.One (visual effects supervisor)
Surrogates (visual effects plate supervisor: Synthespian Studios)
X-Men: The Last Stand (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Scary Movie 4 (visual effects supervisor: Synthespian Studios)
Slither (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Fantastic Four (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
Son of the Mask (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Exorcist: The Beginning (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
Scary Movie 3 (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
X-Men 2 (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
The One (senior visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
X-Men (creative advisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Video short) (animation director)
The Rage: Carrie 2 (digital effects executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
Mortal Kombat: Annihilation (digital effects producer: Kleiser-Walczak)
It's My Party (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Judge Dredd (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Honey, I Shrunk the Audience (Short) (animation director - uncredited)
Stargate (executive producer: Kleiser-Walczak - as Jeff Kleiser)
Clear and Present Danger (computer animation supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Secrets of the Luxor Pyramid (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Luxor Live (Short) (visual effects supervisor)
Previous Episode
Practical/Digital Modeller and Puppeteer Mark Siegel (Industrial Light & Magic) | CGI Fridays - Episode 1
Siegel was teaching junior high in his hometown of Minneapolis before turning his back on dispensing education, in favor of receiving it as one of the 1,700 students to pratfall through the doors of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College between 1968 and 1997, earning a spot in their touring show.
There he was fortunate enough to study under the late, great Verne Langdon who “besides teaching us clown makeup and helping develop our characters. He taught us basic prosthetics – he had recently been on the original Planet of the Apes [1968] with John Chambers. I learned how to take the casting of my nose, do sculptures and molds and make my own rubber clown nose. Verne liked my work. And I enjoyed doing it. And we stayed in touch."
Mark Siegel's full IMDb profile reads:
Lucy (digital artist)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (digital artist: Industrial Light & Magic)
Noah (digital artist: ILM)
Star Trek Into Darkness (digital artist: Industrial Light & Magic)
Cowboys & Aliens (digital artist: ILM)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (digital models and simulations: Industrial Light & Magic)
Rango (digital modeler: ILM)
I Am Number Four (digital artist: ILM)
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (digital modeler and simulator: ILM)
Evan Almighty (digital artist: ILM)
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (digital modeler: ILM)
Eragon (digital artist: ILM)
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (digital modeler: ILM)
The Island (digital artist)
War of the Worlds (digital artist)
Son of the Mask (lead modeler)
Van Helsing (digital modeler)
Planet of the Apes (model maker: ILM)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (model maker: ILM)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (concept sculptor)
Space Cowboys (model maker)
Galaxy Quest (model maker: ILM)
Men in Black (model maker: saucer crash miniature and blue screen unit)
DragonHeart (creature maker) / (puppeteer)
The Meteor Man (action property performer)
Fire in the Sky (sculptor)
Memoirs of an Invisible Man (action property performer)
Death Becomes Her (model maker: ILM)
Naked Lunch (creature maker)
Next Episode
Research and Development Artist and Programmer Frank Vitz (Kleiser-Walczak Construction, Electronic Arts) | CGI Fridays - Episode 3
From pitching Tron to opening the Stargate, Frank Vitz discusses his career as a Research and Development Artist and Programmer in the new episode of Ed Kramer’s CGI Fridays.
Vitz is best known for his work at animation studio Kleiser-Walczak Construction Co, where – alongside CGI Fridays host Ed Kramer and previous guest Jeff Kleiser – he contributed to the visual effects of the late Doug Trumbull’s multimedia Luxor Las Vegas attraction, and its spiritual successor, Roland Emmerich’s ancient astronaut action movie and accidental franchise-starter, Stargate (1994).
His association with Kleiser goes back further than the company when by eerie coincidence, Vitz – then working for Robert Abel and Associates – found himself at ground zero for the birth of modern CGI: 1982’s Tron.
Frank Vitz currently works as Senior Art Director/CG Supervisor at Electronic Arts.
Frank Vitz's full IMDB profile reads:
How to Boil a Frog (Documentary) (cgi supervisor)
X-Men 2 (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser-Walczak)
Evolution (TV Mini Series documentary) (animator - 7 episodes, 2002) (visual effects supervisor - 7 episodes, 2002)
Corkscrew Hill (Short) (technical supervisor)
X-Men (visual effects supervisor: Kleiser Walczak)
The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Video short) (visual effects)
The Rage: Carrie 2 (visual effects coordinator)
Judge Dredd (head of software: Kleiser-Walczak)
Stargate (software development: Kleiser-Walczak)
In Search of the Obelisk (Short) (head of software: Klesier Walczak)
TRON (systems programmer: Robert Abel and Associates)
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