Research and Development Artist and Programmer Frank Vitz (Kleiser-Walczak Construction, Electronic Arts) | CGI Fridays - Episode 3
06/30/22 • 97 min
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)
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)
Previous Episode
CGI Visionary Jeff Kleiser (Kleiser-Walczak Construction, Synthespian Studios) | CGI Fridays - Episode 2
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)
Next Episode
Visual Effects Supervisor Henry LaBounta (Industrial Light & Magic, PDI/DreamWorks, EA Ghost) | CGI Fridays - Episode 4
Probably the only person at ILM to prefer Star Trek over Star Wars, Visual Effects Supervisor/Senior Art Director) Henry LaBounta shares his incredible career with Ed Kramer on CGI Fridays Episode 4.
The first generation to have been inspired by big screen CGI, Henry LaBounta was working on commercials for Crawford Digital Effects in Atlanta when Robert Patrick’s liquid metal T-1000 in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) literally changed his life.
Learn how LaBounta got his start at Industrial Light and Magic, before moving to DreamWorks, and then changing lanes entirely as senior art director at Electronic Arts.
Henry LaBounta's full IMDb profile is:
Need for Speed: Heat (Video Game) (senior art director)
Need for Speed: Payback (Video Game)
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (Video Game) (senior art director)
Skate 2 (Video Game)
Burnout Paradise (Video Game)
Skate. (Video Game)
SSX 3 (Video Game) (senior art director)
BraceFace Brandi (Short) (visual effects compositor)
People I Know (visual effects supervisor: PDI/Dreamworks)
Minority Report (visual effects supervisor: PDI/Dreamworks)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (visual effects supervisor: PDI)
Mission: Impossible II (visual effects supervisor: PDI - as Henry Labounta)
Supernova (digital effects producer: PDI)
Forces of Nature (visual effects supervisor)
The Prince of Egypt (supervising sequence lead: "Red Sea" sequence)
Twister (digital tornado designer)
Casper (senior CG supervisor)
Star Trek: Generations (computer effects artist: ILM)
Baby's Day Out (senior digital artist)
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