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THE TM 911 Franklin Street Weekly Newspaper Michigan City, IN 46360 Volume 35, Number 7 Thursday, February 21, 2019 Making Movie Magic by Kayla Weiss James Ward was among the more than 150 animators who helped bring “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” to life. ames Ward fell in love with computer graphics and animation when he was 12. More than two decades later, he still recalls the 1995 movie Jthat sparked his interest. Pixar’s “Toy Story.” “It looked so different,” he recalls. “Even at that young age, I wanted to learn how that was made, and how to be able to do something like that. “Animation just really spoke to me as a young kid. It was then that I de- cided that this was the path for me.” Now, approaching 25 years later, the Michigan City High School graduate has the distinction of being among more than 150 animators who worked on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” which is the odds-on favorite to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature on Sunday, Feb. 24. James Ward Continued on Page 2 THE Page 2 February 21, 2019 THE 911 Franklin Street • Michigan City, IN 46360 219/879-0088 • FAX 219/879-8070 %HDFKHU&RPSDQ\'LUHFWRU\ e-mail: News/Articles - [email protected] 'RQDQG7RP0RQWJRPHU\ 2ZQHUV email: Classifieds - [email protected] $QGUHZ7DOODFNVRQ (GLWRU http://www.thebeacher.com/ 'UHZ:KLWH 3ULQW6DOHVPDQ PRINTE ITH Published and Printed by -DQHW%DLQHV ,QVLGH6DOHV&XVWRPHU6HUYLFH T %HFN\:LUHEDXJK 7\SHVHWWHU'HVLJQHU T A S A THE BEACHER BUSINESS PRINTERS 5DQG\.D\VHU 3UHVVPDQ 'RUD.D\VHU %LQGHU\ Delivered weekly, free of charge to Birch Tree Farms, Duneland Beach, Grand Beach, Hidden Shores, Long Beach, Michiana Shores, Michiana MI and Shoreland Hills. The Beacher is 0LNH%RUDZVNL+RSH&RVWHOOR&KHU\O-RSSHN 3URGXFWLRQ also delivered to public places in Michigan City, New Buffalo, LaPorte and Sheridan Beach. -RKQ%DLQHV.DUHQ*HKU&KULV.D\VHU'HQQLV0D\EHUU\ 'HOLYHU\ I moved to San Diego, it was to be closer to the in- Continued from Page 1 Making Movie Magic dustry without having to be directly in L.A. I wasn’t “The whole awards getting jobs right off the bat, but it did allow me season has been so the freedom to attend some conferences and talk to wild,” Ward said in some recruiters. Just being in that area helped me a phone interview get into that mindset, and one day, I just got that with The Beacher. “I lucky call – they were looking for new animators to have been working work on the ‘Green Lantern’ movie. in movies for nine years, and worked on so many movies, and this was so different because ev- eryone loved it. “There were around 700 people working on this fi lm, and it’s been so great to be working on something that’s Pixar’s “Toy Story” (1995) was the fi lm that sparked James’ interest in so well-received and computer animation. well-loved.” Ward says he was fortunate that, after graduat- ing from high school, he was able to pursue the fi eld James’ fi rst big break in the industry involved work on the 2011 DC super-hero fi lm “Green Lantern” starring Ryan Reynolds. of computer visuals and animation. He earned a two-year fi ne arts degree from Vincennes Univer- “I was stoked. As an animator fresh out of school, sity, followed by studies at Indiana University-Pur- you hope that one day you’ll get the call for a big due University Indianapolis, which had just started movie, of course, but I never expected to be called teaching 3-D animation. on to help create a DC movie right off the bat. It “I got to learn all of the different aspects there, was really exciting and a great learning experience and a little touch of animation, which I thought was for me.” something amazing,” he said. “When I fi rst began Through his career with Sony Pictures Image- to pursue this after high school, I always had just works, he has had the good fortune to work with assumed that I wouldn’t be able to get the kind of a company that does Computer Generated Imagery degree I was looking for unless I went out of state. and visual effects. CGI applies computer graphics But it was all so expensive, so when I found out that to special effects. Visual effects are images created there was an opportunity to learn some of these or manipulated after live-action footage is captured. skills at a local university, I was thrilled.” Ward has worked on many exciting projects, in- Upon earning his four-year degree, Ward wanted cluding several Spider-Man fi lms, “Oz: The Great to further his education and fi ne-tune his skills, so and Powerful” (2013), Tom Cruise’s “Edge of Tomor- he signed up for online classes through animation- row” (2014) and “Alice Through The Looking Glass” mentor.com, where the instructors were profession- (2016). al animators still in the business, at studios such In “Edge of Tomorrow,” a sci-fi variation on Dreamworks and Pixar. “Groundhog Day” in which Cruise’s character exists Fresh out of school, Ward made a big change. in a time loop amid an alien invasion, Ward helped Packing up and leaving the comforts of small-town create the movements of the alien creatures known Indiana life, he fl ew out to San Diego to begin a ca- as Mimics. reer as an animator. In “Oz: The Great and Powerful,” he was respon- “As an animator, you travel a lot,” he said. “When sible for animating Finley, the fl ying monkey, in THE February 21, 2019 Page 3 James helped convey the movement of an alien race in “Edge of Tomorrow.” Glinda’s fl oating bubbles, as well as the rest of the fl oating bubbles Glinda created during that scene. In “Alice Through the Looking Glass,” he helped create the Ocean of Time (a time-travel portal that Alice and the others encounter), along with clockwork creatures that join to build an even larger clockwork creature Alice must face. James helped create Finley the Flying Monkey in Abiney’s Oriental Rug “Oz: The Great and Powerful.” “I’ve basically only ever worked with Sony Pic- & Carpet Cleaning Company tures Imageworks,” he said. “With them, I’ve had the pleasure of working on so many movies over the Oriental Rug Cleaning, Repair, Restoration and Refringing last 10 years. When they announced that they were FREE PICKUP and DELIVERY SERVICE going to be making the movie ‘Spider-Man: Into the • Carpet Cleaning Spider-Verse,’ I was on board from Day 1.” • Upholstery Cleaning The late Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko • House Cleaning Services fi rst unveiled their new super hero, Spider-Man, in • Drapery & Blind Cleaning August 1962, part of the comic anthology “Amaz- (as they hang) ing Fantasy No. 15.” Since that debut in the “Silver • Window Washing Age” of comic books, fans have been enamored with All Rugs are cleaned by hand with a specially designed chemical process the story of Peter Parker. Over the decades, the Spider-Verse has exploded, creating dozens of new HARDWOOD FLOORS - Hand Polishing & High Speed Buffing characters, Spider-Man personas and storylines. 1645 N. Pine Ridge Dr., LaPorte, IN 219-325-3363 Continued on Page 4 THE Page 4 February 21, 2019 Into the Spider-Verse.” Continued from Page 3 Making Movie Magic Ward, a longtime Spider-Man fan, was thrilled to When orphaned Peter Parker fi rst appeared, Lee work on another Spider-Man movie. and Ditko wanted to give him a one-of-a-kind ori- “We had over 150 animators working together on gin story. Raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in this fi lm, which was a huge undertaking. One of the New York City, Parker acquires spider-like abilities main scenes that I was able to work on was when after he is bitten by a radioactive spider. Not only Miles (the newest addition to the Spider-Verse) fi rst must he deal with typical adolescent struggles, but enters the school. There were so many background he must also fi gure out what it means to be a super people and details that went into creating that hero who can cling to surfaces, shoot webs and de- scene so that it would be a fl awless addition to the tect danger with his “spider-sense.” movie,” Ward said. Lee and Ditko created “It took a couple of a great sidekick, but no months to complete the adult mentor. Thus came scene, which runs about his character’s greatest 30 seconds and consisted turning point. When Un- of more than 1,000 ani- cle Ben was murdered by a mated frames. ‘Into the common criminal, and Pe- Spider-Verse’ defi nitely ter came to terms with the stuck out as a dream to fact he couldn’t save one of work on.” the most important people “Into the Spider-Verse” in his life, he learned that fi rst premiered at L.A.’s “with great power comes Regency Village Theatre great responsibility.” on Dec. 1. Two short weeks And with that, Spider- later, it was released to Man was offi cially born. James says he will be cheering on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” the general public and has The character has had during the Academy Awards from the comforts of home. grossed more than $352 many friends and foes. As a result, Marvel featured million worldwide.

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