Ron Brinkmann has been hailed as a visual effects guru. A well-respected visual effects supervisor in such movies as Speed, Contact, Die Hard: with a Vengeance, and most recently Valiant. He is also one of the original people behind Shake. The Author of the book 'The Art and Science of Digital Compositing', which has become the standard introductory textbook for people learning about digital compositing for film visual effects. This book is like a bible for compositors all over the world , translated into many languages.
But who is the man behind the book?
FACT : Ron Brinkmann is also a writer and an independent director, who made a dark fantasy movie called "Hope". This is the interview about the other Brinkmann.

SAM : When did you start writing?
RON : I've always wanted to write and have, since I was rather young, kept a large cache of in-progress stories about that never quite seem to get finished. Sometimes it would be a few years between deciding I needed to write something and there are times when I'd get inspired and put a lot of stuff together. I do keep a scrapbook/journal that's filled with ideas - actually several partially filled books - but at some point that all converted over to digital. My first full screenplay was actually something that really got started while I was writing my compositing book. Anytime I write it's a constant battle to not get distracted with something more interesting. ... so I figured that while I was writing the book, I would allow myself to get distracted only to write something else. Which kind of worked, sometimes, and I ended up putting together a screenplay.

SAM : What inspire you to be a director, transiting from writer to director?
RON : I guess it's mostly that desire to make sure that you control things from start-to-finish... Not let someone else change the stuff that is precious to you. And it's really fun to deal both with story AND visuals.

SAM : How did the story of Hope come about?
RON : Hope came about after I finished my book and was trying to figure out what I'd do next. I left visual effects production to do the book because it was a full-time job for a while. So once the book was done I needed to decide if I wanted to go back into production or do something else. And I realized that I'd rather do something where I had full control over what the story was instead of being a slave to someone else's vision. I can't really say how the specific story of Hope came about - these things all seem rather random in retrospect. Bits and pieces of ideas that kind of coalesce. I've always been a fan of some of the darker comic-book kind of stuff... things that play with mythological premises and combine them with contemporary spins.

SAM : What are some of the movies or comic that influences you most?
RON : Definitely a lot of the vertigo books like hellblazer and Sandman and the stuff that Alan Moore had done with Swamp Thing (even though it's sort of off on a tangent to Hope). Also influenced by fantasy/SF authors, particularly Roger Zelazny and the way he mixes mythological references.

SAM : Was Hope your first movie?
RON : Yes, Hope was my first movie. But I actually was pretty heavily involved with a short film a few years earlier. I helped to write the script but it was directed by a friend of mine, Dave Douglas - he did most of the work on it but I helped out a lot with production and a bit with postproduction. So that was really my first experience with doing a short film and I learned a lot. Mostly that it WAS possible, as long as you're just persistent...It was called 'For the Cause'.

SAM : Where was Hope shot?
RON : Downtown Los Angeles. But I wanted to get a generic city look - something that didn't have that typical 'LA' look, which actually proved more difficult than you'd think.

SAM : How long did it take you to go from storyboard to completion for Hope?
RON : I don't remember exactly but I worked on the script for a while, on-and-off. Probably 5 or 6 months... Then at least 3 months of preproduction... actually it was probably more than that. That included a bit of animatic work... although I only managed to get about the first 5 minutes animated before I had to deal with other stuff. Shooting was pretty quick - something like 8 or 9 days (well, nights mostly).

SAM : When did Hope got its first public viewing? And the response?
RON : It actually was first shown publicly at a World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, California 2002. Pretty good, given the fact that the projection system was terrible and everything was really dark. But I had a lot of people come up and want to talk about it. On the other hand, it was kind of wedged between movie trailers for big-budget Hollywood films, which was really why people were at the screening.

SAM : If you were to do Hope again, which part would change?
RON : More action, pick up the pacing. I wanted it to be somewhat melancholy but I had learned that people who watch short films (and particularly festivals) really need to have a certain speed to it all. And I think that 'action' films are probably an easier 'sell' to the studios... they understand that category better than whatever category Hope falls into.

SAM : I don't think the studios know what works and what don't these days though..
RON : Yup, everybody thinks they can be 'safe' by having a big action-explosion movie... but they're learning that it's not that easy.

SAM : What words of wisdom will you give people who want to direct independent movies? "prepare to starve" ?
RON : Do it. It's really really easy to find excuses for why it would be too hard - don't have the 'right' equipment, don't know where to start... They're all excuses. Make something and learn. But I'd probably recommend maybe trying to do a few low-budget things first... AND prepare to starve

SAM : Would you consider publishing only your short stories either online, on paper or as blogs?
RON : Nothing's polished enough that I'd be willing to unleash it on the public..

SAM : Will you like to direct a movie in Asia if time permits?
RON : absolutely! I'll take any chance to direct. (Hopefully with a chance to work on the script a bit first though!) it would definitely be fun. Making movies is fun, even when it's painful.

SAM : How do u feel about Hollywood rehashing Asian ghost movies?
RON : Mixed feelings. Great concepts and visuals that wouldn't normally reach a wide audience can be brought over and, if done well, be a good thing. I thought the re-make of the original Japanese Horror Movie : Ring was pretty well done.

SAM : I believe that when you take away the software, the computers and left only with empty hands, that each of us will return to our native core of creativity and what we are really truly made of. With that said.... who is Ron Brinkmann?
RON : Ron Brinkmann is someone who is either fascinated by so many different things that he wants to try them all or he's someone who has a serious problem concentrating...

SAM : Thank you for the interview.

CONCLUSION
We often look to others like Hollywood, and tell ourselves, we cannot do what they do because of our own restrictions. No doubt we might be technically and monetary challenge, but that should never stop anyone from telling their story. No matter if it’s on paper or on the big screen. Perhaps with this interview, it could give all of us HOPE, to write more original stories, and make them into better movies. And for that, we have the other Ron to thank for.


RON BRINKMANN WEBSITE