A special effect is a tool, a means of telling a story. A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing.
I had no special effects, no monsters running around, nothing blew up; those things are all things I've done so many times that they lose their allure after a while.
So, when the special effects are at the service of the story and draw you into it, that is really the magic.
First we pre-visualized it [the flying fish scene in 'Life of Pi'] so the actors could act. It took a long time to get that to come to life and to design those coming out of the screen. We had great fun with that. It takes a long time, a year maybe.
It's all about the special effects.
I like doing as many special effects in camera, as much as possible.
I was certain when I was about 10 years old that I was going to be a special effects artist or a make-up man. I loved that stuff and pursued it for quite some time, actually.
I went to the library - and this was before the Internet - and I searched for a career that was creative, would not fall into a routine, involved problem solving and making things. It also had to be dynamic. I came up with special effects.
