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Nathan Paul McGuinness is an Australian creative director and visual effects supervisor. He founded Asylum Visual Effects and Kommitted Films in 2000; the former for visual effects and the latter for film production. McGuinness directed Iron Woman, the live-action commercial for Metroid Prime 2: Echoes.
He was interviewed about Iron Woman by Shinesparkers in 2023.
Iron Woman[]
McGuinness developed the treatment for Iron Woman and directed it. Asylum Visual Effects had a pre-existing relationship with Leo Burnett, Nintendo's long-time advertising partner, and they were hired to assist with filming and VFX. McGuinness and his collaborators made use of mood lighting in a Los Angeles alleyway for Iron Woman, a design choice he made after viewing footage from Echoes. The alley was dark except for small areas illuminated by overhead lights, alluding to the game's central theme of Light and Dark. He cast Melissa Keller in the starring role upon first sight, believing she was a perfect fit.[1]
McGuinness does not play video games and did not play Echoes after it was released. At the time, he was very busy with ad campaigns for Leo Burnett and did not have time to play games, although he would watch gameplay for research purposes. McGuinness criticized the Canadian Echoes commercial, which was filmed as an addiction-related public-service announcement, for "pushing drugs and alcohol in a gaming realm", something he would never do.[1]
Looking back on Iron Woman, McGuinness felt that the concept would still work in a modern commercial, even as the visual effects would be more advanced.[1]
Subsequent work[]
Asylum Visual Effects filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and closed on November 17, 2010.[2] McGuinness attributed this to tax incentives and competition with Canadian and British firms that left Asylum unable to compete with those larger VFX studios. He declined offers by larger companies to absorb Asylum, which was still busy with projects right up until its closure. Its final film, This Means War, was released the following year.[3]
Filmography[]
- Black Hawk Down (2001)
- Pearl Harbor (2001)
- Planet of the Apes (2001)
- Wikipedia:Bad Boys II (2003)
- Wikipedia:Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003)
- Wikipedia:X2: X-Men United (2003)
- National Treasure (2004)
- Iron Woman (2004)
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
- King Kong (2005)
- Wikipedia:Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
- Wikipedia:National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)
- Wikipedia:Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
- Transformers (2007)
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
- The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3 (2009)
- Wikipedia:Terminator Salvation (2009)
- Wikipedia:Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)
- The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
- Unstoppable (2010)
- Battleship (2012)
- Wikipedia:Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
- Transcendence (2014)
- Shelter (2014)
- The Shallows (2016)
- Sky Hunter (2017)
- Westworld (2018)
- Greyhound (2020)
- The Dark Tower (2020)
- The Good Nurse (2022)
Accolades[]
McGuinness was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World[4], and he won a BAFTA Award for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.[5] He also possessed the Telly Award that Iron Woman won in 2005.[1]
External links[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d Shinesparkers. Interview: Nathan McGuinness. April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2023.
- ^ Variety Staff. "Vfx firm Asylum shuts down". Variety. November 18, 2010. Retrieved April 22, 2023. https://variety.com/2010/digital/news/vfx-firm-asylum-shuts-down-1118027742/
- ^ Creator / Asylum Visual Effects. TV Tropes. Retrieved April 22, 2023. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/AsylumVisualEffects
- ^ Oscars 2004: The winners. BBC News (March 1, 2004).
- ^ Bafta Film Awards 2009: The winners. BBC News (February 8, 2009).