Accomplished alumnus blends skills in film industry and beyond
From a young age, Kevin Whitfield ’10 (new media design) loved to create.
“I really liked learning how things worked by taking them apart and then using the bits to build something new,” Whitfield said. “The process of taking a project from an idea, to a finished piece really empowered me”.
While in high school, Whitfield was introduced to a variety of software and computer programs, such as computer-aided design, that jump-started his interest in creating digital media — a passion that only grew stronger at Rochester Institute of Technology.
“It wasn’t long before I had the Enterprise flying around, satisfying my inner 5-year-old with high technology,” Whitfield said. “This was a nice combination of my love for theater, movie magic, science and making things.”
Whitfield has had a successful career of making things — specifically for major motion pictures. His visual effects work has earned him screen credits in popular films like “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” “Man of Steel,” “Prometheus” and others.
“I liked film for the same reason I like theater. It was a place to make things, and combine technology with art,” Whitfield said. “It was problem-solving in all its forms. There was a fun escapism element to creating fanciful worlds. Film specifically provided a space for very high-quality work and lots of attention to detail — attributes I hold in very high regard.”
Much of Whitfield’s film work was done over a six-year stint in New Zealand at visual effects company Weta Digital. Today, Whitfield is a production designer for Nimblist®, a Pennsylvania-based lighting and production design company for large-scale events and experiences.
“Our current clients include major corporate brands, the NFL, Robin Hood and worldwide rock-‘n’-roll tours,” Whitfield said of his current position. “We recently did the design and production for Bon Jovi, Pearl Jam and Smashing Pumpkins.”
Whitfield started his college career studying engineering and astrophysics at the University of Rochester — an experience that actually steered him to RIT. During his freshman year, Whitfield took a digital art elective where a friend introduced him to 3D Studio Max, a design program in which he could make all the spaceships he had ever wanted.
“It was about then I decided that if I wouldn’t get to actually build spaceships, at least I could make it look like I did,” Whitfield said.
From there, Whitfield decided to transfer to RIT’s new media design program to pursue his passion for visual effects. He said he felt the program suited his goals because of its emphasis on developing technical skills and quality work.
“New media design prepared me with the fundamentals of good design and the systematic knowledge of how to produce quality work, regardless of the specific field,” Whitfield said.
Whitfield also ventured outside of his major while at RIT to broaden his skill set. He took a film and animation course, where he learned about lighting for film and video. He picked up photographic abilities, too, which he found to be crucial to the production of excellent visual effects.
After graduating from RIT, Whitfield moved to New Zealand upon being hired by Weta Digital and hit the ground running as a lighting technical director.
“My primary tasks included lighting, rendering and shot finaling,” Whitfield said. “Sometimes I would do bash comps, modeling, texturing, shader editing, fx tweaking or even concept art. ‘Dawn of the Planet of the Apes’ had some particularly challenging shots to setup, light and render — especially with all those apes. My work was mostly at the end with the Caesar-Koba tower fight and the eventual tower destruction sequence.”
Other films he did lighting for include “The Adventures of Tintin,” “Central Intelligence,” “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug,” “Man of Steel,” “Prometheus” and “The Wolverine.”
Whitfield eventually became part of Weta’s environments department. He still did a lot of rendering, but his main job was assisting matte painters by creating high-resolution renders with pass breakouts to give them a starting point.
In this role, Whitfield earned screen credits in “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies,” “Pete’s Dragon,” “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” and “Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials.”
“One of the coolest experiences that I’ve had on the job was working on ‘Prometheus,’” Whitfield said. “I got one of the very first opening shots in the title sequence with the big ship taking off from the waterfall. That fulfilled my childhood fantasy of making spaceships fly on screen.”
Whitfield advises current and future students of RIT’s new media design program to continually measure their progress against industry standards, gather feedback from professionals and always push for higher learning.
“Don’t stop learning,” Whitfield said. “Both Weta and New Zealand taught me so much more. Whenever I start to stagnate, it’s time to move on and learn new things. Know you can always, always learn new things. Stay focused, assiduous, with an eye to your progress, and the rest usually attends to itself.”
To view a collection of Whitfield’s work, visit his website.
