A Day in the Life of

Aidan Martin, a brilliant animation supervisor who has been with Wētā FX for 18 years, may be the perfect SIGGRAPH issue subject! Specializing in creating facial performances, his many impressive credits include The Umbrella Academy, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, War for the Planet of the Apes and Avengers: Endgame. Here he shares some snapshots for a typical date with us:

1

6 a.m., every day! I’m either here or at the gym. I’ve found that the longer I do this, the more important it is to find a physical activity you enjoy and can stick to.

4

Sketching on an iPad. It’s important to keep drawing as much as possible. One WFH perk is that I can have a fully loaded breakfast while I check emails and teams chats, doing the general check in with artists before the calendar fills up.

2

The 9 a.m. leads stand up meeting requires lots of tea.

3

5

10:55 a.m.: Fresh pot of tea. And yes, before you ask, I do put the milk in the teapot... I’m that kind of monster!

6

It’s Friday, so I’m meeting the brains trust for lunch. I had the chicken caesar.

7

In the afternoon I have some time to set some keys, QC a puppet and catch up with animators.

8

Work is done, time to pester my family while they still tolerate my intrusion on whatever obscure anime I seemed to have interrupted.

9

One of Aidan’s many friends/creations, Pogo from The Umbrella Academy.