Creative Force: UNCW Grad Works on Star Wars TV Show Cameron Detig ’21 had long known he wanted a job in the film industry, but it wasn’t until he saw behind-the-scenes footage of the Disney+ show “The Mandalorian” that he pinpointed his goal. He now works in what’s known as “previs” for another Star Wars show, “Ahsoka.” The “Mandalorian” footage was from a visualization studio named The Third Floor. The company works on shows and movies from studios such as Marvel, Lucasfilm and Netflix. “Essentially, they make 3D animated versions of shows to plan everything out before filming,” Detig explained. And now he does it with them.
Detig said he usually gets a handful of scenes to work on for each “Ahsoka” episode, adding motion capture that had been shot, tweaking the performance and animating cameras. “The most challenging part was keeping it a secret for two years,” he said, while they waited for the show to be released. A recipient of the Smith Doss Scholarship in Computer Science, Detig earned dual bachelor’s degrees from UNCW in Computer Science and Film Studies and a minor in Digital Arts which he credits for giving him a solid background, but pursuing his job took even more work.
Courtesy: Cameron Detig
“ The most challenging part was keeping it a secret for two years.” – Cameron Detig ’21
“My time in the UNCW Film Department taught me a lot about filmmaking and film history, which was all important for the job,” Detig said. He also took courses on computer animation, both at UNCW and after graduation, polishing his demo reel and tailoring it for the job he wanted. His goal is to lead the layout department for animated films. As he explained, it involves “defining the camera language and shot choices for films and making an outline for the animators to then fill in.” – S TAC I E G R EENE H I D EK
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