Oliver Kirchhoff has previously worked on titles such as “Avengers: Endgame,” “Iron Man 3,” “Kong: Skull Island,” and “Man of Steel”

The visual effects (VFX) industry has grown tremendously in the past decades. The rapid development of modern technology has allowed filmmakers and artists to create worlds once deemed impossible—from the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) to animation wonders that continue to push the envelope. 

Yet, this growing industry continues to face unprecedented uncertainty. Workplace exploitation runs rampant in several studios, leaving exploited workers underpaid and overworked. AI threatens job security with its potential to take on the tasks of hundreds of employees for less cost. Not to mention that it’s an industry centralized in the West but doesn’t yet have the market in Asia, barring Japan, Korea, and China. 

READ: Adrien Brody’s Oscars win, for better or worse, sets the precedent for AI use in film

So for a Filipino adolescent who grew up on Marvel films and dreams to one day work on such a production: Is there a future for them?

Oliver Kirchhoff, an industry veteran with 28 years of 3D and VFX experience believes so. And it starts with education. Kirchhoff has lent his expertise to several Marvel Studios titles such as “Avengers: Endgame” and “Iron Man 3.” He also has credits in films like “Kong: Skull Island,” “Man of Steel,” and “Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.” Today, he has recently joined the iAcademy faculty to help develop the younger generation of Filipino hopefuls.

Here, we joined Kirchhoff to discuss his passion for education, his experiences in several high-profile films, and what it takes to make it in the cutthroat industry.

Walk me through your journey in 3D and VFX work. Why did you pursue a career in that field? What do you like most about it?

It was always my hobby. As a kid, I was fascinated with sci-fi movies like “Star Trek” in the ’60s. I spent a lot of time drawing spaceships and aliens, but it was when I saw ‘Star Wars’ that it just clicked. I wanted to be part of it.

But, although I was interested in that, there was no visual effects industry in Germany. It was just too young. I had to do something else, which was mechanical engineering, which I studied at the Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences. 

I continued to do 3D graphics as a hobby and somehow, a company got wind of me. I showed up on their radar, and that’s when they contacted me and asked if I wanted to help them make a sci-fi series. That’s how I got in. (He was the CG animator for 18 episodes of “Starhunter” that ran from 2000 to 2004).

How would you describe the work culture at those productions?

The work culture is quite professional. We spend a lot of time together. There is often crunch time when a deadline needs to be met and there’s so much work to be done—that’s when everyone starts to do overtime, which is paid, of course. So you get a lot of money, but you spend a lot of time in the office with your colleagues. You have meals together because you don’t even have time to go out and buy one. You go out on Friday night for beer o’clock. That’s a common thing there in the industry. You spend a lot of time with these people, and they become somewhat your family.

Is crunch time the norm?

Crunch time is basically more of the same. Instead of eight hours, you work 14. You go from bed to office, from office to bed—that’s how life is for a couple of days, sometimes weeks. It has quite an impact on your physique. You have to be careful to get a little bit of exercise and not sit in your chair all day. 

It’s not so common these days anymore. That was at the peak of visual effects about 15 years ago. Nowadays, teams are managed better, and they hire more rather than have a few people do overtime. 

What’s your favorite project of all time?

That’s a difficult one. I’d say “Kong: Skull Island.” The raw footage they shot was so pretty. Often, when you get footage from the shooting, it’s dark and needs to be enhanced digitally—like getting the colors and the contrasts out. But it had sunlight, saturated greens and blues—it was just pretty. It was so good to look at that I wanted to go there and see it for myself. It was shot in Ha Long Bay in Vietnam, and I eventually went there and saw it with my own eyes. 

READ: New ‘Captain America’ film suffers from pent-up MCU frustration

How did you get started on teaching?

I started teaching during my studies as a mechanical engineer. I established a 3ds Max course for the faculty and a few students there. In my first job as an application engineer, I also trained other engineers using the simulation software for the company that we worked for. It was not on the scale of iAcademy. I didn’t have a huge audience, and it was always for around five to 10 people maximum. I also did a bit of teaching at the Animation Workshop in Denmark.

Why join iAcademy?

I thought teaching would be nice. I haven’t done it for a long time and being a bit aged, I try to avoid the stress of crunch time productions. So, why not teach? I have a lot to say. I have a lot of knowledge to share. 

How would you describe the level of VFX and 3D animation here? What would it take to bring our current level up to par with international standards?

People have the skill if you teach it. But, if there’s no requirement for that kind of skill, why would people learn it? The local industry is very much focused on the local market and commercials. Due to the limited budget of these productions, they will not do massive crowd simulations or explosions and robots running around. 

If we can prove that it’s not that expensive, these productions might start asking for these kinds of effects. We need to educate people to have that skill, and then offer that service to different productions. They might give the companies some shots, a sequence in a movie—and before you see it, a new industry starts. 

Think about MPC, when they started, they were like five people, and they made a chocolate frog in “Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone.” In the second movie, they were 700-people-strong and made almost all the effects in the second sequel.

What is your message for young students who are interested in entering this field despite incidences of overwork and underpayment, the threat of AI, and much more?

The industry looks for people who are experts in one thing. You can be an expert in multiple things, of course, but you have to be top-notch. The industry doesn’t like mediocre people. If you like modeling, then become the best modeler in the world. If you like animation, become the best animator in the world. Don’t try to be good at both. You probably cannot. You probably don’t have the time to hone both skills anyway. 

If they want to look for a career in a foreign country, they should pick the thing they like most, enjoy learning it, and perfect it to the point that they’re better than anyone else.

Shot at iAcademy Makati’s Green Room and Lightbox Room