Hollywood’s special effects makeup artist David Willis visited Limkokwing University Cyberjaya campus on 7 March 2019 to conduct a workshop.
David is an expert special effects makeup artist with nearly 25 years of experience. His handiwork can be seen in films and television shows such as the Matrix trilogy, Star Wars Episodes I and II, Superman Returns, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
He also works on advertising campaigns and gives master classes around the world. His work has taken him from his native Australia to New Zealand, the United States, Sweden, France, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and China.
Most Creative University: Producing the world’s best and brightest
“This is the first time I have a workshop at Limkokwing University and I’m happy to be invited here. My first impression about Limkokwing is, it’s a big University with a lot of open space, making it the perfect place for creativity because to be a creative person you can’t stay in the box,” he said.
According to David, everyone has a different level of skills and there is no specific method to learn special effects. However, he highlighted that the process is something one needs to be taught especially in character design.
“You need to know what you want to produce, if the character doesn’t have a personality it will be boring.”
He said, in the world of 3D special effects, sculpting is the basic knowledge which can be done using a variety of materials such as wood, metal, ceramic clay, plasticine, water-based clay, oil base clay or oil and wax base clay.
Learning directly from experts
One of the participants, Ameer Farhan, 23, from Kuantan, Pahang, found the workshop as a long-awaited opportunity.
”I like creative stuff and when I found out that David coming to Limkokwing University, I went straight to register because I was waiting for this opportunity,” said Ameer.
Carl Lum, 32, from Petaling Jaya, Selangor, was glad to join the workshop.
“I started doing miniature figures since 2006 and now I want to learn some techniques to create larger objects,” said Carl, who looks forward to finding a job in the entertainment industry in the future.
A teacher from Johor Bahru, Ng Jeffrey, 26, described the workshop as a good activity because besides being able to gain new knowledge, he also has the opportunity to learn a new method of the film world.
“Usually when we watch a movie, we can only see the end result but by joining this workshop, I can learn the production techniques and how to make it,” he said.
