Steve Williams (animator)
{{Short description|Canadian special effects artist}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox person
| image =
| name = Steve Williams
| birth_name = Steven Williams
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1963}}
| birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| other_names = Spaz Williams
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = {{hlist|Visual effects artist|animator|director}}
| yearsactive = 1988–present
| father = John Reesor Williams
| relatives = Harland Williams (brother){{cite web |last1=Sumi |first1=Glenn |title=Q&A: Harland Williams |url=https://nowtoronto.com/culture/comedy/q-and-a-harland-williams |website=NOW Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019091925/https://nowtoronto.com/culture/comedy/q-and-a-harland-williams |archive-date=October 19, 2020 |date=April 17, 2008}}
Kevin Hearn (cousin)
}}
Steven "Spaz" Williams (born 1963){{cite book|author=Tom Sito|title=Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOwyRnZ1oxoC&pg=PA282|year=2013|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-01909-5|pages=282–}} is a Canadian special effects artist, animator, and film and commercials director.
Biography
Williams studied animation at Sheridan College, graduating in 1984.[https://www.sheridancollege.ca/alumni/profiles/steve-spaz-williams.aspx Steve "Spaz" Williams], Sheridan College During the summers he would work at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education Computer Laboratory, learning more about computer animation. After graduation, he went on to work at Alias Research (currently a part of Autodesk) in Toronto. He acted as the company's spokesperson, leading to a job at Industrial Light & Magic in 1988.Craig Barr (October 15, 2012) [https://web.archive.org/web/20121013040941/http://area.autodesk.com/blogs/craig/steve-spaz-williams CG Evolution/Film Revolution: A Q+A with Steve "Spaz" Williams]. autodesk.com ILM had purchased Silicon Graphics computers to create the computer-generated effects in The Abyss, and said workstations used Alias modeling software. Along with animators Mark A.Z. Dippé, Scott E. Anderson and Jay Riddle, Williams helped develop a photorealistic alien pseudopod made out of seawater, which later earned the film an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects.{{cite book|author=Tom Sito|title=Moving Innovation: A History of Computer Animation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WOwyRnZ1oxoC&pg=PA170|year=2013|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=978-0-262-01909-5|pages=170–}} Continuing at ILM, Williams worked in two more breakthrough moments of CG effects that earned the company more Oscars: the T-1000 from Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), a liquid metal robot that evolved from the work done in The Abyss;Richard Corliss (June 24, 2001) [http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,159429,00.html They Put The ILM In Film]. Time and the dinosaurs of Jurassic Park (1993), one of which was the Tyrannosaurus which Williams personally built.Kirsten Acuna (July 11, 2014) [http://www.businessinsider.com/how-cgi-works-in-jurassic-park-2014-7 How 4 Minutes Of CGI Dinosaurs In ‘Jurassic Park’ Took A Year To Make]. businessinsider.com
As the chief computer graphics animator of The Mask, Williams shared a nomination for Best Visual Effects (along with Tom Bertino, Jon Farhat and Scott Squires) at the 67th Academy Awards.{{Cite web|url=http://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1995 |title=The 67th Academy Awards (1995) Nominees and Winners |accessdate=March 29, 2014|publisher=Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences}} Williams left ILM along with Dippé following their work in Spawn (1997), which Dippé directed with Williams being the effects supervisor and second unit director. Along with a job at New Line Productions,Edward Guthmann (July 27, 1997) [http://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/The-Spaz-Who-Spawned-His-Own-Style-Computer-2815826.php The `Spaz' Who Spawned His Own Style / Computer animator Steve Williams doesn't look or think like a typical designer]. San Francisco Chronicle. Williams opened Hoytyboy Productions in San Francisco. Hoytyboy's biggest work was 2006's The Wild for Walt Disney Pictures, which Williams directed.Joe Strike (April 14, 2006) [http://www.awn.com/animationworld/disney-goes-wild Disney Goes 'Wild']. awn.com He also directed more than 200 commercials between 1997 and 2010, for clients including Capital One, Toyota, AT&T, Lexus and McDonald's.[http://www.lbbonline.com/news/kreative-kontent-repping-steve-spaz-williams/ Kreative Kontent Repping Steve 'Spaz' Williams]. lbbonline.com. 2013
As of 2012, Williams continues directing commercials.
In 2022, a feature-length documentary on the life of Williams, Jurassic Punk (also known as Spaz), debuted at the South by Southwest Film Festival.{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2022-03-11/inside-the-tempestuous-career-of-fx-revolutionary-steve-williams-in-spaz/|title=Inside the Tempestuous Career of FX Revolutionary Steve Williams in Spaz|website=Austin Chronicle}}[https://sitgesfilmfestival.com/en/film/2022/jurassic-punk JURASSIC PUNK - Sitges]
Selected filmography
- The Abyss (1989)
- The Hunt for Red October (1990)
- Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
- Jurassic Park (1993)
- The Mask (1994)
- Jumanji (1995)
- Eraser (1996)
- Spawn (1997)
- The Wild (2006)
References
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0931727|name=Steve Williams}}
- [https://vimeo.com/spazwilliams/ Steve Williams] on Vimeo
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Category:Film directors from Toronto
Category:Canadian visual effects artists
Category:Sheridan College alumni