The Biography

Mark Sawicki began as an actor and clay animator in Michigan. He came to Los Angeles in 1976 and became involved in visual effects during the "Star Wars" era. One of his first positions was working for 'Roger Corman"s New World Studios working on low budget sci-fi pictures as a cameraman. From there, he went on to shooting effects and creating animation for commercials and many rock videos. In 1986, he became the matte photographer for Illusion Arts working under visual effects masters Albert Whitlock, Syd Dutton, and Bill Taylor. During this period, Mark began his work on mainstream films and became an instructor for Kodak's Cineon system (a landmark digital film compositing system). After a 10-year stint of compositing matte paintings at Illusion Arts, Mark went on to become a co supervisor for Area 51 on Tom Hanks' From the Earth to the Moon (1998). Currently, Mark is the head effects camera supervisor and digital colorist for Custom Film Effects. He has authored three DVDs on the art of clay animation and a documentary "Twilight Cameraman" on the craft of optical printing available from firstlightvideo.com. He is also author of the book "Filming the Fantastic: Guide to Visual Effects Cinematography" published by Focal Press. Mark frequently performs as an actor in independent films. While he no longer does clay animation, Mark continues to create whimsical clay cartoon characters for the fine art market.