LOS ANGELES ? Chalk up another one for Filipino creativity and artistry making an impact in cinema. Manila-born Roel Banzon Robles helped design most of the characters in ?Disney?s A Christmas Carol,? director Robert ?Bob? Zemeckis? version of the classic Dickens tale, starring Jim Carrey.

For the film, which utilizes performance capture, a process that digitally captures an actor?s movements that are tracked and translated into computer-generated images, Roel designed the groundbreaking motion camera helmet, which tracks facial movements. Roel?s invention, which he developed for Robert?s ImageMovers Digital studio (IMD), allows the emotional expressions of an actor like Jim, who plays various characters, to be digitally captured. Emotionally dead eyes, a criticism before about the performance-capture technology, is now a thing of Christmases past.

When he worked for George Lucas? ?Star Wars, Episodes I and II? films at his famed Skywalker Ranch, Roel helped design Count Dooku?s lightsaber. George himself picked a sword named ?Barong? from Roel?s personal collection of mostly Philippine-made swords as the design inspiration for Count Dooku?s lightsaber.

Fighting style

Roel, who is skilled in eskrima, demonstrated the Filipino martial art that stresses stick, knife and sword fighting to the art department working on the ?Star Wars? episode films. Roel?s eskrima moves inspired the fighting style of the Jedis.

The boy who loved going to Rizal Park, Manila Zoo and other landmarks has indeed come a long way. Working with IMD since 2007, Roel is lending his talents next to various projects, including ?Yellow Submarine,? Robert?s performance-capture 3D digital remake of the Beatles? 1968 animated film, and ?Mars Needs Moms!?

?A Christmas Carol? will be shown in digital 3D and Imax screens in the Philippines. Excerpts of our e-mail interview with Roel, who lives in the East Bay area of Northern California:

What exactly did you do as a character designer on ?A Christmas Carol??

I was involved in helping design the characters of ?A Christmas Carol.? Doug Chiang, the production designer, would give us his thoughts on the characters, and we would go off and do our take on a particular character. I worked on every character, except for Marley and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. During post-production, I also helped design the weather vane in the beginning of the movie and redesigned Scrooge?s nephew and the Cratchits? dining room tables. I had fun creating the look of the Ghost of Christmas Present?s feet dissolving from flesh to bone to dust.

What was it like working with Robert Zemeckis?

This is the third movie that I?ve worked with Bob. It?s always a pleasure to be working with someone who?s so creative and innovative. We always know that he?ll come up with a great story.

Technology

Can you talk about how performance-capture technology has progressed from ?The Polar Express? and ?Beowulf,? both of which you also worked on, to ?A Christmas Carol??

We?ve come along way since we did ?The Polar Express.? The main reason is that, we are in control of how we animate the characters now. Before, we would design the look of the film, then have another studio deal with the animation.

Since IMD is Bob?s studio now, we have more control of what we do and how we want it to look. The main thing that has improved the look of this film is that we?re able to see all the nuances of the muscles of the face. I?m proud to say that I had a small part in that process. I came up with the design for the motion camera (Mocam) helmet, which resembles a bike helmet with cameras attached to a rod that captures a person?s facial movements. IMD wanted to have a sleeker and less cumbersome helmet. I was able to achieve that.

The whole process was stressful, since I only had two days to design the Mocam helmet and another day to build. I pulled an all-nighter that paid off handsomely. I gathered a team from our practical-model shop. We worked on creating a functional helmet. Our deadline was tight, but we were able to achieve this within two weeks.

Best compliment

The best compliment came from the studio that was capturing all the data for our motion-capture shoot. They said that out of a hundred studios, ours looked and worked the best. They were pretty shocked at how fast we were able to turn it around, since in the film industry, it usually takes up to a year for a studio to develop a helmet like this.

What was your affinity to ?A Christmas Carol? as a child?

I?ve always loved the story of ?A Christmas Carol.? Growing up, I have always looked forward to watching Albert Finney?s ?Scrooge? on TV. For the last several years, our family has been going to the ?Great Dickens Christmas Fair? in San Francisco at the Cow Palace. The sets look like old London, and everyone is dressed and speaks in old English. I was pretty excited to hear that we would be working on Disney?s ?A Christmas Carol,? and to finally see it onscreen is pretty amazing! This is the best motion-capture 3D film that we?ve worked on, and I think it shows!

Can you talk about your work on ?Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace? and ?Episode II: Attack of the Clones??

?Episode I? was my first film experience and the first time I met Doug Chiang. I feel very fortunate to have been able to work on those movies. I learned a great deal from Doug and all the artists. That was like my film/art school. We had meetings with George (Lucas) every week, and the experience to work with talented artists, especially George, was phenomenal!

I did mostly Photoshop work and built a lot of the full-scale models. But, the thing that I?m most proud of is that I was able to contribute to the design of Count Dooku?s lightsaber. We were coming up with the look of his lightsaber, and Doug had me line up all of my own swords on the table. They were mostly Philippine swords, and George picked the handle of the Barong, which was my favorite. I strategically placed it in the center, and I?m glad it was the one chosen for Count Dooku?s lightsaber.

I?m also proficient in eskrima and did a demonstration for the art department to show a different style on how the Jedi?s would fight. It was also great working with Ben Burtt on the animatics of the chase scene with Anakin Skywalker and the Bounty Hunter on ?Episode II.?

I grew up admiring Ben, as he was the sound designer of the original ?Star Wars? movies, and he was the best person to work with. He?s very humble and down to earth!

Where were you born in the Philippines?

I was born in Manila. My father is Rolando Herrera Robles from Bicol, and my mother is Elenita Banzon Robles from Bataan. I remember being 5 years old and always drawing. My father is actually a pretty good artist, and he would always draw my comic-book covers such as ?The Hulk,? ?Captain America?, and ?Superman.?

I was inspired by my father to draw at an early age. It wasn?t till later on that I realized that my mother was good at storytelling, as well. She told me that she would recite and make up stories for her younger siblings and cousins, and how she always pretended to be Darna.

Memories

What are your memories of growing up in the Philippines?

Growing up, I have fond memories of going to Rizal Park (spending time on the playground and visiting the Japanese garden), Manila Zoo, Manila Aquarium, Mayon Volcano and the Cagsawa ruins in Albay.

I also remember attending family gatherings and going to Bicol, where I remember my cousin forcing me to pet a rooster at age 3. That really scared me! That?s why I remember that incident with my cousin very vividly! In a way, my cousin helped me overcome that fear because, now, I love drawing monsters that have talons or claws.

At what age did you move to the US?

My family of four (I have an older sister) moved to San Francisco when I was 4 years old. My parents told me that I was always crying when I was younger; but once we moved to the States, I stopped crying. Perhaps, it was the shock of assimilating to a new country.

Share your journey from studying art at the San Francisco State University to working at IMD.

Coming from a family of professionals ? my mom has a degree in accounting and my dad, who?s a CPA, also holds an MBA degree in International Management ? they wanted me to pursue a business career. They didn?t think I could earn a living by being an artist, so they encouraged me to take up courses that had something to do with computers or business. When I got to San Francisco State University, I did a little bit of both. I did take some business courses, and I took one drafting and one film class, but I mostly gravitated toward Asian-American studies, which really fascinated me. When I said I wanted to do art, my parents were thinking of fine arts and art galleries. However, I was always thinking of animation, comic books and film. Luckily, I ended up in a profession that I?ve always wanted to pursue as a kid.

What were the challenges and frustrations along the way, and how did you overcome them?

The challenges were about not getting the support that I needed to pursue art as a career. I always knew I could draw well ever since I was 5. I wish my talents were nurtured a little more, but I also understand that my parents were just looking after my best interests. I still wanted to get into the movie industry, and I knew that it would be very hard to do. I was working at Hyatt Regency as a bellman, while I was going to college, and my love of ?Star Wars? was rekindled again when the special editions came out.

Icing on the cake

I was lucky enough to get hired at Lucasfilm. ?Star Wars: Episode I? was the first movie I worked on ? and it was a dream come true, and so was working on Skywalker Ranch. Working with Doug Chiang and the talented art department was icing on the cake. I attribute my getting a job in the department to hard work, perseverance and a little luck. I?m thankful every day about it.

The way I entered the film industry is not the way that I would recommend to someone just starting out in the profession. I didn?t have an art degree or five years of film experience, so I applied as a mailroom clerk at Skywalker Ranch. I put my head down and did the job to the best of my ability.

As soon as I got in, I earned the reputation of being very hardworking and competent. People saw I could draw, and that got me an introduction to the producer and artists. When I got hired at Lucasfilm, I told myself I?d give myself a year to see if I could make it into the art department. Luckily, things worked out and, after six months, I was already working in the department. Many of my coworkers at the time said that it has never happened before, and I feel very lucky that everything worked out for me.

Who were your sources of inspiration? What were the significant career breaks in your journey?

Ray Harryhausen was a huge inspiration for me when I was growing up. He created all the effects for movies like ?Jason and the Argonauts,? ?Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger? and ?Clash of the Titans.? He inspired me to want to work in the film industry. Ralph McQuarrie, Joe Johnston and Nilo Rodis-Jamero, the artists from ?Star Wars,? were also a great inspiration, especially Nilo, since he?s Filipino. It helped me realize that I could also thrive in the same profession.

When I was in my teens, I discovered the fantasy art of Frank Frazetta, as well. There have been many more, but those five were the key inspirations. I?m lucky to say that I?m friends with Ray Harryhausen and Ralph McQuarrie. I was so excited when I received a Christmas card from Harryhausen. I totally geeked out!

IMD sounds like a fun and rewarding place to work in.

IMD is the best place to work for and has the best people. I can?t say enough good things about Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Jack Rapke. Besides being great at what they do, they really show support and love for this company, and I firmly believe in the adage that the workers are only as good as the people running the company. The reason why it?s great is that you have Doug Chiang running the daily needs of the company, and no one?s better than Doug. It?s such an unusual thing to have someone in charge, who?s also a great artist. It?s just been a great ride so far!

It?s been very interesting to see how our original group of 15 people from the old Iceblink Studios grew into over 400 employees in just a couple of years. Disney has been great to us, and the best thing about working at IMD is the wonderful group of people we have. This is the most talented group I?ve ever worked with. We?re like a family, and that has been the goal of Bob and Doug all along. The work atmosphere has always been family-oriented, and no matter how big we grew, the goal was to have that same familial feel.

Roots

How often do you visit the Philippines?

Unfortunately, every time I plan to go back there, something always comes up and I end up having to work, instead. I have many relatives there, and I?m dying to go back and revisit my roots. I do plan to take some vacation time next year and finally go back. I?d really love to visit the historical landmarks when I go back there.

For those who are aspiring to work in the same field, what advice can you give them?

Go for your dreams and work hard. If you put your mind to it, anything is possible. Don?t get lost in all the flash of the computer programs. There are so many tricks that you can add to your art, with the help of Photoshop and Painter, but we can always tell if you have a solid foundation or if you?re just trying to cover up with mere flash. Go to a good art college, immerse yourself, and learn the basics, because that?s what you?ll always revert back to.

What?s next for you?

Being in the art department, we?re in charge of developing new projects for the company. We?re completing ?Mars Needs Moms!? but the art department is developing concepts for various projects. ?Yellow Submarine? is one project we?re developing right now.

What are your goals?

I?ve been fortunate enough to achieve most of my goals, and to work with a lot of the people I grew up admiring. I have projects in the works. I?d love to direct and create children?s books. Life is short, and I feel that this is the best time to do everything I?ve always wanted to do. I believe in seizing the moment and the power of intention. It?s been a great journey so far, and I look forward to what the future holds. Carpe diem!

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com, and read his blog, ?The Nepales Report,? on http://blogs.inquirer.net/nepalesreport.