Sage Grad Creates Magic in The Golden Compass
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Photo courtsey of Anthony Zalinka |
Without Anthony Zalinka’s contribution to The Golden Compass, filmgoers would really have to use their imaginations: As the film’s junior technical effects director, the 2003 graphic design graduate created the snow, smoke, fire, dust and debris that appears on screen. He produced it with the same software program he learned at Sage College of Albany. “The Golden Compass,” a movie based on the first book in Philip Pullman’s trilogy, premiered in December starring Nicole Kidman, and won an Academy Award for Achievement in Visual Effects. It’s a fantasy adventure about a 12-year-old girl who tries to rescue a kidnapped friend and winds up on a quest to save her world. |
Zalinka, who has moved on from The Golden Compass and is now working on "The Incredible Hulk II", works for Rhythm & Hues, a Los Angeles-based post-production special effects studio. He apprenticed with Rhythm & Hues following his graduation from Savannah College of Art Design, which he transferred to from SCA back before SCA began offering the Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic design.
“One of the biggest things I learned at Sage in Jean Dahlgren’s class is attention to detail as a graphic design artist,” Zalinka said.
“What I do now – every pixel counts. The littlest thing is as important as the biggest thing. Also, the programs and the software I learned at Sage, I am still using six years later,” he said. “It helped with getting into Savannah and then into this apprenticeship.”
While a movie is in production, Zalinka works long hours. “It’s not a ‘typical’ 9 to 5 job,” he said, explaining that it was not uncommon to work until the early hours of the morning. “I spent four months working on one three-second-long shot, but it’s fun,” he said.
At Sage, Zalinka received an Opalka Scholarship, awarded to eligible Sage students who graduate from Averill Park High School. The scholarships were endowed by Averill Park residents Chet and Karen Opalka. Chet Opalka is also a member of Sage’s Board of Trustees.
