Bio

Movie Magic

Brian Gardner was the Stereographer (Stereoscopic Consultant) at LAIKA who designed the 3-D for Oscar nominated Coraline 3-D. His style of using stereoscopy as a cinematic storytelling tool to create an emotional undercurrent to the film was hailed as breaking new ground in 3-D cinema.

Gardner's stereography on Coraline 3-D was recently awarded the first Lumiere Award for "Best 3D Stereography – Animated" by the International 3D Society.

In early 2005, Brian became the first person to create stereoscopic 3-D shots for a Disney feature film, ushering in Disney Digital 3-D and the new wave of stereoscopic films (Chicken Little 3-D, Meet the Robinsons 3-D, and Bolt 3-D).

As Technical Coordinator on Iron Giant, Brian was responsible for inventing Gartoons, the toon software which made all the CG (including the Giant) look hand-drawn. He was also responsible for designing all the 2D/3D Integration R&D technology.

Prior to his work in animated movies, Brian was most known for a decade of visual effects films, including X-Men, Matrix Reloaded, Matrix Revolutions, The Mummy, The Chronicles of Riddick, Batman Forever, and (Best Visual Effects Oscar winning) Babe.

Background

Brian became the first student at Boston University to be simulataneously enrolled in the B.A. (Mathematics), M.A. (Computer Science) and Ph.D. (Interdisciplinary) programs, using his undergraduate electives towards his Ph.D. degree. His highly innovative Ph.D. research in the University Professors Program, bridged new discoveries in Visual Perception, Stereoscopy, Artificial Intelligence, and Fine Arts.

The toon rendering portions of his Master Thesis research were later ported and used as the basis of Gartoons, the toon rendering software used on Iron Giant, giving the movie's CG it's a uniquely effective hand-drawn look.

The Dynamic Stereo Windows invented during Brian's Ph.D. research were later debuted theatrically, in Meet the Robinsons 3-D.

While still enrolled in a Ph.D. at B.U., Brian began a second Ph.D. at M.I.T. in Media Technology, where he researched Visual Language and Epistomology using emerging Digital Media. His advisors consisted of Stephen Benton (the famous Holographer/Stereographer), Marvin Minski (Artificial Intelligence), and Seymour Papert (co-inventor of Perceptrons, and inventor of Turtle Graphics).

Brian's Ph.D. research at the M.I.T in Visual Language, Stereoscopy/Holography, his prior professional work in storytelling/playwriting, and the ideas from his various papers on Meaning-Oriented Picture Compositon, formed the basis for his innovative techniques in stereoscopic storytelling. Brian invented the Depth Script as a tool to plan the 3-D cinematic use of depth according to the storybeats and character arcs of a film, which was later introduced to Disney, and used on Meet the Robinsons 3-D.

Prior to college, Brian was most known for his work in acting, writing, and directing stage plays. He worked on his first movie at age 14. He worked onstage and backstage through his teens and early twenties. At age 19, he started his own business manufacturing theatrical prosthetics, which were frequently used in historic TV docu-dramas, horror, and sci-fi movies.