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February 27, 2008
Michael Aushenker , Staff Writer
'We were convinced that we were not going to win,' said Michael Fink, senior visual effects supervisor on New Line's 'The Golden Compass.'
Indeed, the Palisadian and his partners on the adaptation of the Philip Pullman novel '' Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood''attended Sunday's 80th Annual Academy Awards ceremony knowing they were up against tough competition in the Achievement in Visual Effects category.
'Everyone had seen 'Transformers' and nearly everyone had seen 'Pirates,'' Fink told the Palisadian-Post. 'We really felt the cards were stacked against us. So to have won it, I thought it was a real recognition for a movie that was relying on intimacy to carry the special effects.'
After the 'Golden Compass' team was announced as the winner, Fink could barely explain what transpired next.
'I had no idea what happened,' he said of his podium time. 'I was in this cloud of euphoria ' I saw nothing.
'I saw my life pass before my eyes,' he said, laughing. 'Your head explodes and you're lucky to get your words out.'
Fink explained that from the dais, he could not spot his wife or even a shades-sporting Jack Nicholson in the front row. 'The stage is lit so people can see you; it's not lit so you can see them.'
As designated representative for his nominated group, Fink delivered the acceptance speech, in which he quoted Walt Disney: 'It's fun to do the impossible.'
In addition to his three named partners, Fink was quick to credit visual effects producer Susan MacLeod: 'She was half of the equation.'
Following the awards ceremony, the Finks and their 17 year-old son, Alex, headed to the Governor's Ball, where Fink was congratulated by Best Supporting Actress winner Tilda Swinton (he worked on her film 'Constantine').
'As soon as you have the Oscar in your hands,' Fink said, 'people come up to you and ask if they can touch it, they want to hold it. We sat at a table right by John Travolta and Forrest Whitaker'I spoke to Ethan Coen. It was just a lot of fun.'
Fink explained how crucial his team's services were to 'Compass,' which is laden with talking animals such as the polar bear Iorek Byrnison.
'We created a world where these people and their animals could exist,' Fink said. 'The relationships in the movie were very dependent on the quality of the effects.' He was in charge of 'supervising the entire movie, executing the visual effects shop, and post-production and completing the shots' over 22 months.
According to Fink, 'there were about 1,200 special-effects shots used out of about 1,600 created for the movie.' By contrast, 'there were 130 shots on 'Batman Returns' ' I could do everything myself.'
Fink noted that he had worked with some of the effects guys on the competing films, such as Scott Farrar of the 'Transformers.'
'Scott and I once spent months making sparks while sitting in a corner with a camera and a Tesla coil,' said Fink, recalling their work on 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture' in 1979.
Fink, whose credits also include the first two 'X-Men' movies and 'Road to Perdition,' received his first Academy Awards nomination in 1994 for Tim Burton's 'Batman Returns' (which lost to 'Death Becomes Her'). Last month, 'Compass' won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts Award (BAFTA, but because of his current obligations on Ben Stiller's next comedy, 'Tropical Thunder,' Fink could not travel to England to pick up his trophy.
'We moved to London for a year while he was working on this film and it's the first movie where I feel like it's a family effort,' said Fink's wife, Melissa Bachrach. 'It was an amazing job on his part.'
The Finks have been proud Palisadians for about a decade.
'We were comfortable in the Palisades from the minute we visited,' said Fink, recalling that he and his wife witnessed the Halloween season here while house-hunting. 'It's my wife's favorite holiday. We saw all the kids walking home from school in their costumes: the perfect Norman Rockwell moment.'
Sunday night, other talented persons with Palisades connections at the Oscar ceremony included actress Amy Adams, who sang a nominated song from her film, 'Enchanted.'
In August 2000, Adams played Babe McGrath in the Theatre Palisades production of "Crimes of the Heart." Two years ago, she landed a best supporting actress Oscar for her performance in "Junebug."
Palisades resident Colleen Atwood was nominated this year for Achievement in Costume Design, but her film 'Sweeney Todd' lost out to Alexandra Byrne for 'Elizabeth: The Golden Age.' Atwood previously won Oscars for 'Chicago' (2002) and 'Memoirs of a Geisha' (2005).
Another local, Mindy Marin, was casting director on 'Juno,' which received three nominations and won for Best Original Screenplay. However, Marin's craft is not recognized by the Academy. Marin was a Pacific Palisades Co-Citizen of the Year in 2003.
As for Fink, he believes that he and his team definitely earned their Oscar gold. 'I've been doing it for 30 years,' he said. 'You really have to like it. This work is way too hard.'
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