Lee Stringer
Lee Stringer is avisual effects artist, employed from 1999 through 2001 atFoundation Imaging, who has worked as visual effects animator onStar Trek: Voyager, thefirst season ofStar Trek: Enterprise, and as animator on theStar Trek: The Motion Picture (The Director's Edition).
The most signature contribution Stringer made to theDirector's Edition, has been his co-build withRobert Bonchune of theCGIEnterprise model. "To help create this, Foundation Imaging was charged with creating and completing many visual effects shots and scenes. A version highly detailed computer model of the USSEnterprise was required. Starting with two CGI models provided by VFX SupervisorDaren Dochterman andJose Perez, I was responsible with creating thePrimary Hull (Saucer), theBridge andWarp Nacelles (Engines). Helped by having unlimited access to theoriginal filming miniature, the finished model replicates the look and details of the filmed version to blends the new elements and shots seamlessly into the film," Stringer clarified on his contribution.[1] Stringer has been interviewed in the "Redirecting The Future"-special on theDVD of theDirector's Edition.
Shortly after completing theDirector's Edition commission, Foundation Imaging closed its doors, and most former employees of the company moved over to newly formed effects companyEden FX, to continue working onStar Trek: Enterprise. However, Stringer opted not to follow his former co-workers into the employ of Eden FX, instead seeking his fortunes elsewhere. Nevertheless, he did afterwards make a few contributions to the successfulStar Trek: Ships of the Linecalendar series as co-illustrator.
Despite having left the franchise, Stringer was on two occasions shortly reacquainted withStar Trek; in 2004, while employed at Threshold Digital Research Labs, he worked as digital artist on theStar Trek: The Experience filmBorg Invasion 4D, alongsideFabio Passaro, and under the supervision ofAdam Lebowitz, who reprised the same role he had at Foundation (and who, like Stringer, had opted not to join Eden FX).
A later unofficial contribution Stringer made, was his work as visual effects supervisor on thefan-made internet seriesStar Trek: New Voyages episode "World Enough and Time" in 2007.
Career outsideStar Trek[]
Hailing from United Kingdom, Stringer first worked worked in IT operations and support for JP Morgan Bank in London, before changing career direction, brought on by the fact that his, "interest in filmmaking, miniatures and effects began at an early age watching the Gerry Anderson seriesThunderbirds andSpace 1999 while growing up in Great Britain".[2] Stringer started his motion picture career in the visual effects department as model maker with credits onSpace Ghost Coast to Coast, the science fiction filmTwilight of the Dogs (1995), the science fiction filmFirst Encounter (1997), and the video gameF-Zero X (1998). During that period, Stringer operated his own company "Digital EFX".
After having moved to the United States, Stringer joined Foundation Imaging in June 1999. He then worked as CGI animator, apart fromStar Trek, on the animated seriesRoughnecks: The Starship Troopers Chronicles (1999) and as digital artist on the television seriesAngel,Jonathan Frakes' television movieStar Patrol! (2000, with visual effects supervisorDavid Takemura),David E. Duncan's science fiction filmThe Privateers (2000, starringKarl Urban), the video gameTwisted Metal: Black (2001), and the fantasy filmShu shan zheng zhuan (2001). During his tenure at Foundation, he also served, alongsideRandy Sharp, as instructor at itsFoundation Institute, the instructional facility where the skills of new and existing employees alike were honed and furthered.
Pursuant the closure of Foundation Imaging he worked for Zoic Studios (2002-2005) and Scarlet Digital (2004-2005) and accrued during that period credits in the visual effects department thatDan Dare: Pilot of the Future (2001), the action filmThe Extreme Team (2003), the science fiction pilotThe Robinsons: Lost in Space (2004), the science fiction television movieNYPD 2069 (2004), the animated seriesCaptain Scarlet (2005),Serenity (2005), the short filmTeddy Scares (2006), and the documentary seriesNova ScienceNow (2007). Stringer earned anEmmy Award nomination for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special for his work on the television thrillerSuperfire in 2002, shared with his former Foundation bossRon Thornton,Jonathan Rothbart,Sherry Hitch, andJohn Allardice and won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series for theFirefly episode "Serenity" in 2003, shared with Kristen Branan, Emile Edwin Smith, Kyle Toucher, and Jarrod Davis. In between, from 2005-2007, Stringer took on a teaching position as Director of Special Projects at the Digital Animation and Visual Effects School, Orlando, Florida.
Yet, the most notable project he has worked on at Zoic, wasRonald D. Moore'sBattlestar Galactica (2004-2009), specifically his work on the "hero"-ship itself. This work earned him two additional Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Special Visual Effects for a Series in 2004 and 2005 which he shared with, aside fromGary Hutzel,Jarrod Davis and Gabriel Köerner, a host of former Foundation co-workers that included,Emile Edwin Smith,Kevin Quattro,Kyle Toucher, Adam "Mojo" Lebowitz, andAram Granger. In 2004 he was nominated for aVisual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program, Music Video or Commercial, shared with Gabriel Köerner andJose Perez, and won a Visual Effects Society Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Television Miniseries, Movie or a Special, shared with Gary Hutzel,Kristen Branan, and Emile Edwin Smith.
From 2005 onward, Stringer worked as free-lancer, and in 2007 he wrote and directed the short filmTofu the Vegan Zombie in Zombie Dearest on which he worked as editor followed by an occupation as director on the short fantasy filmCreepers (2007). He worked as CGI supervisor in the employment of Lucasfilm Animation, Singapore, onStar Wars: The Clone Wars (2009). More recently he worked on the television productionsTrenches (2010),Terra Nova (2011 – Pixomondo Visual Effects) andExit Strategy (2012). As CGI/visual effects supervisor he has worked on the moviesIron Sky andRenee (both 2012).
Bibliography[]
- Star Trek: Ships of the Line calendars – Co-illustrator
External links[]
- LeeStringer.com – official site
- Lee Stringer at theInternet Movie Database
- Lee Stringer atLinkedIn.com
- Lee Stringer atBattlestar Wiki