Internship Overview

Chapman BFA alum and Mister Whisper director Bobby Glickert with our two lead actors.

We’re looking for promising students to work with a professional team of filmmakers (many that are Chapman Undergrad and Grad school alums) on an independent feature thriller, Mister Whisper. A stipend or hourly pay may be available depending on your experience and/or your software application knowledge. Hours and project work must be tracked for this virtual/work remotely internship (requires access to a computer that can run the Unreal Engine: the app can be uploaded if you don’t have it already). Seeking talented film artists with a passion for filmmaking who can commit to virtual meetings and a weekly schedule of work. We’re a tight-knit filmmaking team. You will have many opportunities to contribute to the film, learn under the guidance of award-winning film pros, and gain exposure and experience using innovative VFX post-production applications and workflows. A signed non-disclosure agreement will be required.

Term 

January through March 2022 (or longer). Hours: 10-15 hours/week minimum (more hours, if available). Work hours, cycles, and the term length can be flexible and may be extended, i.e. the work may extend past March as we work towards finishing.

Positions

An action sequence with our lead child actor and professional stunt actor.

List your top one to three position choices. Roles will be filled based on your interest, education, software knowledge, and experience. Looking for committed and passionate filmmakers with a strong work ethic (this weighs more heavily than experience).

  • Behind the scenes and EPK content intern(s): Assist with capture and organization of behind the scenes and documentary content.
  • Unreal Engine & Blender Artists/Animators: Use Blender and Unreal Engine workflow to assist with lighting texturing and character animation.
  • Post-production Assets Coordinator: Assist with asset organization and VFX workflow; work with editorial.
  • 3D Compositing Artists: Work with lighting directors and VFX artists to assist with compositing strategies to achieve an aesthetically balanced overall look. Correct errors that may not have been anticipated by other departments. May also work with lighting and digital or live action elements.
  • VFX/Animatic Editor: Assisting with building temp mock-ups of shot ideas. (Work may be done using various software applications.)
  • Assistant VFX Editors: Assist VFX editor with asset curation.
  • Reality Capture Artists: Use photogrammetry to mine assets for VFX; process shots to improve the accuracy of scans for improved texture and geometry assets (training will be provided).
  • 3D Camera Department: Dedicated to refining 3D camera work (a virtual camera operator).
  • Unreal Engine Sound/Light Technician: Assist with sound-based effects toolkit developed by Lightswitch. Training will be provided.
  • Virtual Art Department: Search, track, and curate custom and stock art assets.
  • Timing Sheet Coordinator: Manage master timing sheets for VFX sequences. This is a story-based position. Take part in VFX meetings to track story breakdowns and story beats. Must be detailed oriented.
  • Photoshop Artist: Photoshop/texture artist to create and modify art and VFX assets.

Make-up artist preparing our villain, Mister Whisper

Experience Preferred

We’re looking for students who have experience or knowledge with one or more of the following applications. Additional training can be provided.

  • Unreal Engine 5 (or experience with UE4 and ready to move to UE5)
  • Blender
  • Resolve (knowledge of Fusion a plus)
  • Nuke
  • Adobe Photoshop

Mister Whisper Synopsis

DP and ASC award-nominee Pete Konczal filming a scene.

Mister Whisper is a supernatural horror film in the vein of Poltergeist and The Conjuring. The film centers on Liz, a woman haunted by her traumatic childhood, who works outside of the system to save as many abused children as she can. When Liz hears about a boy imprisoned in a basement she recruits her friends to help with the rescue. But when they break him out they realize the child is under the influence of an evil entity, known only as Mister Whisper. It’s a story about breaking cycles of abuse and finding your inner voice.

Director Bobby Glickert comes from the Justin Lin camp, so despite Mister Whisper being a small indie film, we were able to pull favors and put together a pro team for this film: co-writer and EP Stephen Susco (The Grudge), DP Pete Konczal (House of Cards, Fargo), the 5150 Action stunt team (Fast and Furious and Transformers franchises), VFX producer Robert Nederhorst (John Wick trilogy, The Conjuring) and recently cast Ralph Ineson (The Witch, Game of Thrones, BBC’s The Office) as the voice of our titular villain.

We have completed production, the bulk of the editorial, and are hard at work organizing the VFX workflow to ensure that we can deliver studio quality content on an indie budget. We are currently using photogrammetry to create photo-real 3D models of our set and props, which will allow us to animate, and manipulate both the light and shadows in our environments and our villain performance.

We filmed the character of Mister Whisper on set with suit performer Adam Ward and will be completing the VO performance from Ralph Ineson. A 3D version of Mister Whisper has been developed to marry their performances using a combination of volumetric performance capture, 3D animation and 3D compositing, as well as LiveLink Face Tools in Unreal Engine to capture precise mouth animation. Unreal Engine will be used to have full visual control over our environment and lighting, to synchronize sound and VFX on a level not normally seen in an indie film. We are at the stage of bringing all of our 3D assets together so that our animation team (including interns) can artfully design the visual effects, score, and sound design.

Mister Whisper Highlights

  • DP Peter Konczal was nominated for an ASC award for his work on the television series Fargo
  • Working and consulting with Oscar-nominated and award-winning filmmakers
  • Using Unreal Engine and Blender for the animation and shot design
  • Working with the VFX Supervisor from The Conjuring and John Wick franchise
  • International theatrical sales offer from Oscar-winning distributors of The Hurt Locker

Benefits

  • Flexible hours
  • Work virtually/remotely
  • Education in cutting edge software and the post-production VFX process and workflow
  • Mentoring by post-production film professionals
  • Pay (negotiable)
  • Internship film credit (negotiable)
  • Will provide references or letters of recommendation

This is a great opportunity to work alongside Dodge Alumni and industry specialists. If interested in applying, please email the team at mrwhisper.one@gmail.com.