Method Melbourne’s Dom Hellier and Matt Omond chat about must-have compositor skills, favourite projects and the pros and cons of a dispersed working model

So Dom and Matt, how long have you both been with Method?

Matt Omond: I’ve been working for the company for around 30 years. I started back when Iloura (Method’s previous title) was just making TV commercials. I was an online editor and later became a flame artist.

Dom Hellier: I’ve been with the business in its various iterations for 19 years and have been lucky enough to see the company, and more specifically, the 2D department grow and evolve into what it is now.

What skills make for a great compositor?

DH: A great eye for detail and for identifying what makes something look real, in a scene, or otherwise. And the ability to think laterally and problem solve a shot when plan A gets ruled out for one reason or another.

MO: Being in the comp department means we are basically at the end of the chain. Which means our deadlines don’t have a lot of room to move. A good compositor must be able to manage their time well and still be able to achieve great results.

Tell us about your team, what makes you successful?

MO: The greatest strength of our comp department is that we are genuinely a team. Everyone leaves their ego at the door. We constantly bounce ideas around and everyone is open to sharing their thoughts and techniques. We’re all there to help one another.

DH: By industry standards, we are not a large 2D team, but we pride ourselves on being a strong team. I am always so impressed by the generosity of the artists to share knowledge or to put their hand up to help a teammate when we are up against a deadline.  We have a great core group who have been with the company for quite a while now, which I think is a testament to this team bond and I think their commitment and enthusiasm is infectious for many of the new starters who join the team.

What are some of your favourite projects you’ve worked on and why?

DH:  As with many of the long-term team here, I’ve been fortunate to work on over 40 film and TV projects and have many favourites. From our first feature under the Iloura brand, the wonderful Australian drama, Look Both Ways, through to big studio, high profile productions like Mad Max: Fury Road and Christopher Robin. Probably the highest-profile project I have been lucky enough to have worked on was Game of Thrones; specifically the season 6 episode, Battle of the Bastards. As a project that was initially very daunting for its scope and scale, it was so rewarding to see it received so positively and for the work to be recognised with an Emmy for the company and a VES award for the comp team.

MO: Ted 2 is one of my all-time favourite projects. It was an absolute pleasure working with Seth MacFarlane.  The team was so pumped to be working on it. The first one was a smash hit and it is always great to be working on a job that you know is going to reach, and entertain such a large audience.

What work have you seen recently that got you excited?

DH: Like most people, I was very impressed with the immersive and thoroughly convincing work done for Dune. And I continue to be impressed by the work utilising light stages in place of the traditional green/blue screens, to help achieve realistic results with interactive lighting.

MO: While I was a bit late to the party, I finally watched The Mandalorian. This is a real turning point for virtual production and my mind was blown by how real and integrated the backgrounds are throughout the show. Although I do worry it may put compositors out of a job one day. Maybe I shouldn’t be so excited by this… but I am!