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Screen Magazine - Index

Screen Magazine - Screen Magazine: Vol. 29, Issue 22 - Index

Smoke Artist Derek Johnson Enters Drive Thru
By Matt Fagerholm
While the work of most artists is made to
be seen and admired by viewers, there
is some work that is specifically made to
go unnoticed. Such is the work of Smoke
artists like Derek Johnson, who specializes
in post-production editorial work for highend
broadcast commercial spots.
“In this field, no one’s an island,” Johnson
said. “You’re always a step in the process.
For Smoke artists, it happens to be the
very last step in the process, so you’ve
got make sure all your ducks are in a row
before the work gets to air. I’m usually
adding things like title treatments, but on
the creative end, I’m doing things that
are usually never seen by the average
viewer.”
Johnson got his start at post-house
Crash+Sues. He worked his way from the
duplication department to editorial work,
even acquiring his own linear edit suite. After doing both online
and offline editing in Final Cut Pro, Johnson mastered the Autodesk
Smoke software, thus working as a Smoke Artist for the last five
years. During that time, he’s lent his services to ad agencies such
as BBDO, Carmichael Lynch and Fallon.
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“It’s a different job every day you walk in
the door,” Johnson said. “Each project
has its own little quirks and challenges.
As the final person on the job, you get to
add your creative touchstone to almost
all the projects.”
According to Johnson, a Smoke artist’s
work begins with the Edit Decision List
given by the project’s creative editor.
Using the list as a blueprint, the artist
rebuilds the work using higher resolution
images. Yet for Johnson, the creative
work comes when he’s asked to digitally
add or subtract objects from the screen.
These tasks would include the removal of
camera rigs from automobile hoods in car
ads, or inserting a subject shot on green
screen into a realistic environment.
“The finishing work I do lends itself well to
a person who is both technically minded
like myself and also gives you enough creative freedom to feed the
artistic side of your brain as well,” Johnson said.
After nearly 12 years of work at Crash+Sues, Johnson has now
joined the company roster at Drive Thru Editorial, the Minneapolisbased
full-service digital post-house that is the editorial division
of Drive Thru, Inc. Johnson will continue his
work there as a Smoke artist.
“I’m really excited about what’s going on at
Drive Thru,” Johnson said. “They’re definitely
geared more toward the future of the
business, getting away from tape-based
format altogether, while doing more digital
imaging. So they’re ahead of the curve on
that end.”
In a line of work where collaboration is
key, Johnson praises Drive Thru for it’s tightknit
group of workers, which he refers to
as a “real family.” He says collaboration is
especially important to Smoke artists, since
they have to work with the majority of artists
on any given project.
“As the Smoke artist, you’re dealing with
the offline editor, the producers, the audio
houses, the color correctors...you’re dealing
with pretty much everybody at some point
in the process,” Johnson said. “Drive Thru
is a smaller company, and has a boutique
atmosphere. We can go back and forth
under the same roof and bounce ideas off
each other. That’s what I think clients are
going to love about walking in the door
here. They’re going to be able to be a part
of the process, and actually work with us to
turn out the best possible products.”
//www.drivethrutv.com