Magdalena Baez is a VFX artist and an independent filmmaker who considers herself a citizen of the world as she has different nationalities and residencies.

Magdalena has been into digital art since 2002 working with multi-media, web design, digital photography, and video art.

In 2009 she decided to produce her first short called 'Laura'. It received a Runner-up mention in the Brooklyn Short Film Festival. The film has also been officially selected for DigiFest, Italy.

We spoke with Magdalena about being a VFX artist and her short film project.

I decided to become a VFX artist because I realized that once I knew the techniques I would be able to create everything I imagined. Once I got into the field, I confirmed this assumption and I am very happy with my decision.

Having the certainty that, with the proper tools, I can achieve all that comes to my mind makes me proud of my profession.

There are several artists that inspire me; Onur Senturk, Makoto Yabuki, and the emerging director Ted Chung.

The London based studio weareseventeen.com, the multi-media Brazilian agency colletivo.com.br, the Argentinean animation studio peppermelon.tv and the heads behind zeitguised.com are also references to follow the latest trends in what's going on in the field. Of course, the list can go on for a few pages.

Talking about events, on one side, everything that's related with music, especially in the Lincoln Center. On the other side, the festival fever and the open possibility of watching new things through the web is also inspiring and encouraging. 

I've been working with Fusion since 2008. I started at school, CADA, NYU, in a compositing class with Andy Milkis (from Spontaneous, NY). He is an 'old school' compositor who works with Inferno, we kind of learned all together. Our group immediately felt confident with Fusion's user friendly interface.

Once we understood the basic compositing principles, Fusion became that amazing tool that can make any kind of magic you can imagine. After that, I fell in  love with the software and its tons of possibilities.
 
I use Fusion not only for video compositing but also for part of my digital art-work still images and digital photography. 

Fusion has an amazing particle system that fascinates me and that I still have to fully explore. For me, Fusion is easier and I have more control of the  particles in Fusion than in other software, such as Maya or After Effects.

Then, it's the Color Correction tool. Fusion's tools for color correcting are amazing. Most compositing softwares tend to leave this tool aside or make it too  complicated to use. For my short, I worked with professional color graders using DaVinci and afterwards, at home, I could achieve the same look just  retouching settings with Fusion's Color Corrector tool.

Also, the 3d space that Fusion employs allows multiple possibilities when compositing. It is a complete toolset for matching live-action with CG and Fusion is  easy to learn and apply. 

'Laura' was an idea born of a challenge: 'How does one tell a short story with no dialogue yet with a notorious transformation?' One night I saw her, walking in  the forest and tripping. After that, the rest was my work.

I knew from the very beggining that I wanted to get into dynamics and particles. I also knew I was using Fusion for compositing but my options for particles  and camera tracking was Maya. I ran into some Fusion tutorials about particles and import 3d cameras...that was enough to change my workflow. I made  some extra time to study these tutorials and started experimenting. The results were amazing.

I want to go further! I want to keep moving, never stop, get first prize! Independent filmmaking is a tough career. I'm aware of that, yet, not only the rewards are worthy but also the creative process is an amazing experience that opens new doors to explore your artistic means.

Working with software like Fusion is always an 'open' experience. Meaning that after your experience with Fusion, you learn new techniques which lead you to  new artistic possibilities. To those artistic possibilities, you can apply new techniques and so on. The wheel never stops.

I am actually into the pre-production process of a short film called 'Lila' with surreal characteristics like 'Laura' but this time directed by an Argentinean artist. 

I will be in charge of the visual effects for the whole project. Of course, I'm planning to work with Fusion. I want to get the latest version and get my hands  on all those amazing tools!

That's the case of weareseventeen.com with 'Strange Arrangements'. Their work looks like a Dali painting yet its lighting and elements have textures and  reflections that are a great copy of our reality. We create a new world where 'anything' can happen and where the elements forming this new world are  recognizable as reality by our perceptions.

The digital artist is becoming a magician. The Magician is about creation and individuality. His/her power is transformation through the manipulation of  elements. From the mundane emerges all that is to come.  This is why I believe our role as VFX artist has a big social impact. As the magicians of the XX1 century, we are the conduit of power: the force of creation.

We have the responsibility to use that power constructively.

In 10 years, I can see myself as an established director working from a comfortable home-studio and living between the countryside and NYC, applying some magic to all my work.

Visit Magdalena's website here.