William "Bill" Reeves (born May 5, 1959) is a Canadian animator and technical director known for working with

John Lasseter John Alan Lasseter (; born January 12, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, animator, voice actor, and the head of animation at Skydance Animation. He was previously the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios ...

on the animated shorts '' Luxo Jr.'' and '' The Adventures of André and Wally B.'' After obtaining a Bachelor of Mathematics from the

University of Waterloo The University of Waterloo (UWaterloo, UW, or Waterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is on of land adjacent to "Uptown" Waterloo and Waterloo Park. The university also operates ...

and completing a Ph.D. at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...

, Reeves was hired by George Lucas as a member of Lucasfilm's Computer Division, Computer Graphics Group. He was one of the founding employees of

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

when it was sold in 1986 to Steve Jobs. Reeves is the inventor of the first

motion blur Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or lo ...

algorithm and methods to simulate particle motion in CGI. Bill Reeves created

particle systems A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses many minute sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of "fuzzy" phenomena, which are otherwise very hard to repro ...

allowing for the realistic articulation of random elements like smoke and fire.Sito, Tom. Moving Innovation: a history of computer animation. Massachusetts. MIT Press. 2013. pgs. 158-59. Lasseter and Reeves received the

Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

(Oscar) in 1988 for their work on the film ''

Tin Toy ''Tin Toy'' is a 1988 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar and directed by John Lasseter. The short film, which runs five minutes, stars Tinny, a tin one-man band toy, attempting to escape from Billy, an infant. The third ...

''. Their collaboration continued with Reeves acting as the supervising technical director of the first feature-length, computer-animated film: ''

Toy Story ''Toy Story'' is a 1995 American computer-animated comedy film directed by John Lasseter (in his feature directorial debut), produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The first installment in the '' Toy Story ...

''. In 1996 he became the 2nd awardee of the J.W. Graham Medal, named in honor of

Wes Graham James Wesley Graham, OC was a Canadian professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo. Graham was born on January 17, 1932, in Copper Cliff, Ontario. His interest in computing developed while studying math and physics at the U ...

an early influential professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo, and annually awarded to an influential alumnus of the University's faculty of mathematics.

Filmography

* '' Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan'' (1982) (computer graphics artist: Industrial Light & Magic) * ''

Return of the Jedi ''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...

'' (1983) (computer graphics: Industrial Light & Magic) * '' The Adventures of André and Wally B.'' (1984) (forest design and rendering/models: Andre/Wally) * ''

Young Sherlock Holmes ''Young Sherlock Holmes'' (also known with the title card name of "''Young Sherlock Holmes and the Pyramid of Fear''") is a 1985 American mystery adventure film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Chris Columbus, based on the characters ...

'' (1985) (computer animation: Industrial Light & Magic) * '' Luxo Jr.'' (1986) (producer/modeling/rendering) * ''

Red's Dream ''Red's Dream'' is a 1987 American computer-animated short film written and directed by John Lasseter and produced by Pixar. The short film, which runs four minutes, stars Red, a unicycle. Propped up in the corner of a bicycle store on a rainy ni ...

'' (1987) (technical director/modeling and animation software) * ''

'' (1988) (producer/technical director/modeler/additional animator) * ''

Knick Knack ''Knick Knack'' is a 1989 American computer-animated short film produced by Pixar that was written and directed by John Lasseter. The short is about a snow globe snowman who wants to join the other travel souvenirs in a summer-themed party. Howev ...

'' (1989) (animator) * ''

'' (1995) (supervising technical director/modeling/animation system development/RenderMan software development) * ''

A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' is a 1998 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was the second feature-length film produced by Pixar. Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Andrew Stant ...

'' (1998) (supervising technical director) * '' Finding Nemo'' (2003) (lead technical development) * ''

The Incredibles ''The Incredibles'' is a 2004 American computer-animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Written and directed by Brad Bird, it stars the voices of Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Sarah ...

'' (2004) (technical development) * ''

Cars A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, people in ...

'' (2006) (technical development) * ''

Ratatouille Ratatouille ( , ), oc, ratatolha , is a French Provençal dish of stewed vegetables which originated in Nice, and is sometimes referred to as ''ratatouille niçoise'' (). Recipes and cooking times differ widely, but common ingredients include ...

'' (2007) (global technology supervisor) * '' Up'' (2009) (global technology engineer) * ''

Toy Story 3 ''Toy Story 3'' is a 2010 American computer-animated comedy-drama film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the third installment in the ''Toy Story'' series and the sequel to '' Toy Story 2'' (1999). It wa ...

'' (2010) (global technology supervisor) * '' Monsters University'' (2013) (global illumination) * '' Inside Out'' (2015) (second unit and crowds supervisor/global technology supervisor)

References

External links

* 1959 births American animators Canadian animators Artists from Los Angeles Artists from Toronto Living people University of Waterloo alumni J.W. Graham Medal awardees Pixar people Producers who won the Best Animated Short Academy Award {{US-animator-stub

Filmography

See also

References

External links