{"id":14757,"date":"2023-01-27T14:05:25","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T20:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/?p=14757"},"modified":"2023-01-27T14:05:28","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T20:05:28","slug":"texas-am-graduate-craig-hammack-nominated-for-oscar-for-black-panther-wakanda-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pvfa.tamu.edu\/news\/2023\/01\/27\/texas-am-graduate-craig-hammack-nominated-for-oscar-for-black-panther-wakanda-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas A&M Graduate Craig Hammack Nominated for Oscar for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A groggy morning turned into a joyful one for Craig Hammack on Tuesday. The Texas A&M graduate awoke to the news he had been nominated for an Academy Award for his visual effects work on \u201cBlack Panther: Wakanda Forever.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammack, senior visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic<\/a> in San Francisco, said he was thrilled to hear the news \u2014\u00a0announced at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time \u2014 as he shook off the morning cobwebs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Craig Hammack is senior visual effects supervisor at Industrial Light & Magic. Photo courtesy of Industrial Light & Magic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to get in the right frame of mind at 5:30 to be overly excited about anything, but this is a real thrill,\u201d he said. \u201cThese films are actually quite difficult to make, and this was definitely a particularly difficult and important one. I’m very happy for the hundreds of Industrial Light & Magic crew members that put in so many hours to get this done, to get the recognition for all that hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Plano native graduated from Texas A&M with an environmental design degree in 1994 and then spent two years in the Visualization program, which is now in the School of Performance, Visualization & Fine Arts<\/a>. He has spent the last 26 years at Industrial Light & Magic, starting as a technical director and moving up to his senior visual effects supervisor role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Oscar nomination \u2014 on which he is joined by Geoffrey Baumann, R. Christopher White and Dan Sudick \u2014 is Hammack\u2019s second. The first was for 2016\u2019s \u201cDeepwater Horizon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He calls the \u201cBlack Panther\u201d films \u201ca real honor to get to work on,\u201d and counts his experiences with director Ryan Coogler among his career highlights. His work on \u201cWakanda Forever\u201d included the memorable beginning: the funeral procession for King T\u2019challa, the title character, after actor Chadwick Boseman\u2019s death in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShooting the footage with all the extras in costume dancing to the tribal song in the celebration of Chadwick \u2026 it was one of the first things we shot, and a great way to kick it off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Part of the funeral procession scene from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” Movie photos courtesy of Marvel Studios. \u00a9 2022 MARVEL.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Road to Aggieland<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammack had an early connection to science and technology. His father, Hilton, was a space scientist who worked with digital control systems for space instruments. His mother, Brenda, worked in data analysis at the University of Texas at Dallas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But computers truly sparked Hammack\u2019s early interest. The Apple II Plus \u2014 an early \u201980s staple \u2014 was especially important, he said, and introduced him to such games as \u201cUltima\u201d and \u201cCastle Wolfenstein.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cRudimentary graphics, but the games themselves were very creative, and a lot of the winning strategies involved creative solutions to problems,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was all great fun and seemed like something very far beyond me, but there in my home to tinker with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The path to College Station was helped by Hammack\u2019s older brother Davin, who was on campus majoring in electrical engineering. A love of math and drawing led Hammack to architecture and majoring in environmental design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammack recalled Rodney Hill, his first design professor, teaching students how to think and how to learn to learn. The early morning class included a meditation technique to encourage a clear state of mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt the beginning of every class we would lie on top of our drafting tables and go through a meditation story with him,\u201d Hammack said. \u201cIt was like a quick power nap that was amazingly effective. That kicked off a love of conceptual thought and problem-solving that I kept through the program.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After graduation, Hammack entered the Visualization program. He calls it \u201cthe perfect place at the perfect time for me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was new enough to feel experimental and encourage wildly diverse paths,\u201d he said. \u201cI quickly found that I wasn\u2019t the best computer scientist there, or the best artist, but had enough of each to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hammack worked as the program\u2019s webmaster and videographer, including documenting the building of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. He called the classes \u201cintense but good,\u201d and said that they had the added bonus of providing access to prime equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI soaked up everything I could and used my school projects to just play with various software,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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