After working in the video games industry since the early 2000s, Moog Gravett has spent the last decade as creative director at TrailerFarm and now also at the cinematics and VFX engine room Big Farmer. As career highlights, he picks out winning Clio awards for directing and writing, as well as directing a trailer "where a cute bunny gets caked in gore".
Moog will be speaking at Vertex 2024 and answering questions to give insights into his artistic vision, his approach to new technologies and what it takes to lead high-end technical art from conception to completion.
Vertex 2024 is our live art event at London's Business Design Centre on 19 April. Join us to learn from professional artists working in film, games and VFX, including speakers from Pixar, nDreams and Maxon. Tickets for Vertex 2024 are on sale now.
Vertex speaker Moog Gravett Q&A
With a background in video games, Moog now works with game developers, artists, engine experts, writers and producers delivering outstanding technical-art-led productions for film, TV and more with TrailerFarm and Big Farmer.
Below he tells us a little about his experience to whet our appetites for his talk at Vertex 2024.
How did you get started in art and your area of expertise?
"I grew up in the first wave of home gaming systems in the early 80's, so really got a passion for games at a young age. I think our field often goes hand in hand with a love of all visual media, which is certainly true of me. Through passion rather than training, I landed a job with Wide Games in the early 2000's working on a PS2 game called Prisoner of War.
"I was one of two cutscene artists on the project and it was an incredible experience. Tough, but wonderful. We essentially had to script cutscenes in LUA which made for a very… interesting process. Those cutscenes are a little tough to look back on now, but the game has a very special place in my heart."
Is there a piece of art, campaign or project you’ve worked on from your portfolio that you really love and why?
"I recently wrote and directed a CG trailer for a Nintendo Switch game called ‘Blanc’. It’s a game about a wolf cub and fawn becoming unlikely friends in a desolate, snow-covered world. We got to tell a really sweet, emotional story of their meeting and developing relationship in the space of around 90 seconds. It was an absolute joy to work on and I’m incredibly proud of the team and the end product. That the trailer went on to pick up wins at the Clio and World Trailer Awards was a delightful bonus!"
What advice would you give to your younger self?
"1. Do the art. Do more of the art. 2. Practice your guitar scales daily. 3. Finished is better than perfect (I’ll stop there because there’s a LOT I’d love to tell my younger self!)"
How is prep for your talk going?
"I’m looking forward to finding out what folks want to know and provide some information in the panel that is of use for others. It’s an incredibly exciting time to be working in this industry, when the scope of artistic vision can just keep on evolving alongside amazing technology!"
Find details of more speakers at the Vertex 2024 website.
