Paul J. Franklin is an English

visual effects supervisor In the context of film and television production, a visual effects supervisor is responsible for achieving the creative aims of the director or producers through the use of visual effects Visual effects (sometimes abbreviated as VFX) is the pr ...

who has worked with visual effects since the 1990s. Franklin won the

Academy Award for Best Visual Effects The Academy Award for Best Visual Effects is presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the best achievement in visual effects. It has been handed to four members of the team directly responsible for creatin ...

and the BAFTA Award for Best Special Visual Effects for ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action heist film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by inf ...

'' (2010), and won a second Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for '' Interstellar'' (2014). He shared the wins with Andrew Lockley,

Peter Bebb Peter Bebb is a special effects artist best known for working on ''The Dark Knight'' trilogy. He won at the 83rd Academy Awards for the film '' Inception'' in the category of Best Visual Effects. His win was shared with Chris Corbould, Paul ...

, and Chris Corbould. Franklin has also been nominated for an Academy Award for ''

The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005), and the second inst ...

'' (2008). He was nominated for BAFTA Awards for ''Batman Begins'', ''The Dark Knight'' (2008), and ''

The Dark Knight Rises ''The Dark Knight Rises'' is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it is the final instal ...

'' (2012).

Background

Franklin was born in Cheshire, England. He was educated at

Sandbach School Sandbach School is an 11–18 boys Free school (England), free school in Sandbach, Cheshire, North West England, north-west England. It was established in 1677 by local philanthropists, including Richard Lea, who donated the land for the school ...

in Cheshire from 1977 to 1984. He attended the South Cheshire College (Crewe), part of the former Mid Cheshire College in

Northwich Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers Weaver and Dane, east of Chester, south of Warrington and south of Ma ...

, for a year, and then gained a place at the Ruskin School of Art at

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, where he was a member of St John's College, to study

fine art In European academic traditions, fine art (or, fine arts) is made primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from popular art, decorative art or applied art, which also either serve some practical function (such as ...

. At Oxford he had his first experience of filmmaking, frequently collaborating with director

Ben Hopkins Ben Hopkins (born 1969) is a British film director, screenwriter and novelist. His film ''Simon Magus (film), Simon Magus'' entered the 49th Berlin International Film Festival competition in 1999. His 2008 film, ''The Market: A Tale of Trade'' ...

, and began to experiment with the emerging new medium of

computer animation Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating Film, moving images. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both still images and moving images, while computer animation refers to moving images. Virtu ...

. He graduated in 1989. He worked two jobs as a videotape editor and then began a career in computer graphics and animation at Psygnosis (now

Studio Liverpool Psygnosis Limited (; known as SCE Studio Liverpool or simply Studio Liverpool from 1999) was a British video game developer and Video game publisher, publisher headquartered at Wavertree Technology Park in Liverpool. Founded in 1984 by Ian Het ...

) in the early 1990s. After several years at the Moving Picture Company in London he and a group of colleagues founded the visual effects company

Double Negative A double negative is a construction occurring when two forms of grammatical negation are used in the same sentence. This is typically used to convey a different shade of meaning from a strictly positive sentence ("You're not unattractive" vs "You ...

in 1998 with financing from

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment PolyGram Filmed Entertainment (formerly known as Filmworks, Casablanca Record & Filmworks, PolyGram Films and PolyGram Pictures or simply PFE) was a film production company founded in 1975 as an American film studio, which became a European co ...

. He headed the 3D effects for Double Negative's first film '' Pitch Black'' (2000). Franklin was an undergraduate

external examiner The external examiner plays an important role in degree-level examinations in higher education in the United Kingdom. The external examiner system originated in 1832 with the establishment of the University of Durham, and was then adopted by o ...

Bournemouth University Bournemouth University is a public university in Bournemouth, England, with its main campus situated in neighbouring Poole. The university was founded in 1992; however, the origins of its predecessor date back to the early 1900s. The universi ...

for 4 or 5 years and also gave visiting practitioner lectures at BU's Media School. In 2012, he received an

honorary degree An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad hon ...

from Bournemouth.

Filmography

Franklin has been visual effects supervisor for the following films: *''

Revelation Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of Religious views on truth, truth or Knowledge#Religion, knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and t ...

'' (2001) *''

Batman Begins ''Batman Begins'' is a 2005 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with David S. Goyer. Based on the DC Comics character Batman, it stars Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne (Dark Knight trilogy), Bruce Wayne / B ...

'' (2005) *''

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix ''Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the fifth and longest novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series. It follows Harry Potter's struggles through his fifth year at Hogwart ...

'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *''

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...

'' (2009) *''

'' (2010) *''

'' (2012) *'' Interstellar'' (2014) *''

Venom Venom or zootoxin is a type of toxin produced by an animal that is actively delivered through a wound by means of a bite, sting, or similar action. The toxin is delivered through a specially evolved ''venom apparatus'', such as fangs or a sti ...

'' (2018)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Paul J. Living people People from Cheshire Alumni of the Ruskin School of Art People educated at Sandbach School Visual effects supervisors Best Visual Effects Academy Award winners Best Visual Effects BAFTA Award winners Year of birth missing (living people)