Dare to 'Dream'
One former Lion has found himself on
the cutting edge of a rapidly changing
Hollywood subset.
Lance Williams, class of '67, was
hired two years ago as head of
software development at Dreamworks
SKG, the studio founded by Steven
Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and
David Geffen.
Williams has recently worked on
projects such as "The Prince of
Egypt," scheduled for release the
week before Christmas. His tasks on
the film, which tells the tale of Moses,
included crafting the visuals
surrounding the parting of the Red
Sea and adding a process called
motion blur -- which makes drawn
animation seem more lifelike.
"We did a bunch of software for that
picture that's really pretty unique,"
Williams said. "There will be some
unusual effects in that film that haven't
been seen in animation before."
Eventually, he added, animation will
"look like Rembrandt paintings."
He first got his exposure to computer
graphics at KU, in a program
sponsored by the National Science
Foundation. After doing graduate
work in a computer hotbed at the
University of Utah, Williams spent
several years with the New York
Institute of Technology, where he
worked with Ed Catmull, who
eventually headed up Disney's "Toy
Story."
Williams also consulted for Jim
Henson Associates in New York and
worked for Apple Computer's
advanced technology group before
getting a call from a friend at
Dreamworks, based in Glendale,
Calif.
"I overcame my antipathy to Los
Angeles," Williams said. "It's a matter
of suppression, I guess."
Spielberg pops in and out, and
Williams has frequent conversations
with Katzenberg, formerly with Disney
and now head of the animation
division for Dreamworks. And recently
he's been doing work on a film
starring Kevin Kline, Rosie Perez and
Kenneth Brannagh.
Despite the glam factor out west,
Williams hasn't forgotten his home.
"I have very warm feelings for Kansas
and return to Lawrence quite
frequently," Williams said. "I was
inspired to follow this career in
Lawrence, and I followed it to where
the movie industry is."
Besides, he added, nothing
compares to a Kansas fall.
"You don't get a blaze of color in
California foliage until it actually bursts
into flame," Williams said.
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