Ed Kramer(I)
- Visual Effects
- Animation Department
Note: This is *not* the Ed Kramer who was affiliated with DragonCon. See "Edward E. Kramer" for disambiguation
Edward Alan Kramer (b. 1955) is one of a handful of pioneering CGI Artists who successfully transitioned from analog to digital computer graphics technology. He started his movie and television career using an analog video computer called Scanimate, and ultimately rose to be a Sequence Supervisor using the most advanced digital CGI tools for George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. From the late 1970's until the early 1990's, Kramer worked at video post-production houses in Hollywood (Image West, Editel/LA), New York (CompuGraph Designs), and Atlanta (Crawford Post) and also spent a year at NASA in Houston doing visualization for a potential Mars mission.
His film career began working with VFX legends Jeff Kleiser and Joel Hynek on the "Lady with a Torch" logo for Columbia Pictures, and his first film credit was with Kleiser's company KWCC as Head Animator for the digital smart bomb sequence in Clear and Present Danger (1994). As a Senior Technical Director and Sequence Supervisor at Industrial Light + Magic from 1994 through 2006, Ed was best known for supervising the Scarab Beetle sequence from The Mummy (1999) and the Rock Monster sequence from Galaxy Quest (1999). He also supervised the Pyramid Destruction sequence from The Mummy Returns (2001) and shots in the Droid Factory and End Battle sequences from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Ed's CGI work appeared in six movies nominated for Visual Effects Oscars, including the 2006 winner, Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest. Other nominees were Twister (1996), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), STAR WARS Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), The Perfect Storm (2000) and STAR WARS Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002).
Kramer moved his family to Denver in 2006, where freelance clients have included the Starz network, medical simulators to train surgeons virtually on new procedures, and graphics for an initiative of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, which won the prestigious Platinum Pixie Award. In 2010 Kramer began more than a decade of teaching computer graphics as a Professor at the Colorado Film School, the Art Institute of Colorado, and currently (2020) at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD).
Ed is producing a documentary about the early days of CGI, with the working title "WIZARDS OF HOLLYWOOD: Movie Magic Secrets from the Artists who Invented CGI." For the film he is interviewing many of the wizards behind the most memorable moments in CGI history. He also maintains a YouTube channel where he posts rare early CGI clips with explanatory voice-overs, and exclusive interview clips with many of the original computer animation artists. In 2018, Kramer was named Chair of the SIGGRAPH Pioneers group, comprised of many of the early inventors and innovators of the computer graphics industry. He can be contacted for information about WIZARDS OF HOLLYWOOD and his YouTube channel can be found online.
Edward Alan Kramer (b. 1955) is one of a handful of pioneering CGI Artists who successfully transitioned from analog to digital computer graphics technology. He started his movie and television career using an analog video computer called Scanimate, and ultimately rose to be a Sequence Supervisor using the most advanced digital CGI tools for George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic. From the late 1970's until the early 1990's, Kramer worked at video post-production houses in Hollywood (Image West, Editel/LA), New York (CompuGraph Designs), and Atlanta (Crawford Post) and also spent a year at NASA in Houston doing visualization for a potential Mars mission.
His film career began working with VFX legends Jeff Kleiser and Joel Hynek on the "Lady with a Torch" logo for Columbia Pictures, and his first film credit was with Kleiser's company KWCC as Head Animator for the digital smart bomb sequence in Clear and Present Danger (1994). As a Senior Technical Director and Sequence Supervisor at Industrial Light + Magic from 1994 through 2006, Ed was best known for supervising the Scarab Beetle sequence from The Mummy (1999) and the Rock Monster sequence from Galaxy Quest (1999). He also supervised the Pyramid Destruction sequence from The Mummy Returns (2001) and shots in the Droid Factory and End Battle sequences from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002). Ed's CGI work appeared in six movies nominated for Visual Effects Oscars, including the 2006 winner, Pirates of the Caribbean II: Dead Man's Chest. Other nominees were Twister (1996), The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), STAR WARS Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), The Perfect Storm (2000) and STAR WARS Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002).
Kramer moved his family to Denver in 2006, where freelance clients have included the Starz network, medical simulators to train surgeons virtually on new procedures, and graphics for an initiative of Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, which won the prestigious Platinum Pixie Award. In 2010 Kramer began more than a decade of teaching computer graphics as a Professor at the Colorado Film School, the Art Institute of Colorado, and currently (2020) at the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design (RMCAD).
Ed is producing a documentary about the early days of CGI, with the working title "WIZARDS OF HOLLYWOOD: Movie Magic Secrets from the Artists who Invented CGI." For the film he is interviewing many of the wizards behind the most memorable moments in CGI history. He also maintains a YouTube channel where he posts rare early CGI clips with explanatory voice-overs, and exclusive interview clips with many of the original computer animation artists. In 2018, Kramer was named Chair of the SIGGRAPH Pioneers group, comprised of many of the early inventors and innovators of the computer graphics industry. He can be contacted for information about WIZARDS OF HOLLYWOOD and his YouTube channel can be found online.
