Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Communications) Share this | Hansard source

On Oscars Day, I rise today to mention the outstanding work of my constituent, Lalor Park father of three Chris Cooper, who has been recognised by the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Scientific and Technical Awards, held on 15 February in Beverly Hills. This means that—as far as I am aware at this time of the day—unlike Cate Blanchett and Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris has already taken home an award this year. Chris was in a category of winners for which the award and citation from the academy read as follows:

… for the development, prototyping and promotion of technologies and workflows for deep compositing.

Their contributions include early advancements in key deep compositing features such as layer and holdout-order independence, spatial and intra-element color correction, post-render depth of field, and precise blending of complex layer edges.

In layperson's terms, that means: a visual effects software program that allows image pixels to contain multiple samples of data instead of the traditional single sample, resulting in what has been described as a more accurate simulated field. This was employed in features such as Baz Luhrmann's Australia and Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole. After graduating from the UTS, Chris worked on TV commercials and then moved into the film sector, where he has worked on hits including The Matrix Reloaded, Moulin Rouge and Happy Feet 1 and 2. As a former Chair of Screen NSW, I maintain a key interest in this sector, and Chris's work is an example of the high-skilled jobs of the future we should all be fostering in this country. I extend my congratulations to Chris and his family. (Time expired)

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