Essential Effects

Mauro was born in Italy in 1951. His family immigrated to the United States in 1959 and settled in Milford, MA, where he grew up and went to school. In 1970 he attended the New England School of Art in Boston and later attended the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and graduated with a BFA, majoring in Sculpture and with minors in Printmaking and Education in 1975. He worked as an Art Teacher in his hometown of Milford MA. School System. After 3 years as a teacher he and his wife, Cynthia, decided to move out to California in 1978 where he hoped to enter the animation industry. He got started out as a trainee character animator in the Disney Animation Training Program run by legendary Disney animator Eric Larson and next moved on to Hanna Barbera where he worked as a character animator on Saturday morning TV cartoons such as Godzilla, Superfriends, Scooby Doo and The Smurfs and the Hanna Barbera feature film, Heidi's Song. In 1981 the opportunity to work with Frank Frazetta on the Ralph Bakshi production of "Fire and Ice" presented itself and he jumped at it, doing character and effects animation on that film. Once production on "Fire and Ice" ended he returned to Disney to work on "The Black Cauldron". In 1985 he decided to leave Disney and go into Live action special effects. Working at Richard Edlund's Boss Films Corp., as well as Perpetual Motion Pictures Studio and Dreamquest Studio, working on films such as, Poltergeist II, Big Trouble in Little China, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, and Alien III, and many others. Baer Animation was next, working on TV commercials. Eventually returning once again to Disney in 1993 and worked there as an Effects Animator, Sequence Supervisor and Effects Supervisor/Head of Effects, on the films, Lion King, Hunchback, Hercules and many others until his last, Princess and the Frog in 2009. Since leaving Disney, he has been freelancing on TV commercials and sculpting as a Studio Associate for Sculptor, Ron Pekar on a monumental sculpture for USC of their Mascot "Traveler" Football Legends Monument for the Rose Bowl stadium in Pasadena. Presently Mauro teaches Traditional Animation courses at Otis School of Art and Design in L. A. and The Laguna School of Art and Design in Laguna, Ca. He may be retired from the animation business but he still draws and sculpts each and every day. He just can't stop!

Chapter 1 A history of Effects in Animation

Chapter 2 What Exactly is an Animated Effect

Chapter 3 What Does it Take to become an Effects Animator

Chapter 4 Thumbnails

Chapter 5 Caricaturing of an Effect

Chapter 6 Perspective

Chapter 7 Water

Chapter 8 Fire

Chapter 9 Smoke

Chapter 10 Dust

Chapter 11 Tones, Shadows and High Lights

Chapter 12 Rocks, Props and Things

Chapter 13 Trees, Leaves and Grass

Chapter 14 Pixie Dust, Mattes and Slot Gags

Chapter 15 Fantasy Effects, Ectoplasm

Chapter 16 Lava and Mud

Chapter 17 Lightning and Electricity

Chapter 18 Explosions

Chapter 19 Fire Hose and Faucets

Chapter 20 Straight Ahead and Pose to Pose

Chapter 21 Bouncing Ball

Chapter 22 Exposure Sheets