Maleficent was one of the first films where I had the opportunity to model a prominent hero asset. I was responsible for most of the modeling and assembly of Maleficent's castle, which luckily for me was featured in the first shot of the film, as a replacement for the iconic castle in the Disney logo. The castle's silhouette was the most important element, as there are several shots seen from a far, with high contrast, but we needed details for long sweeping shots that were close up. Our primary reference for this was Mont Saint-Michel, a seaside castle in Normandy, France.

I had the unique opportunity to also work as a lighter on the show, my first show in that position. The battle between the forest creatures and soldiers was a great introduction to lighting several different kinds of elements at once, and understanding elements of the studio pipeline at both ends of the spectrum ended up being a skill that has helped me throughout my career.

The artists and supervisors on this team were a fantastic group to work with, many of which I have worked with again on shows since this one.