Bob Thompson
Editor and Motion Graphics Designer
School of Journalism and Media Studies
Bob Thompson comes to after serving as a post production editor with ESPN. There he garnered an Emmy nomination for his work creating motion graphics. At UNLV, he'll be creating animation and graphics for various university projects and will work with the athletics department to create on-air packages. Next semester he will begin teaching a video editing class in the School of Journalism and Media Studies. He holds a bachelor's in communications from Boise State and is working on a master's in educational technology
Why UNLV? This was an opportunity for me to continue working in post-production and at the same time add an educational component to my skill set. Also, I am from the West and it was great chance to move back here.
What is the biggest misconception about your field? That my job only takes a few minutes to do. High-end animation, video editing and graphics take time.
What is the biggest challenge in your field? How fast technology changes. Software packages that are here today and gone tomorrow are very commonplace.
What inspired you to get into your field? I enjoyed movies when I was growing up and was a huge fan of special effects. I was fascinated by what they did and how they did it.
Which movies first blew you away?Time Banditsand Brazil, both by Terry Gilliam. I was also a big fan of Spike and Mike's Twisted Animation Festival that came out every year. Over the years, as animation techniques got better, I could see the hard work and talent that went into that.
What recent movies stand out for their FX? Pretty much any action movie these days has some form of special effects in them. The Avengers was pretty good.
Who is your hero? John Lasseter. He is the chief creative officer at Pixar and spearheaded the whole 3D animation movement.
What is your proudest moment? At work it was an Emmy nomination at ESPN for our work on the graphics, animation and editing for the Women's World Cup. I did a lot of editing and compositing. Outside of work, my proudest moments were the birth of my son and daughter.
If you could fix one thing in the world what would it be? More critical thinking from people. We seem to have lost it with so much information out there at our fingertips.
What would people be surprised to know about you? That I met my wife while working on a cruise ship. I was the broadcast manager onboard and she was the youth program manager.
What do your kids think about your job? They don't. LOL As long as I come home at night and play with them, they are happy.
