SIUE alumnus Matt Mueller (B.S ’92, Civil Engineering; Theater Minor) has contributed to the movie magic of a number of Hollywood’s most successful action and fantasy films.  Mueller, who has lived in New Zealand since he moved there to begin work on “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy in June 2000, serves as senior camera technical director and as a reference photographer for Weta Digital Visual Effects Company.

Mueller’s more recent projects include “Eragon” (2006), “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) and “King Kong” (2005).  Upcoming films that are currently in post-production include “30 Days of Night” and “The Waterhorse.”

As a reference photographer, Mueller’s job is to go on-set to document the information necessary to re-create the set digitally.  Unlike stills photography, which is taken simply to document the filming of the actors, reference photography is collected for the many visual effects artists who are tasked with creating “digital assets,” such as digital doubles, set extensions, matte paintings, computer models and textures.

Mueller’s main challenge is working within the time constraints that are associated with working while the cameras are rolling.  “Time is always the major constraint when filming movies, so the most demanding part of my job is remaining flexible to accommodate the filming schedule,” Mueller said.

The most satisfying aspect of the work for Mueller is that it is always challenging and, in many cases, groundbreaking in the visual effects industry.  Indeed, he has worked on seven films that have been nominated for Academy Awards for “Best Visual Effects,” four of which have won.  With or without an Oscar, “when a movie turns out to be exciting to work on and interesting to watch, I get a great deal of satisfaction out of the hard work that went into it,” Mueller said.

Mueller identified “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” (2002) as his favorite film project to date, because it pushed him the hardest and farthest professionally.  Although the industry has since moved beyond much of the technical ground broke during the making of the movie, “it was a landmark project and a great film to be a part of,” Mueller said.

Mueller credited his experience as a Technical Theater Minor at SIUE with preparing him for the challenges of working with a live-action film crew.  During his five years at the university, he worked on over 20 shows and “did a bit of everything,” with a preference for light design and stage managing.

“I think the late ‘80s and the early ‘90s were an especially good time to be at SIUE,” Mueller said.  “I was fortunate to have worked with Paul Lartonoix, Valerie Goldston, Otis Sweezy, Mike O’Brien, Calvin Jarrell, Dave Quinn, Lynn Kluth and several other talented directors.”  Kluth retired from the faculty in 1998 and passed away in June 2003.

Mueller said that through their constant guidance and support, Lartonoix and Goldston made the biggest impact on his technical skills.  Both helped students develop their “own sense of style and pushed us beyond what seemed practical and possible with our work.  They were fantastic teachers, talented artists, and became great friends.”

For her part, Goldston said Mueller was a great student to have around, and she remembers him fondly.  “I had forgotten that he was just a minor in theater,” she added.  “He was so involved in our productions that I was sure he had been a major.”

“Dial M for Murder” and “Pump Boys & Dinettes” are the light design projects that Mueller remembers most from his days at SIUE.  “I was nervous for both, and Paul and Val helped me along just enough to make sure I wasn’t messing it up, but left me to it,” Mueller said.  “As teachers and friends, they always seemed to know when to help and when to push me to get the best out of me.”

“The 1940s Radio Hour” and “Diamond Studs” were Mueller’s best stage managing experiences at SIUE.  His favorite part of live theater involved calling light and sound queues and overseeing the running of the show throughout the length of the production.  “It was always a challenge, sometimes overwhelming, and always a great thrill,” Mueller said.  Just like on a live-action film set, “timing is critical, the pressure is on and it takes a cast of well-trained people to make it all work as it is supposed to.”

After graduating from SIUE in 1992, Mueller initially pursued a master’s degree in arctic engineering while working as a design engineer in Anchorage, Alaska.  He left Alaska before finishing his degree when, in 1997, a fellow SIUE theater minor, Liz Hitt, contacted Mueller about a job in Los Angeles working in the visual effects industry for the now-defunct Dream Quest Images. 

“I fit the role because of the combined need for engineering and survey skills and working in a time-sensitive ‘production’ environment, both of which I learned at SIUE while pursuing my engineering major and theater tech minor,” Mueller said.

Traveling is one of Mueller’s favorite pastimes. He’s pictured here on a recent trip to China.

Mueller spent the next two years in Los Angeles, and the following year split between Vancouver, San Francisco and London while working on-set for nine full-length movies.  After six months on-set in London, Mueller accepted his job at Weta Digital and moved to Wellington, New Zealand to begin work on “The Lord of the Rings.”

Mueller has also worked on film projects in Orlando, Pittsburgh, Paris, Australia and the deserts of Jordon.

Despite all the traveling he does with work, Mueller and his wife, a teacher, travel as much as they can.  “I love to travel, and I look forward to it,” Mueller said.  “When I travel for business, there is usually not much free time to do much sightseeing, but when we travel for fun, we usually backpack and try to have a more in-depth visit to wherever we’re headed.”

Last year, Mueller and his wife spent three months traveling through Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, the Bahamas and parts of the United States.  “We’re always planning out next trip and have many places that we’d like to visit, learn about and experience firsthand.”

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