Darrell Claunch (Knights End Studios) is an ex-video game artist and current visual effects artist who is spending more and more of his time as an illustrator. As a game artist, he worked on over two dozen titles for the Nintendo handheld with publishers such as PopCap, Nickelodeon, and the Jim Henson Company. As a visual effects artist, he has added shine and beautified shots for feature films and television shows such as Westworld, Nashville, Mad Max: Fury Road, Fear the Walking Dead, Jurassic World, Legion, Guardians of the Galaxy, and over 70 other titles. His illustration work thus far consists of art for RPG games, book covers, and several indie movie posters. He is always on the lookout for his next project and a better, stronger coffee. Specialties include cleanup, removals, beauty work, and clean-plating. Darrell also loves working with microbudget indie films, which usually include a lot of muzzle flashes and background extensions.
Work History
Visual Effects Compositor and Pixel Artist / Illustrator
Knights End Studios www.knights-end.com
January 2011 - Present
I serve as a contractor and outsourcer of visual effects, illustration, pixel artwork, sprite creation, 2D animation, and other forms of still and animated artwork. We particularly enjoy working with lower budget indie films. Recent work has included Season 2 of Westworld and Legion.
Compositor
Chicken Bone Effects
January 2018 - May 2020
I work as a remote compositor for film and tv.
Freelance Compositor
Wolverine VFX
May 2014 - May 2017
- Tracking/match-moving, set fixes, clean-plating, monitor replacement, and cosmetic fixes.
TV Show: Nashville
Finaling Artist
Stereo D
2012 - 2015
Burbank
Creating and tracking in cleanplates and well as creating final stereoscopic shots in Nuke and AE.
Avengers Age of Ultron
Mad Max: Fury Road
Jurassic World
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Xmen: Days of Future Past
Godzilla
Captain America: Winter Soldier
Need For Speed
Thor 2 Dark World
RIPD
Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters
Iron Man 3
Star Trek Into Darkness
GI Joe Retaliation
Jurassic Park 3D
Compositor
Comen VFX
November 2013 - December 2013
Santa Monica
Rig Removals, cleanplating and face replacements using Nuke.
Compositor
Pixel Magic
August 2012 - October 2012
Using primarily AfterEffects to create visual effects for feature films.
• Conjuring
• The Motel
• Beautiful Creatures
Founding member, Member of the Board of Directors
Missouri Film Alliance of Springfield
June 2004 - October 2012
The Alliance is a membership driven non-profit organization with a mission to stimulate, support and celebrate film, television, and all other moving media in the state of Missouri. The goals are to provide education and to raise awareness of the economic advantages to producing media in Missouri and to provide a forum for the exchange of creative ideas and information. As a membership organization of artists, arts supporters, writers, scholars and businesses, the Alliance cultivates the community through collaboration.
I was a member of the original group dedicated to creating the MFAS, and am a current member of its board of directors.
Concept Artist/Illustrator for Trading Card and Video Game
Mega Pickle Entertainment
March 2011 - August 2012
Working as a concept artist and illustrator the project entitled 'Perodia'.
Roto Artist
The Ant Farm
July 2012 - July 2012
I spent 5 days keying and roto-ing nearly 300 video elements for a new films online movie maker from green screen footage. A great group to work with!
Digital Compositor
Look FX
2011 - May 2012
Santa Monica, Ca
Look Effects is a visual effects studio whose credits include Captain America, Black Swan and Green Lantern. My credits while working with the wonderful staff there include:
• The Muppets Dir. James Bobin Walt Disney Pictures
• Underworld: Awakening Dir. Mårlind, Stein Screen Gems
• Red Hook Summer Dir. Spike Lee 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks
• Finder 20th Century Fox
• Bones 20th Century Fox
• The Perks Of Being a Wallflower Dir. S. Chbosky Summit Entertainment
• The Dictator Dir. Larry Charles Four by Two films
• I, Alex Cross Dir. Rob Cohen QED International
• Life of Pi Dir. Ang Lee Rhythm and Hues/Fox Pictures
• Phil Spector Biopic Dir. David Mamet HBO Films
• Gilded Lilys Dir.Brian Kirk ABC Studios
• Gotham Dir. Francis Lawrence 20th Television
• Europa
We create our shine with Nuke, AfterEffects and a variety of tracking/rig removal/matte painting programs.
Lead Artist/Senior Artist
Black Lantern Studios
July 2007 - August 2010
-Managing, delegating and scheduling teams of up to 20 artists and two outsourcing studios across multiple concurrently developed titles.
-Maintaining stylistic intent and brand identity with each of the licensed properties of each title, at times working with up to three different titles, each with a different artistic style and gameplay structure.
-Primary platform focus on Nintendo DS games creating 2d and 3d animations and sprites using in-house development tools.
Lead Artist
• Go Diego Go! Mega Bloks Build and Rescue! Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Chuck-E-Cheese’s Party Games Tommo Games
• Amazing Adventures: the Forgotten Ruins Popcap Games
• Mystery PI: Portrait of a Thief Popcap Games
• Backyardigans Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Ni Hao, Kai Lan: Chinese New Year Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Dora the Explorer: Puppy Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Doors of Fortune Moyo Studios
Character Design/Sprite Animator
• Wizards of Waverly Place Disney Interactive
• Garfield’s Fun Fest Zoo Games
• Go Diego Go: Safari Rescue Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Dora the Explorer: Saves the Mermaids Nickelodeon/2K Play
• Sesame Street: Elmo’s A to Zoo Adventure Warner Bros.
• Sesame Street: Cookie’s Counting Carnival Warner Bros.
Background Artist /Tile Set Creation
• Deal or No Deal Zoo Games – Wii
• Garfield’s Fun Fest Zoo Games
• Little League World Series Baseball ‘08 Activision
• John Deere Harvest in the Heartlands Destineer, Inc.
• Zhu Zhu Pets 2: featuring the Wild Bunch Activision
• Zhu Zhu Pets: Princess Activision
• 4 additional titles Nickelodeon and Activision
UI Artist
• Little League World Series Baseball ‘08 Activision
Scriptwriter, Director, Lead Editor, Storyboard Artist, Animator
Knights End Films
2000 - September 2009
Knights End is an independent film and digital special effects studio that offers a wide variety of production services at a rate far below most competitors. We have over ten years experience in the areas of 2d/3d animation, scriptwriting, film/video editing, and storyboard artistry. We have worked with clients, both local and national such as Toyota, ABC, NBC, Universal Studios, National Geographic and the recent multiple Sundance award winning film, Winter's Bone.
• Winter’s Bone Dir. Debora Granik Roadside Attractions
• Deal or No Deal NBC Universal, Inc.
• Inside River Bluff Cave Dan Ginavan National Geographic
Creative Director/marketing Manager
KSPR Springfield 33
2004 - 2006
-Head of department responsible for all in house commercial/promotional production seen on air.
-Planned market strategies, promotional events and limited partnerships with businesses throughout the metro area in order to gain a larger viewership.
-I was also the Story Artist/Editor/Director for hundreds of our high-end commercials and television specials.
