Persistence pays off for Alderson resident Ryan Allen, 22, a 2011 graduate of Greenbrier East High School, who accepted a job offer from Stereo D to work on “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” After graduating from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh in September 2014 with a degree in visual effects and motion graphics, Allen said it took him a year to find a job in his field.
“It’s just about persistence,” Allen said. “I applied to more than 100 places, and I almost never heard back from anybody.”
Allen’s new job took him to Toronto, Canada, where as a 3-D compositor, he was assigned shots from Star Wars’ Episode VII. Allen said he was one of about 200 people working in the studio on the film. “We each worked on anywhere between one and five minutes of the film.” Allen’s particular role in the 3-D edition of the film dealt with about 50 non-contiguous seconds in all. That may seem small to some people, but, he explained, a single shot can take him anywhere between six hours and three weeks to complete. “I had 22 shots [in all], and the one I worked on for three weeks was, realistically, about a second long.”
“This will probably be the biggest thing I ever have worked on and ever will work on,” Allen said.
“The Force Awakens” has shattered box office records having recently reached $1 billion in ticket sales faster than any movie in history.
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Greenbrier East High School announces their Students of the Month for October, 2015, naming freshman Kara Vaughan, daughter of Joe and Dina Vaughan of Lewisburg; sophomore Jason Dodd, son of Brian and Margaret Dodd of Caldwell; junior Cassidy Hicks, daughter of Carl and Christine Hicks of Clintonville; and senior Madison Leigh Persinger, daughter of Mark and Audrey Persinger of Pence Springs. The students were selected by the faculty of Greenbrier East, along with its Partners in Education, First National Bank.
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A driver from Paschall Truck Lines, Inc. unsuccessfully tried to maneuver an 18-wheeler around a gas pump at the Wal-Mart station on north Jefferson Street, flattening the pump, damaging the curb and bending the U-shaped protection barrier. The Lewisburg Fire Department and the Lewisburg Police Department responded to the Tuesday morning accident.
According to Fire Chief Wayne Pennington, the pump was installed with an automatic shut-off mechanism which closes a valve to minimize the potential for leakage. A catch basin stops whatever fuel does escape. “No more than a quart of gasoline leaked out of the pump,” Pennington said.