Summer is an exciting time of year for movie fans, and after already working on two of this season’s highest-grossing films it’s pretty safe to say that Shaun Comly is having one of the best summers of his life.

This ’98 Digital Media graduate helped create the visual effects for Star Trek and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and as the heat slowly begins to let up, Shaun is looking to add one more blockbuster to his credit list, with G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.

Working at Hollywood effects house Digital Domain, Shaun acted as Sequence Lighting and Look Development Lead on the film, and we recently caught up with him as G.I. Joe was hitting theaters to learn more about his jam-packed summer, and the role he played on the big screen adaptation of this classic toy line.

FS: What’s it been like to work on three huge summer movies in a row?

Shaun Comly: It’s great. I am a sucker for a big summer blockbuster. It’s definitely been busy, but they have a saying for when we get stressed - ‘We're making movies, and they pay us for it.’ So I love it, I really do.

FS: What was it like bringing the G.I. Joe franchise to the big screen? Were you a fan of the toys growing up?

SC: I was definitely one of those '80s kids. I had damn near every G.I. Joe out there – so it was beyond cool working on it. You always love working on feature films but I think all of us had a little bit more pep in our step knowing that this was G.I. Joe. It was funny, most of us knew exactly what a certain vehicle should look like, or exactly what ninja symbols were on the side of Snake Eyes' arm because we were big fans already.

FS: What were some of your responsibilities as a Sequence Lighting and Look Development Lead?

SC: Digital Domain had two big sequences, so our Lighting Supervisor, Hanzhi Tang, decided to split up the responsibilities to different teams. He was gracious enough to ask me to lead one of them, and I was responsible for the Cobra vs. Marines battle at the beginning.

On top of my own shots, my main duties were determining plausible delivery dates, problem solving of issues that we came across doing the lighting and rendering for the sequences, and shot management, as well as going to dailies in the screening room and answering questions for those shots.

FS: What was your favorite sequence you worked on?

SC: There were a couple. In the beginning battle between Cobra and the Marines, where the Cobra Airship blows up a military vehicle and flies through the middle of this giant fireball – that was a fun shot to work on because there were so many elements. Since the fireball was half a practical effect and half CG, we had to get creative on how we reflected the fire into the cockpit glass, as well as interactive lighting on the ship and ground.

The other one was a shot where the Joes are chasing Cobra through the streets of Paris. The camera pans with Duke in his accelerator suit and we had to fill the streets with CG cars. There was one car in particular that I must have had to change the color 30 or 40 times – every color under the sun – by the time they bought off on it. I will say that is one of the best CG cars that you will ever see fly by the screen in a quarter of a second.

FS: How challenging was it working on such an effects-heavy film?

SC: Intense – this was the first time that I was in a lead position for a production this big. What I learned from it is there is a whole other art form to production. If you are at this level it is assumed you can make something look awesome, but it’s now a matter of how fast you can do it without giving an inch on the credibility of the art. It was a great experience and I had a team of pretty fantastic artists with me, two of which were fellow Full Sail grads, Mike Comly and Bill Spradlin.

FS: Now that it’s arriving in theaters, are you looking forward to finally seeing the movie with an audience?

SC: Yeah definitely. There is nothing like seeing your name go by in the credits – it has a way of making all the late nights and stress worthwhile. Plus its something tangible for your wife or family to see, and you can say, ‘This is why I was away from you all so much.’ I love my job. I can really say that there is not anything that I would rather do. I mean I get to make movies for a living. There is nothing like finishing a tough movie and sitting back and watching all your hard work on the big screen.