Portfolio · 5 reels

Portfolio

Twenty years of work in five reels: finishing, color, animation, creative technology and AI. Each one has a short case study on what it was for and what I did.

Brendan O'Neil Showreel

My personal reel: CGI worlds, VFX, AI pipelines and immersive work, from the finishing suite to the lab.

Studio: Personal showreel
Role: Creative Director · VFX Supervisor · AI Pipelines
When: Career highlights
Runtime: 2:23

The brief

One reel for the whole career. It moves from high-end VFX and CGI through beauty, fashion and sport campaigns to the generative AI and creative technology work I lead now, and shows some of the process behind it.

What I did

Creative direction and VFX supervision across the campaigns in the reel
CGI worlds and environments, digital humans, and large-format building displays
AI image and video pipelines, from look development to final delivery
In-house tooling for avatars and motion capture, shown in the process section

CGIVFXGenerative AIComfyUIDigital humansMotion captureImmersive

Bonfire Studio Reel

The reel that repositioned Bonfire from a finishing house to a full animation and CGI studio.

Studio: Bonfire
Role: Founder · ECD / Head of VFX
When: 2024 cut
Runtime: 0:55

The brief

By 2024 most of our work wasn't finishing any more. It was character animation, product CGI and design-led campaigns built from scratch. The old reel sold the wrong studio, so we cut a new one around what we actually made.

What I did

Creative direction and supervision across the work in the reel, from pitch to delivery
Character animation, stylised worlds and mixed-media campaigns alongside photoreal product CGI
Built the pipeline and team that let a ~25-person studio run CG, design and finishing under one roof
Directed the cut: 54 seconds, paced to the track, animation first

CGICharacter animationProduct CGIMotion designFlameNuke

Sombra Labs: Creative Technology Lab

Forty seconds on what the lab did: immersive experiences, web3 ecosystems, AR and AI integration.

Studio: Sombra Labs
Role: Co-Founder · ECD
When: 2023 – 2025
Runtime: 0:40

The brief

A new lab needs to explain itself fast. This mini reel introduces Sombra Labs, "Actualizing The Beyond", across the four things we sold: immersive experiences, web3 ecosystems, AR and AI integration.

What I did

Set the lab's creative direction and the visual language of the reel
Immersive and large-format work, AR activations and web3 builds
AI integration for talent and product imagery
Company-wide R&D that fed the production technologies shown here

Creative technologyARWeb3ImmersiveAI integration3D

Beauty & Fashion Finishing

Beauty, cosmetics and fashion finishing: skin, hair and product work that has to hold up at full frame.

Studio: Bonfire
Role: Head of VFX · Lead Flame Artist
Runtime: 2:12

The brief

Beauty is the least forgiving work in VFX. Skin has to stay skin, hair has to move right, and the product has to look perfect in every frame. This reel collects that work across cosmetics, hair care, fashion and lifestyle campaigns.

What I did

Beauty retouching in motion: skin, make-up, hair and product clean-up
Compositing and finishing on national cosmetics, hair care and fashion spots
On-set VFX supervision, so the plates came back ready for finishing
Client-attended sessions through to mastering and delivery

Beauty retouchingFlameNukeCompositingFinishingOn-set supervision

Color Reel

Grading across commercials, music videos and sport, from naturalistic dialogue scenes to fully stylised worlds.

Studio: Independent / Bonfire
Role: Colorist
Runtime: 2:01

The brief

Color is where a spot finds its mood. This reel shows range: warm dialogue comedy, high-contrast sport, stylised music video and clean product work, all graded to the director's intent.

What I did

Commercial, music video and branded content grades
Look development with directors and DPs before the shoot
Shot matching and finishing through delivery
Hands-on grading in Resolve and Flame, run directly with clients

DaVinci ResolveFlameColor gradingLook developmentFinishing

Want to know more?

The story behind the work, the full CV and how to reach me are all on the About page.

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