By ADRIANA HIGUERA

Fans of the action-packed Spider-Man story have waited months in bubbling anticipation for the latest installment of Sam Raimi's trilogy on the "Human Spider." Millions of these fans will be able to finally satiate their cravings as "Spider-Man 3" hits theaters nationwide today (Friday, May 4, 2007).

While many of these fans could only begin to dream of having a behind-the-scenes relationship with the Spider-Man film, for one BYU faculty member and two of his interns, that dream came true when they had the enviable opportunity to work on the development and execution of some of the most dramatic scenes in the blockbuster film.

In March of 2005, Ryan Woodward, a full-time faculty member of the BYU Visual Arts Animation Department took a year-long leave of absence from his teaching position to work as a storyboard artist for "Spider-Man 3." However, Woodward is no stranger to working in the film industry as he spent about eight years working in Hollywood as an animator for "Space Jams," "The Iron Giant," "Spider-Man 2" and other well-known films prior to coming to BYU in fall 2003 to work as a professor.

It was through his network of contacts and friends in the film industry that he was able to get the opportunity to work with the "Spider-Man 3" team, Woodward said. After working on the project for three months, Woodward asked the production team if he could bring on one of his "super students" as an intern and luckily enough, the production company agreed. That is when Tyler Thomson, a former student of Woodward's came onto the scene.

"I was thrilled! While I waited to hear whether or not Spider-Man would bring me on board, I could hardly sleep," Thomson said in an e-mail interview. "Ever since I was a kid, Spider-Man has been my favorite superhero, and to work on action films has been my career ambition almost as long. For me, working on 'Spider-Man 3' was like winning the 'geek-lottery.'"

The producer and others were so impressed with Thomson's work that they hired him just three weeks into his internship, Woodward said.

"That is the first time ever this production company has hired someone straight out of college," Woodward said. "Once Tyler was hired they needed another intern, so they said to me, 'Give us another one.'"

Woodward asked Alex Cannon, another former student, to work on the "Spider-Man 3" team, and he was also promptly hired during his internship. Woodward described Thomson and Cannon as talented and gifted individuals.

"When I heard that I had an opportunity to work on 'Spider-Man 3,' I was kind of in shock," Cannon said in an e-mail interview. "I'm still feeling it a year and a half later! Besides the fact that I loved the previous films, I was just blown away that I could actually work on a Hollywood movie in the first place. And to do what I dreamed of doing as a career right out of school, it was a real blessing."

Woodward worked as a storyboard artist on the film, developing the animation on particular scenes. Cannon and Thomson were involved in the pre-visualization process. Cannon worked with the director and animation team to choreograph scenes before filming. When the animated shots were set up according to what the director wanted, the crew would set up the live shots to match the animated ones and then shoot the scene, Cannon said.

"For example, when I first started [designing the storyboard], the director said to me, 'We've got this scene with Flint Marko, he's running from the police, and we've got to get him into a laboratory experiment and transform him into the Sandman - go for it!'" Woodward said. "So off we went, brainstorming at first, then drawing and then creating on the computer. We'd meet frequently with the director to show our progress and get his notes."

Woodward, Thomson and Cannon had the opportunity to work closely with Sam Raimi, the renowned director of all the Spider-Man films.

"It was a great experience because [Raimi] possesses the unique ability to put himself in the position of the viewer, so when I excited him with a shot I did, I knew the audience would be excited too," Cannon said.

Soon after "Spider-Man 3" wrapped, Woodward returned to his teaching position at BYU. Woodward currently resides in Mapleton with wife Tiffany and three daughters. He teaches gesture drawing, character design, storyboarding, introduction to animation and animation studio one at BYU. Woodward loves working on films and being creative and he said he would have remained working in Hollywood had he not felt inspired to teach while teaching early-morning seminary in California. He said he enjoyed the classroom experience so much, he saw teaching at BYU as the perfect way to combine his love of animation with his love for the gospel.

"I will continue to do freelance work [in animation] as long as my university obligations don't conflict," Woodward said. "I actually just finished work on 'Where the Wild Things Are,' which is set to come out in 2008. I worked from home here in Utah on the project, which is probably what I will continue to do from now on."

As for Cannon and Thomson, both plan to continue working in the Los Angeles area establishing themselves in the film industry as well as the union, two things that are extremely important, Woodward said. Cannon is currently focusing on pre-visualization work on "Angels and Demons," the prequel to "The DaVinci Code," with Ron Howard. Thomson is working on James Cameron's new film, "Avatar."

"I love my job and L.A. is the best place right now to work on the projects I want to be involved in," Thomson said.

Copyright Brigham Young University 3 May 2007