The San Fernando Valley is known for its dry heat, industrial buildings and exquisite sushi, but who knew it was also the home of an incredibly talented team of artists who help make some equally incredible movies? Upon arriving in the studio space of veteran model maker Fon Davis and observing his work with making miniature sets and props, teacher Matt Stroup’s Cinema 5-6 students were enchanted with the world they had entered.

Davis has worked on films dating back to the mid ‘70s where he helped build models for the original Star Wars trilogy as well as the prequels from the late ’90s to the mid 2000s. Since then, he has made models for such films as Elysium, Guardians of the Galaxy and Interstellar. Having worked with such iconic directors as Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future Trilogy), Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones films, E.T.) and George Lucas (Star Wars films), Davis offered wisdom to the Cinema class about what it takes to be a film director.

“People think that all a director does is walk around and point at things and tells others what to do. That’s not the case. To be a director, you have to study cinematography, you have to study how a camera operates, you have to study lighting, you know?” Davis explained as the students walked through halls filled with posters of the films he has worked on. “You have to study so many things that go into making a film in order to be a director because it’s the director’s job to know the production inside and out, and if everything falls apart it’s on the director’s shoulders.”

Davis also emphasized the importance of time dedication as he took the students through his animation department, which had whiteboards posted on every wall and every animator had a clipboard at hand at the request of Davis. “A director is also always supposed to be the first one on set and the last one off,” he said as he pointed to his colleagues’ clipboards. “We manage every moment of our days all the way down to when we eat,” he laughed as he turned off an alarm on his phone telling him it was lunchtime.

As the tour of the studio concluded, Davis wished the students good luck on their future endeavours and that hopefully they could work with him one day. “I thought the atmosphere of the place was great, and Mr. Davis was just a totally awesome person,” said senior Tristan Mouradian. “Seeing things like Stormtrooper costumes from Star Wars and spaceships from Elysium was just so cool.”