3d Visual Effects Artist (jnr Entry Level)

wengus — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:05:33 +0000

posted by niic

Salary / Wage
Day rates – £80 per day

What year did you start the job?
2009

How long have you worked at your job?
1 year

Which country did you work in?
United Kingdom

How did you get your job?
Studied at Escape Studios and gained the skills required for Production level employment. While there I was able to start networking with other artists and it went from there.

Do you need a qualification to do your job?
Yes. Foremost you need to display technical ability as an operator through the presentation of a show reel. This should include all areas of skill and encompasses as many areas of the discipline as possible. Secondly, ability to show effectiveness to work within a team. Any collaborative projects should be well defined and your role clearly outlined. Lastly, a degree, any artistic merits, publications or competitions help but not essential. A technically brilliant show reel and a willingness to learn and work within a team is all you need

What do you do on a daily basis?
The day often would start with a dailies meeting from the previous days/weeks work where a level of critique would happen. Then take the days/week ahead brief from usually the team lead or creative director (depending on where you work and the Production structure and size this can change dramatically).

What was your best day at work?
Finishing the job successfully and client happy.

Are there any perks to your job?
You work in Film what more would you want!! Firstly, you get to work with allot of very talented people! Secondly, the industry is moving so fast and the software/hardware even faster you are continually learning new things and essentially working at the forefront of some very high end technologies pushing it to the limit on every production.

What do you like about your job?
Always solving an array of problems so there is never a boring day. You have to think with a nice mix of creativity and technical integration. It is a great balance!

What don’t you like about your job?
The industry can demand allot of time so you must be willing to make some sacrifices! It is most certainly a labor of love but worth every bit!

Personal Comments
This is not a trade you can simply learn over night so you must be extremely patient with your learning curve and be persistent. Be observant, take note of your world, open your eyes to the smallest of detail. We are in the business of faking reality for something that is not real. We attempt to sell this reality to a very well educated audience. Everyone of us has already a preconceived conception on how something is supposed to look so immediately the bar is set very high. For example, we all know what a human face ‘should’ look like so if we are trying to fake this in a visual effects shot there are allot of subtle nuances that must be taken into consideration. Therefor we must attempt to recreate these in order to effectively sell the shot convincingly. The best visual effects are the ones where no one in the audience has any idea we were even there!

Would you recommend this job to someone else?
Yes

Foley Artist

wengus — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 18:03:02 +0000

posted by Philip Rodrigues Singer

Salary / Wage
0 – 00/day (Average ,000 – 0,000 year)

What year did you start the job?
1986

How long have you worked at your job?
23 years

Which country did you work in?
United States

How did you get your job?
Through a chance series of meetings in a post-production studio, I was introduced to the craft of Foley just as an opening for an assistant became available. After apprenticing for several years as a Foley Assistant writing down Foley Track Sheets, I was given an opportunity to do a T.V. show project solo and over the years I became responsible for more Television, Mini-series and Feature Films works.

Do you need a qualification to do your job?
An understanding of post-production audio procedures and film making is a major requirement. A background in dance or music certainly has helped some artists become better at performing footsteps and having a “good ear” is always essential. Stamina is also required as Foley is a job that often entails throwing heavy objects around the studio followed by long sessions of tedious exacting hard work.

What do you do on a daily basis?
A Foley session lasts about 10 hours and consists of performing footsteps, clothing moves or “specific” sound tracks. Each element is performed for the entire day (a whole day of footsteps) or elements are mixed up as the show requires; this depends on the nature of the project and the schedule involved.

What was your best day at work?
One day I was given a whole session of time to create a 3 minute chase scene between a car and a transport trailer which was carrying logs down a mountain road. The transport driver, the bad guy, was trying to kill the good guy in the car by running him off the road as the car swerved beneath the transport and in front and behind. I even got to buy and smash a Camaro windshield. The scene took 8 hours and when played back sounded stunningly real. It was like being in the drivers seat.

What was your worst day at work?
I was given a fledgling engineer to record my work. During a kick boxing scene, the main character karate chops a fire pole as part of his routine; unfortunately he repeatedly kicks the pole about 20 times, completely randomly and all in about 10 seconds!I asked the the engineer to play the scene over and over about 4 times and then press record – I was memorizing the rhythm and on the last time when he went into record I nailed every single hit on the first take EXCEPT for the last hit.

I wanted the young new engineer to simply “punch into record” on the last hit but instead he pressed record about half way through the scene. Each time he erased more and more of the perfect track until finally I had to call in another engineer to record it all from the beginning which we did in one take!

I took two hours to do 10 seconds. I wanted to scream…

Are there any perks to your job?
You get to work with the immensely dedicated people, you get to meet the occasional movie star, you get the honor of participating in creating a feature film, and most of all you get to enjoy listening to your finished work…

What do you like about your job?
The variety of every new project.

What don’t you like about your job?
Long hours and strenuous activity and the total perfection expected.

Personal Comments
Foley is the best job on the planet and certainly the most fun if you are inclined to love sound and tinkering with objects to make new sounds and ideas. Foley is like painting with sound, and while it’s not for everyone, and not an easy career to break into, once there the rewards are wonderful. [Reference to recommending this job to someone else] Unless you have an opportunity in the field. Foley is a very small community and work can be difficult to acquire when first starting out. The best way to become a Foley Artist is if you can find an artist to apprentice with.

Company website: http://www.marblehead.net/foley

Would you recommend this job to someone else?:
Yes

Curious Jobs Dev » Media & Broadcasting

3d Visual Effects Artist (jnr Entry Level)

Foley Artist