Production management

Entry level Pre-production Follow the dotted lines to see how visual effects in the film and TV industries are made. Art, graphic design, creative Data digital media Production Production input/output routes VFX Producer manager coordinator VFX editor (I/O) technician Runner Multiple entry routes Concept Previsualisation artist (previs) artist Computer science, maths, physics routes

On set Computer-generated (CG) department Technical

Entry level

Computer Look Pipeline Rigging Creature VFX Modelling graphics (CG) development Animator technical technical technical supervisor supervisor artist artist director (TD) director (TD) director (TD)

Entry level Entry level Entry level Entry level Entry level Entry level

Assistant Software Data capture Texture artist Environment Layout Lighting Matchmove Effects technical technical technician artist artist artist artist director (FX TD) director (TD) developer

Art, Compositing The stamps creative Art, show the routes digital media, animation, in. Remember, computer Entry level creative Entry level Entry level you can move science digital media from one routes Entry level roles are routes department to ones that you can another. do straight after education, whether that be school, college or university. Most entry level roles are in production. Some companies look for Art, new entrants in all photography, Compositing creative the production roles Prep artist Roto artist Compositor supervisor digital media listed. routes

Go to ScreenSkills for more details: VFX industry career map www.screenskills.com/careers-in-vfx water. You can think of VFX skills as being • Maya, the ubiquitous industry 3D If you want to take a degree, make sure a VFX company can take you into being What is visual effects? on a spectrum, with artists at one end, package you take one that will best equip you for a production coordinator, then a line TDs in the middle and programmers at a job. Have a look at ScreenSkills’ Select producer or production manager and Visual effects (VFX) is the art of combining computer-generated • Nuke, the software used for VFX the other end. People are often surprised compositing list of recommended courses in VFX at fi nally a producer. Runners don’t need to to learn that a good degree in computer screenskills.com/courses and select one have degrees, but they often do. Check Looking for further advice? imagery (CG) with live-action pictures. Think of the dinosaurs in • Mari, for painting the surface texture of science or maths can lead to a career in in VFX. We recognise courses where they out the websites of VFX companies for Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom or the fi nal battle in Avengers: models in 3D If you’re interested in a career in the VFX industry, check out these websites to VFX. offer training in the relevant software, opportunities. fi nd out more: Infi nity War. If a scene in a fi lm can’t be captured on camera, it’s • Substance designer, also used for dedicated time to building a portfolio and Producers designing surface textures have strong links with the VFX industry. The graduate-training route made through the ingenuity of VFX. ScreenSkills, for information on careers and courses: screenskills.com/careers-in-VFX Like any business, the industry needs • Houdini, which is used for effects Some companies recruit staff directly from people to manage the projects, sell the Whichever path you are planning to simulation undergraduate and postgraduate courses. NextGen Skills Academy, courses and apprenticeships: nextgenskillsacademy.com The picture in the UK follow, look into the destinations of other VFX services and seal the deals. There Go to the large VFX companies’ websites students who have taken that route. If The UK is an international leader in the VFX industry. DNEG won the VFX Oscar for is a shortage within the VFX industry Use these tools to create a showreel to and look for in-house graduate training Access VFX, helping people get into the VFX, animation and games industries: accessvfx.org recent entrants are employed in jobs that First Man in 2019. The year before, DNEG and Framestore received the award for of people with project management, show off your talents. schemes. These are usually for roles with interest you, you are most likely on the Show me the Animation, online magazine with information on events and opportunities: Blade Runner 2049. These companies, based in the UK, with other studios around accountancy, legal, marketing and Go to screenskills.com/portfolio to learn a high degree of STEM as well as art skills, right track. the world, are internationally renowned for their quality and innovation. sales skills. To be equipped for roles how to do this. You can also test your such as layout or technical animation (tech showmetheanimation.com like producer, accountant or marketing ideas and share renders through forums, anim) and effects specialisms. Make sure Bectu, the media and entertainment union: bectu.org.uk Almost all the UK companies that create VFX for the feature fi lm industry (98%) executive, you need to have core business blogs and video sharing sites like Vimeo Routes into jobs in VFX you have a strong showreel if you want to are based in London. However, VFX is also used in television, advertising and skills, an in-depth understanding of or YouTube. Those pursuing computer The apprenticeship route go down this route. science or code-based VFX routes won’t Produced by ScreenSkills games, so there are opportunities for VFX careers wherever those are made. VFX is the VFX pipeline and knowledge of the Apprenticeships are an alternative to usually have to develop a showreel but will increasingly being used in virtual reality for architecture, training and healthcare industry as a whole. university. They are jobs with training, The data wrangling route need to evidence relevant coding skills. Supported by National Lottery funds awarded to ScreenSkills from the British Film Institute to so they’re a great opportunity to earn Graduates who have gained experience too. Cardiff, Glasgow, Belfast, Manchester, Brighton, Bournemouth and Bristol are Generalists and specialists deliver its Future Film Skills programme as you learn. They are relatively new to in managing digital data within other all places where VFX is made. It’s worth being aware that your role will What to study the VFX industry, but NextGen Skills sectors and can demonstrate an interest in be different depending on whether you Statistics courtesy of ScreenSkills (Annual ScreenSkills Assessment 2019) and UK Screen Alliance What to study at school and college Academy (nextgenskillsacademy.com) fi lm and VFX can get a start as part of the are employed in a small or a large VFX (Inclusion and Diversity in the UK, Visual Effects, Animation and Post-Production, 2019) For art and technical director roles, a team looking after a VFX company’s data, The VFX skills spectrum company. Small VFX companies need has developed apprenticeships as asset management and rendering. This people who can do a wide range of things, trained eye and an appreciation of light junior 2D artists and Assistant technical You can think of VFX as being on a spectrum, with arts-based roles at one end involves supporting projects in production Design by Dave Gray (iamdavegray.com) so they employ generalists. In large and colour are vital to be able to make directors, so check those out. These are and STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) roles at the other. by backing up and moving data around or companies, employees will be working images appear real. A-levels or Highers in Level 4 apprenticeships, which means Many roles require both sets of skills. working in editorial as a data input/output With thanks to Phil Attfi eld (NextGen Skills Academy), Amy Smith (Framestore), Vic Wade on one specifi c part of the VFX pipeline, art, art history and photography can help they can be taken after A-levels, Highers technician. The work is usually shift- (DNEG), Lucy Cooper (Union VFX), Amy Blackwell (ILM), Simon Devereux (The Mill) picking up the work from one artist with this. It’s also useful to take A-levels or Level 3 diplomas. If you’re interested based, which means there’s time to take and handing it on to the next, so they or Highers in biology and physics as they in production roles, it’s worth looking internal online training and get feedback Originally commissioned by Yen Yau from Into Film are looking for specialists. You might be can be helpful in interpreting anatomy, for apprenticeships in marketing or on practice assets from VFX professionals someone who likes to excel in doing one mass, mechanics and movement. For accounting in related industries, such as between their shifts. Based on an original concept by Ian Murphy and Allan Burrell (www.compositingcoach.com) thing very well, or someone who enjoys programming roles, A-levels or Highers in a marketing apprenticeship for a video maths and computer programming are getting to grips with a breadth of skills. production company. Even if you’re not The animation route useful. working in VFX, you can develop skills that Consider junior roles in animation, such as you can transfer to the VFX industry later Develop yourself There are a wide range of Level 3 a lighting artist or junior compositor. Roles Art STEM on. Go to gov.uk/apply-apprenticeship to Developing your skills is as important vocational qualifi cations that are useful that require both STEM and art skills are fi nd apprenticeships near you. as gaining qualifi cations. Watch lots too. Look out for the AIM Awards Level 3 highly sought-after in both industries. If of movies. Take note of contemporary Extended Diploma in Games, Animation The internship route you can get into animation in this kind of and VFX Skills or NextGen Skills Academy culture and the way ideas are visualised. Undergraduate students, towards the role, you can transfer your skills to VFX at a courses. To fi nd the recommended Roles in the VFX industry a car bursting into fl ames or an animated For instance, we all have notions of what middle of their studies, should consider later point. vocational qualifi cations for each of the fi gure. TDs write the rules, in code, for the vampires and robots look like that we applying (with a student showreel) for There are many different roles in VFX. roles listed on the inside of this map, go to way water moves when a dam bursts or have referenced from popular culture. summer internship programmes offered Enjoy VFX Some suit those with a more artistic side. screenskills.com/careers-in-VFX. Others suit those who prefer maths and how light refl ects on glass. Both require Films, graphic novels and computer by larger VFX companies. Look at their Whatever route you choose, a passion for a blend of art and science, technology, games can provide a good background for programming. There are plenty for those What to study at university websites to fi nd ones with student VFX and an awareness of the industry is engineering and maths (STEM) skills, but anyone interested in pursuing a career in accommodation for the duration of the who like both and there is a need for those The VFX workforce is highly qualifi ed, with essential. Keep watching VFX. Think about more art is needed for artist roles and VFX. programme. with business and marketing skills too. 83% of workers being either graduates or how it’s made. Look up the companies more STEM is needed for the TD roles. that made it. Immerse yourself in the VFX Artists Build a portfolio post-graduates (29%). Some have creative The production route Content © 2020 ScreenSkills. All rights reserved. Programmers or media related degrees and others have world. More than half the VFX workforce is If you’re interested in the art or TD roles, If you enjoy planning and organising, Programmers are needed to create new degrees in physics, maths and computer employed as artists or technical directors get experience learning to use free a good starting point is a role as a software tools to produce better VFX, such science. (TDs). Artists work on the look of the industry-standard software and tutorials, production runner. Being a runner with effect they are creating, whether that be as more convincing explosions, fur or including:

Production management Data input/output (I/O) technician between a VFX studio and the director or Animator in a way that mirrors the camera on the set in Software developer Responsible for organising, producer of the fi lm or TV programme. They Imbues fi gures with personality by every way, including lens distortion. Produces the technology required for Careers in VFX Producer transferring and storing the computer continue to lead when a fi lm is being put making them move in ways that a VFX project. Software developers Manages the whole process of fi les and data for a VFX production together in post-production. show their character and emotion. Technical department create the systems that technical creating the VFX for fi lm or TV. company. Data I/O technicians In VFX, animators use computer- directors can use and modify to suit Data capture technician – entry level VFX producers write the bid, the manage the computer storage and retrieval generated “rigs” to help make the characters Pipeline technical director the specifi c needs of their VFX artists. They also Visual effects (VFX) Goes onto the fi lm or TV set to collect document through which they systems, including company hard drives. They in a shot move in a believable way. They might Makes sure a VFX project runs design new digital tools and make sure they the information about the live-action persuade the fi lm or TV series’ producer to ensure that the transferring and storing of data animate vehicles or machinery too. smoothly by identifying and fi xing fi t into existing software systems. This enables footage that the teams in the VFX take on their VFX studio to do the work. They is done securely and that fi les are encrypted problems as they arise. Pipeline the effi cient passing of assets from one VFX studio need to add the visual effects. Texture artist – entry level put together the team of artists and technical wherever necessary. technical directors make sure each process to the next. Data capture technicians take photographs Makes surfaces look realistic on staff. They set the schedules and manage the department has the software tools that they Runner – entry level of the set and the way the cameras are computer-generated 3D models. budget. They also communicate between need to complete their part of the project to Supports everyone in the VFX studio. positioned. They “capture data” about the type Texture artists rough up objects or Compositing department the crew working on the fi lm set and the VFX the best standard possible. They have a very Runners do a variety of jobs. They of lens being used, its focal length, fi lters, focus they make them shine – scales on a editor in the studio. good understanding of how VFX production deliver materials and messages and colour temperature. They upload, log and crocodile’s skin, refl ections on car doors, skid Prep artist – entry level pipelines work and the roles within them. Production manager between departments. They organise back up all the data, before sending it on to the marks on roads, creases in trousers. They start Cleans up the backgrounds of live- Acts on the decisions that have been meetings and schedules. They keep the offi ce relevant members of the VFX company on a with a 3D model created by a modelling artist Rigging technical director action footage ready for the effects to be made by the producer. Production clean and tidy and might work on reception or daily basis. that is usually a plain grey shape. The texture Creates digital skeletons for 3D layered onto it by the compositor. The managers create the detailed be responsible for locking up. They also make artists paint the details onto the surface of the computer-generated models. Rigging shots they work on, known as plates, schedule for the project and budget. a lot of tea and coffee. Runners are well placed Computer-generated (CG) department models until they look like a photograph. technical directors (TDs) program these either moving or still, don’t have foreground They liaise with the artists and technical to observe experienced professionals, ask “rigs” or puppets so that they move action or players included. Prep artists use Environment artist – entry level directors to see that work is completed questions and build their knowledge. Computer graphics supervisor in a realistic way. This underlying skeleton is specialist VFX software to clean plates. They Creates the computer-generated on time. They are also the link with the Responsible for the delivery and then used by animators as the basis for their remove any unwanted dust and scratches from places in which actors move. They client shooting the live-action footage and quality of the 3D computer-generated movements. the frame and any unwanted items such a Pre-production make galaxies, lunar landscapes and producing the fi lm or TV programme. (CG) elements of a VFX project. Before boom microphones or electric pylons. desecrated cities – any environment Concept artist a fi lm goes into production, Computer Creature technical director that it’s too diffi cult to fi lm in real life. Roto artist – entry level Production coordinator Creates artwork to inspire the look graphics (CG) supervisors identify areas of Builds the software that enables Environment artists used modelling and Manually draws around and cuts out Helps ensure VFX projects run of the VFX in a fi lm or TV production. the VFX work that need to be researched by artists to create believable fur, feathers sculpting software. objects from movie frames so that the smoothly. Production coordinators Concept artists are the fi rst to draw software developers. They design the VFX and skin on their creatures. Creature technical directors (TDs) develop and required parts of the image can be help to arrange the day-to-day the characters or creatures and pipeline – which means they decide the order Layout artist - entry level program the digital tools for all the artists used, a process known as rotoscoping. running of the team and make sure everyone environments as well as vehicles, props and in which the work needs to be done. They Determines the position of the virtual who work on digital dinosaurs, animals or The parts of an image that are wanted after has the information they need to work buildings. They begin with a brief, which might supervise the creation of all CG imagery and camera. Layout artists consider a magnifi cent beasts, helping them to be as cutting out are known as mattes. Roto artists effectively. They organise the movement of be a script, or the original concept of a fi lm as manage the artists creating it. shot’s framing, composition, camera effi cient as possible. They then work with work on the areas of live-action frames where the assets through the VFX pipeline. They told by its fi lmmaker. Their work is used help angle, camera path and movement, Look development artist pipeline TDs to incorporate the tools into a VFX computer-generated images or other live- keep production databases updated with the other members of a production, or in the VFX and the rough lighting of each key scene. Defi nes the look of computer- production pipeline. action images will overlap or interact with the current status of shots and take detailed notes pipeline, to have a shared vision. They keep a consistent scale of the elements generated creatures or objects to live image. in meetings. They also track costs against the within the frame. The work that layout artists Previsualisation (previs) artist ensure all the art in the fi lm or TV Effects technical director budget. do enables other VFX artists to have a basis for Compositor Helps to plan what a fi lm is going programme is consistent. If a concept Makes it easier for VFX artists to use shot construction later in the VFX production Creates the fi nal image of a frame, shot to look like. Previs is the process of artist draws an alien, then look development effects like explosions, billowing VFX editor pipeline. or VFX sequence. Compositors take visualising a scene before creating artists (look devs) work out what the skin of smoke and rushing water. Effects Works as the link between the fi lm technical directors (FX TDs) create all the different digital materials used it. Previs artists usually start with a the alien will look like in different conditions Lighting artist or TV production team, which shoots these effects for the VFX artists to use in their (assets), such as computer-generated 2D storyboard or imagery from a – when it’s raining, when it’s dark, when the Enables depth and realism to be the live-action footage, and the VFX sequences; they write the computer language images, live action footage and matte concept artist. They create draft versions of the creature’s angry. They work with lighting added to a computer-generated studio that does the visual effects. scripts that generate the effects. FX TDs build paintings, and combine them to appear as one different moving image sequences and they technical directors (TDs), texturing artists and (CG) scene through lighting, just as a The role of a VFX editor varies depending on and test software tools for the VFX artists to cohesive image and shot. put it all together using their compositing and creature TDs to establish the different looks, director of photography (DoP) does whether they are in-house (employed by the use and then they incorporate them into a VFX editing skills. This is used to map out how the balancing the processes of texturing, lighting in a live-action fi lm. Lighting artists adjust Compositing supervisor studio) or client-side (employed by the fi lm or studio’s production pipeline. TV production company). VFX will fi t into a live-action scene. and rendering to match reference images and the colour, placement and intensity of CG In charge of the department that puts Client-side VFX editors work on set, while real footage. lights to create atmosphere. Using reference Assistant technical director together all the different elements photos taken on set or location, they match the of the VFX shots. They manage the the live-action footage is being shot. They On-set Modelling artist – entry level – entry level illumination of virtual 3D objects to the look of compositors, who do this work, and check everything is being captured in a Creates characters, weapons, plants Helps to identify and fi x problems VFX supervisor the on-set production and cinematography. check it for quality. They are also responsible way that makes it possible for the VFX to be and animals on a computer in 3D. and make sure everyone in a VFX created and integrated effectively. In-house In charge of the whole VFX project. production pipeline has the tools they for ensuring the continuity of colour between Modelling artists start with a brief, Matchmove artist – entry level VFX editors work closely with client-side VFX They manage the VFX pipeline, need. Assistant technical directors (TDs) gather shots. which might be 2D or 3D art produced Matches computer-generated scenes editors and are also responsible for ensuring including all the VFX artists who work information on the needs of each department. by a concept artist. From this they create a with shots from live-action footage that the VFX artists at the VFX studio have in the process. They have ultimate responsibility They design solutions for problems that arise 3D digital model that can then move on to be so the two can be convincingly everything that they need to create for all the VFX elements produced for a project and also use coding skills to create small-scale animated, given texture and lit. combined. Matchmove artists recreate their work. by their company or studio. They are therefore tools needed by the VFX artists. ultimately responsible for the relationship live-action backgrounds (plates) on a computer