Week 2

VFX RUNNER

VFX Runner is a job which do not need much experience, it’s like a learner in the company. But the good thing is you can study and learn in many different departments.Runners are all-purpose helpers in a VFX studio, runners need to help all crews to get what they need, like a assistant in the company. Runners seems like a way for people that don’t have a lot of experience to get into the industry, it’s the bottom of the ladder but many people take this route, and it’s a nice way to get studio experience while working and learning on the job, so those people who have just graduated, this is a good choice to enter this industry.

To become a good Runner, you need to be:

  • Interest in VFX: take an interest in the work of the company, be keen to learn technical skills where you can and grow your knowledge about VFX
  • Being proactive: use your initiative to find jobs to do and show resourcefulness, make a good effort in all of the tasks that you do
  • Enthusiasm: be confident, approachable and communicate well with all team members and clients
  • Reliability: be on time and be able to multitask efficiently
  • Adaptability: be able to prioritise jobs and cope well under pressure, adapting to changing project schedules and sometimes working late or irregular hours.

I searched for some company recruitment information and through these information, I found that the duty of the Runners is not entirely about the VFX industry, some are about daily cleaning and company meal preparation. Also some companies need runners to communicate with company customers and documents processing and filling. So before become a role of Runner, we need to be prepared so that we will not gonna be surprised.

Overall, Runner is a good start to get in the VFX Industry, you can learn how to deal with interpersonal relationship and the duty of each departments which are quite useful.

Prep Artist:

Prep Artist is like a “magician”, the role in the VFX is very important because Prep Artist need to clean up the scene so that the production can be looked real. Prep Artist can remove the piercings or superfluous objects in the shooting scenes, so that to let the following special effects work more smoothly and efficiently.

For the Prep Artist, the main job is to clean up the backgrounds of live action-footage ready for the effects to be layered onto it by the compositor. 

To become a good Prep Artist, you need to be:

  • Art: be skilled at drawing and painting using a graphics tablet, have a high level of accuracy with the pen or stylus
  • A keen eye: recognise when and where images need to be cleaned, even in the minutest detail, make your work invisible
  • Patience: be methodical and thorough
  • Knowledge of VFX programs: be adept at using relevant programs such as Maya, Photoshop and, particularly, Nuke
  • Organisation: work well with strict deadlines, be able to complete work under pressure

Most of times, Prep Artist work with Roto Artist and Compositors, they work together to clean up the scenes, but sometimes in small companies, there just one person to do the whole thing, so to become a Prep Artist, you need to prepare and understand the software and the entire process. Prep Artist is a entry level role as well, so if you want to become a Prep Artist for sure, in the University, you need to learn and practice more about Nuke and After effect and try to clean up some objects.In some companies, they may want Prep Artist have skills such as Using 3D cameras for projections, Able to use expressions within Nuke to help aid paint work and some scripts work etc.

Roto Artist:

In some ways, ad far as i know, Roto Artist and Prep Artist is quite similar, but Roto Artist is more specific, they are all entry levels and typically employed by VFX studios but can also be freelancers. But Roto Artist needs to track the camera and combine the CG animation with the real actor’s movement so that they can prefect pitched. Roto artists manually draw around and cut out objects from movie frames so that the required parts of the image can be used, a process known as rotoscoping. So Roto Artist will have more patient taking care to rotoscope well so as to help to produce a high-quality final image, and they also need:

  • Drawing skill: trace accurately with a good line
  • Knowledge of programs: be adept at using relevant programs such as Photoshop
  • Delivery: work well with strict deadlines, be able to complete work under pressure
  • Taking initiative: observe what’s happening, be pro-active, ask questions at the appropriate time

Roto artists work most closely with compositors, as the mattes which roto artists produce serve as important layers for compositors to work with. They pass on their work to prep artists, as part of a VFX production pipeline, to help prepare plates for compositors.

For myself, i prefer to take Runner job, firstly because it is an entry level and have more opportunities to study and learn in the company. Secondly, because i am not 100% sure which role i want to do and play well in the company, so Runner can help me to figure out which department i like the most and can work well. Thirdly, i need more working experience not only just about VFX skills, but also communicate skills as well, so to become a Runner, i have to talk to all the crews and maybe a little conversions about the works and they can share theirs experience to me as well, this is very important and useful.

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