Once upon a time as a young, starry-eyed junior artist, I placed a huge amount of importance on being the best Compositor in the room. Visual Effects is a competitive industry, and so I came to the conclusion that putting my head down and out-compositing my fellow colleagues would give me a leg up in…Continue Reading “Change your lens on communication”
You’ve just completed another “big push this week”. Don’t you feel great for what you and your team have achieved? I bet your answer is, “no Ben, because we’re already thinking about the big push we need to complete next week!” The VFX industry is a vicious cycle; if you don’t take time out to recover periodically, you’ll eventually burn yourself out.
Continue Reading "The Importance of Taking Time Off"
This article was sparked by a good friend, and a junior colleague, who both approached me with similar questions of, “How do I become a better Compositor?” This is something I believe we should all ask ourselves from time to time, no matter our years of experience, and is a question that doesn’t restrict itself to VFX but instead applies to all walks of life. Whilst on the more philosophical side, I feel this article is relevant to everyone, and I hope my thoughts on the matter inspire you to reach for greater heights.
To solve the question of, “how do I be better?”, we first have to get specific and determine the root cause of the problem; The need to improve is often coupled with a sense of inadequacy, which isn’t an entirely accurate self-assessment. This is the most pertinent issue I want to address in this article.
Continue Reading "The Mindset Behind Being a Better Compositor"We’ve all been in that place where we’re watching our shot on loop, can see something is missing, but just can’t figure out what that thing is. When I find myself in this scenario, I Give it 10, and the problem solves itself! Here’s how it works…
Continue Reading "Give it 10 – How to generate new ideas when you have none"
Of all the people I have met whilst working in the visual effects industry, I have never met another artist who is truly ok calling something “good enough”. It’s a title that is begrudgingly assigned to a shot when they know they don’t have the time to push it any further. In saying that, is there really such a thing as the “perfect shot”? I would argue no, and here’s why.
Continue Reading "Creativity vs. Productivity"