Blog Posts: tagged with Philosophy

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 my career, and make me look like a rockstar to every studio around! Oh, how short-sighted young Ben was... I worked so hard, worked all the overtime and tried to prove I was "the best" (whatever that is...), but instead, I burned myself out trying to get results that would have come easily had I pulled my head out of my own arse and asked one of the many talented artists/supervisors sitting around me for guidance.

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.

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.

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...

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.