Monthly Archive for April, 2008

The Art of Falling Through.

Published
by
Matt
on April 25, 2008
in Work
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That amazing opportunity I spoke of recently has fallen through :/

Though the plus side is that I’m in contact with them now, and more opportunities possibly at a lower level (read : somewhere I am not out of my depth) may appear in the future. I spoke with the lead on the phone for a while, a nice guy. Apologetic regarding things, and honest (not including complimentary things about me having what it takes!). I will catch him in the future.

*sighs*

Dissappointing yes, but the end of the world - No. My career still progresses by going into the paid freelance roto job and I still have good communication with another studio. So whilst things are no longer a leap, they are still a step.

I will always persist, and I have no plans on giving up. That’s simply the way I operate. Now.. Back to lord of paaaaain!

-Matt

Chaos Step

Published
by
Matt
on April 22, 2008
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H-Holy shit Batman.

On Saturday I saw a forum post on fxphd posted up by a member I had met briefly at one of the meet ups advertising that the studio he’s with need some Shake Freelancers for a couple of months so I sent an email their way being honest about my skills and that if possible I would love to come on board as a junior.

Sunday I recieve an email telling me they’d love for me to do a weeks trial and that if possible could I see them this week for a meet & Greet kind of introduction. So yesterday (Monday) I head over and meet the lead compositor as well as the chap I had met previously.

All is go, I was confident that I can do what they ask though need to spend more time familiarising myself with Shake - Which I told them. This position is definitely going to require some learning and I felt that now would be a good time to really make a commitment towards my ambitions.

…A £2000 Commitment that looks oddly like a Mac Book Pro with 4Gb Ram and a 2.4ghz Core 2 Duo Processor… It arrives near the 7th.

Things are all a bit chaotic, I have (so it seems) been presented with a golden opportunity. Now I really need to ensure that I do my best not to waste it. It’s safe to say I am apprehensive, albeit extremely excited.

More as it happens.

-Matt.

Lord of ‘oh my god my eyes’ Pain

Published
by
Matt
on April 19, 2008
in Lord of Pain
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Amusing amount of work going into a 24 frame shot here :)

-Matt

Tantric Tourists Premiere

Published
by
Matt
on April 19, 2008
in Tantric Tourists
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‘Tantric Tourists’ premièred last night at the East End Film Festival. I was involved with the project in a small way, lending my compositing talents on a shot and helping a little with the web side of things.

http://www.tantrictourists.com/HOME.html

There’s a trailer available via the website as well as the current news on where/how the project is doing. I missed out on the premiere and am yet to hear how things went. Hopefully well!

-Matt

Saying No get’s you nowhere.

Published
by
Matt
on April 19, 2008
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Ah man, I’ve had to turn down work as a Roto Artist as a studio I really want to go to for the 2nd time now because I am stuck working out my notice as a runner. At what point is it a good idea to just say “sorry, goodbye!” to this position as I am leaving within 2 weeks?

No, I don’t want to upset anyone. Yes I want to move on with my career. It’s a frustrating position, the plus side is that I feel like I have a future but the down side is that I can’t now blame this studio for blacklisting me for saying no too many times. If they offer work again before my notice is through I’ll take it.

Other news : I’m still reviewing things with the freelance work offer elsewhere as there is currently no mention of a contract which leaves me reluctant to make much movement. It’s part because the pay is ridiculously low, perhaps even illegal (I am looking into it) and because there are complications involved regarding copyrights. I don’t want complications - just some experience and a technical position on my cv please!

Software wise it’s a toss up between buying Silhouette or making my student AE CS3 into the full one. I’m leaning towards Silhouette as that’s the software the studio I want to go to use. It would be beneficial to get to grips with it asap.

The new FXPHD term is starting, this term I am tempted to sign on for 5 courses and follow 3 during the term time with the others to follow on afterwards. I’m wary of missing out on courses and having to wait ages for them to reappear. More on this as it happens.

-Matt

Another step

Published
by
Matt
on April 9, 2008
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Today, after a talk with John - my boss at Diverse we decided that continuing being a runner for another 3 months wouldn’t really be beneficial to my ambitions or to what the company needs (someone who wants to be an editor!)

This both makes complete sense to me - and leaving the company at the end of the 3 month period was a thought that I was seriously considering, largely because of needing to give a months notice rather than a week being really likely to sabotage my chances of getting into a studio.

So yes, this means I can get in touch with a few studios interested in knowing when I am available starting immediately, the offer coming from the recent roto interview is also slightly more interesting now I am guaranteed time to dedicate to it.

But… I shall be sad to leave Diverse. When a company is full of good people who understand where your ambitions lay and make allowances based upon those it becomes a warm, comfortable place. Alas, from the womb I must journey into the cold hard world of possibility. (Hah!).

I’ll post up more as it happens. Perhaps. Now would be a good time to pimp my reel and send begging emails to some cool places.

-Matt

The Proposition

Published
by
Matt
on April 9, 2008
in Work
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April really is the month of chaos.

Today I recieved a call from a company suggesting I may be interested in a project of theirs as they need alot of rotoscopy done on old footage of Elvis Presley so I spent todays lunch break heading down to Soho for an interview.

Long story short is that there’s a lot of work to be done, the difficulty of the work is hard to tell at the moment, most of the work is from home and there’s been no set offer regarding pay as of yet. Oh, and that they want me to work for them. This all leaves me in an interesting place.

The Benefits are simple - Paid roto work on my CV, even if it’s not with a well known company I would be credited. It also beats making tea, and the working from home aspect could allow me to fit my social life/projects around it.

The down side is that it’ll just be a credit, I wouldn’t be taught anything - though there’d be plenty of roto work from which to apply the fxphd lessons to.  Also, the pay is currently uncertain though I’m sure they’re not looking to pay much at all.

I find myself left with questions that need answering before I can commit;

1 - Is the offered pay enough to justify leaving a pretty good runner’s job behind for? (Will I be able to survive?)

2 - Is the workload heavy enough to justify leaving a well paid runner’s job for if in theory I could do it on my weekends/in my spare time.

3 - Will the workflow work?

4 - Do I like the companies mentality regarding making a profit rather than making art?

5 - Can I be ethical in my use of software to create this work? If no, then I wouldn’t be able to work at all. Student versions etc…

Some of these questions will be answered over the weekend as I am expecting to recieve some footage from them to have a look at as well as work out a deal regarding wages/pay rates and how it is all calculated.

Until then, it’s back to making tea!

-Matt

The realm of missed opportunities

Published
by
Matt
on April 5, 2008
in Work
. 0 Comments

The facility I was waiting to hear back from did get back to me with an offer of 9 days roto artist work starting today though unfortunately I had to turn it down due to being unable to secure time away from my current runner’s position. Which is in all honesty - frustrating.

However, I am glad that the facilities reaction was positive and happy to hear that they were interested. I hope to maintain contact with them and most likely jump in on a project with them in the future. So whilst I may not be getting a technical foot in the door today/this week - I’m starting to feel that perhaps my future in the visual effects industry has at least a chance of existing.

On Thursday the guys from the Time Team office arrived for a meeting with the editor and director of an episode in the works and they brought with them Max, the guy who got the job I was interviewed for. He’s a top bloke and I feel they’ve chosen a suitable person for the position though I can’t help but wonder if I was being stupid talking myself out of the job during my 2nd interview. There is some regret there as I am still making tea. However I do feel I’ve made a good choice.

Thinking back to around two months ago reminds me of how ecstatic I was to get this position, and I still consider myself lucky to be where I am today - there is simply a burning desire to get to where I want to be, is that a feeling which will get me down or is it one which will see that I try to reach my ambitions?

How poignant. :)

This week has been a very, very busy one though time passed quickly. I will be interested in hearing how I held up given that it was my first exposure to their studios workings whilst it’s been very busy. Hope I did ok.

Now, back to my other work!

-Matt