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Special Effects Artist/Animator

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AVG. SALARY

$64,370

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EDUCATION

Bachelor's degree

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JOB OUTLOOK

Stable

Interviews

Insider Info

"I'm one of those weird people," says Tom Bertino. "I actually made up my mind on what I wanted to do with my life when I was four years old, and that was quite a while ago."

Many years later, Bertino can easily say he has followed through with his childhood dream. He has more than 25 years experience working in the field of animation and visual effects. About 20 of those years were spent at George Lucas' production company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). At ILM, he was also an animation director and visual effects supervisor for an array of films.

Bertino says he began developing a passion and love for cartoons and fantasy films at a very young age. "It just meant so much to me when I was young," he says. "I was aware, even when I was young that these were things that were made. That some adult human being had had a hand in creating and I felt it must be great to make people feel as good as I feel while I'm watching these things.

"That's really what sucked me in, was just the feeling I got," says Bertino. Bertino now boasts a long list of projects under his name. This list includes films with impressive animation and visual effects such as Star Wars Episode 1, Men in Black II, The Mask and Casper.

And the most exciting thing that has happened to him in his career so far? "Oh, getting nominated for an Academy Award," he says. Bertino was one of four people who were nominated for the visual effects in The Mask. "That was pretty heavy," he says.

Currently, Bertino heads an animation and visual effects program at an arts university in San Francisco. There he helps open students up to what it really means to be in the fields of animation and visual effects.

"The thing we notice about students who want to be educated in animation and visual effects is they tend to be sort of narrow in their vision of what it is that helps make them good artists in the field," he says. "We find we need to sort of open them up."

Russell Heyman heads a digital animation program at a technical institute. He also finds that students need to be open to the world around them in order to succeed in the field of visual effects.

"You definitely do need to understand the physics of the natural world," says Heyman. "Why fire looks like fire and why water behaves like water."

Heyman has about 15 years of combined experience in the fields of 2D animation, traditional special effects and visual effects. About eight of those years were spent at Walt Disney Animation.

"Recently I've taken a switch to education so I can pass a lot of the knowledge and materials that I've gained throughout my industry experience to students," says Heyman.

He says that being a visual or special effects technician is a career that takes a wide variety of skill and talent. "The artist really needs to have a broad understanding of both art and design and the natural world," he says.

According to Heyman, a visual effects technician is essentially mimicking life. "There's an illusion of something that is real and if you want to be able to do that illusion, if you want to be able to copy, then you have to use life as your inspiration," he says.

"You have to have a really good eye for color, for timing," says Susan Varnum. Varnum heads a visual effects and motion graphics program at an art institute in San Diego, California.

From having commercials debut on the Super Bowl to heading up the graphics department for the Discovery Channel center in Miami, Varnum has always loved the constant change in this field. She says that for a visual effects technician, no job is ever the same. They must constantly be adapting their skills and be open to change.

"At the end of the day, nothing does 'real' better than the world around you," says Mark Breakspear. Breakspear is a visual effects supervisor at a post-production company. He has worked on visual effects for films that include Blades of Glory, The Da Vinci Code and She's the Man.

Breakspear says it takes a specific kind of person to be bold enough to enter the field of visual effects. This is because of the terribly long hours and killer stress.

"Long hours, crazy schedules, huge amounts of stress... It's not something I'd wish upon my worst enemy," he says. Breakspear adds that those who are not turned off by the realities of this career should also be creative people with a hunger for details, the ability to think on their feet, and ways of coming up with solutions to problems quickly and efficiently. A great sense of humor would also be handy. "Without that the stress would kill them in a week," he says.

"Visual effects is so much about using a creative and artistic skill to complete the job that, if you don't have talent, that will be discovered very quickly," says Breakspear. He also adds that people who give in too quickly are not right for this job.

"I think it takes a very special type of person to get into this work," says Heyman. "You have to have a passion for nature, for history, for all of these other things and then use your art skill and then the tools to create that finished product."

Heyman adds that in his work as an educator, he sees many people attempting to get into the business for all the wrong reasons. Often, students are not as passionate about the art side of the industry. Instead, they get more excited about the finished product or film.

However, those who are serious about this field of work should shut off all their gadgets and toys and actually get out and observe.

"Experiencing life and gathering reference from life and enjoying the subtle things of what's around us and using that to your creative advantage is really truly where it's at if you want to be successful in this industry," says Heyman.

"There are days you're going to love and there are days you're going to hate," says Bertino. "There will be days you're going to think 'I'm the luckiest person in the world' and there will be days you're going to think 'why did I give up wrestling alligators? It was so much easier.'"

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