378 - Advice for Entry Level Artists

At the beginning of your VFX career, things can seem so hard and so stressful. As a junior VFX Artist, you may feel like everyone is out to get you. Here are some powerful mindset shifts that will change your outlook and how you feel about your career.

A lot of artists have a struggling artist mentality. Once you understand that you’re in a commercial industry – and you are a commercial industry of Hollywood movies and AAA games – you also understand that your client’s vision is the most important. It is your job to deliver the result. As a VFX artist, you are in a service industry. Which means that your project is a director’s vision and you have to respect that.

Another shift happens when you over-communicate everything. You have to communicate to your Producers or Heads of 3D – where you are in your progress and where you’re storing the files. It’s a great habit to get into the habit of communicating that information at the end of the day, via an email. That way you’re creating a massive log of your work. Another part of effective communication is building a visual language. Directors can communicate in different ways. As a VFX artist, you need to learn to use reference images, mood boards and other visual tools to get your message across. 

It is also crucial to see the big picture from the very beginning. So as an artist, you have to start with broad strokes. After you understand the importance of blocking the beats out in animation, for example. You can dial things back early on – and only then start zeroing in on details. Which also means that you share your work early on. You should also get used to foreseeing the needs of the client – by giving them options in response to their notes.

Learning how to critique your own work is the most valuable thing you can do. That will change everything for you. You will start taking pride in your work. It’ll also help you anticipate the next creative changes a client might request next. But most importantly, you must take pride in everything that you touch! It is the most important metric for you as an artist and team member!

In this career advice, Allan McKay talks about the mindset shifts that will propel your VFX career forward: from learning that you’re in a service industry to seeing the big picture; from learning to communicate to anticipating the client’s or the director’s needs; from learning to critique your own work – to, most importantly, taking pride in everything you touch!

For more show notes, visit www.allanmckay.com/378.