F3 Visual Effects at FSU - Week 2
We're now over a week into visual effects production on our third student films at FSU and progress is really cranking. I've only been working on my own film so far, and that has created an interesting feeling and approach to the work I have been doing. I wrote last week about the schedule that I am trying hard to stick steadfast to, and now that I've experienced a full rotation of that schedule one side effect I hadn't really intended is that it almost industrializes the experience of creating art. As opposed to writing or directing, with visual effects I really can just come in to school, put in an eight hour shift, and go home. Writing, directing, and other steps towards the front end of the pipeline seem to occur more organically to me. Ideas form slowly, taking shape over time with excitement and coming together to culminate in the amazing experience that is the creative process. This is where working as the primary artist on my own show in this workplace of an environment starts to create the interesting feeling I mentioned above: because this film is MY idea and MY passion, I want to scrutinize every pixel of every frame and spend an eternity on each shot making it absolute perfection, even if that level of perfection is beyond my current skill set. It is very hard for me to move on to a new shot whenever I "finish" one, because to be honest I'm not satisfied with any of my shots.
Let's flip the tables to when I'm not working on my own show anymore. Presumably, I will be working towards another artists vision, obviously putting my creative fingerprints on their work but still reaching towards something that inherently isn't mine. Suddenly, I might not be a huge fan of a part of my work (for aesthetic reasons) but it fits the directors vision and he or she loves it. When this state is achieved, I feel like it will be much easier to move confidently from shot to shot knowing that I have completed my task and satisfied the director. I believe that reaching a level of personal satisfaction will be easier if I am meeting the expectations that others place on me, because I won't have the burden of creating my own "perfect aesthetic."
This isn't to say I won't put forth 100% effort into other peoples' shows - on the contrary I plan on giving every show I work on everything I have to give. I just theorize that it will be easier to be emotionally satisfied with my work when I'm working towards reaching someone else's design, because I always find flaws in my own work. Ultimately I'll just have to wait and see if this reins true. So far in my "career" as an artist I have only worked as a visual effects artist on two films that weren't my own, and I was only on each film for one week. But it seemed true during those two weeks, so we'll just have to see if it stays true for the five weeks I work on other shows during this VFX cycle.
I keep telling myself that never being satisfied with my own work is probably a good thing, pushing me to work harder and get better, but ultimately it becomes a discouraging emotion and that's what I'm pushing through right now - finding the strength to stay on schedule by leaving one shot behind and moving on to the next. Speed and structure are important, and without this kind of schedule it might become really easy for shots to get pushed back and pushed back and for things to missed and for deadlines to never be met until eventually the film never gets finished.
Additionally, Ive found that this week has been a little difficult in the lab for personal reasons. Artists will quarrel with other artists and sometimes feelings get hurt on both ends of the spectrum. I believe it's crucially important for me to take those kinds of experience personally, examine them, grow from, become a better artist from them, and work through them, continuing to create quality work in a professional environment. I can't let disputes bring me down, I have to harness what they can give me and find ways to improve from what they bring.
To sum up, I've come out of this week feeling a little discouraged with my own work, but I'm trying to use that experience to propel me to make better work than ever. I'm also working at a pace that is completely new to me. In fact, it is this speed that inspired the title for this weeks post. It came from a fantastic YouTube video I discovered a couple of years ago after The Dark Knight Rises came out. You can watch it here if you have the chance. I encourage it, I found it quite enjoyable.
I'll finish the post by showing some of the shots (at various levels of completion and also highly compressed) I have been working on thus far. I shot in Florida, but am striving to make the show feel like Tennessee. Hope you enjoy!
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| Thomas and General MacArthur overlook the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee at Sunset. |
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| The same shot from a slightly different angle. |
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| Close up on Thomas at Sunset, the Smoky Mountains a haze in the distance. |
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