The Junior Compositor

Hey guys and girls and welcome to The Junior Compositor, a site that hopes to give you an idea of life in the Visual FX industry.

That’s swell, but who are you?

My name is Matt French and I am a junior compositor & roto/paint artist.  I have been in the industry for 3 years and am working my way up the ranks.

So what’s it all about?

In a nutshell, this site is a chronicle of the ups and downs of working in the visual effects industry.  It’s not all peaches and cream, especially when you are starting out and I hope to provide some insight at how I go about it.  It might help you or point you in the right direction.

Who is it for?

I am not going to lie to here, while the site is partly for you it is partly for me.  By “you” I am trying to target these posts to students and people starting out in the industry.  By “me” I mean . . . errrr. me!  I also want this site to be a kick up the bum for me to always be moving forward.  If I have a goal each week, I can keep moving, learning & helping and not slack off.

What kind of content are you offering?

At this stage I will be getting the website all finalised (screw that ‘get it all sorted out offline and upload, I work LIVE baby!) so the first entries will mostly be blog-style posts but as I get stuff sorted out, there will be more screengrabs, tips ‘n’ tricks, scripts, video tutorials, looking at my ugly mug as I ponder the universe etc.  I certainly don’t have all the answers and can’t promise to inspire all the time, but that is life.

Why should I listen to you?

Hey, it’s no skin off my nose, but I may have some advice that might help you, and conversely, you might have some advice that helps me.  You get a lot more out of life if you operate like that.  Hopefully I can save you some time and get you better results by having you learn from my mistakes.  Please note that this is not a legal guarantee and if you want to sue me, I don’t have anything of value.

I have been working in the industry for about 3 years now.  I started out working on video game cinematic and DVD’s and then moved to a 3D animated TV series and have just completed work on my first couple of feature films.  Some people get to where I am faster, some slower but it seems I have had a steady and rounded progression so far.

 I have also taught introductory compositing at Griffith University’s Film School to animation and design students.