Production Management – Runner / Production Assistant
Previously when i worked in the Industry, i was originally a Post Production Assistant, which upon researching Runner, is one of the names known for runner. This role is entry level and the duties of this role can vary from Company to company. This job can sometimes entail things like being or helping with client services ie. running out and getting lunch for artists or clients, cleaning, doing data management, doing graphic design, keeping servers clean and files organized, or organising meetings and schedules for other artists. This is a role with very low pay, high hours and depending on the company you’re working for can be one of the most soul draining experiences you will ever experience, however this role comes with the potential to learn from artists and is easily the best way to get a feel for the way a company operates and the pipelines involved in a VFX Company. It’s often that a role like this can be many roles put into one, with potentially taking on the roles of client services, graphic design, data management, IT or anything else that may be needed, this role acts as a catch all for things that need to be done.
The runner role has an average salary of around 18,464 Pounds a year according to Glassdoor , however some places like the VFX Subreddit place it at around 14-15K a year. This role requires very flexible hours on the behalf of the runner and the runner essentially needs to be available almost 24/7, 7 days a week at some companies.
Sources: ( Role info: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/visual-effects-vfx/production-management/runner-visual-effects-vfx/ , Reddit salary: https://www.reddit.com/r/vfx/comments/3gyt39/expected_runner_wage_in_london/ Glassdoor Salary: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/london-runner-salary-SRCH_IL.0,6_IM1035_KO7,13.htm )
Compositing – Prep Artist
A Prep artist will do the lower level jobs of a compositor and “prep” footage for effects to be layered by a compositor, Prep artists would be similar to the role of some of the roles i’ve seen in the industry like Flame or Nuke assistants, in which these prep artists will remove small things from a plate that needs to be removed such as lens scratches, boom mics, logos or very small things that are needed to be removed from a plate. This job can also deal with things like creating VR Stitches when used in VR Videos or Stitches used in HDRI Photography or even sometimes doing roto work. A prep Artist’s bread and butter will essentially be the clone stamp tool in almost any program, usually in Nuke. However a Prep artist’s job can also occassionally include
Prep Artists, similar to Runners may have long hours dependant on what jobs are being worked at the time and what is needed at the time. The average salary of a Prep artist is around 33,000 pounds per year according to glass door.
Sources: ( Role Info: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/visual-effects-vfx/compositing/prep-artist/ More role info: https://framestore.recruitee.com/o/preppaint-artist Salary Info: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/prep-artist-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm )
Compositing – Roto Artist
A roto artist’s job is very similar to a prep artist’s job, with both being entry level compositing jobs, however a roto artist’s job is more in line with specifically in creating mattes as opposed to clean plates creates in Prep artists, meaning cutting out objects in a frame, such as creating a matte of a character or a scene that needs to overlap on a separate plate or have something layer in a scene. Roto artist need to be very patient as roto work can take hours to refine even seconds of a matte, depending on certain things in the shot like detail from subject to background, or rotoing more difficult things like hair. Roto artists will separate different objects into sections to create one full matte. Rotoscope artists sometimes work in house, freelance or in some cases similar to where i previously worked, would be contracted specifically to rotohouses that would have a team of roto artists all working to create a matte in a short timeframe. Roto artists can be very repetitive work, however roto artists will need to have an eye for detail as to keep mattes clean and not make mistakes.
Roto artists usually work long hours as roto work can take a long time to do with creating a matte frame by frame, and can take entire teams to create even a 5 second detailed matte. The average salary for a roto artist is around 33,442 pounds per year.
Sources: (Role info: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/visual-effects-vfx/compositing/roto-artist/ More role info: https://www.cgspectrum.com/career-pathways/roto-artist Salary info: https://www.glassdoor.co.uk/Salaries/roto-artist-salary-SRCH_KO0,11.htm )