LEVEL: BASIC

Iget asked at times for some advice about how to get into Matte Painting. I thought that I would put my typical response I give in post form. So here it is. If you have any questions please post them and I will try to answer them.

Don't Look Like a Student.

I think the largest obstacle that University graduates face is that they LOOK like University graduates. Unfortunately many of the schools seem to have a formula for cranking out students which produces cookie cutter demo reels. In fact, I have heard some HR people say that they can tell what school someone has attended based on their demo reel. I am not sure you want to be identified as “new graduate” rather, I would try to give the impression that I was already a professional. The only way to do that is though crafting your demo reel. I say "crafting" because what you put on and how you present a demo reel is very, very important. You have to develop "good taste". Just like to develop good taste in literature you have to read a lot of books--well, you need to be well read in demo reels. Look at as many demo reels as you can and study them. Do as much as you can to make your demo reel look like a professional.

Be Proactive About your Education

University educations are great but do not give up your responsibility of education to someone else. Take control of your destiny and work hard at it. Have an agenda and try to conform every class to your objective. Maybe propose different assignments to your instructors or do more work in a class if it serves your plan. Study things outside of class if needed. Learn out of the "best books" and resources. Some resources I recommend are Gnomon, fxphd and Digital Tutors. You can look at my "Book/Media Reviews" section to see some of the books I have been studding.

Develop a Skills Plan

I would identify your primary, secondary and tertiary skill sets and wrap that into your education strategy. For matte painters a primary skill set would be digital painting and digital image manipulation. Secondary skills would be using 3D or composting tools for projections. Tertiary would be going deeper into 3D and compositing, i.e., modeling, texturing, lighting rendering, Maya, 3DS Max, Nuke. You can look at my post called "What Matte Painters Need to Know" to see this topic covered more in depth.

More on Demo Reels

For a demo reel pieces, I would think about what you can do really well in the scope of what is possible for one person to do. Do something smaller scope and do it well instead a crummy job with something big. As an individual you cannot do what ILM does--industry professionals can barley pull off huge shots.

Here is an example of doing something simple and doing it well. Go into the city and rent a digital SLR camera that can shoot video. Set up a tripod and get some people walking up and down the street. Take that “plate” and do a set extension--replace one building or replace everything past the first level. You can bring it to the next level by creating a nodal pan to your footage or the next level after that would be shooting something hand held.

Try to stay away from cliches--floating castles, anime, painterly work, fuzzy edges, etc. As a guide of what not to do, look at places where cliches seem to breed like forums (I am not naming any names).

The best advice I can give you is to look at industry professionals demo reels. Follow the format, do some break downs and make it look like theirs. Pixar has given some good advice about demo reels you can look at what they recommend here.

The "Connections" Misconception

I think a common misconception is that you just need an "in" into the film industry and you have it made. For someone to think there is some kind of magic "connection" they need to make is fooling themselves into not really dealing with the real issue--get skills and show it on a demo reel. "Connections" seem to come naturally if you have good work that you can show. People will want to connect with you because you are driven, passionate, humble and you can prove it with something to show on a demo reel. Your connections need to feel that you have what it take so they feel comfortable recommending you if the occasion arises. At the same time you do not want to overestimate your “connections” ability to get you a job. More often then not they have nothing to do with hiring.

Industry Mentors

Mentor's are great but you really want to be in a position to dedicate time and be prepared. You will know when you are ready to be mentored when you have exhausted every resource you have for learning. If someone approached me I would say "go get some Gnomon DVDs and talk to me after you are done studding them". As a mentor, my time is valuable and why would I waist my time teaching someone something that is easily assessable on the internet or from an instructional DVD . A mentor is not about teaching you the nuts and bolts, it is about getting the frosting to look the best on top of the cake.

The feeling of "giving back" is what motivates mentors I think. Mentors want to get a sense of fulfilment for the time they are donating so try to make it a good experience for both of you. Be humble, teachable, proactive, timely in your responses and do not over burden.