Runner
Runners are an entry level job in VFX industry. They are given the opportunity to access the industry as they works as assistants in multitude aspects. For instance, beside, organising meetings and schedules, they have to clean and tidy throughout the studio and plan the re-stocking for office space as well. Also, catering all staff and client needs and providing ad-hoc service are the daily job task of runners.
Occasionally, runners are permitted to access to equipment for training by mentor to help them develop their career. It will be a benefit for runners to obtain an early consideration for internal vacancies, if they perform themselves as a competitive employee.
See the description of a runner working at The Mill for details as below:
A day in the life of a Runner @ The Mill
Written by ACCESS VFX June 17, 2019 :
https://www.accessvfx.org/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-runner-the-mill
Prep Artist
Prep artists are also an entry level job in VFX industry. Their main job task is to use VFX software to clean plates, which means they clean up footage by removing unwanted items, such as mocap people tracking markers, wire and rig removal of the frame.
Prep artists work closely with compositors to help them integrate all elements of an image, including CG and live action, to create film visual effects shots. They clean up the backgrounds of live action-footage ready for the effects to be layered onto it by the compositor.
The job requirements mainly included their skill of using Nuke and Photoshop. In addition, conscientious attitude to work with pixel-perfect output is also crucial.
See the job recruitment of a prep artists at MPC for details as below:
Prep Artist
Job Recruitment by Technicolor :
www.jobs.smartrecruiters.com/Technicolor/743999710075152-prep-artist
And here is example of an prep artist showreel :
Roto Artist
Roto artists are also classified as an entry level job in VFX industry. They will need to work on the areas of live action frames that create silhouette, also named as matte, to extract that object for another background in scene. They also have to matches motion blur frame by frame or using 2D trackers or Planar tracking methods as well. In this way, CG can be combined accurately with the live-action after rotoscoping.
The job requirements mainly included their skill of using Nuke, Mocha and Silhouette. Moreover, this position not only asks for working meticulously , but also high demand in patients and quick implementation within limited time provided.
See example of a roto artist showreel as below:
Runner Prep artist Roto artist
Reference:
1.ScreenSkills (n.d.). Careers in VFX. [online] ScreenSkills. Available at: https://www.screenskills.com/job-profiles/browse/visual-effects-vfx/
2.UK Screen Alliance. (n.d.). The UK’s VFX Industry: In Profile. [online] Available at: https://www.ukscreenalliance.co.uk/subpages/the-uks-vfx-industry-in-profile/
3.Okun, J.A. (2015). The VES handbook of visual effects : industry standard VFX practices and procedures. Oxford: Focal.
4.www.accessvfx.org. (n.d.). Careers. [online] Available at: https://www.accessvfx.org/careers