I always had a passion for 2D. At university I had an opportunity to experiment and try different aspects of VFX, but I knew early on that 2D was the right thing for me and that compositing was what I wanted to do.

As a Compositor, most days I attend the Dailies. These are daily sessions where the VFX Supervisor reviews the shots you’ve been working on. If they’re internally approved, they will be sent to the clients. If they still need improvements or other changes, then I will work on them and re-submit them for review in either the following day’s session or in the day after’s.

I’ve been in Compositing for one year now and it’s a lot of fun, especially being part of DNEG TV.  You learn so much from talking to people and seeing what everyone is working on.

It’s amazing, when you finish a project, see it on TV and receiving positive reviews. It’s a great sense of accomplishment. It makes you feel that you were part of something great! Working on any VFX project is something special; it’s something to be proud of.

I joined DNEG via the company’s graduate scheme and now I’m working towards becoming a Mid Compositor. This means I get to work on more challenging shots. Today, however, if there’s a shot that I find appealing, I will ask to work on it. I feel like sometimes it is important to take it upon yourself and show your Supervisor that you want to do more shots that you find interesting. If you show that you are passionate, they really give you credit for that and everyone is really friendly.

Growing up in Swindon, I originally wanted to get into games design and CG modelling. My college, however, ran a Media Production course that looked really interesting, so I joined that. It was all about filming, coming up with new stories and editing. For one of our projects we had to add VFX to a video we had made. This was new to me and I really enjoyed it. After researching what I needed to get into the VFX industry, I chose to do a degree course in VFX at Hertfordshire University, which has a long-standing relationship with DNEG. From this course, I applied for the DNEG graduate scheme and got a place.  When I was at university everyone thought the industry would be a really difficult thing to get into, but from my experience it didn’t feel that difficult. I just had to show that I was passionate. I also had to make sure my showreel was really good and that it showcased my skills. Your showreel should show what you’ve learnt in all the relevant areas.

I started working at DNEG as a Rotoscope & Prep artist – the first stage of the VFX pipeline. Hooten and the Lady was one of the first shows I worked on. By the end of my first year, however, I had worked on Altered Carbon, which was both challenging and creative. I'm really enjoying my time at DNEG. I have gained more experience and met some really talented people.