Compositing is a difficult job to describe because it encompasses so many things. It's kind of like using PhotoShop but with moving images. Basically, we replace things, we delete things or we add things to pictures. Sometimes we create the things we add. Sometimes extra elements are filmed separately on a green screen or sometimes elements are computer generated by 3D artists. But basically, a compositor is given a big pile of frames and asked to change them in some way. We work completely in layers. Think of lots of drawings on layers of transparency material they use in overhead projectors. We create lots of these layers (we call them plates) and combine them together into one final image. The main software used is Shake. Also, Adobe After Effects is becoming increasingly popular. Although there is still a lot of snobbery towards After Effects among old school purist compositors who have been using Shake since the days before it even had an interface. There was a time when compositing was completely command line based. So not only did you have to have a good artistic eye but you also had to be a major computer geek. Things are better now. Compositing is still both an art and a science but being a geek isn't essential. Different artists have different skills. Often the more computer savvy ones are better at doing more technical things like tracking, keying and using expressions to improve workflows. Others artists may be better at painting, grading or using effects filters to create a “look”. Most compositors, including myself, get by doing a bit of everything.

It's generally agreed that the downside to compositing is rotoscoping. This is a task that requires very little intelligence but a huge amount of concentration. It involves “cutting out” something in a picture. You may want to remove something or you may want to put it somewhere else or perhaps both. The idea is to use animated splines to create a matte. A matte is a black and white image that tells the computer what part of the picture to keep and what part to throw away. Bits to keep become white and bits that need throwing away become black. It can be very tricky and most compositors start out as “roto-monkeys”. They do nothing but rotoscoping for years until they are promoted to compositing. It's a tough initiation process and some say it leaves you with a permanent stare, like you're constantly looking into the distance.

What was the most important first step which got you where you are today?

My first step was taking an opportunity. I had been working in low budget television for three years doing editing and simple visual effects. Low budget TV is an unhappy place. It's good for getting experience but it is generally soulless and poorly paid. I was also a freelancer at the time so things were very unstable. I desperately wanted to move on to working in films. One day I heard through an agency that a visual effects company was coming over from LA to set up a new studio in London. They were doing the visual effects for a Michael Keaton film called White Noise. Even though I was grossly under qualified for the job I decided to apply as a Digital Compositor.

I sent in a CV and a show reel. I was in luck because the CEO of the company decided to interview everybody who applied. That interview was my one chance of getting out of cable TV land and into film.

I had a lot to prepare for because I was completely under qualified. I was up against people with years of experience in the film industry. But I knew I had the skills, I just needed to prove it. So, I spent two weeks making a short film to demonstrate what I could do. I knew what film the company were working on so I included effects in my short film that were relevant to what they were looking for.

I was so nervous when I went to the interview because it really was a rare opportunity. Fortunately the CEO was so impressed when he watched my short he gave me a job on the spot. I was so happy he must have seen my eyes becoming watery. I'd wanted to do this since I was about ten years old. Finally I had made a break through and best of all I got to completely bypass years of being a roto-monkey and training because they were throwing me right into the deep end. A few months later I was in Pinewood Studios working on a Hollywood movie. Later I got to work in Vancouver. Now I'm freelancing mostly for a company in Twickenham Film Studios. Eventualy it would be nice to go to NewZealend and work for Wetta Digital who did the effects for Lord of the Rings and King Kong. Wetta, along with George Lucas's ILM (Industrial Light and Magic) are the Nirvanas of visual effects.

I know I have a nice job but it's funny how yesterdays dream can become tomorrows' treadmill. You have to be very patient to work in visual effects and sometimes politics and management can make the job a nightmare. But when you get to see your work transferred to celluloid, projected onto a cinema screen with sound effects and grading, it's an amazing feeling.