There are two types of VFX producers in the UK:

• Freelancers (Individuals) who usually work with a client or company to create something based on a brief or assignment. As they are self-employed, they decide their own pay rate and work schedule. There are huge perks in being one’s own boss, like the fact that you can work from the comfort in your own home and make decisions individually based on the job and your personal life, which is usually much more difficult under the scrutiny of a manager, who has deadlines of their own. Freelancing can mean less pressure, more time with family members, pets or other commitments. However, there are also significant disadvantages, like the fact that it can be difficult to get feedback, you could be subject to a lot of criticism and you have to manage your publicity and take care of everything, from the legal side to being responsible and having contingency for mistakes or drawbacks. Freelancers could generalise in a broad range of skills, or specialise in one role.
• VFX houses (also known as VFX production companies or studios) which manage many VFX artists and their work, many of which are specialists in specific roles and work together. Being able to manage more people bring the capacity for more work to be completed at the same time, which means that big feature films and big projects are usually handled by them, as opposed to freelancers.

An NDA is a non-disclosure agreement, which artists sign to make sure sure that they don’t talk about the project they are working on. This usually has an expiration date but it is important to always check the terms.

The big VFX/animation companies in the UK are MPC, Milk VFX, Cinesite, DNEG, Framestone, Jellyfish Animation and Industrial Light & Magic. To get into a working role for a company, it is good to have a portfolio, a good CV, an online presence and an existing audience.

The standard VFX artist salary is £20 – £25 an hour, this can get up to £30. A good starting salary for me would be £12.50. The more experienced, the higher the salary and that goes for animators as well.

Speaking of animation, we also had the chance to research job roles we are interested in towards the end of the lesson, so even though I had done it before, I did some quick research on an animator.