VFX supervisor
Creative and design
Level 7 -
Liaise with the director and director of photography from the earliest stages of a production, working with clients and colleagues to create VFX/CG elements.
Reference: OCC0901
Status:
SOC 2020 sub unit groups:
- 2142/99 Graphic and multimedia designers n.e.c.
Technical Education Products
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Framestore, The Mill, ILM, Double Negative, Brown Bag, Outpost Union, Moving Picture Company, Electric Theatre, Blue Zoo, Next Gen Academy, UK Screen Alliance
Summary
This occupation is found in the British and International visual effects (VFX) industries, providing computer generated (CG) digital content for film, television, advertising, games, corporate and immersive reality industries.VFX companies and studios vary in size and the number of employees they have, and are described as small, medium or large companies. They are to be found across England and the UK. The output and remit of a VFX studio is varied, and they will produce work for a range of clients across advertising, film, television and immersive reality. Some studios specialise in one area, particularly feature films which is the largest area of the industry.VFX is the term used to describe any imagery created, altered, or enhanced for moving media. They involve the integration of live-action footage and CG imagery to create images, which look realistic but would be dangerous, costly, or simply impossible to capture during live-action shooting.
The broad purpose of the occupation is to liaise with the director and director of photography from the earliest stages of a production, working with clients and colleagues to interpret the production brief and assess the resources and VFX technical teams and specialists needed for the VFX/CG elements to be created. They will identify, select and for some productions, devise, the VFX tools and techniques to be used to meet the director’s creative vision. They will usually be present on location whilst the scenes are filmed to ensure that sufficient and suitable material is captured in a way that can be used by a VFX Artist and that it meets quality standards. A VFX supervisor needs to have the creative and technical skills and an advanced knowledge, of the interacting technical factors and methodologies that can be used to create photo-realistic 3D animation, and the other key areas of 3D asset creation including; modelling, texturing, lighting, FX and rendering.
In their daily work, an employee in this occupation interacts with the client, the VFX production team, department leads and/or the visual effects artists/technical directors (TDs). This is a senior level role, and the line management and reporting structure of the team will vary according to the size of the employer. They must be able to provide technical leadership, direction and feedback, in order to ensure the Artists and VFX teams they work with create the visual effects required, according to the production brief, the director’s creative vision and the client’s requirements. They set the expectations of clients in terms of quality, deliverables, timescales and the achievability of their vision. VFX supervisors provide ongoing verbal, written and visual creative critique of the work that supports the iterative nature of production, constantly reforming client’s ideas and managing their expectations within the parameters of the project. They provide technical authority and guidance for the organisation and will also share their technical advice across the industry to promote best practice and raise awareness of VFX innovations.
An employee in this occupation will be responsible for:
- Acting as the key point of contact between the client(s) and the VFX teams and will collaborate with the VFX production team on schedules and budgets, assigning work to the team as appropriate.
- Having sole accountability for the quality of VFX assets created, ensuring these are in line with technical requirements and quality standards.
- Upholding the attitudes, culture and creative quality standards of the company to the client as the most senior representative of the project, team and company.
- They will need to be able to innovate and provide solutions to VFX delivery issues using their knowledge and skills of advanced coding, the techniques of film, animation and short-form production, deciding when to use technical resources such as blue/green screens, motion control or other specialist equipment.
- They are a highly creative individual who must be able to focus on their own work for long periods, but also be able to work in collaboration within a team.
- They must also have creative problem-solving skills both artistically and technically and maintain the standards and quality of the VFX work produced.
This role may include out of hours or irregular working patterns when collaborating on international projects.
Employers involved in creating the standard:
Framestore, The Mill, ILM, Double Negative, Brown Bag, Outpost Union, Moving Picture Company, Electric Theatre, Blue Zoo, Next Gen Academy, UK Screen Alliance
Typical job titles include:
Keywords:
Knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs)
Duties
Duty D1
Interpret a VFX brief (e.g technical script, storyboard, previsualisation), identify the interacting technical factors and the methodology to be used, and communicate your strategy to ensure the delivery of a VFX project, technically and creatively.
Duty D2
Critically evaluate schedules and budgets and apply commercial awareness in response to the scope of a project and/or changes to the concept, plate materials or shot count.
Duty D3
Collaborate with multiple stakeholders (e.g. director, director of photography, producer) throughout the end-to-end production process, adapting VFX approaches and employing strategies to maximise the potential of client ideas and conceptualise their vision. Set the expectations of clients in terms of quality, deliverables, timescales and the achievability of their vision .
Duty D4
Support the iterative nature of production by providing ongoing verbal, written and visual critique to ensure the quality of assets and shots; meeting the client brief and matching to reference material (e.g. concept art, plate photography).
Duty D5
Supervise a multi-disciplinary team of VFX specialists, to deliver the clients creative vision from pre to post-production; interpreting the client’s vision into departmental outputs on a shot-by-shot basis.
Duty D6
Act as the VFX key point of contact and have accountability in pre-production meetings, on-set and during plate, scan, reference and/or capture shoots for: advising, supervising and gathering data on all VFX aspects of the production. Decide when to use technical resources such as blue/green screens, motion control or other specialist equipment.
Duty D7
Identify and devise the most efficient and effective technical workflow, to enable and optimise the delivery of a VFX production. Provide the ongoing technical authority regarding VFX creation and delivery, including troubleshooting in real time, throughout production.
Duty D8
Take sole accountability for the quality of VFX assets created, ensuring these are in line with technical requirements and quality standards.
Duty D9
Prototype or experiment in order to develop and implement innovative approaches to challenging VFX problems; improving commercial success and driving innovation across the organisation, Applying knowledge of the VFX shot production and its iteration process is and utilising advanced VFX skills to provide specific creative solutions and to meet client requirements.
Duty D10
Provide technical authority and guidance for the organisation regarding VFX creation and delivery. Enhance awareness of the wider application of VFX tools and technologies across the business and wider industry so that opportunities for its use can be identified.
Duty D11
Assess complex situations and changing requirements in a fast-moving environment, undertaking strategic decisions for a production, and can justify these to others if required. Upholds the ethical, cultural and creative quality standards of the company to the client as the most senior representative of the project, team and company.
Occupational Progression
This occupational progression map shows technical occupations that have transferable knowledge and skills.
In this map, the focused occupation is highlighted in yellow. The arrows indicate where transferable knowledge and skills exist between two occupations. This map shows some of the strongest progression links between the focused occupation and other occupations.
It is anticipated that individuals would be required to undertake further learning or training to progress to and from occupations. To find out more about an occupation featured in the progression map, including the learning options available, click the occupation.
Progression decisions have been reached by comparing the knowledge and skills statements between occupational standards, combined with individualised learner movement data.
Technical Occupations
Levels 2-3
Higher Technical Occupations
Levels 4-5
Professional Occupations
Levels 6-7
Creative and design