Through The Mill’s history it has
diversified into film, most notably
winning an Oscar for Gladiator in 2001
Tom
Walter
TomWalter
(1998-2003) is
Operations Manager of The
Mill, a state of the art VFX
studio. He writes about how
he entered the industry and
offers some advice to those
considering a similar path
orking in film and
commercials was never a plan of mine
while at MTS. I always had envisaged
myself working in the civil service,
management consultancy or even as
a building surveyor. However, film,
TV and commercials always seemed
to be in my life, with both my father
and grandfather being film editors. It
wasn’t until I did a summer job, while
at University, as a runner in Pinewood
Studios that I started thinking the VFX
industry would be something I could
work in. I was working for the late
Gerry Anderson on his CGI series of
Captain Scarlet, as a runner fetching
teas and coffees. It was while working
on this project that I realised that this
was what I wanted to do.
So, having finished at Nottingham
University studying Politics, I got a
running job at The Mill. The Mill was
founded in 1990 as the first end to end
digital VFX facility for advertising.
Through its history it has diversified into
film, most notably winning an Oscar for
Gladiator in 2001. Now The Mill is much
more than an advertising VFX facility,
working on design, animation, content
direction and Film and TV projects.
During my early months in the company I
realised that I would most likely steer away
from the creative side of VFX and be more
useful as producer. After seven months
of running (which was truly character
W
building!) I got my first opportunity to
work within The Mill’s production team
and was specifically focused on CG.
From there I have been lucky enough
to advance to the role of Operations
Manager, which involves working closely
with our scheduling team to manage and
co-ordinate some 200+ VFX artists within
The Mill.
My work on a day to day basis involves
working with artists and producers to
ensure the flow of commercial projects
through the building. We work with some
of the country’s top directors to make the
most iconic commercials on TV. Our work
has included multiple flagship campaigns
for brands which include Nike, Guinness,
Adidas, Audi, Mercedes and many more.
However my role as a member of the
production side of VFX is only small part
of the industry.
Almost all VFX which people see on
TV and in the cinema, are produced using
some kind of computer software, be it
using 3d software like Maya or Houdini,
or 2d packages like Nuke or Flame. The
software package is only part of the
story – it also requires a huge number of
artists and variety of different skillsets. It
may be that people expect to have to go
to university and study a VFX-specific
course. However, this is definitely not
the case. Some of the best artists I have
worked with studied a science, art or
even a Humanities subject at university.
Working in visual effects combines
various disciplines: you’ll need to have
a problem-solving mind; enjoy
technologies - computer and engineering;
have a strong affinity with maths and
science, and finally, an artistic and creative
aptitude. There can be a tendency for
people to feel they have to choose which
academic route they must go down, be
it at university or school. In VFX, artists
that combine Maths, Science and artistic
subjects are often the strongest.
My advice, for students who are
considering getting into the industry or
would like to learn more about it, is to look
at online resources. The creative skillsets
website
/
is a fantastic source of information to get
you started.
Concordia
Merchant Taylors’ School
