Drumroll Please...

The news that has been a year in the making has just broken: I got a job.

After searching high and low for someone to give me a chance, I have been lucky enough to get a position as a 'Lighting and Rendering artist' at Red Star 3D. I first completed 2 fortnight long sessions of work experience with them, and have now been asked to stay on for a 2-month trial before becoming a permanent employee.

While it's not a job modelling for a games company as I had expected, I'm incredibly happy to be working there. The company is only 10 people, working very closely together to produce great 10 minute 4D films. 4D is wearing 3D glasses and having the cinema chairs shake, water squirted in your face etc. The type of thing that's typically seen in theme parks and leisure attractions. Joining such a close-knit team should be great fun, as the input everyone in the office gets into the films is huge; creatively and practically.

I personally will be getting fully animated scenes and setting up the lighting for them. This may sound dreary at first, but really is one of the most crucial parts of the whole process. Lighting can change a scene from day to night, rain to shine, and funny to downright creepy. In fact during my 2nd work experience there I was re-lighting existing scenes from the latest project, and it's amazing how much of a change you can make to the feel of the film just by taking a different approach to lighting.
I'll also be taking care of the rendering and compositing of my scenes, which means setting up the computers to change them from mathematical scenes inside their hard-drives, to full motion video images, another job that has a lot of responsibility.

The oddest thing about the whole situation is I've ended up back in Sheffield, over a year since leaving and expecting to move somewhere completely different. It's great to see everyone again, and to visit old hangouts, even if it does feel weird to be back. The office building we're located in is called 'Electric Works', and is pretty fantastic. There is a helter-skelter from the top floor (where we're based) down to the lobby, so rather than taking the lifts we can do that instead, makes for a great end of the day.

Hopefully after the 2 month trial is done, I'll be asked to stay on. It's hard to get settled in a place when there's that uncertainty over you, but I'll try to enjoy my time here anyway and work hard to impress and make myself invaluable.