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Special Effects Artists and Animators Career Video

Description: Create special effects or animations using film, video, computers, or other electronic tools and media for use in products, such as computer games, movies, music videos, and commercials.

Video Transcript

Multimedia artists and animators turn ideas and sketches into heroes, villains, and monsters. They create visual wonders for your favorite television shows, movies, and video games. Multimedia artists and animators conduct research to design characters and settings for a story, and then develop storyboards that map out major scenes. They bring creativity and artistic skill to the drawing board -painting or sketching designs- or they may use computer generated images to develop digital models of their ideas. Teamwork is essential, as each animator works on part of a project that must fit seamlessly with others' work. Feedback is shared frequently between animators, game designers, directors, and clients. Working together under deadlines can create stress, but often brings the team's vision together. These artists usually specialize... they may animate video games... develop visual effects for movies... or create computer generated images for television. About half of multimedia artists and animators are self-employed, while others work for the motion picture and video industries, or in scientific and technical settings. Most work regular hours, but may work nights and weekends when deadlines demand it. A bachelor's degree in art or computer graphics is crucial for building both the skills and the portfolio necessary to enter the field. Multimedia artists and animators bring the fantastic and dreamlike alive and make them... unforgettable.