The Life Of A VFX Animation Shot

On Thursday the 7th of March, we successfully hosted our first ever Tilt Talk at The Nightingale Room at Grand Central. A concept that has been brewing in the back of our minds for a while.

As we go about our work, we often come across people, who inspire us with their talent, insights, and knowledge. We wanted to share these people’s expertise with the community here in Brighton and beyond. And so Tilt Talks was born. Obviously, we’ve been inspired by TED and other keynotes, but we wanted to focus this on the creative world.

Our first speaker, Max Tyrie, has done some really mind-expanding stuff. He’s worked on The Amazing Spider-Man 1 & 2, Watchmen and Kingsman: The Golden Circle to name just a few. He’s got more than 20 years of experience in the industry, starting out before there was even a proper name for character animation.

From Walking with Dinosaurs to a whole range of critically acclaimed superhero movies (and the Green Lantern), Max has spent several years working his way up the animation studio hierarchy.

It is not only about being exceptional at your job as an animator but also about your personal characteristics. Being able to handle constructive criticism from others, but also, more importantly, yourself is key. Developing a self-critical eye in order to learn what is good, and leaving your ego at the door are the most important lessons that you can learn early on. There are more senior people around that will see your ambition and will help you along the way if they see your potential. You just need to be willing to accept that help.

As creatives, we know that a lot of time goes into producing wonderful things. The ratio between time spent and actual screen time can be baffling. But we were blown away by Max’s calculation. Every minute of Walking with Dinosaurs equated to 75,000 minutes of an animator’s work. That’s 1,250 hours, 52 days, over 10 working weeks. Crazy.

Our film team captured the whole event so after spending five days of cutting together camera angles, we are happy to share with you: Tilt Talk #1

Our ambition is to make Tilt Talks a quarterly thing, sharing more interesting thoughts from uninhibited minds. Keep an eye out for the next one.

Arrive curious. Leave curiouser.