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off topic : UK lad looking for advice/info for working in USA AfterEffects/compositing work
This is something I have started to read into recently but I thought I would ask here in one of my favourite communities. My question is do many posthouses take on anyone from abroad? If I wanted to work in USA for some amount of time like I am now in London as a freelancer would this be possible (I have UK passport)How about if I aquired a fultime job? Im guessing a work visa is required of some sort. For our area of work is this a hard thing to aquire do you know. If I worked in a london company that had sister companies out in the states would the make a transistion easier (and be working full time)? Has anyone worked at a company that has employed people from London/UK? Im guessing there is quite alot involved paperwork wise if it is possible to be allowed into the country to work in this industry.
If Anyone has any experiences or information on this I would love to hear from you. I was initially thinking of GA state… Should I be looking towards other states to find work or increase my chances?
Many Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Regards
Chris -
6 Replies
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You should post this in the COW Business or Broadcast Design forums.
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Ahh I didnt think of the buisness forumn, thanks Steve I’ll be adding it there also.
Chris -
I’m from NZ and have done work abroad (although not the US). First thing you should do is contact a few of the larger FX companies that run After Effects. The Orphanage and ILM’s Mac Rebel dept are two that spring to mind. You need to get one of them interested in taking you on (so make sure that showreel is sharp and shiny, …keep it less than 90seconds too as any longer and most recruiters will switch off, …not good if your best stuff is at the end). If they are interested in you, they will sponsor you and start work visa proceedings (this can take anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months depending on the country). They will typically get you over for maybe a 2 to 3 month contract (means they can see if you’re going to work out without commiting too much up front), …and if you work out it can usually be extended.
Thats about it really, just find a sponsor, a company that can see your potential, thats the big thing (just remember the competition in the US is pretty massive as they have a lot of media schools churning out new artists every year, …and often facilities will much rather get in a cheaper graduate to train up than get experienced artists from overseas). The good thing is, once you’ve done one tour of duty and proved yourself, you’ll never be short on job offers from that country.
May I also suggest learning either Fusion or Shake (just to get nodal compositing under your belt, it doesn’t take much to get your head around it), I work in both AE and Shake, …it makes you far more marketable.Goodluck!
andrew
🙂
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Many Thanks for the replies, the nodal compositing was good to hear about as I have invested in a mac book pro and shake 4, just been working my way thru the manuals…of which there quite large. Its pity there isn`t a little card available somewhere that shows the AE equivalent effects compared to shakes different nodes or how to build AE type effects, unless im missunderstanding some of it at the moment 😛 For example levels on AE, in shake you might use the gamma node with the clamp or others to do similar operations that levels does already in one neat package. Any way I digress 😛 (and might well be slightly wrong on that its all very different).
But thanks again, I got some very good feedback under the buisness part of the cow…Seems its quite involved if I am lucky enough to get the oppurtunity to work out there.
Chris -
Hey Chris,
you’ll soon suss out equivalents to AE in Shake. For instance for levels, using Expand is like tweaking the input levels (under the histogram) and using a Compress is like tweaking the output black/white levels (the gradient bar under the histogram input levels) in AE.I recommend getting your hands on the “Shake 4 Quick Reference Guide (by Damian Allen), its a tiny notebook style reference book that is like a cheat sheet for using Shake (myself and a number of my friends have this with us where-ever we are working on Shake, …when you’re starting out it’s a godsend for quick info (without having to wade through a manual and have supervisors wondering what sort of noob they’ve just hired).
In regards to AE/Shake, head to this site and check out the AE macros package for Shake (its free):
https://www.strangebrain.com/v2/Products.php?TheProduct=AE_Shake….word of caution though, if you are learning shake in order to work in facilities, don’t start relying on the AE macros, as you can be sure the facilities you’ll go for work with won’t have them installed. If however you are just doing work on your own system, then definitely check these macros out as they’ll make you feel more at home seeing familiar After Effects filters, etc.
Goodluck!
andrew
🙂
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Many Thanks Andrew.
The book is now on my xmas list 😛 and I will definatly check out the macros
Chris
PS
“I recommend getting your hands on the “Shake 4 Quick Reference Guide (by Damian Allen), its a tiny notebook style reference book that is like a cheat sheet for using Shake (myself and a number of my friends have this with us where-ever we are working on Shake, …when you’re starting out it’s a godsend for quick info (without having to wade through a manual and have supervisors wondering what sort of noob they’ve just hired).”LMAO….I can remember many a time my boss has seen people flicking thru the manual and bricking it a little lol
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