SENIOR JUNIOR WHICH ONE I AM?

[Infy]

What are the requirements for been a Senior compositor??? more than 5 year experience?? know a high-end compositor suite like flame?? work in films not in comercials??

i have 3 years experience in compositing and motion graphic for comercial using After Effects and Combustion. I studied 4 years postproduction at university. Now i'm learning Nuke and Digital Fusion. When can i say i'm a SENIOR COMPOSITOR??


German Infiesta
Digital Compositor, VFX Artist
Buenos Aires
Argentina

[nathan]

I'm going to say freshman just to spite you :D

[ShakeandBake]

There was a thread similar to this here:
http://www.vfxtalk.com/forum/skill-set-level-t10839.html?t=10839&highlight=intermediate

[the ckynus]

This is a great question I too would like to understand this better. Furthermore what is a senior compositor? Its not your job title, its not your film credit, its not a reflection of skill.
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Is it just what people call themselves to pad their resume?
Is it pay rate related?
Is it given or self-imposed?

[Aruna]

Three years? That's it? Definitely not senior. Sorry. There's still so much to learn! I've been doing this close to nine years and I hesitate to call myself a senior (some people think I am). I don't call myself a senior comp, but my body of work and demo reel speaks for itself. Also, I'm still learning stuff all the time. The moment you stop learning in this industry, it's time to try something different. My thoughts, anyway.

You need to get out and work elsewhere if you want to see where you stand. People that generally stay in the same location can get accustomed to being and becoming the big fish, and knowing everything about their immediate environment. You lose all of that when you start moving around from country to country and facility to facility. And it forces to you to adapt, therefore increasing your abilities, and as an aside, pushing you towards that 'coveted' senior position.

Sure, seniors get paid more, but it's because of their expertise over the years (they can fix things in a hour, what a junior or beginner would take several days), and three years comping on AE and Combustion won't cut it. As well, it's NOT about the software you know or want to learn, it's the abstract concepts that you must be intimate with, and software becomes just another tool. I've seen many artists try to pick up new software, and always revert back to what they know. That mentality is not productive.

[the ckynus]

lol aruna you are one of the few who should call themselfs senior but i love the humility. i see many fools calling themselfs senior i also see many a vfx supervisor buisness card when they have never held that post. i think someone else can describe you as a senior rank but its brash to bestow it upon yourself.

[ShadowMaker SdR]

Well as for business cards, how would you get the job of being a supervisor if you wouldn't tell the world you were available to do it? I don't think the chances are very big of someone coming up to you and saying: "hi, you're a good compositor, do you want to supervise my next project?" So I think business cards and CVs are quite different things. But that's just my thought (especially since I've had filmmaker on my business card ever since 1997 when I graduated film schoo) These days I just put Filmmaker w.b.p. on it, so I can answer - when people ask me what w.b.p. stands for - With Big Plans - which is true. :-)

[Hugh]

If someone gives you a job purely based on what it says on your business card, then they deserve all the trouble they get.....

[ShakeandBake]

I think I will print Super Bad A** on my business card. :D

[MartinL]

And ill print "l337 Comper" on my business card :D ;)

[Hugh]

Classy ;)

[djr33]

I was under the impression it was related to where you work. Just like in sports, for example, the best player in one league might be a totally different level than those of another league.

At a single production company, there are roto/paint artists < junior compers < senior compers.

So, the senior compers are simply the best of the specific group. It would be stupid, therefore, to use the term if you were working for freelance, etc. (Unless you had previous experience with that.)

Just like in school, right? Juniors are newer than seniors.

No?

So, the term is vague in that a senior comper at some small company might have far less experience/skill than one at a big company.

[the ckynus]

my card has said "BADASS" for the past 4 yrs dont go and rip me off now

[Infy]

Hey, i know i'm not a Senior. I'll do my best to become one.
Thanks to everyone post.

I agree to you Aruna, it's and abstract concept not a software matter and i really want to get out and work in other places, but here we have a to small industry and many bills to pay every month.

best,

German Infiesta
Digital Compositor, VFX Artist
Buenos Aires
Argentina

[Jshu]

eh, wtf....I'll put my xbox live gamertag on my business

visualinfinity

it sounds vsfx-like :)

[RichardB]

Well, normally in business, 'Senior' means someone who has people working to them, but without necessarily being Head of the Department - which involves financial and hiring/firing duties as well as the work.

So if you find The Big Boss is forming teams and you're a team leader, you're high enough up the ladder you can tell them 'yes' or 'no' on an aspect of their work, but not high enough you can fire them, then you're the Senior Compositor.

[SalaTar]

well shit, I hire and fire...guess Sr. is below me

[ragecgi]

I agree with Aruna in that one of the reasons I was made a senior was that I had 11 yrs experience and am able to turn shots around much faster and with a greater quality level.

Unlike others my age, in 1996 instead of film I went the route of commercial work, and large-scale digital signage for big tradeshow multi-screen/jumbotron displays, etc.
Like the Nasdaq screen in Times Square, etc.

But in all reality, I feel bad for folks like Aruna that have to deal with the constant barrage of paparazzi, hot chicks, travel, hot chicks, etc. hehe.. j/k:)