Entry Level Qualification 

12

Career Fields 

Mass Media, Journalism & Entertainment

For Specially Abled 

Career Entrance Exam 

No Entrance Exam

About Career 

Film Designe

1. Film Designers add or mix Visual/Special effects (VFX/SFX), CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), 2D animation, 3D animation, motion graphics, 2D graphics, and other computer-generated effects to create or enhance visual imagery in the making of a film. Their work is either integrated with live-action shots of actors (shot by the camera persons and the Director of Photography) or added as additional visual/ special effect shots.

2. From Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Marry Poppins, and Jurassic Park to Interstellar, Avatar and Inception, from Dhoom, Krrish, and Ra one, Robot and Robot 2.0, Film Designers have changed the way films are made and created. Imagine what would Lord of the Rings be without the grand and epic battles and magical creatures. How Marry Poppins would become our favorite childhood fairy-tale-come-true kind of story and how would Ironman or the Hulk become our real-life Superheroes, had there been no use of Visual and Special effects?

Where do you begin as a Film Designer?

1. Before the shooting or the making of a film begins, there are many aspects of the shooting or filmmaking that need to be taken care of in the initial stages (commonly called the pre-production stages). So, to keep things in line and not miss the important steps in the making of a film loaded with visual and special effects, a common tool that gets everyone on the same page is previsualization (also called previs).

2. This is where you begin as a Film Designer.

3. Pre-Visualization or Previs involves visualization of complex scenes in a movie before filming and allows the visual effects supervisors, illustrators, and concept artists to run their creative minds to chalk out and experiment with different staging and direction options such as camera movement and placement, lighting, stage direction, etc.

4. Earlier filmmaking techniques were limited to only the previously mentioned experimentations but now with digital technology, the previs stage of filmmaking has become even more interesting as it uses computer graphics (mostly 3D) to create outline versions of more complex shots in a scene. These rough outlines are then further edited together along with some audio and video effects or even dialogue.

A Film Designer plays a significant role by not just looking into a few shots or sequences with visual or special effects in them but also by determining how those sequence will fit into the narrative or story of the film.

1. As a Film Designer you would take necessary steps at the previs stage using software such as Frame Forge 3D Studio, Newtek's Lightwave 3D, Autodesk Maya, Motion Builder, and Softimage XSI as a tool to determine where the camera will be, what will it see and what components in the frame will be digital.

2. You will be responsible for translating the previs to the film crew and will work along with the VFX supervisor, production designer, cinematographer, and assistant directors and other crew members. It is after these plans are finalized that the actual shooting of the film begins.

3 .Usually, the addition of special and visual effects is done along with the shooting of the scenes as most of the movies these days are highly dependent on VFX/SFX techniques which cut costs and provides an easier way to shoot complex scenes. Do you remember all the scenes from Dhoom or even Krrish (even their sequels)? Guess how those super-fast bike chases were shot and how the lead character in Krrish was able to take such long jumps? Yes, all these were shot using the VFX/SFX techniques.

You will design many shots along with other professionals to make the characters of a film do extraordinary things (such as the super long jumps that the lead character in Krrish took)

1. So, in order to be a Film Designer, you must also know what information is needed in order to digitally add something to a shot and make it look realistic. You will work along with digital artists too. You must understand the fundamentals of three-dimensional space that the camera has captured.

2. You, along with other creative artists would create a 3D space that would resemble the actual physical space of the set in the computer. This would create a digital space for the computer-generated character or for an action shot of an actor which will be finally composited into that shot.

3. With the help of several tools and software, the computer-generated (CG) characters would be then integrated into the digital space created by you and the creative artists. This kind of editing and compositing is widely used in animated films. Some of such films are Toy Story, How to Train Your Dragon (complete series), Finding Nemo, The Lego Movie, Coco, Wall-E, The Lion King, and Frozen.

4. In case of a film like Krrish, typically, actors perform in a studio in front of a green or blue screen. The action shots of the actors are then composited into the 3D Digital Space created by you and other creative artists using various software tools.

5. In the production process of making a film like Krrish, the directors, cinematographers, actors or camera operators may be staring at a big space covered with green or blue screen and it is up to the film designers, VFX supervisors and the creative crew to oversee and examine the equipment’s and software’s needed to create and integrate special effects into the action shots.

Use of motion capture techniques and the techniques of film design

The VFX supervisor also works with the animation supervisor and the director of the film to determine whether to use techniques like motion capture – where actors perform movements that are captured with special cameras and later converted to information that moves the character animation. When motion capture is used, the VFX supervisor often works side by side with the director to guide the actors’ performances and the scene is finally captured.

Digital Intermediate (DI)

In almost all the film shootings, a film goes through Digital Intermediate (DI) which is a format that allows live shots and scenes to be integrated with visual and special effects (VFX/SFX).

Tracking, Rotoscoping, Chroma Keying, Rigging, and other techniques

1. It is after this that the Film Designers perform several roles according to their areas of specialization. The adding of various effects begins with Tracking and Rotoscoping which is the process of separating the elements and objects in the shot from one other.

2. Chroma Keying is the art of compositing live-action shots with digital backgrounds and 3D models; Rigging refers to the process of creating the bone structure of a 3D model which is used to manipulate the 3D model like a puppet for animation.

3. For effects with Computer Generated (CG) objects, there are further stages of animation, lighting, shading, texturing and rendering.

4. These days motion capture or performance capture is used for handling CG characters. In this, actors and stunt performers act in grey suits with tracking pointers on them. Then these motion shots of the actors and stunt performers are used to drive the animation of the CG characters, which can then mask the original actor.

5. Most of the films nowadays are heavily dependent on visual and special effects, therefore as a Film Designer, you would perform several duties according to the area you specialize in such as Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), Compositing, Modelling, Lighting, Animation, and Pre-visualization, etc.

Video Designer

1. Video Designers edit and operate the arrangement of video shots in which they structure and present all the video information of all formats like films, television shows, commercials, etc.

2. As a Video designer you would be involved in editing footage; adding title montage, adding graphics, scene transitions, adding high-quality audio tracks; trimming and cutting footage; applying and adjusting colors, and add titles to the video footage.

3. You would also create, arrange and compose layers; you would remove unwanted backgrounds, separate objects and combine layers to build styled compositions; you would create animated titles and add 3D texts, and you would render and export videos in various formats.

4. You would produce high-resolution video files; you would also be fixing and stabilizing blur video footage, re-correct the exposure, and edit video colors; you would apply immersive effects, fix and repair faulty green/blue screen footage and add expert special effects.

5. As a Video designer you would use several tools and video editing software’s like:

6. Adobe After Effects, Adobe Presenter Video Express, Autodesk Flame, Autodesk Smoke, Avid Media Composer, AVS Video Editor, Camtasia, Corel Video Studio, Cyber link Power Director, DaVinci Resolve Studio, Edius, Final Cut Pro X, Blackbird, Magix Movie Edit Pro, Magix Vegas Pro, Media 100 Suite, MPEG Video Wizard DVD, Reveal, Pinnacle Studio.

Key Roles and Responsibilities:

As a Film Designer, you would be involved in the following key roles and responsibilities:

1. You would be creating, refining, rendering and animating photorealistic 3D environments and images

2. You would be creating visually stunning and technically challenging photo-real visual effects on digital projects of the highest quality

3. You would be developing workflows to help maximize quality and efficiency across Studio Production

4. You would be involved in creative 3D concepts with good communication, planning, concepts/sketches, etc.

5. Your primary focus will be to work on video projects requiring Motion Tracking, Keying, Rotoscopy, and Paint (clean up), Match moving, Compositing, Color Correction, Animation (2D/3D), and Typography.

6. You would also be well skilled with 3D Max, VRAY, Texturing, Adobe Photoshop, AutoCAD, Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Maya, Photoshop, Illustrator, Cinema 4D, Mocha & PF track

7. You would be involved in creating High quality 3D models and having sound knowledge in Octane and substance painter.

8. You would be involved developing creative approaches, computer graphic elements, miniature and CGI sources, seamlessly integrate all the layers.

9. You would be seamlessly integrating all the layers or elements of a shot, including live-action and computer graphic elements.

10. You would be required to do Blue / green screen extractions.

11. You would be involved in the seamless integration of live-action, miniature and CGI sources.

12. You would also take part in client reviews and follow production methodologies.

13. You would develop creative approaches and problem-solving constantly deliver excellent results with minimal supervision.

As a Video Designer, you would be involved in the following key roles and responsibilities:

1. You would establish a clear understanding of the storyline and purpose of the video's creation.

2. You would discuss the project timeline, narrative structure, story goals and more.

3. You would splice raw film footage together from various sources and shoots and combine it with other scenes to create a cohesive story.

4. You would be familiar with using the latest software, tools and techniques of video editing such as Adobe Premiere & After Effects, Final Cut Pro X, Avid Media Composer, InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop

5. You should also be familiar with various conversion tools, Audio effects, Video effects, etc.

6. You would evaluate edited footage to make sure it matches the story from the script and meets the narrative agenda of the film.

7. You would combine visual footage with audio sound effects, dialogue, ambient sound and a musical soundtrack to create more drama in the story.

8. You would also ensure the correct formatting and presentation for finalized videos according to client's specifications.

9. You would also implement digital designs and complete application templates for product marketing videos.

10. You would be involved in Video conceptualizing, storyboarding, production of motion graphics with the ability to integrate multiple assets into creative videos.

Career Entry Pathway 

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies –– Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies –Bachelors in any subject – PG Diploma in Filmmaking/Media Communication/Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or related field

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies and Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a Bachelor’s degree in any subject. After bachelors you can pursue a Post-graduate diploma course in Filmmaking/Media Communication/ Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or in similar course.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies –– Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies – Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television/ Computer Generated Imagery/Digital media(Film and Video design)/ Design/AnimationArt/ Media Communication/ Mass Media/ Mass Communication– PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/2D/3D Animation/or related field

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies and Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a Bachelor’s degree in Film and Television/Computer Generated Imagery/Digital media (Film and Video design)/ Design/Animation Art/ Media Communication/ Mass Media/ Mass Communication. After a bachelor’s degree in any of the above field you can then go for a PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/2D/3D Animation/or related field.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies –– Class 11-12 Mathematics along with any subject as per scheme of studies - BCA in Computers/B.Sc. in Computer Science (you will need to have Mathematics in Class 11-12 for B.Sc.) – PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or related field

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies and Class 11-12 Mathematics along with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for either BCA in Computers/B.Sc. in Computer Science (you must have Mathematics in Class 11-12 for B.Sc.). After pursuing graduation you can then go for a PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or related field.

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies –– Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies - BFA Digital Production/Computer Visualization/Computer Animation or similar course – PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Animation/ or related field

After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies and Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a BFA Digital Production/Computer Visualization/Computer Animation or related field. After graduation, you can then go for a PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Animation/ or related field

Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies –– Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies – Bachelor’s in Film and Television/Computer Generated Imagery/Digital media/ Design/Animation Art/ Media Communication/ Mass Media/ Mass Communication – Masters in Digital Media (Film and video design)/ Film and Video communication

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After completing Class 10 all subjects as per scheme of studies and Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies, you can go for a Bachelor’s in Film and Television/ Digital media (Film and Video design)/ Computer Generated Imagery Design/Animation Art/ Media Communication/ Mass Media/ Mass Communication. After having done graduation in any of the above field you can then pursue masters in Digital Media (Film and video design)/ Film and Video communication or similar field.

Required Qualification & Competencies 

1. After completing Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies you can pursue graduation in Film and Television/ Digital media(Film and Video design)/Computer Generated Imagery Design/Animation Art/ Media Communication/ Mass Media/ Mass Communication followed by a Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or related field.

2. After completing Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies you can pursue graduation in Film and Television/Computer Generated Imagery/Digital media (Film and Video design)/ Design/Animation Art/ Media Communication/ Mass Communication/ Mass Media. After graduation, you can then pursue masters in Digital Media (Film and video design)/ Film and Video communication or similar field.

3. After completing Class 11-12 with any subject as per scheme of studies you can pursue graduation in BFA Digital Production/Computer Visualization/Computer Animation or similar course followed by a PG Diploma in Advanced Visual Effects/Compositing/Digital Lighting/Digital media/2D/3D Animation/or related field.

Competencies Required

Interests

1. Artistic: You should have interests for Artistic Occupations. Artistic occupations mostly involve working with creative ideas, art and designs. These occupations involve abstract or conceptual thinking, creative self-expression and often do not follow any set processes or rules for getting things done.

2. Enterprising: You should have interests for Enterprising Occupations. Enterprising occupations involve taking initiatives, initiating actions, and planning to achieve goals, often business goals. These involve gathering resources and leading people to get things done. These require decision making, risk-taking, and action orientation.

3. Investigative: You should have interests for Investigative Occupations. Investigative occupations involve working with ideas and quite a lot of thinking, often abstract or conceptual thinking. These involve learning about facts and figures; involve use of data analysis, assessment of situations, decision making and problem-solving.

Abilities

1. Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information from various sources, concepts, and theories to form general rules or conclusions. For example, analyzing various events or situations to come out with a set of rules or conclusions.

2. Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).

3. Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

4. Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.

5. Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or innovative ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.

6. Verbal Reasoning: The ability to think and reason with words; the ability to reason out ideas expressed in words.

Knowledge

1. Creative Design: Knowledge of various techniques, methods, and specifications for creating and developing designs for various products and materials such as textile, clothes, interiors, furniture, accessories, jewellery, animation, graphics, materials, film, video, web, user interfaces of digital devices, photography, etc.

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Personality

1. You are always imaginative or in most situations.

2. You always prefer to experience new things and have new experiences or you mostly do.

3. You can always act independently or could do so in most situations.

4. You remain calm in difficult situations sometimes but some other times you are anxious.

Career - Job Opportunities & Profiles 

Some specialization is often essential in order to become a member of the VFX/SFX department of feature film VFX industry, but you can also start a career as a VFX generalist in smaller production houses where roles are more varied in scope. Smaller animation and post-production companies are also producing CGI for TV, commercials, documentaries, and films with a small budget.

You may also start working initially as a Graphic designer and may take up specialization in any field of interest. You may find work in the following:

1. Few of the Animation, Post Production and VFX Studios in India - Red Chillies VFX, Prana VFX, Dneg India (Double negative), Tata Elxsi (Visual Computing Labs), Reliance Media networks, Pixion, DreamWorks, MPC, Maya Entertainment Ltd, Pentamedia Graphics, Toonz Animation India, UTV Toonz, etc.

2. Few of the top animation and visual effects companies: Animal Logic, Blue sky studios (Fox), DreamWorks Animation, Industrial Light and Magic, Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Weta Digital, Sony Pictures Animation, etc.

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Specialisation Tracks In This Career ​​​​​​​

1. Computer Generated Imagery (CGI) Professional

CGI professionals are involved in creating both 2D and 3D digital images specialize in one or more divisions of such as: hard surface modelling, organic modelling, concept art painting, architectural rendering, animation, and/or visual effects.

2. Compositing Artist

Compositing Artists work at the end of the VFX process to combine CGI and digital matte paintings with live action and make it all look seamless.

3. Roto Artist

Roto Artists carefully cut out moving characters and objects from one moving picture so they can be inserted into another (or CGI can be inserted behind them) by compositors.

4. Modelling Artist

Modelling Artist create a whole range of 3D objects using digital modelling and sculpting software. You will create the ’building blocks’ for VFX that need to be crafted before they can be placed, coloured, lit, and animated. Some companies group Modelling and texturing work together.

5. Lighting Artist

Lighting Artists use computer software lighting and work with images photographed on set to illuminate 3D objects, so they match live action backgrounds. These play a crucial role in integrating VFX/SFX in the live action shots to represent a single shot by using proper lighting and effects.

6. Animator

Animators are involved in bringing inanimate 3D objects to life through movement and use digitally generated animated images. They use 3D computer graphics, although 2D computer graphics for stylistic, low bandwidth, and faster real-time renderings.

7. Concept Artist/Previz Artist

Concept Artists use digital and traditional drawing and painting to visualise concepts for the film and assists VFX supervisors and creative crew in the initial pre-production stages. They also called Previz Artists and are generally the 3D generalists as they help in visualising a story idea with rough CGI, before any VFX is commissioned or even before principle photography has taken place.

Career Growth

1. There are several routes to become a Film Designer. You can start either as a Graphic Designer/ Animator or a junior level Creative Artist. 

2. Most Film Designers, VFX supervisors, Concept artist, and senior compositors come from an animation background and have already worked on several films or shows before landing the supervisor role. Therefore initially you will need a powerful grasp of current filmmaking techniques, as you will be on-set with the director and producers, and will need to be able to think in terms of a filmmaker when designing VFX shots.

3. As you work on projects in your studio, opportunities may arise that see you leading a small team over one particular aspect of production. After a few years of experience, you could end up supervising the studio, which in turn could lead you to a Film Designer or VFX supervisor role on a big-budget film.

Although the basic career progression would be:

Graphic Designer - Animator –Technical director -Compositor - VFX coordinator – junior VFX producer – VFX producer – Senior VFX producer

Salary Offered  

1. Initially, at an entry-level, you may start as a Graphic designer and may earn around Rs.15, 000 – 20,000 per month or even more

2. As an Animator, after 2-4 years of experience, you may earn around Rs. 35,000 – 40,000 per month.

3. As a Technical Director with an experience of around 5-7 years, you may earn around Rs. 50,000 – 65,000 per month.

4. As VFX coordinator with an experience of 8-10 years, you may earn around Rs. 75,000 – 90,000 per month.

5. As VFX producer at a senior level, you may earn around Rs.1, 00,000 – 2, 50,000 per month or even more.

6. If you work in one of top visual effects production houses like Red Chillies VFX as VFX line producers you may earn around 12 lakhs at an average. Although film designers or especially VFX producers get paid depending on the number of projects they usually take up in a year. Usually, a project in film designing could even stretch up to many years of work for a single film. For instance, the VFX crew for the film Baahubali took more than three years to come up with the visual effects-heavy feature film.

Monthly Earning In Indian Rupee

1. Entry level: 0 - 2 years of work experience

2. Junior Level: From 1 to 12 years of work experience

3. Mid Level: From 5 to 20+ years of work experience

4. Senior Level: From 10 to 25+ years of work experience (there could be exceptions in some high-end technical, financial, engineering, creative, management, sports, and other careers; also in the near future, people will reach these levels much faster in many careers and in some careers, these levels will have no meaning as those careers will be completely tech skill driven such as even now, there is almost no level in a Cyber Security Expert’s job)

Famous Personalities 

Not Available 

Work Activities 

1. Communicating with co-workers and others: Communicating with people in writing, verbally or otherwise inside your workplace and various other people who have professional relationships with your place of work including vendors, government officials, etc. or with people at large.

2. Creative thinking: Developing new ideas, concepts, innovative solutions to problems, newer ways of getting things done, designing products and services, creating work of art and craft, etc.

3. Decision making and problem-solving: Analysis of data and information; evaluation of alternative decisions and results of decisions; taking the right decisions and solving problems.

4. Getting Information and learning: Observing, hearing, reading, using computers, or otherwise obtaining information and learning from it.

5. Updating and using relevant knowledge: Keeping updated with the latest knowledge relevant to your fields of work and use of the relevant knowledge in getting things done.

6. Working in a team: Working in a team of people; developing team; maintaining professional relationships among team members.