Generalist Artist

Job Description

Lucasfilm Animation and creators of the Emmy award-winning animation series ''Star Wars: The Clone Wars'' and the highly successful animation series ''Star Wars Rebels'', ''Star Wars Resistance'', and ''Star Wars: The Bad Batch'' are looking for a Generalist Artist who reflects the innovative spirit, creative talent, production excellence, collaborative mindset and passion for great filmmaking that define Lucasfilm.

The Generalist Artist primary goal is to work closely with the Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director as a member of a small team of artists in production of internal lighting, VFX, and matte/projection shot work. Along with the focus on shot production, a major portion of the role is to align and continually communicate between all internal departments and assist in developing pipeline tools as needed, animation performance enhancements, or look development that meet the needs of the show for both internal and overseas teams.

What You'll Do
• Align with the Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director to partner with a small internal shot finaling team in execution of shot sweetening as well as entire shot creation within a very short post schedule.
• Work with all departments in the creation, development, and execution of all assets, sets, mattes, lighting, & VFX as they relate to their final implementation into final shot production.
• Consult and strategize with the Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director on shows' visual goals, technical feasibility, and design of production-friendly solutions that will maintain the vision of the show.
• Responsible for testing and implementation of assets for shot production, and delegating to the internal team as needed to meet production milestones.
• Work with Art Director/Design, Assets Dept, and Episodic Directors/Story Teams to find the most optimal use-cases for designing & building matte paintings and/or matte projections to supplement asset builds.
• Expected to work with Apprentice and Jr. Artists and must be able to assist them with their shots
• Work with Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director to collect reference or footage of past show episodes to aid in current episode/show look development and reference.
• Attend after hours Lighting/FX/Matte kick-off meetings with overseas vendors as requested
• Assist Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director with FX and Lighting annotations.
• Attend/Collaborate with Cinematography Lighting & VFX Director for all Color Grade sessions.
• Continually developing and maintaining CG Asset Creation, Lighting methods, Compositing, and FX rigs to use internally and work with external vendors for execution in mass production pipeline for shot production.
• Partners effectively with the Asset Director to break down matte/projection shots into asset and digimatte tasks.
• Validate and ensure that all upcoming/new episodic CG Sets, Vehicles, and New Characters can achieve the desired look for a given show, episode, etc.
• Create and maintain documentation for all FX/Lighting/Compositing/Matte creation and projection methods for overseas artist teams and internal use.
• Work with the Production Technology team, and show supervisors to determine and advise on the optimum technical approach both for immediate show needs and long term strategy. including keeping current with evolving technology, hardware, rendering engines and software that may be of benefit to the production/studio.

What We're Looking For
• 4+ years relevant professional experience in a Generalist role on a VFX film or CG animated project and a BA in computer graphics, fine arts, design, or photography, or related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Required Skills / Competencies:
• 4+ year in two or more CG techniques, including model, texturing, shading, lighting, cloth, crowds, fur/hair, VFX, matte creation, look development, and compositing. Primary focus for the position will be on lighting and dynamic VFX shot work/development. Ability to maintain focus and passion in a fast paced production pipeline with multiple moving parts, and be able to smoothly and effectively operate under stressful situations.
• Proven artistic ability in a non-CG field (portfolio of photography, figure drawing, landscape painting, composition, stage lighting, etc.) preferred.
• High level of problem solving and creative thinking skills, with the ability to communicate clear solutions with internal and external productions, and always have a plan-b.
• Proven ability to work autonomously in team settings
• Preferred Skills / Competencies:
• Must have extensive knowledge of Matte Painting techniques, as well as solid efficiency in Nuke projection methods.
• Excellent communication, time-management, and organizational skills.
• A self starter with the proven ability to initiate and complete new projects. Strong organizational and communication skills.
• Ability to juggle multiple projects, work with diverse personalities and work within strict deadlines.
• Excellent organization and interpersonal communications skills.
• Technical Skills/Competencies:
• Sufficient understanding of Maya rigging techniques to optimize the performance of animation rigs as guided by the Animation/Asset Director, and troubleshoot rigging issues as needed.
• Solid understanding of lighting, photography, and 19th & 20th Century paintings, as well as composition, photography, cinematography, and camera movement language..
• Solid knowledge of Linux and shell scripts and working knowledge of applicable software platforms.
• Fluent in the following tools: Photoshop, Maya, Nuke, Arnold, Houdini
• Demonstrated ability to pick up new software
• Strong knowledge and ability in perspective, value matching 35mm photography, physics of light and motion

LucasfilmAnimation

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category: 'Animation-and-Visual-Effects',

location: 'San Francisco, California, United States',

req: '10010449',

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About Lucasfilm:

Lucasfilm is a global leader in film, television and digital entertainment production. In addition to its motion-picture and television production, the company's activities include visual effects, audio post-production and cutting-edge digital animation, interactive entertainment software, and the management of the global merchandising activities for its entertainment properties including the legendary STAR WARS and INDIANA JONES franchises. Lucasfilm Ltd. is headquartered in northern California.

Jobcode: Reference SBJ-d2y5o5-18-117-142-128-42 in your application.