National Film And Television School Kickstarts Graduate Visual Effects Careers With Time Based Arts

The National Film and Television School (NFTS) Visual Effects (VFX) MA is renowned for the 360 degree, practical training our students receive, learning creative problem solving across the VFX pipeline. With industry-standard facilities on-site at the School’s main campus in Beaconsfield and close relationships with post houses across the UK and worldwide, the Visual Effects MA provides students with the experience of working on real sets and teaches them how to collaborate with other roles in the filmmaking process to effectively communicate VFX requirements.

One company that has been closely collaborating with the course is Time Based Arts (TBA). Over the last fifteen years TBA has built a distinctive and creative body of work, rivalling some of the biggest global facilities. To uphold this high-standard as they expand, TBA was in need of people who understood creative briefs, who were used to being on set and could work creatively on fast turnaround projects.

From offering studio visits and insightful Masterclasses for NFTS VFX students at the beginning of the relationship, TBA has since welcomed a host of the School’s graduates through its doors on internships and full-time roles.

After completing a month's internship at TBA in July 2022 and graduating from the course in March 2023, Daniel Peoples has now been working full-time for the VFX company for over a year.

“The course prepared me for my current role at Time Based Arts in many ways. The environment created at the School is designed to be similar to that of a VFX studio, which made adjusting to TBA much faster and a familiar experience. The course teaches the entire VFX spectrum, from conforming a timeline to Virtual Production, which allowed me to become familiar with many different concepts and helped me decide what I wanted to specialise in.

Daniel Peoples


Working closely with colourists and learning about the interplay between VFX and the colour department was incredibly useful and the in-depth training and tutorship in compositing was tailored to what I needed to learn. We had a huge amount of on-set experience across genres including fiction, animation and Virtual Production, which also included insightful learning about cameras and lenses.

There were also limitless, fantastic opportunities for networking with companies like Time Based Arts, which is vital to success in our industry.”

Since working at Time Based Arts Danny has worked on a raft of projects including fellow NFTS graduates’ Rose Glass and Weronika Tofilska’s Love Lies Bleeding, starring Kristen Stewart and Oscar-winning director Andrea Arnold’s Bird. Daniel’s additional TBA credits include D&AD Yellow Pencil-winning Channel 4 idents, Kopparberg: Drink Responsibly This Summer and Ford’s Capri Reveal.
 

Olivier Lemery also graduated from the NFTS Visual Effects course in 2023 and goes into detail about his work since joining the team at Time Based Arts: “TBA contacted me about a month after graduation. Having seen my showreel of work I had produced while at NFTS, they were interested in my modelling/texture/lookdev skills. Upon joining the 3D team, I was really put to the test when creating a digital replica of a foldable Brompton Bike including the entire mechanism. This involved photogrammetry scanning of the original bike, provided by Brompton, and a careful understanding of the object before precise modelling could start. Collaboration was paramount as the bike would be animated, so I had to work closely with the rigger and animator to ensure a steady workflow until final rendering of the shots. The project nicely reflected the teamwork and the precision in the work that we got to practise at the NFTS on various modules.

Olivier Lemery


As projects went on at TBA, it was really nice to build upon this solid skill base to develop new ones. Our heads of 3D, Mike Battcock and Sam Osborne, are seriously involved in our development as artists and, as we work with them in the studio, it is easy to interact as a team and learn from everyone.

The biggest learning curve for me was not only working with Autodesk Maya, which we trained with on the MA, but also having to work with Houdini, as we use it at TBA for all the lighting and rendering. Having this opportunity to learn and grow as a VFX artist on a variety of software and projects with a talented and friendly team is what makes working at TBA a wonderful experience.”

Olivier’s TBA credits include commercials for Ineos Grenadier, the Royal Air Force, Amazon Web Services and IKEA.
 

Harry Jones, Operations Director at Time Based Arts said; "We are lucky to have alumni from NFTS on our team. The standard of work produced by the students on the Visual Effects course is excellent. They gain valuable experience working with all areas of filmmaking which is hugely evident in their approach to commercial VFX. We continue to work and support NFTS and look forward to working with more graduates in the future."

If you are keen to pursue a career in Visual Effects and are looking for training opportunities that could kickstart your journey into this dynamic industry, visit our website to discover more about our industry-renowned Visual Effects MA.

2 years | In Person | Apply by 26 September 2024 to start January 2025.
nfts.co.uk/visual-effects