Ben Campbell
After graduating from mad academy, Ben realised his ambition of working for one of Australia's most successful Feature Film VFX companies namely Rising Sun Pictures based in Adelaide.

Q:Why did you choose MAD Academy?
I went to a couple of schools in Sydney, and wasn’t…wasn’t too happy with what I was getting. To be honest the main reason was because it was in Adelaide, and because they[mad academy] used [3d Studio] Max, which I was familiar with. I was just impressed by what I saw.

The 3d Animators course sounded like it was covering most things I wanted to learn.

Q: What words of advice would you give someone looking to invest in MAD Academy?
Just to take it seriously and learn from other people there, because there’s always going to be the people there with different skill sets and people who have more experience…

You can always learn just as much from the other people in your class as you do from the instructors

And as well they become your allies later when you might need a job or something.

Q: What was your career path prior to 3D and visual effects?
I finished high school, did all the maths, science, all the subjects I was basically told you had to do to be successful, and then I started Uni doing Computer Science. I figured it would be a well paying job and I also saw that there was a subject in there called 3D animation.

Not really knowing much about it I thought that all I would need to start a career in 3D animation was to learn a 3d animation subject at Uni. But, I actually didn’t end up learning what I needed to know. After I finished that course I realised I had not learnt even 1% of what I needed to know to even think about starting a career in it.

Q: Were you a gamer? At that point?
No

Q: So 3D was this buzz word?
I was more interested in films and visual effects than games. I was actually going to take a game career path as a stepping stone to film but film was what I always wanted to get into.

Q: So what inspired you to change direction from Computer Science to CG for Film? …
It was always the direction I wanted to take, it’s just how I got there that I had to change.

Q: After graduating from mad academy, how did you get started at Rising Sun Pictures?
Worked my ass off basically.

Q: You came and worked with mad academy in Sydney for a little while.
Yeah I did a little bit of work at mad academy in Sydney, doing the sort of tutoring and looking after the prac sessions for the Sydney animators course. I also did a little bit of work with Damien[former mad academy instructor, and lead animator at plastic wax games at the time] on some game modelling.

Q: So How did you get in to Rising Sun Pictures?
It was my demo reel. I went home and from all the stuff I learnt including even more new stuff I taught myself that I thought would help, I put together a complete new demo reel. I think I totally re-did everything I originally had.

Q: So you did a bit of background research on Rising Sun Pictures before submitting your reel?
Yeah I mean I was pretty determined to get into RSP so I geared my demo reel completely towards them, and no one else….

Q: What was on the actual reel?
It was pretty modelling intensive, which was just because that was my strong point at that stage, and, I mean now that I look back on it, it probably wasn’t… I could have done a much more focused sort of reel towards a film job like that.

Q: How long was it? Seconds…?
It was 1min 30secs to 1min 45seconds long.

Q: What was your role on the Charlottes Web production?
I was a lighting technical director, doing lighting and rendering.

I did a lot of other stuff too. I did a bit of fur grooming, a bit of modelling, but my official title and my main role, what I spent [doing] at least 85% of the time was lighting.

Q: So you were using Renderman. Was that difficult to pick up?
Yeah, it was a pretty steep learning curve.

Q: Did you have much internal training or was it self taught?
You’re learning from others around you, but it’s not always structured learning. A lot of it is learning as you go, learning from the people around you. That’s the main way that we pick things up.

Q: Are your workmates happy to share their knowledge?
Yeah a lot of them are, some people are better than others but, most people are more than willing to help out.

Q: What has your experience been like working at RSP?
It’s been great. It’s been a lot of hard work, its been a lot of learning, … I’m still learning and always will. But, it’s great, I can’t complain.

Q: What took you by surprise with the job? And what did you learn once you started?
What took me by surprise I guess was the high standards. The amount that I didn’t know took me by surprise, I mean I thought I had everything covered but there’s a lot specifically geared towards the film industry that I hadn’t even considered and I basically felt like a beginner again.

When you start at a place like that, you realise there is a lot of really talented people out there and really knowledgeable people. They’ve been there for 8 years, that’s where they get that knowledge from.

Something we tell people all the time is that you really don’t start learning until you are actually in the job. Do you agree?
Yeah, definitely.

So what did you learn once you started?
A lot. There was a lot of film specific things, a lot of file systems, a lot to do with file systems that I hadn’t even considered before and there’s a lot of RSP specific ways of workflow that I had to pick up.

Q: Were there any specific hurdles or problems that the team had to overcome during Charlottes Web?
I guess the main thing was there was a lot of design changes of the character that really threw a spanner in the works a few times. Apart from that, I mean there was a lot of tools we were developing as we were going along, a lot of things we didn’t actually have in place until Charlottes Web, and a lot of different ways of working.

The first time we rendered a show this big in 3Dlight and Renderman. We’d primarily used Mental Ray before that. So that was another big hurdle I guess, is to get everything running smoothly with Renderman.

Q: What was it that the renderer gave you, was it the hair stuff?
Everything really. We rendered everything in Renderman.

Q: For those not yet familiar with production, what is the environment like at such a high level studio?
It’s a friendly environment, everyone’s really dedicated and really hard working, no ones there out of accident or by chance, everyone’s there because they have a passion and they’ve worked really hard to be there.

Q: Is it hectic? Is it organised?
It’s organised, I mean it can get stressful but different people deal with it in different ways. I didn’t really get stressed or anything like that but its high pressure definitely.

Everyone there seems to have their lives geared towards the film industry, they’re not there just because it’s a job or because they’re interested in that, that’s what they want to do that’s what they do.

Q: What’s a typical day, start at 9am and leave at 4pm?
It’s hard to say, 9am to 6pm is considered a normal day. Obviously with the things that can go wrong. Heavy deadlines. It can always blow out.

You sometimes are not sure what each day is going to bring but to a certain extent you can plan your day and what you’re going to do, what your going to get done and get out of there on time.

Q: Do you have normal lunch breaks and do you do whatever you feel like?
Sometimes, its pretty loose like that. If…you’re there to do your job, to get your job done, if you’ve got time for a lunch break take a lunch break… its not saying that we don’t take lunch breaks, we always do, but its up to you. If you really think your pushing it to get something out that day you might get someone to pick lunch up for you and bring it back to you.

Q: Do you have a set amount of seconds or shots you have to get done every day? How does it work?
It’s definitely not structured like that, I mean in the heat of production its generally like that, where you’ve got a certain amount of shots to get out by a certain time, but its definitely not the same day to day.

Sometimes you’ll have a fairly easy workload, sometimes you’ll have a pretty damn heavy workload but it all depends on the deadlines… There’s a lot of factors that determine how much you get done in a day.

Q: What other projects have you been involved in?
I personally was on the Charlottes Web team when I started until about December. I’ve done some modelling work for "Where The Wild Things Are" and did some modelling and lighting for the Argos commercials.

Q: What skills were RSP looking for when they hired you?
I was hired as a trainee. Generally they’ll only hire people with film experience or definitely production experience. Because I was hired as a trainee, they were more looking for potential, as well as good work that you’ve already done. They’re more looking at your demo reel and at the potential that you have to learn, to fit in with their RSP culture. RSP are pretty selective, you’ve got to be the right sort of person as well as having the right skills…

Q: Before you got your opportunity there, you were known as the guy who never gave up trying after being continuously knocked back. You would always come back, but were always showing improvement in your demo reels.
Yeah, most people I know who have got in there through a traineeship without having 5 years film experience, have just been really determined.

Q: During your time at MAD Academy, what type of preparation did you gain that helped you with your current role?
I learnt the foundation. A broad foundation of everything that I needed to know. Definitely if there was areas I needed to strengthen, I definitely had a good solid foundation in it that I could work from. Nothing was really beyond me, not scary, but you know everything seemed approachable and learnable.

Q: Networking?
Yeah, networking. That definitely…I got some good connections through mad academy, even got a couple of small jobs through the people at mad so definitely helped me on my way.

Q: What was the greatest learning experience you gained working on such a high level and prestigious Charlotte’s Web film?
Probably working with John Burton Jr closely because…he is a really experienced visual effects supervisor. I just learnt a hell of a lot about lighting and just the quality that is needed for a film like that. He also worked on [The] Mummy, [The] Mummy Returns…. Star Wars.

Q: Many production environments get hectic, especially nearing deadlines. How busy did you and your team get during the more intense times?
Very intense, I mean there were 16 hour days, but that was probably the worst of it. It definitely gets heavy and you’ve really got to love what you’re doing to justify some of the work load.

Q: What are you’re goals for future career development?
Well, I plan to stay at RSP as long as possible, I still would consider myself in a learning phase almost at RSP…. I’m still trying to improve…there’s still so much I want to learn and I feel RSP is a good place to be doing that. That is the future I’m looking at, just to be at RSP and learn as much as I can. And just work on more great films.

Q: So do you want to be more on the technical side or did you want to get into the character side…?
I am pretty much stuck in the middle actually, I wouldn’t consider myself a 100% creative person, I wouldn’t consider myself 100% technical so right in the middle, I’m happy doing what I’m doing. Bit of everything really.

Q: What’s your ideal job? Animation Director, VFX Supervisor?
I guess I’m doing it. A Visual Effects Supervisor… I would definitely be looking towards something like that.

Q: What kinds of other media have you been involved in commercially?
Some television ads, a little bit of visualisation work with true life creations

Q: So do you have any words of advice for students considering a career in animation and visual effects?
Just make sure everything you submit on your demo reel is the 100% best you can do, if there’s something you’re not happy with or you think you can do better make sure you do it. Attention to detail is a huge thing, I put 100% effort into every part of my application and everything, like there’s nothing you can skimp out on when applying for a place like this.

Q: What’s your demo reel look like?
Keep it short, don’t put all your good stuff at the end and the poor stuff at the start….

Don’t put your good stuff at the start and poor stuff at the end, just leave the poor stuff off. Don’t put something on if you’re not 100% happy with it because people will remember the bad just as much as they remember the good.

I made the mistake of synching everything up to sound and having everything flowing nicely with the sound and the truth is people don’t even turn the sound on when they’re looking at your demo reel. And make sure it’s…focused on what you want to do…what you’re applying for.

Generally at a place like RSP you would be applying for a specific category and just make sure your demo reel is really focused and it illustrates your skills in that area.