INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY 2022
To celebrate IWD, BIFA wants to highlight the talented women working in all facets of the film industry. We sat down with Arpita Venugopal, the Head of FX at One of Us whose recent works have included Pinocchio (2019) and Letter to the King (2020), to discuss her experience working in the world of visual effects.
BIFA: What is your current role? What does an average day look like?
I fulfil multiple roles at One of Us London – the primary role being the Head of FX. I also do artist and lead work.
As an FX artist, you are working towards bringing a 3D dynamic concept to life. This can be anything from fire, water, smoke or destruction, to magic, hair, cloth and procedural animation – the possibilities are endless! What we create should look, feel and behave real while giving enough room for art direction to make it visually interesting. At One of Us, we do all our FX using Houdini.
As a lead, alongside my own shots, I am also responsible for a group of artists – giving them necessary guidance and support to best meet the brief from the supervisors and address notes from the client. Scheduling tasks, assigning and reviewing work are important parts of daily Lead activities.
Finally, as Head of FX, I work with the production teams of various shows to ensure ongoing and upcoming projects are crewed appropriately and artists get to grow and develop their own skills while meeting their deliverables. This includes working on project bids, artist development plans and schedules. I also help with recruitment and interviews, helping identify and match the right talent for our team to grow and excel. Then there is the aspect of collaborating with other disciplines within the company to ensure the required practices and workflows are in place to help artists towards the successful completion of each project.
Some days, I fulfil one role, and some days all three – those are the busiest. However, I love what I do and it’s extremely rewarding having the opportunity to add value in so many ways.
BIFA: How did you get into your line of work?
Growing up in India, I always drew myself towards creative pursuits, be it music, art, dance or graphic design. I noticed during my undergraduate studies an inclination and desire to convey visual concepts and ideas digitally using clever computer applications. So following my instincts, I pursued the Masters course in Digital Effects at Bournemouth University in 2008, where I learnt much about the core concepts of VFX and the various software we use today. My work from there got me my first gig at MPC [Motion Picture Company Film]. Since then, it’s been an amazing journey, having had the chance to work with such talented people at various studios like Sony Imageworks, DNEG, Weta and now One of Us.
BIFA: What advice would you give to someone who wants to work in FX?
I would first suggest you explore what you love about this field, the kind of work you appreciate and build on that. Put together an impressive reel that demonstrates your technical and artistic skills and potential for future work.
Find a studio that has a good portfolio, healthy values, showcasing diversity and opportunities for people of all backgrounds – One of Us is a great example of this. Use LinkedIn to learn more about the industry in general, trends and to build networks.
Last but not the least, some things that are often overlooked, but extremely important, are the soft skills of communication, building confidence and character, because once you’ve attracted those opportunities at the right studio, you need to put your best self forward to allow for that growth and acceleration to happen.
BIFA: What is the best part about your job?
I could sit here for hours or days talking about why I love what I do. For starters, [I have] an inherent love and appreciation for the art of filmmaking. There’s so much time, effort and expertise that goes into it and is used to convey stories, messages, spread joy, and entertain people. How amazing is that?
[It’s also] the tools that we get to use on a daily basis. I am a big fan of Houdini. It’s extremely powerful, diverse and gives you so many ways to solve a 3D problem. That and the learning – ours being a semi-academic field with a lot of math, science and tools involved, you learn something new every day, either by yourself or from somebody else, and that is extremely rewarding.
[Finally, it’s] the people. Especially being a Lead and a Head of Department, you’re dealing with people most of the time. A genuine love for people, the desire to understand and appreciate them and help bring out the best in them, is extremely rewarding. I also believe, being in the entertainment industry, we have the most exciting and eclectic bunch of people in our industry, and there’s never a dull day in the office. Need I go on?
BIFA: Looking through the lens of FX, what are the top 3 films you’d recommend and why?
I recently watched The Electrical Life of Louis Wain which I absolutely loved. We are so used to seeing very obvious large-scale FX in movies. What was refreshing in this movie was the subtle use of VFX to tell a beautiful and heartwarming story. I was also drawn to one of the main characters, Emily Richardson, who portrayed a strong and intelligent woman, breaking the norms and using her personality to bring the best out of those around her. One of my favourite lines from the movie is: “Just remember, however hard things get, however much you feel like you’re struggling, the world is full of beauty. And it’s up to you to capture it.” [This] is an attitude towards life we could all adopt.
This wouldn’t count as a movie, as it is a TV show, but I absolutely loved the work on Marvel’s Loki. Again, it was the story about multiple timelines and parallel universes which I found very interesting. It makes you think of how different realities could be with every choice you make. The breadth of FX work on it is large and impressive and I love such projects that push technological and creative boundaries.
I watched this movie recently called Power Project where the FX were very cool and done really well. Movies like that, X-men, etc., that deal with humans and superpowers are interesting because they help people imagine and think beyond what is real and paint a picture of what they have the potential to be if they wanted and tried – of course via ethical means.
