STEM Careers in the UK Film Industry

Yen YauTalent Development Manager

Into Film

The Bigger Picture

• Creative employment outpaces rest of economy

• The creative economy is one of the few industrial areas where the UK has a credible claim to be world–leading

• Equipping young people with transferable skills, 21st century skills.

• Skills shortageshttp://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/uk-creative-overview

New figures reveal that the UK’s Creative Industries are now worth £84.1 billion per year to the UK economy (DCMS, Jan 2016)

• UK’s Creative Industries grew by 8.9 per cent in 2014 - almost double UK economy as a whole

• UK’s Creative Industries generate nearly £9.6million per hour

• 2016 set to be another blockbuster year for UK’s music, film, video games, TV and publishing sectors

http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/uk-creative-overview/news-and-views/star-wars-powered-by-uk-creativity

Size of the industry

BAFTA Career Pathway Survey (2012)http://www.bafta.org/initiatives/supporting-talent/bafta-career-pathways-survey

Challenges faced byaspirants of careersin film, TV or games:• Careers advice on film,

television or games is hard to find

• Industry contacts more helpful than careers advisors

• Aspirants less satisfied with formal careers advice

Reasons forrejecting a careerin film, TV or games:• Unclear routes and

lack of role models• Careers in film and

television still seen as limited to better- off Londoners with existing links to the industry

• Females are more likely to be discouraged than males

The skills, roles,Work experience,information deficit:• Young people are not

necessarily aware of industry skills requirements

• Many are now planning to go into careers which contain skills that could be used in film, television or games.

Skills needed by the film industry (Creative Skillset 2016)

• In-demand roles• Production Manager• 1st, 2nd & 3rd ADs• Costume Supervisors• Steadicam• DITs• Digital asset

management• Studio management• Script supervisors• 3D Rigging

• Priority skills• Make-up in HD• Wig application• Period hair• Prosthetics• Sound recording• Editing 3D• Pre-visualisation

Some StatisticsKey Findings• The UK’s creative economy had 2.6 million jobs in

2013, consisting of 1.7 million jobs in the creative industries.

• The UK’s high–tech economy had 3.2 million jobs in 2013, 2.4 million of which were jobs in high–tech industries (825,000 in STEM occupations)

• Employment in the creative economy grew on average over three times faster than the workforce as a whole (4.3 per cent per annum (p.a.) vs 1.2 per cent p.a.) between 2011 and 2013.

• Employment in the high–tech economy also grew faster than the workforce over this period (2.1 per cent p.a. vs 1.2 per cent p.a.).

Creative Industries Strategy 2014

What we associate with feature films

What we probably don’t imagine

Examples of technology impacting on film-making

• 3D printing• Cloud and

collaborative workflows

• Drone cameras

Source of image: CosProp http://www.cosprop.com/

Where are the Opportunities?

.

• Management, leadership and business skills • A key gap for the future is new and digital

technology and particularly managing the change from traditional to digital media.

• In production digital camera skills and awareness are lacking

• For exhibition and distribution employers a key focus is exploiting opportunities such as online and digital sales, marketing and distribution and dealing with threats eg. file sharing.

• In post production, the VFX industry is facing a skills shortage of new entrants with strong STEM backgrounds

Stages of making a film

Careers in Film Primary

Stage 1• Researching the

idea, finding money and team members to make your film

Stage 2• Got the money

and an idea – you’ve got the green light! Next, preparations

Stage 3• Shooting the

film

Stage 4• Post

production - what you do once you have shot the film

Stage 5• Getting the film

seen in a cinema

Did you know that there are several stages to making a film?

Stages of making a film

Development

Pre-Production

Production

Post -Production

Distribution and Exhibition

Connecting to the Curriculum

Science

Design and Technology

Music

Art and Design

Languages

Computing

Maths

Production accountants to make sure films come in on budget (maths)

Production designers (art, design, architecture) to define and create every visual aspect of a film

Producers (law, business studies, maths) to develop projects, find the finance and pull the different players together

Script supervisors (English) to ensure that there is continuity in the script

Riggers and carpenters (construction) to build sets

DIT or digital imaging technicians (ICT, computer science, physics/STEM), to back up the camera and sound files, checking for technical errors

Compositors (STEM, art, computer science), to put together all the various layers of computer generated images in visual effects

Craft and Technical departments

Craft and Technical departments

design accounted for £131 million of services exported in 201110.

Award Winning VFX (visual effects)

Stages of making a filmVFX Careers Doc-2.jpg

The Skills ShortageUK National Shortage Occupation ListRelates to jobs under Tier 2 of the new five-tier system.

If the job is on the shortage occupation list then an employer can offer the job to an overseas person without having first fulfilled the Resident Labour Market Test by advertising the vacancy in the UK. The list is current at 14 November, 2011 but is subject to change at any time..

Producers and directors in the following roles within visual effects and 2D / 3D computer animation for film, television or video games: 2D supervisor, 3D supervisor, computer graphics supervisor, producer, production manager, technical director, visual effects supervisor.

Graphic Designers roles within visual effects and 2D / 3D computer animation for film, television or video games: compositing artist, matte painter, modeller, rigger, stereo artist, texture artist

Developing a Portfolio

The Foundry – VFX SoftwarePixologic Sculptris – VFX Software

Blender – 3D AnimationGimp – Design Software

Autodesk – 3D tools, Maya, AutoCAD, 3DS Max

Lightworks – Editing Software

Elysium, thanks to TriStar Pictures, a contributor to the Skills Investment Fund

• Scientific • Technical• Engineering• Artistic• Maths

= Stunning scenes and effects

VFX is STEAM Driven

Routes InHistorically most of those entering the industry come in as university or private institute graduates but, as it's a young industry compared to the others in the creative industries, new entry routes are emerging.

Creative Skillset Tick that shows that degree courses are industry accredited. Runners don't tend to need any specific qualifications, but basic maths and English skills are recommended, along with a showreel or portfolio of work.

Apprenticeships are also now available.

VFX is spreading

Film TelevisionGames VR/AREventsArchitectureScience/Medicine

Image courtesy of Double Negative VFX, © Property of Warner Bros

Highly Qualified Workforce 86% are educated to degree level41% hold a creative media related degree37% a post graduate degree

61% of VFX employers report skill shortages including Maths,

Physics, Art & Design

Unfilled jobs asVFX Designers

Technical Artists Technical Directors Software

Developers

• Walt Disney ©

Where is the science?

Creating the hair and a wet dress

Physics on Film

http://www.iop.org/publications/iop/2015/page_65434.html

http://nofilmschool.com/2016/04/pixar-director-of-photography-danielle-feinberg

VFX Film Resources

• The Core Skills of VFX http://www.skillset.org/animation/qualifications/article_8377_1.asp

• Breakdown showreelshttp://www.artofvfx.com/?p=6591

http://www.moving-picture.com/showreels/vfx-breakdowns/

• Individual Career Profiles and Case studieshttp://www.dneg.com/career_profiles/

May 1, 2023

www.principia.org.uk@spacegovuk

Careers in space

Film and Science

Robotics, NASA and Film

Possible careersEngineers - mechanical and electrical, and technicians, to design and build spacecraft and instruments.

IT and software designers, mathematicians – developing software to control and monitor spacecraft, using space data to model complex systems for applications such as weather, navigation and communications

Scientists, researchers and technical specialists - in physics, geology, climatology, biology and many more subjects, designing experiments and using space data to learn more about the Earth, ourselves and the Universe.

In companies using space - from agriculture to resource exploration, disaster monitoring and risk evaluation, environmental protection to telecommunications, using physical sciences, maths and engineering

.

What skills are important?

• Being good at solving

problems

• Being able to work well with

other people, in teams

• Being able to communicate

your ideas to other people

• Being proficient with numbers

• Being able to communicate well and

with people from other cultures

• Languages

• Managing money and budgets

Credit: ISIC

Getting in Touch

yen.yau@intofilm.org

@getintofilm@yenyau