Like many people in visual effects, my path wasn’t linear. When I was in school I was certain that I wanted to be a Psychologist so I ended up studying it right out of school. I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was missing, a creative side that hadn’t been explored.

At the time I adored music videos and title sequences and would watch them over and over so, following that hunch, I dropped out of Psych and enrolled in a film degree. Thankfully it turned out to be the right decision, as I discovered I had a natural eye for cinematography and a huge interest in film editing and software. After countless hours learning After Effects and then starting to teach myself a bit of 3D on the side, I veered into a game design degree where I could engage with technology more.

I was a very flakey student. The subjects I had the least interest in I found myself doing the bare minimum for, but when it came to anything using 3D software I couldn’t help but spend 1000s of hours there just amazed at the idea that you can create a whole world within a 3D software package.

Lighting is the last step in the 3D pipeline for film. It’s my job to gather all of the work that is done before me, so always virtual camera, maybe an environment, maybe a creature, maybe a building being destroyed, and then create and place lights to achieve a certain look.

Sometimes this can be a very logical process, when I need to say, place a dinosaur into some footage, I use reference images, or look for clues in the footage as to how the lighting was on that day, and I replicate that in my 3D scene. Other times I get to be really creative when I am told to evoke a certain atmosphere or feeling through my lighting. Then I have to use colour theory, or think about where the viewer’s eye is being drawn, or how much shadow we have in the image and if it’s telling the right story.

The more technical role of a lighting TD is knowing how to do all of this using software, and making sure that my scenes are optimized enough for the computers to be able to output images I am creating. This part is called “rendering”.

Name three skills all Lighting TDs should have

It’s important to have a passion for visual storytelling. This is at the heart of what we do as Lighting TD’s and we have a lot of power to influence the story that we see on the big screen.

A curiosity for learning and patience for software. Being in visual effects means lifelong learning and upskilling as the software we use is always evolving. It makes for a very dynamic job!

Problem-solving is also amazingly important. We oftentimes have new creative or technical challenges so it’s great to be comfortable in the midst of a problem and enjoy the process of working it out.

Image right: St. Tropez

Is there anything that has surprised you about the industry?

The process of learning 3D felt very solo for me so when I joined the industry I was amazed at just how much this industry is built on mentoring and just how willing people are to give up their time to help you succeed. No one in this field could be where they are without someone taking them under their wing at some point, so there is a universal recognition of this and a desire to give back and build up the next generation of VFX talent. Just get your foot in the door and be open to learn!

Image right: Vancouver

Have you had to overcome anything to be where you are today?

Getting to this point in my career hasn’t always been easy. VFX typically hasn’t attracted as many women, and there have been times where I have had to work twice as hard to be taken as seriously as someone else with my title. A lot of people live alongside imposter syndrome, and when I was starting out I had it constantly because I was often the only female on a team so it was hard to see myself as the ideal VFX artist.

Thankfully I learned to see imposter syndrome for what it was and push through it because since then I have had the privilege to work with many incredible female leads and supervisors. I am excited to now be in a position where I can help to encourage and mentor a gender-diverse team here at ILM!

Image right: With ILM Sydney Collegues

Working for ILM in London I was amongst a team that had a perfect 50/50 split of men to women. This was my first time working with direct female supervisors or leads and many of them had children. It was a beautiful turning point for me personally to be surrounded by so many inspirational and hard-working women and to be able to see that my career would have no limits, regardless of any life choices.

Image right: With the iLM London girls