Spotlight Tour ~ Why I Do VFX by Vicki Lau

What influenced you to become a VFX artist?

Having discovered my passion at the age of 14, my love for video-editing and recording eventually evolved into visual effects. It is really all about self-expression and how, using this medium, I was able to essentially create, morph and control reality to my liking. Think about it – you could literally be and do anything with the right VFX skills. In the book, I go deeper into this and what motivates me to live the life of a VFX artist.

Where did you go to school? 

I went to school in my hometown of Singapore and in the United States. When I was in Singapore, I studied Digital Media (with a focus on computer-generated effects) at Singapore Polytechnic, graduating with a diploma. After which, I hopped on over to the Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) and got a degree in Visual Effects. Essentially, it doesn’t matter where I studied more so that the subject I studied was heavily focused on what I already knew I wanted to do.

How did you break into the industry?

Well, this is a funny story because it actually started with a flyer on a noticeboard at school. You see, I got into the habit of hanging around noticeboards when I was younger (mainly because I was bullied by the girls at my school and had no friends as such). This habit stuck with me for a long time and I eventually carried this over to my time at SCAD as well. One fine day, I happened across a flyer calling for students to apply to this internship program. The noticeboard was positioned to the left of the elevators (not a good or bad position just somewhere I wouldn’t put a noticeboard at, personally) so I highly doubt any busy student would’ve seen that, really.

I took the chance, looked over the application requirements and applied. Several rounds of competitive selections later, I received an email stating that the studio liked my reel (loved it actually); I got the internship position and hence, would be required to send over certain documents including a social security number for work purposes. Well, of course, being an international student, I didn’t have a social security number. Initially, my thought was that the job or internship position would provide me with the social or vice versa – whatever it was at the time, I didn’t have one. I told the program coordinator of the internship program about the situation and – to my greatest dismay – she told me that I no longer qualified for the program and that my position would be forfeited.

I was livid – especially when I discovered later that the only way I could have gotten a social was to actually have a job offer to begin with. So, it was kind of a chicken-or-egg scenario: I can’t get the internship without a social but I can’t get a social without the internship. Bummer.

Now, most would just take that rejection lying down and move on. But I didn’t. I couldn’t. Viscerally, it wouldn’t sit right with me – plus, my gut feeling was telling me to go do something about it. Anything.

In fact, I felt very outraged and very discriminated against because there was simply no way I could have gotten a social on my own. Now, was that piece of information (that a social security number was required) included in the rules prior to application? Yes. Did I let that stop me from applying? Nope. Honestly, I didn’t even know what it was at the time, so I just ignored it and applied (in hindsight, my ignorance on what a social security number was as an international student served me well – really well).

Regardless, I head on over to the international student services office (ISSO) at SCAD and happened to meet someone who would then be my staunchest advocate in this situation. I explained my dismay, disappointment and fury about the rejection based on the lack of a social security number to this lady who, understandably, got upset and also felt that the situation was unfair. What I didn’t know was what she was going to do next.

Anyway, a day or so later, I got an email from the internship program director saying that they had spoken with Brook (the lady from the ISSO) on the phone and that my application has now been reinstated and that, again, I get the internship position. The VFX studio that had chosen me, Stargate Studios, will be my host company. “Congratulations again – I believe you’re our first international student,” was what the program director said. Honestly, the internship organization simply didn’t understand how to deal with international students (as do most companies, frankly) and the kind of paperwork it entailed, however, thanks to Brook from SCAD’s ISSO, they have now been accepting international student interns ever since my application.

I haven’t checked their updated internship program terms and requirements since but I am betting that the mandatory requirement of “you must have a social security number in order to apply for this internship” is no longer valid since I became an intern.

What more, that internship ended up being the best internship I ever had. After all, who could say that they got a chance to work on the visual effects of “The Walking Dead” while still being a student in school. The rest was pretty much history.

Here’s the moral of the story: don’t ignore those flyers on those dusty ol’ noticeboards… you’ll never know how one could play a major role in your life, ha. If you enjoyed this tale, I pumped more of these types of stories in the book – it’s really fun.

Do you have any mentors in the field? 

I suppose I did have various mentors at the various studios I worked at as I hopped around as a freelancer. This makes sense as different studios have different protocols and there would usually be one or two senior artists who would be my “mentor” in terms of making sure I align my shots with what the studio requires, etc. As far as a long-term, career mentor: no, not exactly. I do have peers I hang around with or make conversation with but I don’t have that kind of mentor in the field. Most of the seniors or veteran VFX pros are usually too busy (and understandably so) to mentor anyone. It’s just the nature of the industry: everyone is focused on the final product and if mentoring does occur, it’s going to be for the purpose of delivering the final product (the VFX shots for a film/show/project).

What has been your favorite project so far? 

Definitely “The Walking Dead.” Not only was this my first official industry project but it was also where I got exposed to the brilliant and fantastic minds of other fellow VFX artists. I really learned a lot from this experience – plus, it never hurts to actually be a fan of the show myself!

What is something that might surprise us about you?

As someone who was known to be the shy, quiet kid back in Singapore, I guess what may be surprising is that I have a knack for public speaking (and am actually one of the few who enjoy it). To be frank, I was never sent to “public speaking courses” or stuff like that and the only thing even close to resembling those would be the mandatory classes part of the diploma or degree program I was enrolled in – all of which I scored with flying colors. So, while they say public speaking is one of the biggest fears of most people, it certainly isn’t for me. Heck, you could check out my 2016 TEDx talk and see for yourself. I’m enjoying it.

As a bonus, I’d probably also toss in bodybuilding as another surprising thing this VFX artist is into. Last I checked, there isn’t another publicly searchable VFX artist-bodybuilder type of person out there other than one or two dudes so I suppose that has to stand out as something of a unique combination. Bodybuilding is a very visual sport and while it is something completely different from what I do, in a way, it is also quite similar as both require a certain attention to detail and manipulation of variables in order to attain an end result (if I were to get all meta for a moment, haha).