Daniel Luna
Daniel Luna
VFT Program-2008
What education did you have before you took the Visual Effects for Film and Television course?
BA in Advertising and Journalism
Self taught graphic designer
Tell us a bit about your experience at the college.
It was a fantastic learning experience. Coming from a print background I had a lot of ground to cover in order to catch up with group and this resulted in long days and nights working on assignments and learning the tools of the trade. It was all worth it though.
How do you use the education you got at Seneca in your job today?
At the time I decided to enroll on the Seneca VFX program I was looking for a way to bridge from my 10 year experience as a graphic designer to the world of visual effects. To be quite honest, I did not have a clear idea of what a compositor's career really was and I soon realized that motion graphics was better suited to my artistic sensibilities. Regardless, the top notch compositing skills I acquired at Seneca allowed me to build a solid career as a motion graphics artist and also as a CG compositor for commercials. Knowing the tricks and techniques used on motion pictures compositing definitely helped me to be one step ahead of many in regards to the finishing quality of my motion graphics work.
What advice would you give potential students who are thinking of taking the course
Don't be too ambitious on the complexity of your projects because they will end up being too much for you to execute in a professional level. Choose a simple idea and do it really well. Work hard on it, listen to your mentor's criticism (they know better) and polish every single corner to make it perfect. I am tired of looking at student's reels where they tried to created a Michael Bay scene and at the end everything looks half baked. That's not how it works. A complex shot takes a big team and a good schedule. Be smart. Challenge yourself but also be realistic about your skills and schedule. That's how professionals work.
(Written in 2012)