Netflix’s VFX Supervisor Jay Mehta Shares What Goes On Behind the Scenes

The One Academy’s highly anticipated event – the Virtual International Design & Creative Masterclass – returns for the third series! Featuring esteemed international speakers who are professionals in the fields of digital animation, visual effects, illustration, interior architecture and design, as well as digital media technology. The masterclasses which were held over the weekends of January, were open to secondary school students as well as The One Academy’s students to gain insight into the creative professions and industries.

Jay Mehta is currently a Visual Effects Supervisor at Netflix and is based in Mumbai, India. He has over 14 years of experience in the VFX industry and has had an impressive journey so far with more than 27 movie credits under his name. In his session, he shared industry know-hows, technical insights on the overall workflow, roles and responsibilities of a visual effects supervisor and also bonus behind-the-scene materials that the audience certainly enjoyed getting a glimpse of.

Before entering the VFX industry, he actually studied and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in electronics engineering. Like many graduates, he faced the dilemma of which path to take after that. He weighed his options of whether does it pay off to change fields after having studied electronics engineering, and if he were to change fields, why not pursue something that he might like? That was when he was introduced to the animation and visual effects industry.

“In fact, is was a session like this one, although not a virtual one, that got me thinking about this particular industry. Those kinds of sessions really help because that’s where you hear from the veterans and people who have been in the industry for so long. That’s where you kind of understand the know-hows and get excited about it,” Jay recalled. He then enrolled in a visual effects diploma course, and the rest was history.

He has worked on The Golden Compass and Life of Pi, which are Academy Award-winning films in the Best Visual Effects category. He was also nominated for Hollywood Post Alliance Awards (HPA) and Visual Effects Society Awards (VES) for outstanding visual effects for a television series. Other notable titles that he has contributed work to include Agent Carter (Season 1), The Great Wall, Aquaman, Snow White and the Huntsman, Monster Hunt 2, Fengshen Trilogy, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters and more.

He explained that visual effects is a digital process by which the captured live action shot is either manipulated, enhanced or computer generated imagery is added to showcase storytelling outside the scope of real-world filmmaking. He then showed the audience snippets of the visual effects breakdown for Agent Carter, Aquaman and The Great Wall, which is the before and after of what was actually shot at the film set versus what layers had been put in to actually achieve the final result.

“Entertainment is never going to die down. Everyone needs entertainment. It can be different forms of entertainment – tele series, movies and games. The entertainment industry is one of the biggest industries in the world,” he shared.

He also talked about the current scenario in the VFX industry, where demand has skyrocketed due to OTT platforms such as Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, Apple TV and HBO Max, as more people are consuming entertainment at home. He said that as studios are getting booked for the next few years and there is more work in the market than the number of artists or studios, now is a prime time for a visual effects artist to be in the industry.

He also shared some quick tips to excel in the industry, which are: learn the basics of the trade, have patience, always practice, manage time and set goals, observe the surroundings, learn to work in a team, don’t stop experimenting and trying new things, push boundaries and think of how to make things even better, ask questions – because there is never a wrong question, showcase the best work and never stop learning, because the industry is constantly changing with new technologies coming into play.

For students who are interested in studying VFX, unless they already know what they want to specialise in, he suggests to understand the entire spectrum of visual effects – artwork, modelling, texturing, lighting and others, to understand the functions of specific departments and then figure out where their interest or specialty lies.

“Your passion has to drive your goal. If you are passionate, you are doing something new almost every day as a visual effects artist,” he concluded in his sharing.

The One Academy is committed to providing the best art education programmes and continues to nurture its students passionately through its “Masters Train Masters” coaching philosophy, which has been practised for the past three decades, by providing diploma and degree courses namely Advertising & Graphic Design, Digital Animation, Digital Media Design, Film Visual Effects, Interior Architecture & Design, Illustration, Fine Arts and Paris Fashion Design & Pattern Making. For more information on The One Academy, visit www.toa.edu.my or call +603-7875 5510 or e-mail your enquiries to [email protected].

Netflix的视觉特效主管Jay Mehta分享幕后趣事

The One Academy备受期待的线上国际设计与创意大师讲习班第三季回归了，并邀来了在数码动画、视觉效果、插画、室内建筑与设计以及数码媒体技术等领域闻名的国际专业人士担任演讲嘉宾。今年的大师讲习班于一月份周末举办，受众主要针对中学生和The One Academy的学生，让他们深入了解创意产业和专业。

Jay Mehta是Netflix的视觉特效（VFX）主管，目前常驻于印度孟买。他在VFX行业拥有超过14年的经验；迄今为止，他已参与制作超过27部影视作品，职业生涯可谓相当精彩。他在课程中分享了行业知识、对整体工作流程的技术见解、视觉效果主管的角色和职责，以及观众都感兴趣的幕后趣事。

在踏入VFX行业之前，他大学专业实际上学的是电子工程。就像许多毕业生一样，他也曾为自己的职业道路而困扰过。他权衡了自己的选择：在完成电子工程专业后却转行，是否值得？如果真要转行，那为什么不追求自己喜欢的呢？那时，他刚好接触到了动画和视觉特效行业。

“当时，我参加了就像这样的课程，然后才开始考虑这个行业。这种课程真的很有帮助，因为你能从长期从事这个行业的专业人士那里深入了解到该行业，这让人感到非常兴奋。”他回忆道。过后，他便报读了视觉效果文凭课程，把过去都留在历史中。

他曾参与获得奥斯卡最佳视觉效果奖电影《黄金罗盘》和《少年派的奇幻漂流》的特效制作，还因电视剧的出色视觉效果而获得好莱坞邮政联盟奖（HPA）以及视觉效果协会奖（VES）的提名。他贡献的其他作品包括《特工卡特第一季》、《长城》、《海王》、《白雪公主与猎人》、《捉妖记2》、《封神三部曲》、《鼠来宝》、《波普先生的企鹅》、《波西·杰克逊与魔兽之海》等。

他解释说，视觉效果是一个图像数码化的过程，即通过修改、增强或添加电脑生成图像（CGI）的方式处理真人拍摄范围以外的镜头。他随后向观众展示了在《特工卡特》、《海王》以及《长城》里所运用到的视觉特效片段，让观众见证了原始的镜头如何加工成为最终的影视成品。

“娱乐业是世界上最大的产业之一；每个人都需要娱乐，不管是电视剧、电影或者游戏，所以娱乐业是永远都不会消亡的。”他分享道。

他还谈到了VFX行业的现况；随着Netflix、迪士尼+、Prime Video、Apple TV以及HBO Max等OTT平台的盛起，越来越多人选择在家中消费娱乐，从而对视觉特效相关人才的需求量激增。他说，许多工作室未来几年的订单已经预订下来，然而市场上的美术家或工作室依然短缺，所以现在正是视觉效果美术家加入该行业的黄金时期。

他还分享了一些如何在该行业脱颖而出的小诀窍，包括：掌握行业基础知识、有耐心、多练习、管理时间和设定目标、观察周围环境、学习团队合作、不断尝试新事物、突破自己的极限并不断改进、勇于提出问题、展示最好的作品、学无止境等，因为随着新技术的出现，行业也在不断变化。

对于有兴趣学习视觉特效的学生，他建议先了解视觉特效设计的各个环节 - 绘画、建模、纹理、灯光等，之后再探索自己的兴趣或专长所在，除非先前已经清楚知道自己想要专攻什么科目。

“你必须拥有足够的热情推动自己往目标前进，这样的话，视觉特效的工作能让你几乎每天都尝试到新事物。”他总结道。

The One Academy在过去长达30年来，持续秉持其“专才培育专才”的教学理念，致力于为学生们提供最好的美术课程，其中的文凭与学士学位课程包括广告与平面设计、室内建筑与设计、数码动画与游戏设计、数码媒体设计、广告插画与电影美术、电影视觉特效、纯美术、ESMOD巴黎时装设计等。欲了解更多详情，请游览www.toa.edu.my、拨电03-7875 5510、或电邮至[email protected]以获取更多信息。