Serena Lam, MPC

What were you doing before your course?

After a slow year as a runner for an animation company, I began to feel disillusioned at the thought of never getting a real job in the industry. People only ever told me “be a runner”, it’s the only way to get your foot in the door. 

I started to become desperate to do something creative and when a friend told me about Escape Studios’ courses, the Compositing Comprehensive course jumped out at me.

What was the most important thing you learnt at Escape?

The most important things were the necessary skills to get my first real job. If I hadn’t done the course I would never have made it into the industry and learning how to use the right tools in the right way was the key.

A few months after I finished, I was interviewed by MPC, and was hired to go straight to work on the film 'Troy'. After work had finished I moved to Double Negative to work on the film 'The Chronicles of Riddick', the follow up to 'Pitch Black'.

What advice would you give to anyone thinking about a career in visual effects?

This industry is hardcore; you have to really love what you’re doing or you’ll go crazy Thankfully I do!

[Images - Top: Batman Begins/Warner Bros., Top Right: The Chronicles of Riddick/Universal, Bottom Right: Troy/Warner Bros.]