Cinematic Artist (Contract)

Join the award-winning team that created God of War

Santa Monica Studio is seeking a Contract Cinematic Artist for the development of an upcoming new title. Do you love collaborating with talented developers to build genre-defining games? Join us as we embark on a new journey!

The Contract Cinematic Artist contributes to the overall project vision by utilizing camera composition and cinematic motion to present our character performances and story beats to the player. They have practical experience in prototyping, developing, and implementing animated cameras, can effectively balance narrative goals with technical constraints, and have a proven track record of execution from concept to completion.

The Contract Cinematic Artist will work closely with directors, leads, artists, and designers to deliver visually stunning camera work in support of the narrative goals of a large-scale new project.

The ideal candidate has held a junior or mid-level role on at least one published title, has a strong grasp of cinematic language, is comfortable working in Maya and MotionBuilder, and has worked with multiple game engines and animation systems. The ideal candidate is passionate about the craft of cinematography, and has a proven ability to combine creativity with technical capability to deliver visually stunning in-game narrative experiences.

Responsibilities

• Assist the Narrative team with script breakdowns, scene staging, and layout
• Support the Narrative team with both live action and 3D pre-visualization
• Operate the virtual camera when shooting on the motion capture stage
• Process and clean up camera data following motion capture shoots
• Animate focus pulling and depth of field for cinematics
• Hand-animate cameras for cinematics and other narrative moments
• Assist with motion capture shoots, informing the stage crew of prop needs, checking for continuity and keeping track of editing needs for camera
• Give concise and timely feedback to outsourcing teams when needed
• Proactively facilitate requests or information needs regarding animated cameras
• Actively advance skill set and abilities by keeping aware of industry trends and techniques, evaluating competitive products, and learning new software packages and traditional art methods

Requirements

• A. in fine arts or relevant curriculum, or equivalent skillset
• 1-3 years of industry or related experience
• A demo reel that demonstrates strong knowledge of fundamental cinematography principles
• Background in photography or cinematography
• Skilled in conveying framing ideas using rough storyboards
• High level of proficiency in Maya
• High comfort level with learning and utilizing animation systems and game engine pipelines
• Ability to rapidly prototype, iterate, and explore different approaches to shots
• Ability to succeed in a creative, team-oriented environment
• Excellent communication, time-management, and organizational skills
• Ability to reach across multiple disciplines to gather feedback and address cross-functional issues
• An enthusiasm for practical innovation and the ability to bring new ideas to the table

Preferred Experience

• AAA experience
• Experience working with MotionBuilder
• Comfortable with basic scripting
• Experience working with proprietary animation engines and toolsets
• Experience with martial arts, acting, or dance

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