A snapshot of Visual Effects, Digital Arts & Animation Student Tommaso Capruzzi by Aurélie Nydegger 

Visual Effects, Digital Arts & Animation student Tommaso Capruzzi shares what he loves about learning his craft at Catalyst. Photography by our recent intern: designer, photographer and filmmaker Aurélie Nydegger.

What I love about Visual Effects is the absolute freedom. You can create things that exist only in your imagination. You can create stories that you can't tell, you can't see. You have the greatest freedom of imagination and you can create whatever you want. There really are infinite possibilities. 

The first year at Catalyst was an introduction to the craft and art of VFX. In the first semester, we started with the basics of everything, like filmmaking in general, production, directing, post production, flash colours, how the camera works, compositing a set. We are a bit like cinematographers. We don't spend all day in front of a computer building our world in 3D. There are several stages before that.

When a project starts, we meet before we set up and it's always different, unless it's all CGI, like in advertising for example. On a film shoot, I have to be part of the crew to supervise and make sure that everything – camera, shot, lights and all the little electrical things – are in place. It's important for my VFX production that everything is perfectly placed, so that I don't have any problems with realism or perspective when I start editing and special effects on my computer.

In VFX we learn to use 2D and 3D Photoshop, After Effects, and also the various editing software. We also have to learn how to analyse film footage in order to optimise our work, because in essence we are creating a virtual film, like a video game. Throughout the year we make small projects, both personal and in collaboration with other sections of Catalyst, such as the film and music students, not to mention the actors. It's a group effort, you'll never work alone in a VFX production.