Sorry, we have no job vacancies at Gizmo

However, we are always looking for good, reliable, experienced freelancers. We are keen to hear from people with proven experience in modelling, rigging, animation, character animation or 'all-rounders', ideally using the latest version of 3DS Max and especially if you are experienced in TV/video animation. Please get in touch.

Sorry, we do not provide Work Experience for students
and we do not respond to enquiries from employment agencies.

Please don't send us your showreels, CVs or job application letters. We get them in the post and by email almost daily and we REALLY don't have any vacancies at all. We have previously tried to reply to as many people as we can who send us CVs and showreels, however we now receive so many it's becoming a full-time job just replying! So please don't expect a response if you do still send us a showreel, CV, job or work placement request.

For advice on how to get into the industry, please visit the following site who have a jobs board and some good advice:

http://www.film-tv.co.uk

Gizmo's Advice:
We are frequently asked by students and graduates how to get a job in graphics or animation and the television industry, so here is our advice:

An employer will generally want to see what your work is like instead of what qualification you have, therefore a good portfolio or showreel of your work will show an employer far more about you than a qualification ever can - even if you do get a First Class Honours Degree. Doing a particular course does not guarantee you a job, but it should give you the opportunity to create some good work to show employers.

What to put in a portfolio?
No matter what field of the industry you are trying to get a job in, anything extra that you can show as well as what is relevant to the job you are going for will be a bonus. For example, printed graphics, paintings, photography, photos of models/murals/sculptures etc in a portfolio as well as graphics and animation on CD, DVD or VHS. A website with your work on it will also show that you have some web knowledge. These 'added extras' may just give you the edge over someone else, as most employers would want to have someone with some extra skills.

What to put on your showreel?
Your best work and stuff that shows what you can do. Unfortunately for some reason, everybody has robots and spaceships on their showreel. Don't do it! Unless you are going for a job at Star Trek. Games companies may like to see that sort of thing, but they'll want to see really good robots and spaceships. Maybe create a title sequence for a fictional programme, or create an architectural walkthrough, an advert for a fictional product or a medical animation? These are far more like the sort of real jobs that most companies create.

Try to show work in a variety of styles - when you do get a job, one day you may be doing work for MTV - all cool and trendy, the next job may be for Saga "over 50s" Holidays or an advert for cheese spread or a title sequence for a documentary programme or a flower show! So try to show you can work in a number of styles.

And read through any covering letter, cv or email for mistakes - if you can't spot mistakes in your own letter/email, an employer may think you are sloppy and won't spot mistakes in your graphics!

What Software to learn?
There are a few basic programmes that a lot of the industry uses:
Photoshop, Maya, 3D Studio Max, Softimage XSI, Combustion, After Effects, Director, Dreamweaver, Flash to name some of the more popular ones.

But there are many companies that use their own custom written software. An example of this is Pixar (creators of Toy Story, Monsters Inc. etc). Their website says:

"In general, at Pixar we look for broad artistic and technical skills, rather than ability to run one package or another. We concentrate on finding people with breadth, depth, communication skills and the ability to collaborate. If you have those attributes, we can teach you the tools."

And to demonstrate that, in an advert for a Feature Film Animator, they state:

"Computer animation experience helpful but not required."

They are looking for people who can animate, anyone can learn a piece of software. That said, anyone who can animate really well and knows one or more of the popular pieces of software stands in a better position to get a job.

And finally, good luck!