Animation Grad Worked on Mad Max: Fury Road

Computer Animation grad Ariana Miller is not afraid of hard work, which is exactly the reason why she’s been working steadily as a compositor for multiple animation projects. Her first job post-graduation was for Mamba, an animation company in Costa Mesa , where she worked on a Sketchers commercial. 18-hour days were the norm, so when she had to work 12 hour days that felt like a breeze. One of the most important lessons she learned was the importance of communication; sending daily updates to her boss and team members was crucial in getting the job done on time.

After the commercial wrapped, the producer recommended Ariana to work on motion graphics for TMZ promos. She worked for a few days using After Effects and Nuke, which fortunately she knew very well. The lead animator actually had no experience using Nuke, so all the work that involved that particular software was assigned to Ariana. That’s a sure way to impress your boss – know something that the head of the department doesn’t!

The next job she booked was from diligent efforts using the professional social networking site LinkedIn, where she is now working from home as a compositor on the feature film Sinbad the 5th Voyage. Her title on this particular film is Junior Compositor, and duties include set extensions, paint outs, tracking, color correction, projections and more.

Since then, Ariana has worked as a stereoscopic compositor on Guardians of the Galaxy, X-Men: Days of Future Past and the hit 2015 summer movie, Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy.

Congratulations on your accomplishments, Ariana!