’m originally from Brazil.
Only a few lucky people had
the opportunity to work in
the visual effects industry in
my country. Formal training
was scarce and the few schools that existed
were expensive and difficult to get to. So
like many artists starting out back then,
I took the self-teaching route. I got into
graphic design with an early version of
CorelDRAW. This acted as a platform for me
to put my ideas into practice. In the Nineties,
computers were more readily available to the
consumer and the emerging technology was
fascinating. I was always curious about how
to create shapes; moving and experimenting
with these objects was addictive, I would
spend days and nights playing. Everything I
learnt and experimented with added to my
knowledge and ultimately helped me stand
out from the crowd.
I started my bachelor’s in Advertising
and Marketing while I was on this
voyage of discovery with graphic design.
Unfortunately, my course focused heavily
on finance and management, but it did also
expose me to editorial for the very first
time, opening my eyes to new possibilities.
After taking a couple of video production
classes, I got an internship at the university
helping the video department with
content creation. At that time, tape was
still the format of choice and a lot of the
department’s tapes contained pre-recorded
material from lectures and conferences
held by the university. It was great to be
there and to participate in the talks hosted
by the university while learning. I was
also in charge of the recording, editing
and reproduction of the material. With
the recording, much of the camera work
(Betacam), stage lighting, sound and
equipment maintenance fell to me, that all
proved to be extremely important later in
my career. Even more significant was the
access to the advanced editing tool, Avid
Media Composer. This was when I truly
started to feel that narrative and story
documentation were things that I really
wanted to pursue.There wasn’t much software data or
information available back then, but again,
experimenting and getting involved in all
sorts of projects – student projects/short
films/music videos – proved to be invaluable.
Each experience not only taught me about
the tools, but also how to react in different
work environments, especially with clients,
and how to best use my skills. It didn’t take
much for me to fall in love with motion
graphics and After Effects.
There were few artists who could
actually work in high-end commercials and
expensive projects, but with a leap of faith,Joao Sita talks about how an artist’s heritage should be drawn on as a source of inspiration
AN ARTIST’S jOURNEy
I
Pro thoughts
Joao worked as compositing
supervisor on Jurassic World
and san Andreasindustry
Joao Sita