Previs / Layout Artist (Temporary Assignment)

This position is for a temporary engagement through our staffing partner Yoh Services.

Candidates must be authorized to work in the United States for this position.

Summary: 

We're looking for an experienced Previs or Layout Artist to join the Cinematography Team at Naughty Dog. As a member of the Cinematography Team, you’ll be creating scenes for gameplay, cinematic, and in-game sequences and contribute to the overall development of our cinematic and previsualization pipeline. With a deep understanding of Maya and a genuine passion for visual storytelling and game design, you should be able to demonstrate skills in shot composition, camera movement, character animation, scene blocking, lighting, and editorial pacing.

Responsibilities: 

• Break down scripts with us to create previs that considers cameras, lighting, animation, environment, props, and fx as we work with multiple departments toward a common vision
• Create shots that clearly depict staging, blocking, camera motion, and character performance to best tell the story and serve game design needs.
• Be a strong creative collaborator, with the ability to pitch your ideas verbally
• Develop the assets needed to build scenes for previs, shot work, testing, and more
• Manipulate performance capture data to stage scenes after shoots
• Develop gameplay cameras with design and animation teams, with an eye toward scripted and procedural solutions.
• Help oversee the cinematography throughout the game, working with the animation team to maintain our technical and aesthetic goals
• Communicate frequently with other developers, from the artists in concept and design to the technicians in tools and programming, to keep everyone involved in the overall storytelling process
• Be a problem solver in finishing tasks: Find the best tool for the job and the right person to assist in following through on a task
• Help us test and improve our Cinematography and Previs assets and tools as we work together in developing better ways of working
• Communicate clearly with production staff and manage production tasks on time or raise concerns as necessary
• Maintain technical cleanliness in all work and proactively identify possible technical issues before proceeding
• Play the game frequently to truly understand it in context to help us best tell the story and keep the experience immersive

Requirements & Skills: 

• The cinematography team are the visual storytellers.  From script to shoot, we expect you to help build sets, animations, shots, scenes, and edits that help answer whatever question is being asked.  We’ll work together to plan shoots, put final scenes together, and then get it all working in game, seamlessly and beautifully
• Team Attitude: We’re a small team that believes in open communication and exploration, all with a may-the-best-idea-win attitude.
• Maintaining a spirit of collaboration and excitement even through creative differences is a must
• We’re in a unique position to collaborate with every discipline in the office, teaching and learning with our peers as we develop ideas into action
• Kind and clear communication skills are a must
• We empower teammates to take ownership of scenes and tasks and value those who show grit and determination in pursuing our mutual goals and finding ways to unblock themselves when obstacles arise
• Since we’re often at the inception of the creative process, each of us should have a deep creative toolkit from which to problem solve and best visualize the question being asked.  We often won’t have a precise blueprint for how to proceed, we are the ones creating the blueprint for success
• Desire to Grow.  We believe in a growth mindset.  We’re at the forefront of what’s possible in interactive cinematic storytelling, and want you to be excited to learn, grow, and innovate along with us as we create thrilling and seamless experiences for gamers

Bonus Skills:

• 3+ years in a previs/layout/cinematography role
• Maya generalist skills for previs modeling, rigging, lighting, etc
• Experience with keyframe character previs animation
• Experience with scripting and camera design work
• Experience working with motion capture data from capture through processing
• Passion for visual storytelling, camera work, editing, and game design

As a part of the Naughty Dog application process, candidates will be expected to provide a portfolio or demo reel of their work and may be asked to complete a Cinematic test.