Exceptional Minds Digital Arts School for Young Adults with Autism Involved in the "Definitive Industry Bible for Visual Effects"

SHERMAN OAKS, Calif., Oct. 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly published handbook created by the prestigious Visual Effects Society (VES) and described as the "definitive industry Bible for VFX" was co-edited by Susan Zwerman, an award-winning visual effects (VFX) producer who helped start Exceptional Minds in 2011 as one of the first schools to train young men and women on the spectrum for opportunities in the visual effects and other digital arts fields.

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She says industry-accepted principles of visual effects design and execution are incorporated in the Exceptional Minds vocational curriculum. "It might surprise a lot of people to know that Exceptional Minds is a very comprehensive, serious three-year program. We use all the industry best practices," says Zwerman, the recipient of the 2013 Frank Capra Achievement Award by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) who, along with VES Chair and renowned VFX Supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, edited the second edition of The VES Handbook of Visual Effects: Industry Standard VFX Practices and Procedures.  

Exceptional Minds was started as a bridge between high school and the working world for young adults with autism, 750,000 of whom are expected to reach adulthood in the U.S. over the next decade with few prospects for meaningful employment. The school, a 501C nonprofit, is unique in that it prepares students with autism for careers through professional accreditation and real work experience in the visual and digital arts, including technical training for Adobe (ACA) certification, job readiness skills and a professional reel/portfolio that graduates can use to seek employment in the fields of animation, rotoscoping, and visual affects.

Over the past four years, Exceptional Minds has developed a close working relationship with the entertainment industry that has provided its students with experience – and, in many cases, movie credit. Exceptional Minds students have worked on several high-profile projects, including post-production for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes and Oscar-nominated movie American Hustle, plus the end-credit screen crawl for the 2012 motion picture Lawless.

Exceptional Minds graduated its first class in June, with its alumni finding paid work in the industry due in large part to the dedication of Susie Zwerman. "It has been a real joy to be able to use my experience and contacts in the visual effects industry to help set up the program from the beginning and, more recently, to bring in work for the grad students," says Zwerman, who is a member of Exceptional Minds' advisory board.

The second edition of The VES Handbook of Visual Effects: Industry Standard VFX Practices and Procedures was published by Focal Press, a Taylor & Francis Group, last month. The updated guide provides methods, tricks and shortcuts earned through decades of real-world, hands-on experience by the best and brightest in the industry. It has been reviewed as "..the definitive visual effects textbook for our times.." by Animation World Network and "A 'must' for anyone involved in any aspect of visual effects production" by BookWatch. In it, the handbook covers stereoscopic moviemaking, color management, facial capture, virtual productions, 3D conversions, compositing of live-action and CG elements – all important technologies that Zwerman has introduced to students at Exceptional Minds as they prepare for careers in digital animation and visual effects.

The handbook is available through online booksellers such as Amazon.com http://amzn.to/Ya8xnC. In-depth bonus chapters are available at www.focalpress.com/cw/zwerman.

About Exceptional Minds (http://www.exceptionalmindsstudio.org):

Exceptional Minds is a non-profit vocational center and working production studio for young adults on the autism spectrum. It was chartered in 2011 to provide the training necessary for creatively gifted individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) who may not otherwise be able to make the transition from high school to careers. Exceptional Minds offers technical proficiency and work readiness training that prepares students for careers in graphic arts, animation, web design, visual effects and rotoscoping. Located in Sherman Oaks, California, Exceptional Minds is both an instructional learning facility and a working studio with hands-on student involvement in production projects, many for the film industry.

SOURCE Exceptional Minds