I know it is pretty safe to make a post. This part of the The Animation Garden has been fallow for a few seasons.
In another animation garden, where we attempt to grow animators in an industrialised system, an unexpected pressure created a test bed that has borne some productivity.
Where I teach required greater efficiency. To a bean counter that means; create more in less time. That way we have the same or greater output for a lesser input. They, the disconnected, cut hours.
The ultimate product in contemporary teaching is that a student leaves the place with a qualification.
In the wrenching and re-arranging to create greater efficiencies with education regarded as a commodity (something that can be bought and sold), an observation can be made that the re-branded "education" has become dislocated from learning, and a qualification has become dislocated from knowledge and practical skills. Knowledge has become superficial knowing that knowledge practice will gain a student skills, rather than the development of a practical skills based knowledge from practising a craft. It's like gardening by watching gardening shows online or on TV, or cooking by purchasing cookbooks - the screens and pages become a barrier rather than a portal.
An essential element in any creative endeavour is time. More specifically time allocated to practice. For enlightened practitioners that also means time to play. Best to use the terms "research" or, "experiment" if discussing the ideas in a business planning environment. I would contend that one can be busy at play. But futile attempts at convincing a spreadsheet enveloped soul sucking abacus clicker* detracts from essential play time. (*They thrive in the industrialised education system).
Back to the test bed. The above-mentioned system will be closing the productive experiment down soon. It was built in a place that may not meet the suitability of the corporate controllers. So I'll bring the ideas out into the sun in The Animation Garden.
This is a series of posts accumulated on 'self-directed learning' for second year animation students. The most recent first:
At the end of this year the animators around you would have been practising and studying for "2" years. If it's only in class time then that would be about 1152 hours (if you came to work in every class); about a quarter of a two year apprenticeship. An apprentice working at a craft for 8 hours per day 5 to 6 days per week would usually clock up about 4000 to 4800 hours of practice over 2 years. Good on those animators who have been practising the additional hours. Even without the full amount of time applied to learning animation, look at the amazing amount of learning and animation production you have achieved.
This is a two part video essay on creativity that is meant to be inspiring:
Showing posts with label Editorial. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Editorial. Show all posts
More On Why There Is No Substitute For Productivity
I thought I would share an observation based on my introduction to the world of games animation that I think relates back to why for learning animation you need to keep a focus on productivity.
When I started in my new job some went to great lengths to explain to me that games animation would be very different to the other jobs I had done. I'm afraid this hasn't really been the truth, there are specific qualities your animation needs to have and your animation is subject to constant change to suit the game, but I haven't really found these any more difficult to deal with (so far) than I would the requirements of an animation director with a specific vision for his or her product.
Day 054/365 - Captain Jack plays Pac Man by Great BeyondSocially it has been an interesting experience, with over a decade of animation experience now I'm among the older animators at the studio, but the younger animators have more experience at meeting the specific stylistic needs of a game. As a result I've been asking lots of questions, and have been getting as much information out of younger less experienced animators as I can. Some are reluctant to talk about specifics at all, while other have felt the need to apologise for not articulating themselves very well. I've been wondering why this would be the case.
After a few discussions with my co-workers I can think of two main reasons why a lot of animators are weary of spelling out in detail how they do their job, especially to another experienced animator.
Firstly one of the senior and I believe best animators expressed to me that so much of what he dose has been learned as he works, that when confronted with explaining how or why he does something he often finds that he has never really articulated it before. I guess you would explain this as having a feel for how it should work, and a casual observer might explain it away as talent, when in reality it has come from years of trail and error. When explaining to me how he does something this senior animator often has to stop and consider something for a moment before continuing, of sometimes even has to star over from another angle in order to capture his meaning. You can really see that even though he knows what he is doing in an intimate level, it is not something he has read from a book, or that can be conveniently encapsulated in a quote, he is struggling to bring together strands of accumulated knowledge into a cohesive sentence.
Secondly I think that because working animators are self taught to such a degree, we all have to cope with a level of insecurity. I know when expressing my thoughts on how to do something, I have to combat the fear that someone will leap forward and say, “Hey you don't know what your talking about!” And in a sense they would be right, because my opinions are largely based on observations about how I work and they could be entirely different for every other animator. There are undeniable facts about how animation works of course, but even then there is the matter of where they should fit into your priorities, if they should be considered on their own or in connection with other factors and so on. See what I mean? Its scary throwing your ideas out there, its something that confronts you as a blogger too, every time I post a how too up here on the ARC I'm wondering it I'm finally going to get caught out :P
So this poses a question for students. If animators are reluctant or unable in some cases to share how they work, and it turns out to be a unique thing for each animator anyway, how do you learn?
Well the same way every successful animator did, by doing it!
Getting it wrong.
Doing it again.
Asking someone what they think is wrong with it.
Doing it a different way.
Comparing it to some animation you respect.
Doing it better.
Then doing it again just because you should.
Guess what? Do some more!
I am convinced it is the only way you can make it. Having worked with hundreds of animators in my life and having seen with my own eyes the myriad of different ways they approach their work I am becoming more and more convinced that the way you animate is less and less relevant, what matters is the end result. Set high stands for your work and find a way to get there. It can't come from a teacher, a text book or a blog, it can only come from within you.
Animator by London Short Film Festival
Is there time in your classroom set aside for just shutting up and working towards this? If not WHY? Maybe your need to sit down as a group and talk about it. I have experienced three different learning environments for animation here in Brisbane and I would say that in every case there needs to be less time spent talking about animation and more time spent with mouths shut, heads down and minds focused on production.
I'm afraid in a time when education is a product provided to customers instead of a social service and funding is dictated in part by “customer satisfaction”, teachers have been robbed of the ability to employ sit down and shut up tactics in our tertiary class rooms. Long gone are the good old days (in my opinion) when a teacher was trusted to know what was good for you in the long term and was empowered to make you endure tough times now for your future benefit. So ITS UP TO YOU, maybe your class can agree on times when there is no chit chat, agree to levels of output beyond the minimum required to pass (passing isn't enough for a career). If you're going to be respected like adults within tertiary education then perhaps its time your class sat down together and made some adult decisions. Decisions about sacrifice, about long term planing, about a reaching a fulfilling future.
What action are you going to take? You want this don't you? PROVE IT!
When I started in my new job some went to great lengths to explain to me that games animation would be very different to the other jobs I had done. I'm afraid this hasn't really been the truth, there are specific qualities your animation needs to have and your animation is subject to constant change to suit the game, but I haven't really found these any more difficult to deal with (so far) than I would the requirements of an animation director with a specific vision for his or her product.
Day 054/365 - Captain Jack plays Pac Man by Great Beyond
After a few discussions with my co-workers I can think of two main reasons why a lot of animators are weary of spelling out in detail how they do their job, especially to another experienced animator.
Firstly one of the senior and I believe best animators expressed to me that so much of what he dose has been learned as he works, that when confronted with explaining how or why he does something he often finds that he has never really articulated it before. I guess you would explain this as having a feel for how it should work, and a casual observer might explain it away as talent, when in reality it has come from years of trail and error. When explaining to me how he does something this senior animator often has to stop and consider something for a moment before continuing, of sometimes even has to star over from another angle in order to capture his meaning. You can really see that even though he knows what he is doing in an intimate level, it is not something he has read from a book, or that can be conveniently encapsulated in a quote, he is struggling to bring together strands of accumulated knowledge into a cohesive sentence.
Secondly I think that because working animators are self taught to such a degree, we all have to cope with a level of insecurity. I know when expressing my thoughts on how to do something, I have to combat the fear that someone will leap forward and say, “Hey you don't know what your talking about!” And in a sense they would be right, because my opinions are largely based on observations about how I work and they could be entirely different for every other animator. There are undeniable facts about how animation works of course, but even then there is the matter of where they should fit into your priorities, if they should be considered on their own or in connection with other factors and so on. See what I mean? Its scary throwing your ideas out there, its something that confronts you as a blogger too, every time I post a how too up here on the ARC I'm wondering it I'm finally going to get caught out :P
So this poses a question for students. If animators are reluctant or unable in some cases to share how they work, and it turns out to be a unique thing for each animator anyway, how do you learn?
Well the same way every successful animator did, by doing it!
Getting it wrong.
Doing it again.
Asking someone what they think is wrong with it.
Doing it a different way.
Comparing it to some animation you respect.
Doing it better.
Then doing it again just because you should.
Guess what? Do some more!
I am convinced it is the only way you can make it. Having worked with hundreds of animators in my life and having seen with my own eyes the myriad of different ways they approach their work I am becoming more and more convinced that the way you animate is less and less relevant, what matters is the end result. Set high stands for your work and find a way to get there. It can't come from a teacher, a text book or a blog, it can only come from within you.
Animator by London Short Film Festival
Is there time in your classroom set aside for just shutting up and working towards this? If not WHY? Maybe your need to sit down as a group and talk about it. I have experienced three different learning environments for animation here in Brisbane and I would say that in every case there needs to be less time spent talking about animation and more time spent with mouths shut, heads down and minds focused on production.
I'm afraid in a time when education is a product provided to customers instead of a social service and funding is dictated in part by “customer satisfaction”, teachers have been robbed of the ability to employ sit down and shut up tactics in our tertiary class rooms. Long gone are the good old days (in my opinion) when a teacher was trusted to know what was good for you in the long term and was empowered to make you endure tough times now for your future benefit. So ITS UP TO YOU, maybe your class can agree on times when there is no chit chat, agree to levels of output beyond the minimum required to pass (passing isn't enough for a career). If you're going to be respected like adults within tertiary education then perhaps its time your class sat down together and made some adult decisions. Decisions about sacrifice, about long term planing, about a reaching a fulfilling future.
What action are you going to take? You want this don't you? PROVE IT!
Inspiration -> Perspiration -> Celebration
For a while now I've wanted to make a post that I could add to the Getting Started section of the ARC. Something that touches on my usual rant issue of facing up to the hard work involved in being an animator, but that I hope is also inspirational. For the Gen X'ers and Baby Boomers this might be a trip down memory lane, gor the Gen Y readers a bit of a history lesson.
Its hard to relate to people what it was like when the Muppet Show was on TV, the most similar thing I can think of today is Simpson's, but I don't know if that really does it justice. The Simpson's is great of course and was unique and ground breaking when it first appeared, but if it took a big step forward, then the Muppet Show took an intergalactic leap. A prime time sketch show for the whole family with puppets as the main characters, never before or since has there been anything like it. Or some of us might say, anything so wonderful.
You may be thinking this is all “lame” or be wondering what it has to do with animation. We'll if you are, then perhaps you need to take a closer look. The task set before a puppeteer is very similar to that set for an animator, you have to use your knowledge of design, posing, timing and spacing to convince your audience that something not real is alive. No-one did this better than Jim Henson and Frank Oz.
Of course there is one big difference between animation and puppetry, a puppeteer has to create their performance at the same time as we see it, they don't have the luxury of being able to work and rework the performance. They can rehearse, but in the end they have to get everything happening all at once. Yikes!
BUT. This provides us with a brilliant opportunity that can't really be seen when looking at an animator. These photos (featuring Jim Henson, Frank Oz and several other Muppet Show performers) are all scanned from an old book I have called Of Muppets & Men by Christopher Finch, my Mum picked it up for me at a garage sale bless her, its a brilliant book that takes you through the whole process of making the show, if you find it anywhere I would recomend snatching it up. What I love about these pictures is that you can see the end result and the artist at work at the same time (can't do that with animation can ya!). The Muppets themselves are pictures happiness and fun, while down below them you can see the puppeteer working, there faces show concentration, strain, energy and joy.
Lets do a little split screen experiment, look at Miss Piggy in this picture. A beautiful line of action, the effortless looking natural pose of a born performer.
Now look at Frank Oz working hard at the performance below. Focus, effort, determination.
Awesome!
Creating the illusion of life is not easy, it takes blood sweat and tears (well maybe not so much blood). It will take all of your determination, passion and resolve to succeed as an animator, there will be successes and failures, you will have to dedicate huge amounts of time to this difficult mistress, but connecting with people through your animation is exhilarating beyond what I can describe. Who knows, one day your work may even leave an ever lasting positive mark upon the world.
Animation (and probably puppetry too) makes for an amazing rewarding career, but you better turn up wearing your passion pants and hard working boots. For more great information about puppetry and how it relates to animation check out these posts from Eric's Awesome blog.
Procrastination
People must be sick of me prattling on about work, getting on with it, being productive and so on. I promise to give it a rest after this post and get on with some more specific animation tips and such. This post about procrastination from Zen Habits is great, and reminded me of some of my old students.Looking at the animation students from the outside in now instead of from within the eduction biz, I think the first point on the list is by far the most important. In fact I think this question brings more people to animation study than the actual animating..... Do I "really, really, really want to do it."
It makes animation education complicated, some students are raring to go while others are still just window shopping. I'm always wary of seeing animation as somehow special, perhaps its the same with all education. But I know this for sure, you can't become a competent professional animator on a whim, you must be committed. If you don't find an answer to this question you may get allotted one by default, because in many cases the window shopping can cost you the time you need to make the journey from fan to contributor.
Anyway, if you are sure being an animator is what you want and have been finding it difficult to get moving, I hope this article helps :)
Fill That Empty Space
So I'm on a bit of a thing about productivity in case you hadn't noticed. Its just become so clear to me that it is at the very heart of so many animation student problems. As important as learning the principles of animation is putting them into practice, making a start, moving forward, creating opportunities to make mistakes so that you can learn from them.
I think a hindrance to this for many is this unreal expectation that you will be able to just start doing great animation from the start, or that you shouldn't start until this is the case. This weird idea is at the heart of many student problems. I've seen students declare their love or hatred for a particular way of making animation (traditional, Flash, 3D etc) after just a few attempts of using it. I can tell you after more than a decade of professional animation in almost every medium that they are all the same in the end. But because the challenge of learning the software means some ugly work my need to be produced until you have a feel for the best way to use the tools students make the most amazing statements like, "I'm only going to make this kind of animation from now on." HA! what a crock. As if you can afford to be that fussy. I'm getting off topic, maybe my thoughts on what kinds of animation are right for you is a subject for another post.
I've been kicking around this simile that I thought might help some people see how making a start is something you just have to do no matter how uncertain you are of your abilities. Pottery!
Ready to throw by icyjumbo
Have you ever had a go at using a potters wheel? If you did high school art you probably have or at least you have seen it done. When I finished high school I applied for and was rejected by the animation courses I applied to, in a desperate attempt to find something creative to do for a year until I could re-apply I ended up enrolled in a ceramics course. It turned out to be good fun, though perhaps not what I wanted to do for a career. When you first sit down at a wheel there is no clay there for you, the wheel is an empty space. its up to you to fill it.
Typically this is done by getting a ball of clay and whacking it down hard on the disk so that it sticks to it well enough. Its not an exact science, you can get better at hitting the middle of the wheel in time, but its never perfectly centered as it has to be before you can really get a refined shape.
Centering by icyjumbo
You have to get the clay wet, spin the wheel fast and push hard on one side of it until it doesn't wobble any more as it goes around. Its called centering. Centering is an essential part of using the wheel, no-one is expected to be able to skip it, even the greatest potters have to start with an off centered lump of clay that then needs to be moulded into a suitable shape. Animation is the same, when I first block out a scene I don't expect it to be perfect, or perhaps we could say centered. I expect to start with something that is out of shape and off balance, then I set about getting it to look how I it needs to be. The more times I do that the faster I can make it happen, just like a master potter can center a piece of clay in seconds when it would take you or me much longer. It might even look like they have it under control from the very outset, but it is undeniable that they have started with an out of shape lump on the wheel, they are just very confident that they can get it how they need and achieve it efficiently.
Pottery Wheel by Scott Ableman
Every animator, no matter how great starts with something close to what they want and then enters into a process of making it look how they planned. That is normal, we don't sit scratching our chin for half an hour and then create a perfectly times string of the best possible poses that flow together without any problems. Just like a potter has to start with that lump of clay they threw down on the wheel, we have to start with our best guess as to what the poses should be. Yes that's right, I said guess. All of us start with a guess, with practice we get better at guessing, but as far as I can tell we never get to a point where we are 100% sure these will be the best poses and that the timing will be perfect. If an experienced animator has so start that way, then how silly is it to sit and do nothing because you expect it of yourself as a student?
Pottery Factory by usr.c
As always I want to stress that I'm not saying that there is no need to plan your animation, I'm talking about when it is time to make the transition from planning to producing. Allow yourself set times for each process, and when it is time to produce, don't procrastinate. Jump in. Whats the worst that can happen? You make a bad piece of animation? So what, I bet I and any other professional animator has made heaps more bad animations than you. Learn from it and start planning your next piece.
Hurry Up And Get It Wrong!
Wrong by Happy Dave
Most of the quality blogs with advice for animators out there have touched on the subject of productivity at some stage. Just recently DJ sent out an email about it, and there was this good post on the Spline Doctors Blog about working faster.
I was always a little tentative about touching the issue as a teacher because there was always a percentage of students in each class for whom the issue was taking the time to get it right, and the last thing they needed to hear about was ways to go faster. But now that I'm not teaching (apart from here on the ARC I guess) and my point of view has become an optional extra, I figure that only those motivated to get it all right are likely to be reading.
All that said I still feel the need to include this disclaimer. Non of what I'm about to say makes it acceptable to make anything but your best animation as a student. When experienced you can reach a point where you can assess the priorities of a production and adjust the quality level to suit, but if getting into the industry is your goal it will take the highest quality work you can produce. Being a productive student does help you learn more about animating as I posted about here, but this is something that should compliment your consistent focus on raising the quality of work you produce.
So it seems that the level of productivity I can manage is proving to be one of my biggest assets in my new job, it is definitely the thing about which I get the most compliments. Its usually followed on my part by a moment of paranoia where I ask, “but you happy with the quality of the work too aren't you?” But I have been reassured repeatedly that everyone is happy with that too. It is so ingrained in us that seed comes at the expense of quality, its even fair to say that in life it is true as a general rule, I would even go so far as to say that it is true of many aspects of animation. But life isn't that simple and there are some things we can get into the habit of doing that can perhaps make us faster and improve our animation.
As I said in the title its about messing it up as soon as you can. Or perhaps another way of putting it would be that once you allotted planning time is over and its time to animate, get some movement happening as quickly as you can. Go with your gut instinct and get a few keys down and then test it, its so easy these days, one click and you can watch your animation. You may come up with something horribly wrong, but you know what else you will come up with? A clear idea about what needs to be fixed!
I'm usually repulsed by my early tests, but not long after I screw my face up in disgust I start to think about what can be made better. Some other people I have worked with seem to go for hours without testing their work and I find it mind boggling. They must sit there for ages second guessing themselves, hesitating, rethinking, and then I bet (unless they are some kind of genius and I probably have met an animator or two in my time I would place in that category) they still get it wrong half the time. Animation, in case you hadn't noticed, is quite complicated and the chances of you nailing everything on the first go are tiny, even if you sit there thinking about it for ages.
ICK01-at244by-Anna Sattler by G & A Sattler
In an attempt to try and give you an idea of the kind of process I'm thinking about I though I might make up a kind of inner monologue narration of what its like when I'm working. Could be weird, but anyway, lets give it a go.
OK sooo the Fred (the character) is entering here and running over to the table where he pounds his fist down with rage.......
I'll need passing position and extreme walking poses about here, here, here, here and here. Then a pose where he settles his weight. Aaaand an anticipation followed by a pose with his fist down on the table.
TEST....Yuck!
So straight of I can see the walk is to slow, like a casual pace when he is meant to be angry and the ending looks too staged. What if he anticipated the slam down on the table (lifting his fist into the air) while settling his weight over both feet.
TEST....Yuck!
Now I can see I made the walk too fast, put an extra two frames back in each stride. The poses don't have any emotion. Think back to my planning and discussions with the director. Get a better Line of Action into those poses. Push for more change between the final poses so the pond on the table has more impact.
TEST... Mostly Yuck!
Some poses need more work. Start adding some extra keys or breakdowns.
TEST.... Yuck!
Some poses need more work. Changed my mind about the timing in that walk, take those frames back out. Start to think about spacing, get the foot stomping down in that walk and lots of effort in the punch.
TEST.... Yuck!
Some poses need more work (See the pattern emerging). Overdid the spacing in the feet, needs a slight ease in, will try more swing on the arms (stupid gymbal lock on the wrists). Not getting the impact in the slam on the table I want, will try an extra pose where the body has twisted and fist is dragging.
TEST... Yuck!
Some poses need more work.... etc etc
And so it goes on.
My point is that I get it wrong over and over and over, and that is my key to being productive. Embrace getting it wrong, rush to get it wrong as quickly as you can and as many times as you can. Boast to your friends about how wrong you got it. The more things you find wrong and try to fix (an important part of the process you shouldn't skip) the better your scene will be and the more you will learn about animating..... nice.
So get out there and start screwing up your animation folks. YAY! I got it wrong!
Caroline and Megan Jump for Joy! by tbonzzz_6
The Power of Acting It Out
A constant frustration in my dealings with students has been their reluctance to get out of their chair to act things out before they animate them. So I thought I'd do a post to try and show just how useful it can be. I've taken a line here that I made up and recorded myself to use as an example, its "Just Recover It".
So what poses are you going to animate with this line, and how are you going to time them. Well if you don't do enough planning then you will probably do the first thing you think off and there is a good chance it will be generic and that over time your acting scenes will become repetitive and predictable.
So why not stand up at your desk and act it out a few times?
So what poses are you going to animate with this line, and how are you going to time them. Well if you don't do enough planning then you will probably do the first thing you think off and there is a good chance it will be generic and that over time your acting scenes will become repetitive and predictable.
So why not stand up at your desk and act it out a few times?
- LATERAL THINKING - Here I ran through 29 different variations in under 2 minutes, it would take much more time to sketch that many versions, and even longer to pose them in 3D or Flash. Acting it out is by far the most efficient way to explore different possibilities for a scene before you animate, and the exploration of new ideas is the essence of consistent creativity. Sometimes I force myself to run through it over and over quite quickly because it makes me come up with variations I would never conceive if I was sitting down and musing about the scene.
- SUBTLE VARIATION - You don't have to come up with a completely different variation every time, once you find one that you think has potential you can start to refine your understanding of the scene. How will you time out the poses? How subtle or extreme will the changes between the poses be? Can you take the same poses and progress them in a different direction? Will it be better if you ad more poses or drop some out? All of these questions can be answered in a matter of minutes if you act the scene out over a few more times.
- CERTAINTY - No only will acting the scene make the planning faster, but the physical memory you have from doing what you want your character to do will help you to be more decisive as you animate. You will animate faster, produce more animation, get more practiced and become a better animator.
- EXTRA BONUS - I often find when I act a scene out that there will be little elements to the the movement that I would never have thought of otherwise. It might be something small like a little tilt on the head as I move from one pose to the next, or in scene where the character is moving around a lot it might be something big like realising your going to have to move the feet around more (I find this a lot and it helps me to avoid my characters becoming planted like trees which is what I resort back to if I'm not careful).
- YOUR COMMUNICATION SKILLS - If you get into the habit of doing this then over time your self consciousness about it will fade. Soon you will be able to act things out as you talk to other animators about their work or yours. You will be better equipped to communicate your meaning and understanding of the work so you will learn more from these conversations and who knows you may even end up being an animation director one day.
ANNOUNCING!!!
So this last Thursday I give my first guest lecture to the animation students at Southbank Institute of Technology since leaving as a teacher and rejoining the industry. On the whole things seemed to go pretty well, and thankyou to all the new people I met and old friends who came along. I used the occasion to announce my student animation challenge. TAAADAAAA!
That's right! Sounds crazy don't it. Produce a minimum of 2 seconds of animation 6 out of every 7 days. But stay with me please there is logic to to my madness (I hope).
You see for all the great blogs, all the great books and all the great teachers, lecturers and mentors there is still one great reason why many who study animation never reach an employable standard of work. They simply don't produce enough animation, my new mantra has become, The Learning Of Animation Is In The Doing Of It.
As a student of animation how often do you go home at the end of the day not actually having done any animation? Courses have to meet criteria and jump through legislative hoops that mean they usually can't just have class after class of animating, and maybe that wouldn't be a good thing anyway. I'm talking about you taking on the responsibility to pick up the slack. If you have classes in a day that will involve you producing some animation then you're covered, but on other days you need do something about it.
Every single day there should be time set aside to practice the use of timing and spacing (maybe some posing too). These things are a wonderful never ending riddle and every moment you can find to explore them is precious. And why did I make it 6 days a week? Well just because I want you to know this is bloody serious people, yes I want your weekend time too! (grin)
Of course I can't accurately quantify how much this will improve your work or employability, but just think about it for a bit. Apply it to anything really. If you do something for at least a couple of hours every single day for a couple of years you will get better at it. Its so simple. You still need to learn new stuff of course, but just as much emphasis has to be put on putting things into practice and an unavoidable fact with animation is that this is going to take some time. All I'm asking is that you make the time.
There have been a few things that have led me to this idea, one was seeing how my own skills kicked up a notch as soon as I was back into production, another was watching what happened to some of my better students who graduated last year over the past few months. Unfortunately the economic crisis means that no matter how good they are, it will be a while before there are jobs around for them, those who have kept animating are continuing to learn and improve while others are sadly fading from view. And there was this youtube clip I stumbled across, its from a blog called Awake @ The Wheel, its a bit cheesy in a self help kind of way and he is talking about business ideas not animating. But the principle is universal I think. If you want to be an animator you have to start being a productive animator TODAY!
So on the rare occasions when you don't have some animation to do set by your teachers, what kinds of things might you animate I wonder. Well I might put some ideas in the comments of this post some time this weekend. Why don't you put some in there too :)
Goals worth Setting
I can see from the blogs of some of this years second year students studying animation at the Southbank Institute of technology that they have been encouraged to set themselves goals for the year. A good idea I think as long as its an activity entered into with earnest intentions.
It got me thinking about what I would recommend as a goal for an animation student, and I think I stumbled across something that creates one of the biggest differences between the work of students and professional animators. There is quite a gap, and the change when you get your first job it quite dramatic.
My first job was at Disney (Sydney Australia) where they were setting the highest standard for animation in the country at the time and pushing it even higher as they made the transition to feature length films. Almost overnight my attitude towards work was totally renovated, suddenly I was working my ass off at a higher quality of work than I couldn't possibly have imagined before. So what happens, why is this sudden lift in the work standard possible. Its not because my knowledge of animation principles changed that much (making an intentional distinction between knowledge of and understanding of ), its more immediate than that. I think a large part of the difference is that students (and teachers) often give themselves permission to call a piece of animation finished so they can move on far too early.
You see in a workplace the studio has agreed to supply animation that meets certain criteria, standards are met and there is absolutely no debate, even seemingly subjective elements of the work have usually been defined in advance in order to secure the contract. There is no hiding behind “style” or “personal taste”, it has to look how it was promised it would look or there is going to be a serious problem. Try to get some work past your supervisor that does not meet that standard then you will find your self being sent back to do it again. Its never a case of, we will address those things next time.
I have first hand experience of three different educational institutions and have never seen these conditions reproduced for an animation student. In some ways perhaps they can't be, or shouldn't be, but I think there is room to move in this direction. Lets look at a simple example, I can see from the blogs that another good activity set for the second years upon their return was to revisit a bouncing ball exercise, a good quicky to get you back in the swing of things. I would bet that a percentage of the people who have animated a bouncing ball haven't quite captured the real feel of something with weight, what percentage I wonder. How many really have the feel of a bouncing ball, be honest, I mean really feel like the real thing, 80%.... 50%....(eeek)25%. And yet, everyone will move on to the next thing. Just wouldn't happen in a workplace.
So we are dealing with some sensitive stuff here aren't we. A percentage of the people in any animation course (and I mean any course) just aren't going to get good enough to have a future in the trade. What they do learn may come in handy in other work, and they have paid their fees so its not like they don't deserve or have the right to be there. If a percentage of students just aren't going to get it for one reason or another then we can't stop everyone's progress until it gets through. Even excluding the students with no future as animators, everyone learns at different speeds and there are some who would be equally short changed by the lack of progress.
So the system isn't perfect, and I've beaten my head against that system and am not going to encourage anyone else to go through the same. What can be controlled however (believe it or not) is what's going on inside your head. Your goals need to be more than vague ideas of what you want, you can strive to make them as solid and rigid as they would be in a workplace.
Don't let yourself move on unless you have nailed something. Simple right? NOT!
For starters your class is going to be plodding along at the speed your teacher thinks best suits the skill level of the group, you don't control when the class has to move on to the next thing. The next thing is how do you know when you have nailed something, at some stage your teacher is going to have to say its time to move on, and as covered it may be before you have really got it right (don't blame them, they are just doing their best within the structure, something you will have to do when you are working at an animation studio too).
The first problem is the simplest to solve, but perhaps not the easiest. Here it is, You Just Have To Find The Time. I see students choose to put other things in front of their animation all the time (sport , a domestic duty of some kind, a social engagement, etc. etc.), and who am I to tell you how to live your own personal life. No-one and that's that. But I have a simple fact for you to consider....
If you need to spend some extra time on something before moving on then you have to find that time within your life. I can't put it any simpler than that.
I guess there are many ways to come at the second issue, you could ask a professional animator for their opinion or use the best of your class mates as a benchmark. But I have another idea that I think is better. Find a video example of something similar happening that is either live action or a piece of animation that you hold in very high regard, when you are testing your animation constantly compare it with your chosen benchmark until it is as good or better. I don't mean use live action reference (although you can if you want), how you animate is not what this post is about, I mean compare the level of weight, emotion, timing, spacing and polish you produce with something great. Get them side by side, even flicking through the frames of each one at a time, until your animation matches the quality and feel of the piece you have chosen for comparison. Leave as little as possible to subjectivity, match the resource and don't allow yourself any excuses. Did you know Youtube have added a new download feature, there is so much reference material there (animated and live action) there is no excuse.
So to boil it down, setting goals is good, but don't just set goals, set standards for your work too and set them high, friggin high!! So high that you end up flying. ........ Or is that falling with style ;)
* - I guess its this kind of stuff that gets me labelled a pessimist as mentioned in this post, but its just the way things are! Wouldn't you rather know where you stand.
UPDATE - Right on cue, check out this post on planning from Carlos Baena, see how he finds footage to refer to. He is setting a standard for himself, its exactly what I mean :) Along with this one I have found quite a few new resources of late and will upload some new links if I have time this weekend.
It got me thinking about what I would recommend as a goal for an animation student, and I think I stumbled across something that creates one of the biggest differences between the work of students and professional animators. There is quite a gap, and the change when you get your first job it quite dramatic.
My first job was at Disney (Sydney Australia) where they were setting the highest standard for animation in the country at the time and pushing it even higher as they made the transition to feature length films. Almost overnight my attitude towards work was totally renovated, suddenly I was working my ass off at a higher quality of work than I couldn't possibly have imagined before. So what happens, why is this sudden lift in the work standard possible. Its not because my knowledge of animation principles changed that much (making an intentional distinction between knowledge of and understanding of ), its more immediate than that. I think a large part of the difference is that students (and teachers) often give themselves permission to call a piece of animation finished so they can move on far too early.
You see in a workplace the studio has agreed to supply animation that meets certain criteria, standards are met and there is absolutely no debate, even seemingly subjective elements of the work have usually been defined in advance in order to secure the contract. There is no hiding behind “style” or “personal taste”, it has to look how it was promised it would look or there is going to be a serious problem. Try to get some work past your supervisor that does not meet that standard then you will find your self being sent back to do it again. Its never a case of, we will address those things next time.
I have first hand experience of three different educational institutions and have never seen these conditions reproduced for an animation student. In some ways perhaps they can't be, or shouldn't be, but I think there is room to move in this direction. Lets look at a simple example, I can see from the blogs that another good activity set for the second years upon their return was to revisit a bouncing ball exercise, a good quicky to get you back in the swing of things. I would bet that a percentage of the people who have animated a bouncing ball haven't quite captured the real feel of something with weight, what percentage I wonder. How many really have the feel of a bouncing ball, be honest, I mean really feel like the real thing, 80%.... 50%....(eeek)25%. And yet, everyone will move on to the next thing. Just wouldn't happen in a workplace.
So we are dealing with some sensitive stuff here aren't we. A percentage of the people in any animation course (and I mean any course) just aren't going to get good enough to have a future in the trade. What they do learn may come in handy in other work, and they have paid their fees so its not like they don't deserve or have the right to be there. If a percentage of students just aren't going to get it for one reason or another then we can't stop everyone's progress until it gets through. Even excluding the students with no future as animators, everyone learns at different speeds and there are some who would be equally short changed by the lack of progress.
So the system isn't perfect, and I've beaten my head against that system and am not going to encourage anyone else to go through the same. What can be controlled however (believe it or not) is what's going on inside your head. Your goals need to be more than vague ideas of what you want, you can strive to make them as solid and rigid as they would be in a workplace.
Don't let yourself move on unless you have nailed something. Simple right? NOT!
For starters your class is going to be plodding along at the speed your teacher thinks best suits the skill level of the group, you don't control when the class has to move on to the next thing. The next thing is how do you know when you have nailed something, at some stage your teacher is going to have to say its time to move on, and as covered it may be before you have really got it right (don't blame them, they are just doing their best within the structure, something you will have to do when you are working at an animation studio too).
The first problem is the simplest to solve, but perhaps not the easiest. Here it is, You Just Have To Find The Time. I see students choose to put other things in front of their animation all the time (sport , a domestic duty of some kind, a social engagement, etc. etc.), and who am I to tell you how to live your own personal life. No-one and that's that. But I have a simple fact for you to consider....
If you don't find this time somehow, you have no future as an animator*.
If you need to spend some extra time on something before moving on then you have to find that time within your life. I can't put it any simpler than that.
I guess there are many ways to come at the second issue, you could ask a professional animator for their opinion or use the best of your class mates as a benchmark. But I have another idea that I think is better. Find a video example of something similar happening that is either live action or a piece of animation that you hold in very high regard, when you are testing your animation constantly compare it with your chosen benchmark until it is as good or better. I don't mean use live action reference (although you can if you want), how you animate is not what this post is about, I mean compare the level of weight, emotion, timing, spacing and polish you produce with something great. Get them side by side, even flicking through the frames of each one at a time, until your animation matches the quality and feel of the piece you have chosen for comparison. Leave as little as possible to subjectivity, match the resource and don't allow yourself any excuses. Did you know Youtube have added a new download feature, there is so much reference material there (animated and live action) there is no excuse.
So to boil it down, setting goals is good, but don't just set goals, set standards for your work too and set them high, friggin high!! So high that you end up flying. ........ Or is that falling with style ;)
Toy Story Image from the awsome blog of Karen J Lloyd
* - I guess its this kind of stuff that gets me labelled a pessimist as mentioned in this post, but its just the way things are! Wouldn't you rather know where you stand.
UPDATE - Right on cue, check out this post on planning from Carlos Baena, see how he finds footage to refer to. He is setting a standard for himself, its exactly what I mean :) Along with this one I have found quite a few new resources of late and will upload some new links if I have time this weekend.
Pessimism Vs Realism.
I thought I would share a little story with you from my time as a teacher as a round about way of making a point about facing up to a simple reality.
Every year Southbank Institute of Technology (where I taught animation for four years) hires an independent company to review student satisfaction. Representatives from the company turn up at a class and give the student questionnaires that they can fill out anonymously. The results a collated and a copy is given to the teachers supervisor and another to the teacher, you can't see who wrote what comments, but everything is there for you to read.
Don't get me started on what this kind of performance testing (which is common in all government education institutions these days) does to the quality of education. It this kind of “make sure you tell them what they want to hear” instead of “tell them what they need to hear” approach that has animation education so wide of the mark industry is setting these days and that makes such fertile ground for the new schools like Animation Mentor who are taking a different tact. Luckily the Southbank course has great teachers who twist and turn within the system as much as possible to keep it true.
Beseiged teacher by tajai
So anyway its fair to say that in my last year of teaching, the reviewers caught me at a bad moment. I had been struggling to contain a restless student, I wont name here, but after a couple of months in the course it was becoming obvious that she wasn't really interested enough in animation to do much of it, and she had taken to distracting other students as her favourite pass time (there are no hard feeling, she was just discovering that this path wasn't for her is all). All morning she had been up to shenanigans and I must have asked or told her to calm down at least ten times already when she decided it would be a good idea to entice some of the boys in the class into a chair spinning competition. I walked over to her, planted my feet and yelled, “WHAT THE F*#K ARE YOU DOING?!?!” The class fell silent, then I got this feeling like there was someone other than my students watching. Slowly I turned my head and standing there at the classroom door were the reps from the review company, clipboards in hand.
I was asked to leave the room (as is the normal procedure) while the students were asked to fill out their opinions about me, the memory of my irate and obscene exclamations still ringing in their ears. Afterwards the the student came up to me and assured me that she hadn't written anything bad about me which was nice I guess (I would rather she had done some animation ;)
A few months later I got the results back, they were all positive. Some of the comments were interesting (eg - “He has like ADD or something”), but that's probably an inevitable side affect from me being quite an excitable (as is obvious now) and animated teacher. The only comment close to negative was something like, “could be a little less pessimistic.”
Now I could be feeling pretty happy with myself after such a good review, but that comment still pops into my mind from time to time. You see the thing is I don't see myself as a pessimist at all, I just accept the fact that failing and the constant threat of failure is part of being an artist, it is in fact what makes being an artist such a compelling thing. I don't really understand why some seem to think that we are all supposed to live our lives animating away without actually articulating that any of us could stuff it up at any second. After years and years of animating, I still live in fear of someone coming up to my look at my work and saying, “Aha! You have no idea what your doing do you?!?!” But I wouldn't have it any other way.
I was inspired to write this post when I saw this quote from Micheal Jordan in a Nike Ad, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Students often roll their eyes when I make comparisons between sport and animating, probably because most animation students are about as sporty as Fat Albert or something, but I think there are similarities in the psychology. Both require passion and determination beyond what you are likely to be paid for, and both require that you stick your neck out and take a risk, you could fail at any moment. That's not pessimistic, that bloody beautiful and I wouldn't have it any other way. Animation makes me richer every day and it has nothing to do with money.
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Free and Handy Advice on Advising
If you are a student then perhaps you don't feel confident enough to go around flinging your opinions at other peoples work. But here is the thing, when you do it in a constructive way it can be very beneficial for both parties involved. Having to articulate your thoughts about what makes animation work forces you to clarify your understanding of the topic. In short talking about animation (if done right as I will get to at the end of the post) can make you better at animating.
I've found some amazing free software of late that can help facilitate these conversation in person or online.
Active Pen lets you draw over the top of other programs, great for analysing the line of action in that pose or planing the arc you want something to follow.
Debut is the best free desktop capturing software I have seen by a long shot. The creators (NCH Software) make a whole range of free video and audio editing tools that seem reliable, are easy to use and don't tax your computers system like many of the commercial alternatives.
I'll add these to the Free Software section of the ARC resources, where you can find links to a whole bunch of free goodies.
So back to being a constructive critiquer, here are my tips.
I've found some amazing free software of late that can help facilitate these conversation in person or online.
Active Pen lets you draw over the top of other programs, great for analysing the line of action in that pose or planing the arc you want something to follow.Debut is the best free desktop capturing software I have seen by a long shot. The creators (NCH Software) make a whole range of free video and audio editing tools that seem reliable, are easy to use and don't tax your computers system like many of the commercial alternatives.I'll add these to the Free Software section of the ARC resources, where you can find links to a whole bunch of free goodies.
So back to being a constructive critiquer, here are my tips.
- Watch the listeners reactions, you may have the best piece of advice you will ever have to give, but it will be waisted if the other person is not in the mood to listen and I'm afraid you can't make someone be in the mood to listen. Choose your time.
- Stick to the animation principles (AH! I mean rules), subjective stuff about style should only be on the table if someone asks you for your opinion.
- Don't give advice unless you can take it too, pig headed people are identified quickly and are rarely listened to ever again.
- Have your own house in order before advising others on a topic. This is the great thing about advising others, it can help you lift your own game. If your going to tell someone else their character pose is off balance then you had better make sure your poses are balanced too.
- Keep it as clear and simple as you can. I am as guilty as anyone when it comes to this one. I often find myself going off into a rant only to discover the student has a glazed look over their eyes that says, "I stopped hearing anything you are saying half an hour ago."
Should Students Work for Free? NEVER! Except Maybe Sometimes...
Browsing through Karen J Lloyd's Storyboard Blog, on Ian's recommendation, I stumbled across a fascinating post by Karen on the topic of animators working for free (or peanuts). The article is titled Ask Yourself These Questions Before You Work for Free.If you give the article even a cursory browse, you'll quickly realise that Karen believes that working for free is for suckers, even if you're a student looking for experience. She does qualify that by saying that there could be rare exceptions, but not many!
I (and my fellow SBIT Animation teachers) are approached on occasion by people who have grand ideas for animated projects, hoping to recruit students (or teachers!) to work on them. Over the years I've grown increasingly wary of these approaches. A lot of them have been (predictably) dead ends, although some have paid off.
I myself did a free job for Channel 31 a couple of years ago (a Flash-animated intro for a rather cheesy dating show) and had great fun. I had creative control and the deadline gave me a bit of motivation - which can be a very good thing for a procrastinator like myself. But I had the luxury of time and financial security (I did it over the school holidays, and used some of the material in classes the following year). Students generally lack both of those things!
Does anyone have a strong view on the subject of students working for free/peanuts? Any experiences you'd like to share? Post away!
A Big Change Behind The Scenes
Well I'm not sure how much difference it will make to things here on the ARC (more on that later), but behind the scenes there have been some big changes going on. I'm changing jobs. After a four year stint as a teacher I'm jumping back into the industry.
There are a combination of personal and work related issues at play. I don't want to talk specifically about any problems I have had, but I will indulge myself a single general observation.
Government structured tertiary qualifications (whether offered through public or private organisations) seem more focused on offering the actual qualifications rather than education, and no they are not necessarily the same thing. You see a qualification is something that can easily be advertised, measured, signed off upon delivery and charged for, it is something that can be slotted into a generic system that applies across all disciplines. You pay, jump through some hoops, a piece of paper is handed over and everyone is happy. This is happening across all tertiary levels and institutes (University, Tafe and Private Institutions offering government approved quals) and constitutes some very short term thinking, because ultimately it diminishes the value of the qualification being offered (why do you think employers in animation insist on seeing a showreel these days).
An education is something that is much harder to define and manage, it involves assessing an individuals skill set (even personality) and helping them to best manage them so as to get themselves into a position where they can achieve their goals. There is no clear finish line and the journey is different for every single student.
It seems to me that there is no reason why educations and qualifications can't exist in harmony, but for that to happen they would need to meet in the middle and compromise so as to find some common goals. For now it appears the balance is tipped way to far in favour of the qualifiers than the educators, rules and conditions come floating down through the bureaucracy (where the qualifiers live) and are placed upon the educators regardless of their specific circumstances.
On the front line where I have been working is a dedicate and talented team of educators (teachers and administrators), doing there best to fight the good fight under less than ideal circumstances. I am in awe of their patience and dedication. You guys rock. But as I said before a few external circumstances have left me hungry for a break from the situation.
I have absolutely loved teaching. Taken in isolation it is perhaps even more rewarding than animating itself (gasp!). I have also loved working with the two other teachers running our course, Jane and Terry, you guys are amazing and I'll miss you heaps. I also want to send out a big thankyou to all of my students over the past 4 years, especially those of you who were willing to put in that extra bit of effort and challenge yourselves.
I intend to continue involvement with the course in some less official way, I'll be sorting something out with the teachers in the coming months. Maybe permanent teaching will feature in my life again one day, but for now I'm off to explore something new.
Games!
In the past I've worked on feature length films, internet products, TV commercials, website animation, and educational software. Leaving one big sector of the business uncharted. I'm off to join Australia's biggest games studio,and am pretty dam excited about it. I think in many ways games is where the real innovations in animation happen these days, I'm coming to it later than many, but I feel its where the smart money is. I'm also looking forward to making games themselves a part my like again.
Industry work takes up a lot more of your time than teaching, so one big unanswered question will be how much time I will have spare for blogging. I suppose we will have to wait and see. I don't start my new job until the 12th of January so I hope to do a few more article like posts between now and then.
In the past I have played with the idea of having more contributors to the ARC with varied success, maybe there are some ex-students or friends out there who would be interested in giving me a hand. You could just post from time to time, let me know about new resources you find, or even have your own page that focused on a particular thing (say a page with news about animated movies or something). Anyway, pop me an email if your interested, many hands make light work.
Another thing I am looking forward to is being a little more opinionated, I think now that this is just my blog and its not going to have official or unofficial links with any organisations I may be a little more inclined to speak my mind. Should be interesting.
Any feedback or ideas are welcome as always :)
So hears to new adventures! More posts (with less text and more pictures) coming soon.
Gen Y and the future of Animation.
So its time for my first full on editorial (ramble) on the new ARC page. I'm afraid its not an educational thing exactly but an observational thing.
I want to talk about Gen Y, I saw a documentary on “them” just the other night. It followed the lives of several Gen Y'ers as they entered their adult years, examining where and how they lived and worked. As I watched I couldn't help but think that people like this would never make it in the animation business.
Article on employing Gen Y.
Wikipedia on Gen Y.
Now if you were born in the 80's or early 90's don't go and get all indignant on me, I'm dealing with some very broad generalisations here, there are of course people who buck the trend in any generation and that could be you. But there are several documented general trends, that I think have potential implications for the future of our craft.
You see in every article I read or show I see about Gen Y two words keep coming up that I just can't reconcile with our industry. INSTANT GRATIFICATION. There are very few industries where the practitioners are further removed from instant gratification than in animation, its the modern day equivalent of building pyramids, potentially years of work before you see the results of your labour, and even then they a fleeting and the complexity is under appreciated by your audience. It can also take years of practice and training to master single elements or disciplines within the job, mastering the whole thing is a life long pursuit. I'm not saying animation is not rewarding, quite the contrary I believe the rewards are amazing, but one word I would not use to describe them is instant.
In the documentary I watched the young folk would often change jobs or careers because they didn't feel there current job was “taking them in the right direction”, paying them enough or promoting them quickly enough. I just can't see how this is going to fit with animation, I inbetweened for almost 4 years before getting a shot at the next step, and outside of a few feature studios where the income generated from the animation is high the bulk of the industry around the world runs on the tenacity and passion of individuals constantly working above and beyond what they are paid for. If everyone is going to jump ship as soon as times get tough then animation is in big trouble because tough times is often the norm, either the quality of work will have to drop so it can be done quicker or it just won't get done at all.
There is more bad news too, as well as expecting more for less, apparently Gen Y folk feel a need to be constantly communicating with other Gen Y'ers. Again this just doesn't fit the animation mould as we know it, there is no way of getting around it, animating requires long periods of sitting there focused on one thing with your mouth shut. I haven't seen an animator yet of any generation who can come up with a good character performance while gabbing away with their friends. My teenage daughter is mysteriously controlled by her mobile phone and Hotmail messenger as, she would have me believe are all of here peers. How can you ever animate well if you can't tell everyone to leave you alone for a while to focus?
I was talking to a senior animator who supervises a bunch of younger employees the other day and he was telling me how he just doesn't feel he has to concern himself with younger more talented and harder working animators challenging him for his senior position for now because non of the younger employees are willing to focus on one thing long and hard enough to understand it as much as he can. We joked about how lucky he was to be in a safe position, but as I reflect I can't help but think that this sort of thing is going to bring down the standard of animation over time. Older animators need to be kept on their toes and younger ones need to aspire to reach or surpass the level of the more senior animators, its all part of the betterment of our craft.
We also need to remember that while the Gen X, Y and Z thing is a mostly a western phenomenon, animation is an international industry. There are plenty of studios in poorer parts of the world that have been churning out our cheep Saturday morning cartoons for years now where the younger employees are not so used to having instant gratification. If they are consistently more hungry and patient than the new generation of animators coming through in the west then it is only a matter of time until things start to shift and they start getting better (maybe they already have). It won't be because of international trade issues or globalisation, it will be because we don't deserve the higher quality work any more, if someone else in the world is willing to work harder for longer then they deserve it.
I'm not sure I see a solution, but I feel obligated to try and find a positive note. I'm not John K, I don't just bitch about what's ticking me off and end it there. I guess this means that if you are a member of Gen Y then you have quite an opportunity. Just maybe it will be easier for you to stand out from the pack, all you have to do is shut up for a while, work harder for less and be patie....... mmmmm.
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I want to talk about Gen Y, I saw a documentary on “them” just the other night. It followed the lives of several Gen Y'ers as they entered their adult years, examining where and how they lived and worked. As I watched I couldn't help but think that people like this would never make it in the animation business.
Article on employing Gen Y.
Wikipedia on Gen Y.
Now if you were born in the 80's or early 90's don't go and get all indignant on me, I'm dealing with some very broad generalisations here, there are of course people who buck the trend in any generation and that could be you. But there are several documented general trends, that I think have potential implications for the future of our craft.
You see in every article I read or show I see about Gen Y two words keep coming up that I just can't reconcile with our industry. INSTANT GRATIFICATION. There are very few industries where the practitioners are further removed from instant gratification than in animation, its the modern day equivalent of building pyramids, potentially years of work before you see the results of your labour, and even then they a fleeting and the complexity is under appreciated by your audience. It can also take years of practice and training to master single elements or disciplines within the job, mastering the whole thing is a life long pursuit. I'm not saying animation is not rewarding, quite the contrary I believe the rewards are amazing, but one word I would not use to describe them is instant.
In the documentary I watched the young folk would often change jobs or careers because they didn't feel there current job was “taking them in the right direction”, paying them enough or promoting them quickly enough. I just can't see how this is going to fit with animation, I inbetweened for almost 4 years before getting a shot at the next step, and outside of a few feature studios where the income generated from the animation is high the bulk of the industry around the world runs on the tenacity and passion of individuals constantly working above and beyond what they are paid for. If everyone is going to jump ship as soon as times get tough then animation is in big trouble because tough times is often the norm, either the quality of work will have to drop so it can be done quicker or it just won't get done at all.
There is more bad news too, as well as expecting more for less, apparently Gen Y folk feel a need to be constantly communicating with other Gen Y'ers. Again this just doesn't fit the animation mould as we know it, there is no way of getting around it, animating requires long periods of sitting there focused on one thing with your mouth shut. I haven't seen an animator yet of any generation who can come up with a good character performance while gabbing away with their friends. My teenage daughter is mysteriously controlled by her mobile phone and Hotmail messenger as, she would have me believe are all of here peers. How can you ever animate well if you can't tell everyone to leave you alone for a while to focus?
I was talking to a senior animator who supervises a bunch of younger employees the other day and he was telling me how he just doesn't feel he has to concern himself with younger more talented and harder working animators challenging him for his senior position for now because non of the younger employees are willing to focus on one thing long and hard enough to understand it as much as he can. We joked about how lucky he was to be in a safe position, but as I reflect I can't help but think that this sort of thing is going to bring down the standard of animation over time. Older animators need to be kept on their toes and younger ones need to aspire to reach or surpass the level of the more senior animators, its all part of the betterment of our craft.
We also need to remember that while the Gen X, Y and Z thing is a mostly a western phenomenon, animation is an international industry. There are plenty of studios in poorer parts of the world that have been churning out our cheep Saturday morning cartoons for years now where the younger employees are not so used to having instant gratification. If they are consistently more hungry and patient than the new generation of animators coming through in the west then it is only a matter of time until things start to shift and they start getting better (maybe they already have). It won't be because of international trade issues or globalisation, it will be because we don't deserve the higher quality work any more, if someone else in the world is willing to work harder for longer then they deserve it.
I'm not sure I see a solution, but I feel obligated to try and find a positive note. I'm not John K, I don't just bitch about what's ticking me off and end it there. I guess this means that if you are a member of Gen Y then you have quite an opportunity. Just maybe it will be easier for you to stand out from the pack, all you have to do is shut up for a while, work harder for less and be patie....... mmmmm.
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Ralph Bakshi
If you don't know the work of Ralph Bakshi then you should look it up. Some of his stuff I liked and other stuff not so much, in particular I was a big fan of one of his movie Wizards when I was a kid.Anyway this is an amazing piece of footage of him speaking at a comic convention. Those of you who know what I've been up to with the making and selling of my own TV show over the past few years (something I must get around to talking about here on the Blog at some stage) will know this is an issue close to my heart. Stick to the man Ralph!
World War
World war is a very classy film from the University Of Hertfordshire. Often when there is one thing I don't like about a film people assume I hated the whole thing, so before I mention the one thing I didn't like just let me say. I LIKED THIS FILM. Weight, Timing, Design, character dynamics, there was plenty that was well above average for a student film. The one thing I don't like is the bullet time. In the Matrix, the bullet time served a purpose, it was showing us actions that were supposedly too fast for us to see, often the scenes were shown with relative objects that we took for granted as moving fast (ie. Bullets) to drive home the "speed" we were witnessing. When you just throw it in for no apparent reason apart from you think its cool, its bad symbolism and just comes off as nerdy as far as I'm concerned. That having been said, there is some cool stuff in this film, you wouldn't necessarily pick it as student work. So lets nerd it up together and enjoy World War.
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