Archive for the ‘Thoughts’ Category

Unpaid Artists – The fight goes on

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

You may recall, if you have read all of my posts (and why wouln’t you, they are literary gold!) that early on I posted some thoughts and links abou unpaid artists and the closure of Metero Studios:

http://www.thejuniorcompositor.com/2009/01/25/industry-the-state-of-the-visual-effects-industry/

It seems like some kind of agreement has been reached with the artists getting 70% of their wages.  That’s right, 70% of their wages for producing A-level visual effects for a major VFX studio which was in turn part of the Discovery group.  That is to say, Discovery are not exactly hurting for cash.  There are more than a few galling aspects to this case, least of which is working for 3months and not getting paid.  There is the fact the artists got shafted and not paid just before Christmas.  That pretty much sucks the big one, but how about Meteor effectively shutting down and opening again with the same muppets running the business with the same equipment on the same premises?  This is what happens with limited liability companies.  They can go bankrupt/insolvent and wind up and there is nothing you can sue them for.  They sell the equipment and facilities to another $2 company for cents in the dollar and start again as a “new and different” company.

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Thoughts: Should I go to school to study CG or VFX?

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

This question seems to come up quite a bit on various forums: “Should I go to school to study 3D computer graphics or visual fx”. The answer is yes. Or no. Or maybe. That’s not very definitive is it? Well, neither are the needs of newcomers and studios. I won’t go into which school you should go to, that is a whole kettle of fish and you are better off asking people like ex-students on the afore mentioned forums.

Goofy hat?  Check!

Goofy hat? Check!

Maybe a better question to ask is: “Do I need to go to school”. And the answer is: it depends. At this point you might be wanting to stick a sharpened pencil in my ear while screaming “Well what’s the bloody point of you or you blog, eh Matt?” and you might be right. Here is my general view on *needing* to get a piece of paper for your qualifications. For the more art focused side of the industry, personally I don’t feel you need qualifications. You need to be able to show you have the chops to do the work. Being able to produce good work on time and on (or under) budget is more important than a degree. For the more technical sides, like TD’s (Technical Directors), scripters, programmers etc, the fact is that studios do often like to see some kind of accredited qualifications.

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Thoughts – Entering forum “challenges”

Sunday, August 16th, 2009

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Quick post with a suggestion to maybe throw your hat into the ring with one of the various different challenges that CG websites often run.

Challenge city.  Population you.

Challenge city. Population you.

At the top of the pile you have ones like the current “Secret Agent” challenge over at CGTalk. This is a pretty high-end comp and the prizes reflect that. I mean, if you are entering to win a Boxx workstation, a copy of Maya and Houdini Master, Intuos 4 etc etc, you better be ready to bring your A-game!

VFXTalk used to run challenges but they seemed to have dried up, although I noticed that Alejandro Villabón over at Green Soda has started up some challenges. No prizes, but we should be looking at sharpening our skills.

Me? I am looking at submitting some work for the latest lighting challenge over at CGTalk. Again, there are no prizes, but that’s not really the reason to enter these kinds of things. The main attraction for me is that there is usually a focus (in this case lighting), you are provided with the scene or base elements (like the green screen for the Green Soda challenge) and you are given a time limit. For me, having the time limit and restrictions is great because like so many of us, I get started on some ideas I have, run out of steam and shelve the project. If there is a simple challenge with a deadline, there is more chance I will actual finalise something.

So, look around and enter some challenges to . . . errrr, challenge yourself!

Thoughts: Ask and you shall receive

Sunday, August 9th, 2009

thoughts_32x32

I was talking to a young co-worker of mine the other day about some jobs that we saw being advertised around the traps. One was for the studio that does the FX for a sci-fi show that he loves and would consider a dream job if he could get to work on it. I asked if he had applied. He said no as he didn’t feel he was qualified enough, it was overseas and he had only just started his job here.

Just ask

Just ask

I certainly don’t suggest starting jobs and then bailing straight away . . . bad form all around, but I don’t see the others as particularly good reasons not to get in contact and start a relationship.

Whoah, whoah, whoah . . . “starting a relationship”? That sounds awfully management speak or new-age drivel, but if you haven’t noticed, this industry is built on relationships. You mostly get jobs because of who you know. Of course you have to be able to deliver, but if it comes down to someone who can deliver and someone who can deliver who has a mate working at the studio or who knows the HR person, who do you think will get the job?

What I am talking about here is the power of asking. You have to ask. I think the best summary about the power of asking is this blogpost over at FreelanceSwitch.com. The point is that only you know what you want and a lot of times the only way to get it is to make sure that other people know it!

How to go about it?  Send the studio an email.  You realise they aren’t hiring but just want to get in touch with your latest reel and resume.  Ask if it’s okay if you keep them up to date and then DO it.  The thing you are trying to do is start a conversation.  You might get a form email response, you might get someone from HR email you back.  If it’s the latter, make a record of their details and position so that next time you can either send an email directly to them or at least mark the generic “jobs@ABCstudio.com” email address to them in the subject line.  Now you are a real person interracting with another real person.  The more you can make yourself a defined person as opposed to just another applicant, the more you will come to mind when the are looking for new hires.

Good luck!