Student life has almost ended and soon I will be entering into the real world of the animation industry. I face the same questions that many young and up and coming animators face. Whats next?
I am keen and enthuastic but what qualities will help me establish myself in the trade. My short film will be completed in May and copies will be posted of to festivals around the world.
What advice do animators or animators to be think of the current situation on a global and local scale.
regards Brendan.
web address http://www.rkidanimations.com
let me know what you think of the site...
trust me, young padawan, it's not the end of the road, it's only the begining.
As far as the state of the industry goes, unless you have a stellar demo reel, and i'm talking really stellar, then you may have a difficult time getting entry level work at say, Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and the other major studios. The skill set at that level is really really high. But don't get frusterated, there's only a finite amount of seats up there. In the meantime, I'd suggest doing as much freelance as you can, and take a serious look into the games industry. A lot of animator cringe when you say 'games' but it's the fastest growing and highest grossing entertainment industry (besides porn) right now.
Animators working on games have a little more freedom, have a much more casual atmosphere to work in, and it's a great opprotunity to sharpen your skills for putting together that stellar reel for a feature job.
I'd also recommend entering the 10 second club (www.10secondclub.net) competitions every month, just to hone your skills and to be a part of a learning community.
And last of all, don't get frusterated. I came from the Comic Book Industry, then to Feature Traditional Animation to Feature 3D and Traditional TV animation. There are boons and lulls in every field. Right now, 3D is high profile, and the job market is over saturated. As soon as the FAD attraction of 3d wears off, that industry will slow down a bit. That may be the time you are about to score that big job, who knows. Just roll with the punches, master the principles of animation and be versatile enough to animate in most any format available to you.
The neat thing about animation is, if you're an adventerous sort you can work all over the world from job to job just to stay employed and get experienced. I find a lot of animators like to root down in the states or canada and just turn a blind eye to international opprotunities.
Oh, and draw draw draw. Enroll in a Life drawing class. No matter how pro you are, you should constantly be learning and life drawing will keep you fresh. I don't know a single one of my professional peers that isn't constantly enrolled in some form of Life drawing.
Animation is a profession, but we're consumate students as well.
Good Luck, hope this helps.
Listen to Omnigon,
He's really got the story down:)
I myself am about to graduate from a BFA program in animation, and I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do either. So to the next level after school people, I can relate.
I'm really happy that I got my education, and while a job would be cool, I am comfortable with the idea that I may not be doing steady work for a while. I love animation whether there's a paycheck or not and I plan to animate forever.
Not to sound like a hippie,
but
If you love this stuff
Then the good things in life will follow:)
It's not a fact, but if you're an animator...and you know it, then there's no economy defecit or lack of studios in operation that can keep you from doing it.
How bout you?
Adam
Atomcloud Animation
thanks for your advice i do need a more steller show reel....to be continued
The flow of the movie doesn't work, it slows down and then gains speed for a second.
spudmania.com - coming soon.
some times the movie takes a while to load I don't understand why that happens.
sometimes it works perfectly and other times it needs time to load I don't understand it.