Generalist or Specialist

Generalist or Specialist

What to expect, getting a job as an animator.

The Animation industry is a tough business to get a job in, with very competitive competition from many aspiring young animators. A Good artistic talent is a must and good computer skills are required. You need a portfolio demonstrating good animations as well as life drawings that have good gestures and show good weight in the drawings. Teamwork is essential in the industry as animators usually work in teams on projects. A master’s degree in animation will enhance your chances of getting a job in animation however it’s not really essential, providing you have a good portfolio and demo reel.

There are many different areas and departments in animation from character modelling to special effects; each area requires certain skills and knowledge to do. When applying for jobs in animation, don’t expect to be doing the job you applied for straight away, the most likely scenario will be you doing very repetitive work, building on the animations of other animators before moving up, leading onto you gaining more responsibility.

Animation/visual effects and how they are used today

Special effects and CGI are used in most areas of the media today, from TV adverts, websites and games, and there are more and more small independent companies setting up throughout the UK that specialize in visual effects and animation.

Video games Industry

Nearly all games will need a team of animators to bring the games to life. Motion capture often is being used here as well as in movies to demonstrate convincing character animation. But there is still a lot of work involved obviously. Texture mapping, lighting effects, and other special effects are just as important to the success of a video games attempt to draw you in and immerse you. It might sound like many of the same elements in a feature film, that’s because the technology is advancing and is used in all areas of the media.

Film and Tv

Animation in these areas is quite large. Jobs may include character animation in the form of a cartoons, logo, special effect and more. 3D really has taken off in the realm of computer animation and animation in general. Movies such as Lord of the Rings, Finding Nemo and the latest movies such as Inception all use 3D computer animation and special effects. What would have looked fake and rigid 6-7 years ago now looks photo realistic and seamless for 3D rendering and animation. The way the industry has moved forward and how the technology has improved is incredible, and its only going to continue improving in the future, with new ideas being used.

TV also offers a fair amount of opportunity in computer animation. Commercials have animated logos, cats that sing, and bottles that dance. Local News always has an animator of some kind doing the logo fly in or that kind of thing. There are also TV movies, and obviously shows that rely on a computer artist to do some digital special effects. This kind of animation could be a good way for someone to start their career in animation or visual effects.

Both animation and visual effects are used in everyday life, an animator looking to get into the industry as an animator may want to look at special effects for tv, films or games, and vice versa, by broadening their abilities and skills, they have more of a chance of getting a job, or at least getting into the industry in some sort of way.

Once you have your foot in the door, and you are in the industry you most likely won’t be doing the thing you wanted to do for some time, but by expanding your abilities either mixing visual effects with animation or storyboarding you will be able to achieve what you want.

Many companies require some sort of previous experience from applicants, this can be a difficult situation if you have just finished university and have no previous experience. A way you can gain experience is to contact small independent studios and ask if they can give you any work experience, you will most likely be working for free, but at least your gaining experience on how the industry works, and what to expect. If that isn’t possible then by expanding your skills and learning something new can help you. Character animators may want to look at doing special effects, as many visual effects companies also specialize in animation for films and tv too.

history of Animation

History of animation

Silent era

Animation has evolved from the early days of traditional animation, and is now used in many areas of the media, from advertising to entertainment. In 1906 J. Staurt Blackton made the first animated film, called “humorous phases of funny faces”. Soon after this many other aspiring animators experimented with animations of their own, in 1914 Winsor McCay produced a cartoon called “Gertie the dinosaur”, this would prove to very popular with animators for years to come. Other famous animations from this era were koko the clown and Felix the cat. Like the movies at this time when the animations were played in a theatre, and organist would play a musical score to accompany the animation.

Laugh-O-gram Studio

Walt Disney in 1922 founded laugh-O-gram studios. One of the animators that Disney had hired was Ub Iwerks, an animation pioneer. They were given $11,000 to produce six fairy tale cartoons. The company struggled to make ends meet and in 1923 the studio declared bankruptcy.

Introduction Of sound

With the introduction of sound to motion pictures, the animation industry really took off. The first animated shorts to use synchronised dialogue were max fleischers ‘my old Kentucky home’ and Walt Disney’s ‘Steamboat Willie’.

Golden age of animation

Animation during this era was booming, especially peaking during the 1930s and 40s. Many memorable characters emerged during this time such as Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse and many others. During this time many new studios were founded, influenced by the success of both Walt Disney and Max Fleischer. In 1932 Walt Disney produced ‘Flowers and Trees’ which was a fully animated film, in Technicolor. Walt Disney was always moving forward with innovations in animation, this is what made him stand out more from the other animators of this time. In America during the 1930s it was the great depression, animation was booming during this era as people went to watch animations to escape the real life world.

Animation post world War

The animation Industry changed a lot the years after World War 2, with televisions becoming an instant phenomenon the movie theatre industry suffered slightly as people were staying at home watching TV. Many Studios gave up on the big budget, theatre short animations that thrived during the late 1930s. New television studios thrived based on the economy. One of the first animation studios to produce animations exclusively for television was Hanna Barbera, their first show was called ‘the ruff and ready show’, it wasn’t until the 1960s that the studio hit its peak with the tv series ‘The Flintstones’ which aired during prime time, when all the family would have been watching the TV.

The major difference with producing animation for television compared to film animation is that it is very time consuming and a labour intensive process, with studios demanding 10-20 half an hour episodes per year. There was limited use of animation to save time and get the shows out on time each week.

During the 1970’s and early 1980’s animation somewhat declined, however in the late 1980s many large companies reformed and reinvigorated the animation department, with shows such as the Simpsons. Walt Disney films during the 1970s declined after Walt Disney’s death, however in the 1980s the Disney channel aired which was a success. Also in the late 80’s early 90’s Disney had many feature films that were successful such as the lion king in 1994.

The Use of CGI, 3D animation

Toy story, the first film animated entirely using CGI (computer generated imagery). This was a massive success and started a new trend among other studios. Walt Disney studios believed this was the way to go and decided to stop the traditional animation after their film ‘Home on the range’ and went with CGI on their next film ‘Chicken Little’. Since then Disney has returned back to the traditional 2D animation with the 2009 release of ‘The princess and the frog’.