Write from experiences and things that get a reaction from you.

I have students struggling to come up with ideas for stories to tell.

The traditional method was to come up with a concept/morale and a premise. The problem I found out was that you are often trying to.come up with a variation on a theme. And the concept.or.morale is unrelatable to the students. So my suggestion is to come up with a scenerio or situation that you have experienced or affected you and use that as a starting point. Because you are affected by it. Not just a story you heard or read. But actually experienced. So it immediately becomes relatable. And easier to.come up with situations and responses.

Carl Sagan's sayings.

-          Inspirational stuff.  

      Carl Sagan once said “Once we overcome our fear of being tiny, we find ourselves on the threshold of a vast and awesome universe that utterly dwarfs — in time, in space and in potential — the tidy, anthropocentric proscenium of our ancestors.”

-          The significance of our lives and our fragile planet is then determined by our own wisdom and courage. We are the custodians of life’s meaning.”

-          How much more satisfying had we been placed in a garden custom-made for us, its other occupants put there for us to use as we saw fit. There is a celebrated story in the Western tradition like this, except that not quite everything was there for us. There was one particular tree of which we were not to partake, a tree of knowledge. Knowledge and understanding and wisdom were forbidden to us in this story. We were to be kept ignorant. But we couldn’t help ourselves. We were starving for knowledge—created hungry, you might say. This was the origin of all our troubles. In particular, it is why we no longer live in a garden: We found out too much. So long as we were incurious and obedient, I imagine, we could console ourselves with our importance and centrality, and tell ourselves that we were the reason the Universe was made. As we began to indulge our curiosity, though, to explore, to learn how the Universe really is, we expelled ourselves from Eden. Angels with a flaming sword were set as sentries at the gates of Paradise to bar our return. The gardeners became exiles and wanderers. Occasionally we mourn that lost world, but that, it seems to me, is maudlin and sentimental. We could not happily have remained ignorant forever.

-          We long for our parents to care for us. To forgive us our errors, to save us from our childish mistakes. But knowledge is preferable to ignorance. “

-          Better by far to embrace a hard truth than a reassuring faith. If we crave a cosmic purpose let us find a worthy goal.

Sad state of the Visual Effects Industry and VFX in Los Angeles – 100 hour weeks & homeless

This post below from Scott Squires makes for sobering read of the state of the industry over in the States.

"For profit schools are multiplying at an incredible rate and being funded by money machines such as Goldman Sachs to sell dreams to people, young and old. The problem is those dream don't exist. These schools are churning out thousands of graduates to an industry without jobs. The only selection process at these types of schools is can you pay or can you sign this student loan from the government.  Your aptitude and your potential talent is never evaluated. Guidance counselors never reveal the reality of the industry you're getting into or your odds. In most cases these diploma mill types of schools teach very little of value and even those that do now have cranked out so many others it doesn't matter. It's hard to stand out and even when you do it's hard to get a job. When you do get a job you will likely be working long hours and then have to move to find your next project.

All of these students are eager to go into tens of thousands of debt. They are eager to work for free or close to free. They are eager to be exploited, to lower their value and the value of everyone else in the future, to the detriment of their real future."

 

and connected to that story by Jeff Hauser

 

"Victor has been unable to find other work because he’s often working so many hours, frequently reaching 80 to 100 hours a week. The stress is so intense that he feels it is affecting his mental health and mild dyslexia is getting worse. He worries about legal remedies or going public because he needs to work and fears the company he works at the most would be put out of business. Victor concludes, “There would be a scandal if it was ever found out that the worlds largest recording artists used a sweat shop/borderline slave labor in Los Angeles for their own personal gain in digital cosmetics/beauty.”"
"Are the schools doing enough to prepare graduates for the real world? How can artists deal with abuses and labor law violations? How can we fix an industry where a sort of Stockholm Syndrome exists where artists love the work so much that don’t seek available remedies because they worry the company they work for would go out of business if they had to pay properly or on time as required by law?
All I can try to do here in terms of wrapping up this story is to reiterate some common labor issues. These issues are common to all crafts  - visual effects, previs, games, motion graphics… and cross all borders."


These sad state of affairs is coming to be the norm in the industry. And with so many private schools world wide popping up feeding the dreams of the young people. If you are reading this and or know someone who is thinking of entering into the visual effects industry or related fields, please get them to read about the scams that these art for profit schools pull. Do not get into debt trying to get into the industry. Especially to get student loans to get into VFX. Animation is still something doable because it is flexible enough to branch out but even then, you got to have some artistic talent.

Thoughts and experiences on making a movie. WIP.

Why make short films. 

I thought there must be more to life then to make other people's movies. I saw the future that lay ahead of me if I continued the path of where my career was going. Overworked with no life.. Now I am overworked with no life AND no money. But surprising really happier. And I finally made my own short. GODAIZER

My honest intention was that before I get too old to do it, I want to tell a story that is my own. I think I got stories to tell that people might like and I wanted to have a shot at making my own short and seeing where it can take me. But the only way to find out is to do it. I only got one life. I do not want to look back and think of excuses why I didn't do it. I do not want excuses. It is also a escape from the mundane reality of every day living.

There were a hosts of other reason. My ego being one of them. I wanted to make my own movie.  I do not want to be a director or a art director for hire. There are much more talented and capable people out there doing it for a living.

In Singapore, its really hard to find a job and make a living. The stress level is already so damn high. To find job, to get married, to have enough money to pay mortage for a flat etc.. Constant worry and stress. You can consider making the short as an outlet for the stress and a form of expression. 

But the one thing that I did not realise was the connection with people. That people like your work. The stuff you create. That you bring a little bit of enjoyment to people out there. That was something unexpectedly rewarding.

Art Advice From Joe Mad.

Below is art advice from Joe Madureira. Crazy Talented Comic Book Artist and Creator of Darksiders and Darksiders II.

I couldn't say it any better then he can. I am still overcoming number 5.

It is from his facebook status.

"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=638969436116482&id=157043750975722

*Art Advice*

Do you really want to be an artist? Or a successful working professional?

Believe it or not there is a difference. I’m not usually a soapbox type guy, I don’t like instructing people, and I think I’m a terrible teacher. But hey, it’s Friday and I’m in a strange mood. So here goes:

I’ve noticed that a good number of my fans happen to be aspiring artists themselves. This is for all you guys. I get asked constantly: “Where should I go to school?” “What classes should I take?” “What should I study for anatomy?” “What pencils and paper do you use?” “Should I be working digitally now instead of traditionally?” “How do I fix my poses? Learn composition? Perspective?” “When am I going to develop my own style?” “Who were your influences?” “Teach me how to draw hands!” The list goes on…

Here’s the deal. All of that stuff *is* important, and it may nudge you in the right direction. A lot of it you will discover for yourself. What works best for one person doesn’t work for another. That’s the beauty of art. It’s personal. It’s discovery. DON’T WORRY ABOUT ALL THAT CRAP!

Instead I’m going to answer the questions that you *SHOULD* be asking, but aren’t. These are things that have only recently occurred to me, after doing this for 20+ years. These things seem so obvious, but apparently they elude a lot of people, because I am surprised at how many ridiculously talented artists are ‘failing’ professionally. Or just unhappy. The beauty of what I’m about to tell you is that it doesn’t matter what field you’re in or what your art style is.

reality check 1.

Note to self. Be very grateful to have friends that tell it like it is and to keep your.ego in.check. Cannot underestimate how important that is.when you.are.so.focused on.achieving something grand and actually.not.as.good.as.you.think u are.

Pixar's 22 rules to phenomenal storytelling by Emma Coates

Original by Emma Coats

Poster by pbjpublishing

"When the external validation of success replaces our spiritual sense of purpose, things get messy." - Chris Oatley.

I have just finished reading this bloody well written article below by the amazing Chris Oatley.

http://chrisoatley.com/jobs-in-animation-industry/

I really encourage animation students and working animators to go read it fully.  This particular part below is so so true to me personally. And I want to put it here to remind myself.

"Are you an artist? …a visual storyteller?

…then keep drawing and telling stories.

You can’t let fluctuations in the industry and/or economy kill your creativity.

…and you don’t need a job in the animation industry to validate your calling.

The world needs visual stories. Humanity thrives on visual stories.

I think you should draw or tell the stories inside of you even when you aren’t getting paid.

…especially when you aren’t getting paid.

We must distinguish the truth of our internal calling as creative people from all external forces."

steps.

Steps.

Type down all the things in the head. Story, personalities. etc.. all on paper. Mix and match. Might create happen accident,

Experiment with the personality THEN be clear. Trust gut instinct. Because their personality will dictate their reactions and actions. And for the love of god... Pls write down. DUn just procrastinate blindly. Writing down is very good. because it will help you think!!!! PLS PLS! PLS!!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!

Ignore the nonimportant stuff. FOCUS!!!!  Highlight the ones that stand out!!! BOLD it! Or color it.

DO NOT LET The nitty griity details get you DOWN. FOR FUCK SAKE!!!! Get the MAIN IDEAS AND BEATS OUT. ARRGGHHH. They are serious eriouss mind fucks and more importantly time waster.

Conflict of interest for animation studios to run govt certified courses.

 Locally, there are several companies offering WDA certified animation courses. All of these courses are partially funded by the WDA. I applaude the willingness of the govt to spend the money to help the industry. But I feel that this is actually doing more harm then good.

The key issue for me is that the revenue of these schools come from the subsidies given to the students. So say a  course fee of $10,000, a local students just needs to pay $1,000.00 with the remaining being paid for by the WDA. You can quickly see a dilemma when the company will lose revenue for failing a student. Therefore I question the worth of that certificate given at the end of the course.
Currently there are already 4 polytechnics, a couple of private schools that are churning out hundreds of animation students a year. Such courses are adding to very crowded market.

In addition, recently one of schools which also happens to run a animation studio let go of almost this entire production crew while at the same time, still are offering courses in animation. i am sure you can appreciate the irony and hypocrisy of the situation.

On top of that, Lucasarts Singapore just let.go of its entire games dept.

We have a huge pool of cg artists jostling for a smaller pool of jobs. While these schools chase the govt dollar.

disclosure : I teach animation at a private art school  in.Singapore. I often am torn by the dilemma of.the situation. But I believe that we are offering the students a better chance at succeeding in the industry.