***Some Important Notes!*** This is my experience with the industry and making things for other people. Over my years animating for companies, freelancing, etc, I have finally found the ideal animation situation for me, which is having more creative control over the work I do. This is not for everyone, and I know a lot of folks feel best working on teams with scores of other creative people. That’s awesome! I am grateful for all my industry experiences and jobs, and for me, feel like I’ve finally found a space to animate freely (UA-cam). In terms of “going to school or not” - this is a question unique to each individual. I speak from my experience going to a school in the US that did not adequately prepare its students for “real world” situations. I learned in the “real world” as I went and regret nothing, but of course we were angry at all that money spent for zero preparation. This animation was to past naive me who fell into many of the terrible traps and situations. I hope you can now avoid them, armed with this knowledge! Speaking further on school, my experience is only for US schools and US jobs. If you are international and need a degree in order to obtain a VISA etc, GET THAT DEGREE if it makes sense for you and your ideal future and ideal jobs! I hope you rock it! And, finally, this animation was scary, but I urge you to “make your own luck” to keep that fire and passion for animation alive. That love of breathing life into pictures will never die, so honor and protect it! It’s easy for it to wane when constantly making others’ dreams instead of your own (again, my own experience), so always have a side hustle/hobby that sparks your creativity! My dissatisfaction with creative industries in general comes from the lack of respect they often show to the very people that make them work. The “gig economy” is ulcer-inducing, especially in a country where healthcare can bankrupt you in a heartbeat. These complaints have nothing to do with the excellent people involved in the fields. The Remedy for the horrible crunch and disrespect cycle is well outside the scope of this video, and is a larger discussion all creative fields are (hopefully) finally having to improve conditions. Things only improve when we share our experiences and do something about them! (So, here are my experiences!) As always, thank you for joining me here! I sincerely wish you all the best and cannot wait to see what you make. Keep your creative spark alive and take care of it if it should dim for a bit. You can do this!
I am from Brazil and UA-cam recommended your video. And I want to say that around here we need a degree to work in a big international studio, one guy who studied with me he was finishing his studies and he got a proposal to go to UK to animate Timon and Pumbaa in the new Lion King, they were doing it back then. If he didn't have that degree he would definetely not work on the project.
Thank you a lot for this video, I actually teared up a bit towards the end. I'm 21 and have been struggling to decide what I want to do with my life, since I abhor the idea of wasting 4 years of my life at a university while working full time to pay for it at a mediocre entry level job. I am not passionate about animation - however, I am incredibly passionate about writing (I have written three drafts for a story, each around 100k words, over the past few years, with editing to the drafts.), but I struggle to continue doing it because it means trying to get a publisher to... well, actually publish my work. I am also passionate about painting miniatures (I have taken on commissions for painting miniatures for games like Warhammer in the past.), but this is just flat out unreliable - especially with the rising talents and cheaper costs for commissions in this. I also enjoy cartography, but again, that's more of a side gig than it is something that can be lived off of. I run a few largeish communities and the like, but because of my depression - as well as the fact I work full time in retail - I'm always too crushed to be creative. And I always have people harassing me about when i'll start college and the like yet, literally nothing I want to do involves college, so it'd just be a waste of time for me. Writing doesn't need college, painting doesn't need college, managing communities doesn't need college(Granted this is an unpaid thing), and all that. And I always have people mocking me about needing to get a 'real job' (whatever that means, I have a real job where I get to work 40 hours a week moving furniture and cleaning appliances on literally minimum wage.) It'd be nice to try to actually pursue something, and I have been considering starting a youtube channel as a creative outlet. I doubt anything would come of it, but using it as an outlet for my creativity could work well. This video was seriously comforting for me, and I found myself agreeing with every point you made. I'm sorry I ended up going on an entire rant about my life, and I doubt anyone will read this through to the end, but incase someone does, thank you.
We must negotiate for universal healthcare in the United States so it will not bankrupt us in a heartbeat because hospitals and ambulances here should not be more expensive than they are in other countries. Even if you hear "Wait, that's socialism." for the 300th time, it is very beneficial to you and the person to whom you are talking to have an explanation for why we should not fear socialism.
never ever pitch your beloved ideas to your corp unless they're willing to make you director of said idea. If they like it they will take it and they will use it, probably without you.
Or even worse take it and then monitise it say for example you come up with a really amazing game that's really really fun they try and you see this and you absolutely adore it when they say they're going to release it just a few weeks before hand they say oh we made some changes so it's a little bit more profitable they end up making it a pay2win atrocity and make it so you have to have wallets as deep as a bank to actually do anything remotely fun at this point it would be like seeing your baby warped monetized and it would be like having a baby that's didn't even feel like yours anymore that's really sad how shity some companies are I think there's Disney's a pretty bad one for it
Nah, like, every time you pitch a project to a production company, you sign a contract saying that you won’t sue if they make something similar to your idea without you, I still would pitch, but would keep this in mind.
I was a young 18 year old dumbass fresh from highschool and ended up PAYING for an intenrship from a dodgy internship placement company. They're still up and running but a majority of reviews are fake 5 stars from their company. $1500, pretty much just for experience and a reference for my resumé :) worth? hmmmm idk
I think the only legitimate unpaid internships are those that offer course credits . So, something you would do in your final year of school (if you went to school). Anything less is just slave labor, pretty much the same as when some schmuck offers "exposure" for an artist's work. Artists can generate their own exposure - youtube, FB, IG, etc. Never work for free.
Right, here's a thing. I was the lead 2D designer of a digital animation and game company. I was paid roughly 18 grand a year. I was the head of the department at 20 years old and worked from 7 in the morning until 10 at night. We pushed forward with those stupid projects that were about as creative as a bowl of bran and cardboard. I recall having to animate a beat em up at the company and all that. It was an awful piece of crap and I remember being furious at the higher ups for giving me a week to deliver the full animations for the game which I had to make the model, do the rigging, code the damn thing and do the colour and lighting and clean up of it all as well. And then it was cancelled. I asked to hire an assistant which they begrudgingly agreed to, which then became a nightmare because the girl was uncomfortable with horror films and our boss kept showing her Human Centipede which.... Yeah, I had issues with. My own mental health issues started becoming a problem until I couldn't produce anymore and was eventually fired. So yeah, after that, it soured my experience of the industry. The lesson to learn here is "Realise that your time is worth more than what they're paying, remember to keep yourself sane and exploitation is the name of the business." Fantastic video that is an uncomfortable but amazing expose of the industry.
I'm shaking my head at all of this. THIS IS NOT RIGHT and I'm so sorry you went through all of this. I despise that "it's just drawing, you can make something fast because its just drawing" mentality, and then cancelling the work!?!? Also, yeah, shame on them for showing her that movie on repeat. Dang, there is so much here, but yeah. Taking care of our minds and health is supreme, and knowing our value too! Thanks for sharing your experience - I hope you get to make some cool things now!
this is exactly why i've always wanted to start my own studio -- i want to be able to be in control of myself and my own stories. thank you so much for speading light on this!
Hey! It’s been a while since you last commented this but I wish you luck in any animation projects or studios you plan on setting up for now and in the future :D
I LOVED this! Your animation style reminds me a lot of those flashback clips from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I love the subject matter, too. Great job!
I'm a self taught 2D animator. What I think animators need to learn is not to learn how to animate, but how to make movie projects in general. Pre-production process, post production, etc. The technical aspects of animating is really only something you learn through repitition and practice, as well as learning from your betters. The fundamentals of filmmaking is more important, in my opinion, as animation is only the technique you choose to present your project, not the entire project.
That's why schools are there ^^ you can have a general knowledge about the pipeline and film production. But schools are very expensive unfortunately, it's a real investment
@@lacroixcamille6075 That's why I'm self taught in that as well. I study art education for university, and it has helped in my ability for public speech and teaching, but everything else is self taught.
here I am a naive artist wondering around the comment section for more helpful stories and advises. Honestly I'm glad that someone like you are ready to awaken the young one's eyes into the world/industry that they are in for. I wish more people can get to see things like this. so thank you.
To tell you the truth this video opened my eyes. I wanted to go into animation since I was inspired by some cartoons I watched when I was a child. I wanted to be the people that made something that others will look up to, I'm going into this animation program in the college I'm going towards. But I realize that it's for 3d realistic shooter games. I sadly can not do realistic drawings as I'm more of a cartoon person //and also sadly haven't started a UA-cam channel yet// so I sincerely do not know what to do! I thought I had my life in check but... I'm so confused!!!
I'm glad this helped a bit! That being said, DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS! Just be aware of what some places will try to get away with (and you don't have to deal with it!) Your style is your style. You can make it work for you! (aka: don't try to fit in with a popular style or a different medium if it's just not working for you!)
hey, this video shouldnot let you down, just that it is talking about animation in particular.. what she says cuts across most jobs in different careers and companies. this happens to all sorts of employees what she only tells you is try to be an entrepreneur but at the end of it all even youtube will become over saturated, so we all cant have working you tube channels, just like in the world we cannot have all people to be rich. continue with your pursuit for you passion but mind about side hustle and building your portfolio aside from whre you will be working from.
Cartoon persons are more sought after than those who do realistic work. People who do realistic work are underappreciated, they take too much time and time is money.
kassi prime : KEEP DRAWING! My brother was not very good at school but wanted to be an architect. At that time in Europe, almost no architect had a job. So everyone even my father would dissuade him to become an architect. But he didn't care. He studied very hard, waking up at 5 a.m. He eventually became an architect... and he always had a job. Later on, he joined with another two guys, they opened an office AND GOT THE BEST JOBS in the region! He is now happily married and has enough money to feed his 3-kids family :-)
Haha, glad you got into the talks of the animation industry! And proper animation as a whole too, I quite like it! I’m new to animating in youtube myself so it was nice meeting ya!
Eeshh. Kind of sad how the animators are beyond over worked and treated like dogs for ''perfection'' while Storyboard artists get it SO easy. Just look at the boards for SU and most popular shows. There is like, no quality control. It's why boarding is probably going to be the only ''corporate job''. I'll ever do. And maybe being a concept artist. Personally, freelancing and independence is the future. TV ratings are already massively declining and online services like Netflix is where it's at. They seem to treat their employees well.
storyboarding isnt easy on SU they basically have to make the entire show AND write it (board driven) in such a tight deadline of a few weeks and the pressure has broken many of my coworkers to either quit completely or go into a diff job
As someone who is applying for animation schools next year, I really needed to see this video. I did not know much about the industry but it always seemed appealing to my naive self. Thank you so much for sharing your experience I really enjoy your stuff and this inspired me to put more focus on my youtube channel since I've been ignoring it for a while.
This straight up discourages anyone from becoming an animator 😨😵 Sorry you're experience was so rough in the industry. Like you said it's not like this everywhere but many of the things that you mentio are unfortunately true...
This is all true BUT the experience is different depending on one's ability and the studio itself. I've had amazing jobs and awful ones. I've seen people fail at easy jobs and succeed at difficult ones. It can and WILL be rough but don't let that discourage you.
Hi I actually became a victim of the animation "subcontractors" studios here even on the philippines, as a freshgrad I though that being underpaid was okay and trying to do this job because it was dream come true, since they have projects from big animation industries like D*ney, Warn*r Br*'s. etc. but I learned the truth from my older alumni friends how underpaid and also noticed that they gave us grueling scenes that a newbie like me can't handle it in a week, and also how the management try to hold us down through contracts and such, but thankfully thanks to the support and assurance of my friends and family, I was able to break free from that company learned the truth of the animation industry, I guess its a lesson learn for us and thank you for enlightning other aspiring people to fall in the same trap that we also fall into. 😢🙏
😬 there are only a few studios here in the Philippines and some of them are notorious for being labor camps 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 god i already quit and now i'm hoping to make a manga/comics. Animation is also unstable studio will have off season, and smaller studios would even close and never pay their artist...
I think I know what animation industry in the Philippines you are talking about. I'm also from Philippines, and I taking a animation course for my first college right know. And my friend takes her passion so she is also a newbie in a animation industry they gave already a hard job to them. Edit: yes they gave a hard project to them and later my friend was transferred to another project, she told me to experience that is really something, so I think it's still good cause you experience it but it's should not everytime.
Yeah you have to do studio work as difficult as it is. You can work in box factory and it's the same thing. Freealance clients are worse than studios and just drop you as soon as you give them a price over $10.
Not impossible you Nihilist, but definitely harder now due to how Education is set, all ya need is at least competent friends and a good computer and mouse, you'll also need a job, because you aren't at a Patreon-ready channel yet. Initiative, Knowledge and Time is all it takes, as Luck does not exist.
@@frank-2martialoffrankoslav151 I don;t really care about having a show picked up that I have no control of. I am happy to work for a studio and give them what they want and then work on my own stuff. I expect to have to back burn that stuff and put some grind in for a few years because of time constraints when new to the industry.
Oh my god, I've heard horror stories about big animation studios. Glad to hear you survived. I still wanna hope I can be a successful creator, regardless of where I work.
Vivziepop lost her baby...Hazbin Hotel. I know she was thrilled when a company offered to make it into a legit show but she shouldn't have immediately jumped on the opportunity. My heart still goes out to her though. I know some of the characters she lost she had had since middle school. It's heartbreaking.
Recommend reading memoirs of Gene Deitch, the American animation director and a Academy winner. His insight on animation industry is very interesting and quite shocking/sad.
Somehow even though I expected this kind of truth, it still pains me to hear. The Animation industry still has one of the most underrated work ethics today, it's been an age where artists are struggling despite all of the "opportunities" given to them. I liked what you had to say about avoiding exploitation, and that nobody should make you do something you don't want to no matter what the reason is. It's pretty much like that and hearing about your own struggles when doing that collab with the 'secret artsy film' and how the "creator" wasn't providing the workers with what they needed. That working backwards from what they alrdy had was doing more harm than good to themselves. It felt like something that needed to be said. I hope that this helps future animators/artists decide on what they want to do and how they pursue even if it means finding another alternative to it. It's still inspiring despite the controversial topic. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and cool art as always! Till the next video, take care! (^-^)/
I hope it does change! Empowering the workers, etc. Just generally talking about some of the bad situations helps to bring them to light and change them! I mean, if I knew that other people were also going through situations, I would have probably felt more empowered to make better decisions, negotiate pay, etc! I think things will get better across all the creative fields. They have to! :) And thanks for your comment!
This is a godsend for young creatives. There are few things worse than losing your passion for art due to the flaws in the traditional system and path. I was fortunate to learn these things early in life
As someone who actually does work in the industry. This truly calls out to me. Everything she describes in the video is 100% true. Especially the whole job security thing. I have to scout new jobs are my current contract because I can easily go weeks if not a couple of months between contracts. Yes to the livable wages things as well. It's a real problem. Like unpaid overtime, wages that are not equal to your skills or experience. And no health insurance or benefits. It's a rough living, but I get to live the dream of doing cool and interesting animation productions. Never other people take advantage of your passion. You ARE valuable, despite what some studios might have you believe! Thanks for this awesome video abitfrank!
As a person who is trying to make animation right now so I can learn it in a professional school in the future and get an animation job this was a roller coaster because I never wanted to do anything else and I will have to rethink my life now. But thank you for telling the truth and telling us how hard it is to actually get a good animation job
Awesome insight! Yeah, this goes for many industries. I did a 3-month unpaid internship at a recording studio. I got some very valuable knowledge and experience, but also I realized about a month in that I was kinda being used. I stuck with it until the end, and hold no hate toward them, but my gosh never again. I started valuing my time much more fairly after that, and am in a much better spot now. ^_^
@@abitfrank It is pretty special, especially the place I was at. One of a kind, out in the country side, good warm feeling to the whole place. It has tons of personality, and a lot of musicians love it. So yeah, despite being a bit used, there's a reason I put up with it at the time. Also it's kind of jaw dropping when they pull out an old microphone and say, "This thing is worth over $12,000, and you can't buy them any more." It sounded astonishing with a good powerful singer behind it.
my experience has been pretty much the opposite. yes as a junior i got taken for a ride on my first contract. but once you get some confidence you can negotiate a pretty decent wage. looking at the wages in the usa an animator can make anywhere from 35k - 115k a year, as for the creative side there is something really rewarding about working on a sequence then watching peoples reaction videos on youtube and seeing how they react to it, depending on the director you can often do some really creative things and go way off the story boards. but the best part of working for a large studio is you will improve really quickly working around other artists who will pick out bad habits and places to improve in your work.
Thanks for opening my eyes I'm an older fella and I really really really want to create animation but I've been in the medical field for 14 yrs and suffer from burnout but all the talk about how hard it is and I even asked Reddit and I get the same response just has severley discouraged me to pursue animation. I'm no young buck anymore so I need to be realistic with my goals. Thank you.
job secure in animation? ... that's like saying, "I want to have a unicorn for a pet" good luck with that. I'd like to add, I find a couple years on the Production side... but apparently picking "production" meant that I would never be allowed to skip over to the "animation" side. Like they were in this weird lame gang war. OH, and when I (how dare I) took some time off (HA! in reality after I was fired from the last production that was completed) decided to have a child, that was BROUGHT UP in an interview with a very high end studio! Literally they said, "well how old is your child? You don't want to leave the home when they're that young, do you?" REALLY?! I'm getting judged during an INTERVIEW?! Of course I vented to friends about those interviews (yup happened more than once). They responded with the adorable comment of, "OMG you should take them to court." Yeah... lawyers cost $$ and I didn't have extra $$ just laying around to hire one. ... SIDE note, youtube had this on my recommended page, and I LOVE your channel. Keep up the great work. And seriously everyone should know what their hardwork is worth. OH and if someone utters the phrase, "just do this for views" aka they're planning on NOT paying you and you should cut ties with them ASAP.
Hi! I mentally responded to this 23 times. THANK YOU for sharing your experiences here - that interview with them bringing up you child sounds A W F U L. Fun thing about the "job security" - I even went so far as to go to regular "corporate jobs" and work in the marketing departments in some effort to have some. That is an avenue to have *some stability for a while (years) but still, when the company hires a new *anyone above your role, you are in jeopardy. It's nuts! Thanks for the kind words about the channel! I am so glad you found it :) Have a great day!
I love this. I graduated some years ago and still haven’t even received a test for working in the industry. I know it’s not that I’m not good enough, I just don’t know people, and maybe I’m not lucky. I’ve been doing weekly web comics and teaching digital art for the last few years wondering how to become a storyteller without a studio. I find UA-cam extremely intimidating but this video makes me feel like maybe I can do it. My “dream” job may not be all that I think it is. Thanks for this! It’s hilarious and inspiring. Definitely subscribing! 🖤
Part 2? Please? I'm in high school and want to go into the industry, but I'm not even pass 250 subs, lol. This was really informative, thanks! (Read the first chapter of "an absolute remarkable thing" by Hank Green, or it's read in a Vlogbrothers video on UA-cam, the main character talks about a start up she worked at that was a "family" with 16 hour days)
fresh grad here, one year old...still fresh? idk. honestly, don't. I really feel what I've learned in the years of a degree i might as well have learned on youtube for free in like 6 months. 6 months for free. Just take a figure drawing class and some online drawing course if you just wanna do 2D. Softwares are secondary. You can learn the basics of any 2d software in a day on youtube. I've worked in studios and she's completely right. Its a shitstorm. Apart from the horrible pay and the overloading workstress, you start from the bottom of the line aka will be treated like shit. Maybe my exp was bad because 3rd world country yaaay! but I don't believe it gets much better. Ive seen your vid on your channel, you already know how to move stuff and on time that you want, just keep going my dude! just keep yourself motivated *cries in shitty student showreel*. Just learn and hone your skill and if absolutely want a studio job, make a showreel good enough to blow anyone's pants right off. gawd that's a long comment.
Jesus you helped me realize that I didn't just dodge a bullet but an entire cannonball. Went to school for animation and it was a fun experience in the beginning but the more I went on the more I realized how bad it would turn out for me personally. I only do art on my own time now and haven't really made it a career but more so a hobby. Thanks for the even bigger eye-opener I heard it was rough but I did not expect it to be that rough.
I feel like this is more of a capitalism problem. Especially considering that a lot of animation jobs in the US aren't really full on animating positions because most studios hire ppl overseas because they work cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong). And if you add on the fact that the entertainment industry is pretty much a monopoly that belongs to only a few mega corporations (some of which are known to underpay workers), I will definitely say that much like other jobs under big companies, they will try to exploit you. It's always better to be your own boss and work for yourself. It's really kinda sad how ppl in animation industry and the visual arts industry as a whole are being mistreated even though our kind of work is everywhere and is an always growing industry. It sucks to see artists taken advantage. Know your worth!
If it was a question of capitialism, than the people with engaging ideas who put work into their projects, organizing teams, studying their art, and producing quality work, they would be the ones making money. What we're seeing today is massive companies who have formed an 'elite club' by making exploitative contracts and legal loopholes. These legal loopholes undermine the power of capitalism by pirating the art and work of creative individuals.
Wow. You're critically underrated. Nice work! I'm sure it's a huge difference being able to work at your own pace. Also bet it doubles as a hobby for you too.
Love this for all creatives and I'd say this applies to programming too. Learn by doing, make your own luck, and work on things you are passionate about! All excellent advice.
damn the truth is really sad...i’m rethinking wanting to be a pro animator unrelated but the music in the beginning reminds me of the haunting by set it off
I tried the freelancer thing as an illustrator, but I wasn't going anywhere, and I wanted to do animation anyway. So I went to school for it, and it was tough after graduation. Unpaid internships, laid off with little notice, almost gave up. Luckily, I have been working at a studio for almost 6 years now. I get some creative freedom, but within the guidelines. I get to work on multiple kinds of projects with different styles that always keeps me engaged. There is a creative baby that I've held onto, but there's no way that it grow where I'm at. Goal is to get enough name recognition and direct it at a larger studio in a couple of decades.
I'd just like to point out something interesting about "focusing on your craft". I know it's a different industry but. A person once shut himself in a shed to learn how to programme (by having it written on call cards and memorizing them, after all programming is basically like learning another langurage). Anyway he would be in this shed shut away from the world, no internet and no distractions. ofc he would leave to eat and sleep. he learnt fluent programming in four months as oppose to 2 years at university. just worth considering u know..
My mom keeps wanting me to get to college for art. My dad thinks me building a youtube channel is worthless, sure I can't monitize it, but I want to get paypal to actually do commissions and actually get money, which my parents never ever do for me.. Even if I told them multiple times I am getting request for commissions from people (with real money) . And never do it because I will spend the money on useless things or they don't trust paypal at all. (I'm underage I can't do it myself) I keep getting pressured to choose which college I should go to and I needed to study a lot more to get some scholarships and thats why I haven't been animating, I am not the smartest person in the world when it comes to school.. So the idea of getting a scholarship is beyond me. Yet I keep getting pressured, because I know deep down inside me I don't want to go to art college, I don't want to work as a 3d animator in a company, I want to be in control of my stories. I also don't want to go to college because of how expensive it is. Its so troubling that my parents is mad at me for not thinking of college when I replied to them "I don't want to be in a place where they only want our money". my dad justifies it as "well you want money too don't you?" I just want to reply to that as "yes but actually no. " I also felt guilty since they've been putting a lot of work for me to college, yet I don't think I even want that anymore. :( Honestly.. Thankyou for this video really, it sums up my fears and doubts of the industry. And I am so glad, that this is true, because that means I have a chance of not living through this.. I don't have to think that I am crazy or stupid for thinking that "college is not good for me"
Try asking your older relatives for help establishing a payment system account, maybe even try using theirs if your country's laws allow it. Your parents sound overbearing, and they don't need to know, imo. As long as you aren't doing anything illegal, you're fine. There are underage youtubers out there who have monetized videos, they most likely did it with help of their parents/guardians/other relatives. Don't give up. I'd still recommend you get a degree, maybe in something related like design. Learning art takes a lot of time and sometimes, money, so you might want to have something to fall back on that is not a horrible wage slave McDonald's type job. There just isn't as much demand for artists or animators as there is for designers, for instance. Just a more marketable skill. And besides, learning academic art, which is most likely in curriculum, would dramatically improve your skill, regardless of what type of art you want to create. Good luck.
Just take any course you think might be helpful, art colleges are a waste of time. Do the commissions while you're doing the college thing tell your parents its a project wink wink
Yeah let's not put down others because of one person who has a bit more animation. Animating takes a lot of time, it's really not cool to shame others to praise one.
Just got recommended this and right from the beginning, I love your art style! It's much more unique than other storytime channels. You're right about everything btw, I didn't realize until after I graduated school was a waste of time and money. Liked and subbed
Sounds a lot like my experience. One project went Union, and we quickly found ourselves unemployed. Best advice I can give, network. Who you know is as important as what you know.
I really like how you used bendy from bendy and the ink machine. That story is a pretty accurate depiction of studios using extortion on their employees
I am in college, but I’m not in school for the career I want. A lot of people get confused when I say I don’t want a graphic design job as my goal career. Then I explain that I am essentially using what I learn to have more control over my projects (like making my own book cover) and it clicks why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m aware there are programs out there, other than what I have, but I chose my college because it actually gave me a laptop that is mine when I graduate. This is a huge thing for me. I don’t have the money at this point to buy a laptop like I have. I am well aware I could be paying off student loans for years. I wish I had done more research and spent more time in highschool taking college seriously but I don’t regret choosing the life I have
Thank you for this very important info. I didin't choose the animation path, but I hope that many people hear your warning. I also did an apprenticeship where I wasn't prepared for the real world. I learned some things, but these things are not needed. I'm foing another one and there I'll actually learn something. Thanks to you, many people will be saved and I appreciate animations a lot more now. I love cartoons and some of them are independend or have not a big team. I'm moe thankful to witness these great stories. c:
This is a general problem in all industries in America. Seeing eploees as replaceble cogs in a machine is a very american thing to do. It's rampent in all industries were there are no unions, like animation an the gaming industries.
I'm in Eastern block, and methinks, it's not an issue exclusive to America. It's been this way here since before the establishment of USSR. The difference is that here the client is sometimes just as replaceable. It's gotten worse in certain industries (like IT) lately with the integration of American project management technologies/methods.
Soooooo soooo glad I'm seeing this vid as a kid about to go into high school and just learning how to properly animate. Because if I saw this 8 years or heck even 4 years from now I'd be sad that I just signed my life away to a corporation and that I won't (likely) make my dream of being a showrunner a reality. Though now I need to see about trying to start a studio of my one day. So I can have the creative freedom of youtube and the well loved stability of a 'Real Job'. Thanks, you just stopped another newbie from getting trapped in this terrible cycle.
Wow, thanks for your insight, and your experience. So sorry you went through all that torture. True it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but luckily my friend didn’t have such a negative experience when working as an animator with a studio. She always mentioned how well she was treated, and she was also able to get a raise. There’s good and bad everywhere. I wish we could separate the good apples from the bad ones so that fellow animators could avoid the trash companies that’ll abuse them.
This pretty much put the nail in the coffin for me & ever becoming an animator. I have been trying for decades to become one, but always wound up in failure. I tries to give UA-cam multiple times & once again every time I failed. Perhaps it was a mistake to think I could become an animator & especially one on a platform like this. Good luck to the rest of the people who wish to be animators. I will just go die in a hole.
hi abitfrank this actually helped a lot: it not only taught me to not put all my eggs in one basket (finance-wise), it also taught me that you have to know your value to produce your best and I'm really glad you did that for yourself. Also, thank you for managing to make the truth less scary because it's real life. But the truth should help more than hurt; which you did today. So thank you again and I wish you the best.
A few things. 1: Crunch time is largely unavoidable in the film industry and gaming industry due to deadlines and how hard they are to meet. 2: Unpaid internships are NOT inherently bad, they have their merits however, they are largely used to exploit people which is why they are illegal in the US.
A lot of this reminds me of what happened concerning the animators on Food Fight. They got screwed over by the company, some people's names were removed from the credits and more. And it enraged me because as someone who loves art and knows how hard animation is, I found it appalling that these people, who helped make the film, were being treated like garbage. What's frustrating is from what you've said and from what I heard, depending on which company you work with, you can end up in a nightmare.
Ever since I was a kid I've always been really interested in art and as I grew older, animation was my game! My channel is still growing but I've really been wanting to create animations on my channel and make more animation type videos. I'm still in highschool so i'm still trying to figure things out. Should I start taking animation seriously now or just continue messing around with it and playing with what it has in store? Found this video super inspirational ^^
A question... if you could offer an opinion?!I actually went to school for animation, with stars in my eyes thinking of all the amazing ideas I could bring to life. I graduated with that same zeal. Unfortunately, the school I went to seemed inexperienced with teaching animation, my portfolio was subpar, and after moving around working unrelated jobs that made me miserable, I started to realize something scary. I only wanted to make animation as a hobby. I don’t trust big companies, I hated feeling forced to draw for people (doing caricatures taught me this), and the Babies I dream of fall victim to my own laziness and crippling fear of being inadequate. Maybe I’m wasn’t made for the art world, but all I want to do in life is art. I’m in a hole, man. Filled to the brim with student loans. If you were in a situation like this? What would you do? How would you survive??
I can really relate to this! What I do know is that the desire to create my own worlds and stories has never died, but sometimes I have to take work to live :) There have been spans of years where my own stuff was put on hold to work for other people, but the creativity never died, it just was hibernating. Something that helped me when I was in creative funks was doing "5 second animations" once a month (those add up over time to make a great reel, btw!), or making something small and simple just to keep my head in my animation toolset. I never lost what I learned, but sometimes larger projects are intimidating. Small things are easier to create when you're burnt out. Also, being burnt out is ok, just don't make it a permanent state of being! You have time to make your Babies come to life. Don't put pressure on yourself - when I do that I ALWAYS feel like a failure. Everyone's path is different, but when there comes a day where you just can't NOT make your dream project, you know that it's finally time to start :) Best of luck!!! You'll do great things!
And about school and sub-par education: I get this too. On your own, learn and study what you need to make your visions come to life. That's pretty much it! You probably know best practices, but your individual toolset will be tailor-made for you.
abitfrank Thank you so much for your uplifting comment! I’m glad someone can relate to this. I’m also seeing that it’s becoming more and more common, though not too many people seem to be talking about it. I’m still struggling with procrastinating and binging on tutorials, but good to know I still have time -you’re right! Also, 5-second animations!! (Wow, I forgot about those, hurhurrr)
I love the way you used Bendy and the Ink Machine in the video. It's really relevant! Anyhoo, thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of falling down that hole
This seems to be the trend for most creative jobs... I experienced this as a cook too (minus the culinary school). Within the first few months, it became very clear why so many cooks burn out and almost never cook "nice" food outside of work
I thought working in a studio would be fun but now I'm kinda scared but at least you reminded me before I did something stupid keep up the good work on the video's!
This is true for all industries. Not just animation. Only problem for tech is that there is no way in the industry without school anymore. In the absence of college, you need certifications. Without those, you need an unreasonable amount of experience to even qualify for a job. And tech startups are notoriously risky. Unfortunately, not everyone can be successful and have their dream job. That's the lie we were all told as kids, that we could be whatever we put our minds to. If you have any kind of privilege to help you "win", use it.
thank you. I was always told that there was no work in animation as a kid and that my dream could never come true. I believed them and decided to work toward what everyone else wanted for me and it's gotten me poverty and misery. Exactly what they said what would be there for me. I'm tired of living for everyone else. I want to create. it's what makes me happy. I'm going to peruse this and teach myself the skills I've missed.
Wow...That's pretty uhhh...wow. But yeah I needed that motivation boost towards the end! That really helps (with me being a struggling artist and all that jazz).
You know you have a point. So many people do go into debt trying to get the career they want, but it's not enough for it to be lucrative in the long run. I guess now it's a long distance dream to own my very own animated studio in order to bypass the debt situation. I'm in the process of making my own 3d animated series, but it is been brewing for over 9 years and I have not put out episode one due to lack of man power and limited resources. Hopefully, I can at least get this thing done in the next year.
I went to university to learn how to make videogames, and found that this was the case for the videogame industry as well. Thanks for letting people know how hard it is for creative sorts!
I have a similar video to this in the works and so happy there are other videos like this out there, although mine's a lot less pretty and well worded ! It's a beast of an industry, I've only been in it for a year and a half and am already familiar with most things you said here :(( so glad you can making a living off youtube !
I work in music by composing, but this works for that industry as well. Crafting your own path where you control your creative input is the way to go. Great video
You are 100% correct, its been this way forever. Always having like 3 or more jobs in case one goes under X_X is the hard hustle! But sadly necessary. And lets not even talk about overseas animation companies taking jobs by bidding for them way lower than any us company =_= ouch. Andddd I'd like to add (2 yrs late to the vid lol) that what you say applies to ALL PLATFORMS. Twitter, Insta, Patreon, etc- if you found your niche spot and know what you want to do and enjoy, DO IT! You don't NEED TO work for any of these BIG NAME companies in order to do what you love =) If you have to make any sacrifices for the craft, make sure its for YOU first. Thanks for the vid!!
The first time I saw Bendy and the Ink Machine, I thought it was going to be about the employees going mad having to work in horrendous conditions under the tyrannical rule of their CEO which leads them to mentally break down and start worshiping the only thing that brings joy to them: the cartoon character itself, Bendy. I thought the game would involve having to fight off the former employees turned cultists and eventually take down the man who fell into madness and was the only one to truly obtain dark powers: Joey Drew. The animation industry is so corrupt and it pains me when I see my favorite cartoon characters because I don’t really know if they were made out of love and imagination or at souly for monetary gain and if the creators and laborers suffered in the process.
Thank you for your share of your wisdom and observation on one of the paths of animation especially on the new experience. I didn't know a project was done that means you as a worker is done. I know the artsy fartsy section was hard but I didn't know it was that hard. I remember watching a Netflix documentary on anime animation about how the high director of the animation(they didn't mention the worker bees but I bet they were) all were tired and desire sleep. They didn't mention what happens to the peeps on the lower end of the team. Which is a real eye opener for me but on the American side not Japanese ( I don't know how Japanese animation studios treat their work peeps but I'm sure their are some dark similarities) I still am fascinated with animation because of childhood influence. I'm not much of a drawer but still can work out of the cocoon phase. Thank again so much for your experience. Keep up with you self reflective artistry.
Fantastic video! you voiced one of my biggest concerns as a content creator. My dream was to work in the video games design industry, I studied video games design in Uni, which also included some animation studies too! that was fascinating. My biggest fear however was pitching my world and cast of characters, getting a game made with them in but then that meant the game company owned them, not me. So after years of decisions, I decided to develop my game independently. My retail job acts to pay bills and I can work on my game in my spare time, no rush and no big corporation breathing down my neck!.
sad to say i only just found this i am concidering going into animation still want to go into animation after watching this but this will definatly change my approch this video was super helpfull so thankyou also love all the bendy refrences you included made me smile when i saw them
That's just exactly what happened to me last week. They kicked to out because I said no to extend my bond further. My studio actually treat their employees as labours. The manager that I admired the most, to whom I never said no for any work, he was the real person behind the decision. And according to my experience that was the best thing that happened to me in past 6 years of my life. The moral is job isn't everything, so we really need to get some time and build our own things.
Watching this as I’m working in the weekend very much unpaid. This is the second time I’ve watched this video and I think I resonate with it even more than before. I remember being called in by my director for a “talk” because I was reprimanded for going back on time and missing my quotas (which are insanely big and I’m still relatively a newbie). Somehow it lead to being how I should feel “lucky” I got my position because I got in when they studio was planning on just hiring extremely underpaid interns to do the work instead. I’m planning to leave this studio as soon as I get another job because the feeling of being undervalued and set up for failure with crazy workloads is real
I'm so happy I found this video and your channel! I'm only a highschooler, but I've lived long enough to see what the job industry looks like from my point of view. It's all... go to college, get an education, get a job, get married, have kids, die. That's just how our society seems to roll, so clean and cut slate, and no one really matters in the end. That's one of the main reasons that I personally feel no desire to go to college, despite it seeming in my best interest. Instead I have the desire to get rid of what I have and travel the world, seeing what is beyond a city or computer screen, even though that is a lot more dangerous and uncertain. I don't know, but it's good to know that other people at least feel similar to me. Thanks!
Thank you very much for making this! It took me a lot longer (nearly 30 years) to arrive at the same conclusions you have. I was going to share a long rant on FB for young people thinking of getting into animation, but I just shared your video instead. It did the job so much better.
This is such an interesting method of animation in spite of the fact the animations themselves are relatively simplistic the amount of them is exceedingly expressive very easy to tell what your characters are feeling at any given moment which is very odd considering normally do a simple art style to cut down on animation but your style of doing it makes it very unique and very interesting it seems very alive better than pretty much all the other popular UA-camrs I've seen normally they will use a group of about 50 photos or sketches and then just interchange between them throughout the video as the situation needs where is using to put way way way way more effort into what you do while a lot of people may not appreciated know that a lot of your fans do even on your art style alone that was enough to get me hooked if you're curious what got me into your channel was the Coraline doorway monster Theory sorry using voice to text you later to change it
It's hard because I HATE these evil companies and I want to open my own studio for game development and animation, but those evil practices are why they have the money to hire people and I don't :(
Can I just give a different view point. I didn’t go to art school. A lot of people I work with never went to art school. I got an engineering degree. Back in 2004, my artists friends were making about 40k more than my engineering friends coming out of school, so I decided to go the art route. I did storyboarding. Pay was great, each movie was about 4-5 years job security. So I guess don’t get discouraged if you want to do boards or vis dev.
***Some Important Notes!***
This is my experience with the industry and making things for other people. Over my years animating for companies, freelancing, etc, I have finally found the ideal animation situation for me, which is having more creative control over the work I do. This is not for everyone, and I know a lot of folks feel best working on teams with scores of other creative people. That’s awesome! I am grateful for all my industry experiences and jobs, and for me, feel like I’ve finally found a space to animate freely (UA-cam).
In terms of “going to school or not” - this is a question unique to each individual. I speak from my experience going to a school in the US that did not adequately prepare its students for “real world” situations. I learned in the “real world” as I went and regret nothing, but of course we were angry at all that money spent for zero preparation. This animation was to past naive me who fell into many of the terrible traps and situations. I hope you can now avoid them, armed with this knowledge!
Speaking further on school, my experience is only for US schools and US jobs. If you are international and need a degree in order to obtain a VISA etc, GET THAT DEGREE if it makes sense for you and your ideal future and ideal jobs! I hope you rock it!
And, finally, this animation was scary, but I urge you to “make your own luck” to keep that fire and passion for animation alive. That love of breathing life into pictures will never die, so honor and protect it! It’s easy for it to wane when constantly making others’ dreams instead of your own (again, my own experience), so always have a side hustle/hobby that sparks your creativity!
My dissatisfaction with creative industries in general comes from the lack of respect they often show to the very people that make them work. The “gig economy” is ulcer-inducing, especially in a country where healthcare can bankrupt you in a heartbeat. These complaints have nothing to do with the excellent people involved in the fields. The Remedy for the horrible crunch and disrespect cycle is well outside the scope of this video, and is a larger discussion all creative fields are (hopefully) finally having to improve conditions. Things only improve when we share our experiences and do something about them! (So, here are my experiences!)
As always, thank you for joining me here! I sincerely wish you all the best and cannot wait to see what you make. Keep your creative spark alive and take care of it if it should dim for a bit. You can do this!
I see that this video is 2 years old. Has anybody changed on youtube earnings since they introduced videos for kids and adults and whatever else?
I am from Brazil and UA-cam recommended your video. And I want to say that around here we need a degree to work in a big international studio, one guy who studied with me he was finishing his studies and he got a proposal to go to UK to animate Timon and Pumbaa in the new Lion King, they were doing it back then. If he didn't have that degree he would definetely not work on the project.
Thank you a lot for this video, I actually teared up a bit towards the end. I'm 21 and have been struggling to decide what I want to do with my life, since I abhor the idea of wasting 4 years of my life at a university while working full time to pay for it at a mediocre entry level job.
I am not passionate about animation - however, I am incredibly passionate about writing (I have written three drafts for a story, each around 100k words, over the past few years, with editing to the drafts.), but I struggle to continue doing it because it means trying to get a publisher to... well, actually publish my work.
I am also passionate about painting miniatures (I have taken on commissions for painting miniatures for games like Warhammer in the past.), but this is just flat out unreliable - especially with the rising talents and cheaper costs for commissions in this.
I also enjoy cartography, but again, that's more of a side gig than it is something that can be lived off of.
I run a few largeish communities and the like, but because of my depression - as well as the fact I work full time in retail - I'm always too crushed to be creative. And I always have people harassing me about when i'll start college and the like yet, literally nothing I want to do involves college, so it'd just be a waste of time for me. Writing doesn't need college, painting doesn't need college, managing communities doesn't need college(Granted this is an unpaid thing), and all that. And I always have people mocking me about needing to get a 'real job' (whatever that means, I have a real job where I get to work 40 hours a week moving furniture and cleaning appliances on literally minimum wage.)
It'd be nice to try to actually pursue something, and I have been considering starting a youtube channel as a creative outlet. I doubt anything would come of it, but using it as an outlet for my creativity could work well.
This video was seriously comforting for me, and I found myself agreeing with every point you made. I'm sorry I ended up going on an entire rant about my life, and I doubt anyone will read this through to the end, but incase someone does, thank you.
We must negotiate for universal healthcare in the United States so it will not bankrupt us in a heartbeat because hospitals and ambulances here should not be more expensive than they are in other countries. Even if you hear "Wait, that's socialism." for the 300th time, it is very beneficial to you and the person to whom you are talking to have an explanation for why we should not fear socialism.
As someone who recently left an animation company, well... I guess I wish I saw this video early on to prepare myself.
never ever pitch your beloved ideas to your corp unless they're willing to make you director of said idea.
If they like it they will take it and they will use it, probably without you.
Then keep the name and throw out the substance.
And they won't even use your idea. They'll modify it beyond recognition
They will take all the credits, just like Karen.
Or even worse take it and then monitise it say for example you come up with a really amazing game that's really really fun they try and you see this and you absolutely adore it when they say they're going to release it just a few weeks before hand they say oh we made some changes so it's a little bit more profitable they end up making it a pay2win atrocity and make it so you have to have wallets as deep as a bank to actually do anything remotely fun at this point it would be like seeing your baby warped monetized and it would be like having a baby that's didn't even feel like yours anymore that's really sad how shity some companies are I think there's Disney's a pretty bad one for it
Nah, like, every time you pitch a project to a production company, you sign a contract saying that you won’t sue if they make something similar to your idea without you, I still would pitch, but would keep this in mind.
hold onto your creative babies people!!
DON'T TAKE MY BABY
mines musical poorly musical but music
Ima holdin it good
I will!
Mine its stressfull like i need to watch a cartoon to make one
I agree that corporate unpaid internships should be illegal.
That's basically high profile slavery
I was a young 18 year old dumbass fresh from highschool and ended up PAYING for an intenrship from a dodgy internship placement company. They're still up and running but a majority of reviews are fake 5 stars from their company. $1500, pretty much just for experience and a reference for my resumé :) worth? hmmmm idk
@@Renji_Abarai wait you had to pay them to work? Damn
I think the only legitimate unpaid internships are those that offer course credits . So, something you would do in your final year of school (if you went to school). Anything less is just slave labor, pretty much the same as when some schmuck offers "exposure" for an artist's work. Artists can generate their own exposure - youtube, FB, IG, etc. Never work for free.
@@succubusrat6886 sounds like the same trick the banks are pulling now you got to pay them to lend them money and they call it negative intrest. ;P
Right, here's a thing. I was the lead 2D designer of a digital animation and game company. I was paid roughly 18 grand a year. I was the head of the department at 20 years old and worked from 7 in the morning until 10 at night. We pushed forward with those stupid projects that were about as creative as a bowl of bran and cardboard. I recall having to animate a beat em up at the company and all that. It was an awful piece of crap and I remember being furious at the higher ups for giving me a week to deliver the full animations for the game which I had to make the model, do the rigging, code the damn thing and do the colour and lighting and clean up of it all as well. And then it was cancelled. I asked to hire an assistant which they begrudgingly agreed to, which then became a nightmare because the girl was uncomfortable with horror films and our boss kept showing her Human Centipede which.... Yeah, I had issues with. My own mental health issues started becoming a problem until I couldn't produce anymore and was eventually fired. So yeah, after that, it soured my experience of the industry. The lesson to learn here is "Realise that your time is worth more than what they're paying, remember to keep yourself sane and exploitation is the name of the business." Fantastic video that is an uncomfortable but amazing expose of the industry.
I'm shaking my head at all of this. THIS IS NOT RIGHT and I'm so sorry you went through all of this. I despise that "it's just drawing, you can make something fast because its just drawing" mentality, and then cancelling the work!?!? Also, yeah, shame on them for showing her that movie on repeat. Dang, there is so much here, but yeah. Taking care of our minds and health is supreme, and knowing our value too! Thanks for sharing your experience - I hope you get to make some cool things now!
18 grand a year? That's less than 500 a week for such a draining job.
A week? What do they think this is, 80’s micro computer games?
Bro, human centipede? Almost all humans on Earth(except psychos) will get sick by just watching the pictures!
18 grand in this economy? That is horrible! I hope you are in a better financial situation.
Its really interesting to hear from someone who’s been in the industry!
this is exactly why i've always wanted to start my own studio -- i want to be able to be in control of myself and my own stories. thank you so much for speading light on this!
Same
Me too. I love the style. But i hate disney.
Hey! It’s been a while since you last commented this but I wish you luck in any animation projects or studios you plan on setting up for now and in the future :D
It will be hard, very hard...but good luck.
Best of luck to ya!
I LOVED this! Your animation style reminds me a lot of those flashback clips from Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica. I love the subject matter, too. Great job!
ghost boi Not the whole anime, just those flashback portions Kyoko has about her family.
Really? Her avatar reminded me *so much* of Coraline and I am sure that was a deliberate choice.
I'm a self taught 2D animator. What I think animators need to learn is not to learn how to animate, but how to make movie projects in general. Pre-production process, post production, etc. The technical aspects of animating is really only something you learn through repitition and practice, as well as learning from your betters. The fundamentals of filmmaking is more important, in my opinion, as animation is only the technique you choose to present your project, not the entire project.
That's why schools are there ^^ you can have a general knowledge about the pipeline and film production. But schools are very expensive unfortunately, it's a real investment
@@lacroixcamille6075 That's why I'm self taught in that as well. I study art education for university, and it has helped in my ability for public speech and teaching, but everything else is self taught.
here I am a naive artist wondering around the comment section for more helpful stories and advises. Honestly I'm glad that someone like you are ready to awaken the young one's eyes into the world/industry that they are in for. I wish more people can get to see things like this. so thank you.
Same ✋😔
To tell you the truth this video opened my eyes. I wanted to go into animation since I was inspired by some cartoons I watched when I was a child. I wanted to be the people that made something that others will look up to, I'm going into this animation program in the college I'm going towards. But I realize that it's for 3d realistic shooter games. I sadly can not do realistic drawings as I'm more of a cartoon person //and also sadly haven't started a UA-cam channel yet// so I sincerely do not know what to do! I thought I had my life in check but... I'm so confused!!!
I'm glad this helped a bit! That being said, DON'T GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS! Just be aware of what some places will try to get away with (and you don't have to deal with it!) Your style is your style. You can make it work for you! (aka: don't try to fit in with a popular style or a different medium if it's just not working for you!)
hey, this video shouldnot let you down, just that it is talking about animation in particular.. what she says cuts across most jobs in different careers and companies. this happens to all sorts of employees what she only tells you is try to be an entrepreneur but at the end of it all even youtube will become over saturated, so we all cant have working you tube channels, just like in the world we cannot have all people to be rich.
continue with your pursuit for you passion but mind about side hustle and building your portfolio aside from whre you will be working from.
Cartoon persons are more sought after than those who do realistic work. People who do realistic work are underappreciated, they take too much time and time is money.
kassi prime : KEEP DRAWING! My brother was not very good at school but wanted to be an architect. At that time in Europe, almost no architect had a job. So everyone even my father would dissuade him to become an architect. But he didn't care. He studied very hard, waking up at 5 a.m. He eventually became an architect... and he always had a job. Later on, he joined with another two guys, they opened an office AND GOT THE BEST JOBS in the region! He is now happily married and has enough money to feed his 3-kids family :-)
Start a yt channel now!
Haha, glad you got into the talks of the animation industry! And proper animation as a whole too, I quite like it! I’m new to animating in youtube myself so it was nice meeting ya!
Thanks so much, and hiya! Nice to meet you too! Welcome to the animator community on youtube :) (Can I say that? I feel too new to say that.)
abitfrank LOL, you can totally say that. I can say I surely feel welcomed, everyones been super supportive
ok PHEW. Also, dang you've been making videos like everyday?
abitfrank LOL, kinda seems that way, when I’m finding here and there I’ll just start one. Thats been the process thus far
Eeshh. Kind of sad how the animators are beyond over worked and treated like dogs for ''perfection'' while Storyboard artists get it SO easy. Just look at the boards for SU and most popular shows. There is like, no quality control. It's why boarding is probably going to be the only ''corporate job''. I'll ever do. And maybe being a concept artist.
Personally, freelancing and independence is the future. TV ratings are already massively declining and online services like Netflix is where it's at. They seem to treat their employees well.
I think ill learn to animate but then work as a storyboard artist and eventually save enough money to launch my own projects 🙄
Imma finesse the industry
storyboarding isnt easy on SU they basically have to make the entire show AND write it (board driven) in such a tight deadline of a few weeks and the pressure has broken many of my coworkers to either quit completely or go into a diff job
@@AlliandoX what is SU?
@@aaronblaylock2092 Steven Universe
The pressure sounds insane, and on top of that not knowing if they'll even keep you on the job :((
Yeah! Ulcers are an ever-present and real thing :(
As someone who is applying for animation schools next year, I really needed to see this video. I did not know much about the industry but it always seemed appealing to my naive self. Thank you so much for sharing your experience I really enjoy your stuff and this inspired me to put more focus on my youtube channel since I've been ignoring it for a while.
Goodluck to you in school!
This straight up discourages anyone from becoming an animator 😨😵
Sorry you're experience was so rough in the industry. Like you said it's not like this everywhere but many of the things that you mentio are unfortunately true...
The truth has come out.
Aw good for him
This is all true BUT the experience is different depending on one's ability and the studio itself. I've had amazing jobs and awful ones. I've seen people fail at easy jobs and succeed at difficult ones. It can and WILL be rough but don't let that discourage you.
Hi I actually became a victim of the animation "subcontractors" studios here even on the philippines, as a freshgrad I though that being underpaid was okay and trying to do this job because it was dream come true, since they have projects from big animation industries like D*ney, Warn*r Br*'s. etc. but I learned the truth from my older alumni friends how underpaid and also noticed that they gave us grueling scenes that a newbie like me can't handle it in a week, and also how the management try to hold us down through contracts and such, but thankfully thanks to the support and assurance of my friends and family, I was able to break free from that company learned the truth of the animation industry, I guess its a lesson learn for us and thank you for enlightning other aspiring people to fall in the same trap that we also fall into. 😢🙏
! I am so sorry you also had this kind of experience, but I'm so glad you got out of that place! Subcontractor studios are... well yeah. Sheesh.
This is a big help for me as an aspiring animator in the Philippines. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
I think i know what studio that is and they are actually one of the better ones, there are other studios that are much worse.
😬 there are only a few studios here in the Philippines and some of them are notorious for being labor camps 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣 god i already quit and now i'm hoping to make a manga/comics. Animation is also unstable studio will have off season, and smaller studios would even close and never pay their artist...
I think I know what animation industry in the Philippines you are talking about. I'm also from Philippines, and I taking a animation course for my first college right know. And my friend takes her passion so she is also a newbie in a animation industry they gave already a hard job to them.
Edit: yes they gave a hard project to them and later my friend was transferred to another project, she told me to experience that is really something, so I think it's still good cause you experience it but it's should not everytime.
Life of an independant animator is basically impossible.
almost everyone wants to work solo, which is perfectly understandable but also impracticle.
Yeah you have to do studio work as difficult as it is. You can work in box factory and it's the same thing. Freealance clients are worse than studios and just drop you as soon as you give them a price over $10.
Not impossible you Nihilist, but definitely harder now due to how Education is set, all ya need is at least competent friends and a good computer and mouse, you'll also need a job, because you aren't at a Patreon-ready channel yet.
Initiative, Knowledge and Time is all it takes, as Luck does not exist.
@@frank-2martialoffrankoslav151 I don;t really care about having a show picked up that I have no control of. I am happy to work for a studio and give them what they want and then work on my own stuff. I expect to have to back burn that stuff and put some grind in for a few years because of time constraints when new to the industry.
@@jesseleeward2359 what makes you think I was talking about a Studio, Nihilist 2?
@@frank-2martialoffrankoslav151 I didn't
THANK YOU for talking about unpaid internships. Those are a massive ugly blight on the professional creative world. -Great video!
They are the worst!
I wish I would just have done minimum wage jobs instead.
Oh my god, I've heard horror stories about big animation studios.
Glad to hear you survived. I still wanna hope I can be a successful creator, regardless of where I work.
Vivziepop lost her baby...Hazbin Hotel. I know she was thrilled when a company offered to make it into a legit show but she shouldn't have immediately jumped on the opportunity. My heart still goes out to her though. I know some of the characters she lost she had had since middle school. It's heartbreaking.
Recommend reading memoirs of Gene Deitch, the American animation director and a Academy winner.
His insight on animation industry is very interesting and quite shocking/sad.
Great video and very informative.
It mostly backed up what I had already heard and thought about the industry.
Somehow even though I expected this kind of truth, it still pains me to hear. The Animation industry still has one of the most underrated work ethics today, it's been an age where artists are struggling despite all of the "opportunities" given to them.
I liked what you had to say about avoiding exploitation, and that nobody should make you do something you don't want to no matter what the reason is. It's pretty much like that and hearing about your own struggles when doing that collab with the 'secret artsy film' and how the "creator" wasn't providing the workers with what they needed. That working backwards from what they alrdy had was doing more harm than good to themselves.
It felt like something that needed to be said.
I hope that this helps future animators/artists decide on what they want to do and how they pursue even if it means finding another alternative to it. It's still inspiring despite the controversial topic. Thanks for sharing your wisdom and cool art as always! Till the next video, take care! (^-^)/
I hope it does change! Empowering the workers, etc. Just generally talking about some of the bad situations helps to bring them to light and change them! I mean, if I knew that other people were also going through situations, I would have probably felt more empowered to make better decisions, negotiate pay, etc! I think things will get better across all the creative fields. They have to! :)
And thanks for your comment!
This is a godsend for young creatives. There are few things worse than losing your passion for art due to the flaws in the traditional system and path. I was fortunate to learn these things early in life
As someone who actually does work in the industry. This truly calls out to me. Everything she describes in the video is 100% true. Especially the whole job security thing. I have to scout new jobs are my current contract because I can easily go weeks if not a couple of months between contracts. Yes to the livable wages things as well. It's a real problem. Like unpaid overtime, wages that are not equal to your skills or experience. And no health insurance or benefits. It's a rough living, but I get to live the dream of doing cool and interesting animation productions. Never other people take advantage of your passion. You ARE valuable, despite what some studios might have you believe! Thanks for this awesome video abitfrank!
As a person who is trying to make animation right now so I can learn it in a professional school in the future and get an animation job this was a roller coaster because I never wanted to do anything else and I will have to rethink my life now.
But thank you for telling the truth and telling us how hard it is to actually get a good animation job
Awesome insight!
Yeah, this goes for many industries. I did a 3-month unpaid internship at a recording studio. I got some very valuable knowledge and experience, but also I realized about a month in that I was kinda being used. I stuck with it until the end, and hold no hate toward them, but my gosh never again. I started valuing my time much more fairly after that, and am in a much better spot now. ^_^
Thank you, Guy!! The recording studio stint sounds fascinating! I'm imagining it like learning magic.
@@abitfrank It is pretty special, especially the place I was at. One of a kind, out in the country side, good warm feeling to the whole place. It has tons of personality, and a lot of musicians love it. So yeah, despite being a bit used, there's a reason I put up with it at the time. Also it's kind of jaw dropping when they pull out an old microphone and say, "This thing is worth over $12,000, and you can't buy them any more." It sounded astonishing with a good powerful singer behind it.
my experience has been pretty much the opposite.
yes as a junior i got taken for a ride on my first contract. but once you get some confidence you can negotiate a pretty decent wage. looking at the wages in the usa an animator can make anywhere from 35k - 115k a year,
as for the creative side there is something really rewarding about working on a sequence then watching peoples reaction videos on youtube and seeing how they react to it, depending on the director you can often do some really creative things and go way off the story boards.
but the best part of working for a large studio is you will improve really quickly working around other artists who will pick out bad habits and places to improve in your work.
Thanks for opening my eyes I'm an older fella and I really really really want to create animation but I've been in the medical field for 14 yrs and suffer from burnout but all the talk about how hard it is and I even asked Reddit and I get the same response just has severley discouraged me to pursue animation. I'm no young buck anymore so I need to be realistic with my goals. Thank you.
job secure in animation? ... that's like saying, "I want to have a unicorn for a pet" good luck with that. I'd like to add, I find a couple years on the Production side... but apparently picking "production" meant that I would never be allowed to skip over to the "animation" side. Like they were in this weird lame gang war. OH, and when I (how dare I) took some time off (HA! in reality after I was fired from the last production that was completed) decided to have a child, that was BROUGHT UP in an interview with a very high end studio! Literally they said, "well how old is your child? You don't want to leave the home when they're that young, do you?" REALLY?! I'm getting judged during an INTERVIEW?! Of course I vented to friends about those interviews (yup happened more than once). They responded with the adorable comment of, "OMG you should take them to court." Yeah... lawyers cost $$ and I didn't have extra $$ just laying around to hire one. ... SIDE note, youtube had this on my recommended page, and I LOVE your channel. Keep up the great work. And seriously everyone should know what their hardwork is worth. OH and if someone utters the phrase, "just do this for views" aka they're planning on NOT paying you and you should cut ties with them ASAP.
Hi! I mentally responded to this 23 times. THANK YOU for sharing your experiences here - that interview with them bringing up you child sounds A W F U L. Fun thing about the "job security" - I even went so far as to go to regular "corporate jobs" and work in the marketing departments in some effort to have some. That is an avenue to have *some stability for a while (years) but still, when the company hires a new *anyone above your role, you are in jeopardy. It's nuts!
Thanks for the kind words about the channel! I am so glad you found it :) Have a great day!
I love this. I graduated some years ago and still haven’t even received a test for working in the industry. I know it’s not that I’m not good enough, I just don’t know people, and maybe I’m not lucky. I’ve been doing weekly web comics and teaching digital art for the last few years wondering how to become a storyteller without a studio. I find UA-cam extremely intimidating but this video makes me feel like maybe I can do it. My “dream” job may not be all that I think it is. Thanks for this! It’s hilarious and inspiring. Definitely subscribing! 🖤
Hey, thank you for your comment :) I feel like if you've got stories to tell, they can't help but come out of you at some point! Best of luck!!
Part 2? Please? I'm in high school and want to go into the industry, but I'm not even pass 250 subs, lol. This was really informative, thanks! (Read the first chapter of "an absolute remarkable thing" by Hank Green, or it's read in a Vlogbrothers video on UA-cam, the main character talks about a start up she worked at that was a "family" with 16 hour days)
Subs aren’t everything.
fresh grad here, one year old...still fresh? idk. honestly, don't. I really feel what I've learned in the years of a degree i might as well have learned on youtube for free in like 6 months. 6 months for free. Just take a figure drawing class and some online drawing course if you just wanna do 2D. Softwares are secondary. You can learn the basics of any 2d software in a day on youtube. I've worked in studios and she's completely right. Its a shitstorm. Apart from the horrible pay and the overloading workstress, you start from the bottom of the line aka will be treated like shit. Maybe my exp was bad because 3rd world country yaaay! but I don't believe it gets much better. Ive seen your vid on your channel, you already know how to move stuff and on time that you want, just keep going my dude! just keep yourself motivated *cries in shitty student showreel*. Just learn and hone your skill and if absolutely want a studio job, make a showreel good enough to blow anyone's pants right off. gawd that's a long comment.
Jesus you helped me realize that I didn't just dodge a bullet but an entire cannonball. Went to school for animation and it was a fun experience in the beginning but the more I went on the more I realized how bad it would turn out for me personally. I only do art on my own time now and haven't really made it a career but more so a hobby. Thanks for the even bigger eye-opener I heard it was rough but I did not expect it to be that rough.
I feel like this is more of a capitalism problem. Especially considering that a lot of animation jobs in the US aren't really full on animating positions because most studios hire ppl overseas because they work cheaper (correct me if I'm wrong). And if you add on the fact that the entertainment industry is pretty much a monopoly that belongs to only a few mega corporations (some of which are known to underpay workers), I will definitely say that much like other jobs under big companies, they will try to exploit you. It's always better to be your own boss and work for yourself.
It's really kinda sad how ppl in animation industry and the visual arts industry as a whole are being mistreated even though our kind of work is everywhere and is an always growing industry.
It sucks to see artists taken advantage. Know your worth!
That is not a capitalism problem. That’s just silly and uneducated. It’s an economic problem.
If it was a question of capitialism, than the people with engaging ideas who put work into their projects, organizing teams, studying their art, and producing quality work, they would be the ones making money. What we're seeing today is massive companies who have formed an 'elite club' by making exploitative contracts and legal loopholes. These legal loopholes undermine the power of capitalism by pirating the art and work of creative individuals.
Wow. You're critically underrated. Nice work! I'm sure it's a huge difference being able to work at your own pace. Also bet it doubles as a hobby for you too.
Love this for all creatives and I'd say this applies to programming too. Learn by doing, make your own luck, and work on things you are passionate about! All excellent advice.
damn the truth is really sad...i’m rethinking wanting to be a pro animator
unrelated but the music in the beginning reminds me of the haunting by set it off
I tried the freelancer thing as an illustrator, but I wasn't going anywhere, and I wanted to do animation anyway. So I went to school for it, and it was tough after graduation. Unpaid internships, laid off with little notice, almost gave up. Luckily, I have been working at a studio for almost 6 years now. I get some creative freedom, but within the guidelines. I get to work on multiple kinds of projects with different styles that always keeps me engaged. There is a creative baby that I've held onto, but there's no way that it grow where I'm at. Goal is to get enough name recognition and direct it at a larger studio in a couple of decades.
GO TO SCHOOL TO NETWORK AND IMPROVE YOUR SKILLS, NOT JUST TO GET A JOB!
Good idea
Well said
I'd just like to point out something interesting about "focusing on your craft".
I know it's a different industry but.
A person once shut himself in a shed to learn how to programme (by having it written on call cards and memorizing them, after all programming is basically like learning another langurage). Anyway he would be in this shed shut away from the world, no internet and no distractions. ofc he would leave to eat and sleep.
he learnt fluent programming in four months as oppose to 2 years at university.
just worth considering u know..
your voice is literally so comforting i love it
My mom keeps wanting me to get to college for art. My dad thinks me building a youtube channel is worthless, sure I can't monitize it, but I want to get paypal to actually do commissions and actually get money, which my parents never ever do for me.. Even if I told them multiple times I am getting request for commissions from people (with real money) . And never do it because I will spend the money on useless things or they don't trust paypal at all. (I'm underage I can't do it myself)
I keep getting pressured to choose which college I should go to and I needed to study a lot more to get some scholarships and thats why I haven't been animating, I am not the smartest person in the world when it comes to school.. So the idea of getting a scholarship is beyond me.
Yet I keep getting pressured, because I know deep down inside me I don't want to go to art college, I don't want to work as a 3d animator in a company, I want to be in control of my stories.
I also don't want to go to college because of how expensive it is. Its so troubling that my parents is mad at me for not thinking of college when I replied to them "I don't want to be in a place where they only want our money".
my dad justifies it as "well you want money too don't you?" I just want to reply to that as "yes but actually no. "
I also felt guilty since they've been putting a lot of work for me to college, yet I don't think I even want that anymore. :(
Honestly.. Thankyou for this video really, it sums up my fears and doubts of the industry.
And I am so glad, that this is true, because that means I have a chance of not living through this.. I don't have to think that I am crazy or stupid for thinking that "college is not good for me"
Try asking your older relatives for help establishing a payment system account, maybe even try using theirs if your country's laws allow it. Your parents sound overbearing, and they don't need to know, imo. As long as you aren't doing anything illegal, you're fine. There are underage youtubers out there who have monetized videos, they most likely did it with help of their parents/guardians/other relatives. Don't give up.
I'd still recommend you get a degree, maybe in something related like design. Learning art takes a lot of time and sometimes, money, so you might want to have something to fall back on that is not a horrible wage slave McDonald's type job. There just isn't as much demand for artists or animators as there is for designers, for instance. Just a more marketable skill. And besides, learning academic art, which is most likely in curriculum, would dramatically improve your skill, regardless of what type of art you want to create. Good luck.
Just take any course you think might be helpful, art colleges are a waste of time. Do the commissions while you're doing the college thing tell your parents its a project wink wink
Oh no! it's my story too ...
We live with the same drawbacks in the world of theater. Both in front of the curtain as well as behind it.
I appreciate your candor. Rock on, Frank.
This animation is mind blowing. Awesome job. I love your animations. Cheers.
Thank you!!
The frames move so fast, I love your animation an art style!
Tone down the amount of animation?? Heck you still have twice the animation than the high ranking story time ''animators''
"""animators"""
Can you not diss other animators??? They also work hard.
Yeah let's not put down others because of one person who has a bit more animation. Animating takes a lot of time, it's really not cool to shame others to praise one.
I love your videos Frank. But I especially love your personality :)
Aww shucks, Mint! You are so sweet!!!
Just got recommended this and right from the beginning, I love your art style! It's much more unique than other storytime channels. You're right about everything btw, I didn't realize until after I graduated school was a waste of time and money. Liked and subbed
haha bendy is the animation overlord
It hurts when veteran animators/show runners talk about this.
Yes, i see twitter the last days.
Sounds a lot like my experience. One project went Union, and we quickly found ourselves unemployed.
Best advice I can give, network. Who you know is as important as what you know.
Probably more important
Omg that “we’re a family” line triggered me so hard and 100% should be a massive red flag if your working in animation!
I really like how you used bendy from bendy and the ink machine. That story is a pretty accurate depiction of studios using extortion on their employees
I am in college, but I’m not in school for the career I want. A lot of people get confused when I say I don’t want a graphic design job as my goal career. Then I explain that I am essentially using what I learn to have more control over my projects (like making my own book cover) and it clicks why I’m doing what I’m doing. I’m aware there are programs out there, other than what I have, but I chose my college because it actually gave me a laptop that is mine when I graduate. This is a huge thing for me. I don’t have the money at this point to buy a laptop like I have. I am well aware I could be paying off student loans for years. I wish I had done more research and spent more time in highschool taking college seriously but I don’t regret choosing the life I have
I really like your style! And you've got it right about the animation industry. It's better to follow your own vision!
Thank you, and cheers to following your own vision!
(OMG your work is freaking adorable)
Thank you so much! ❤
Thank you for this very important info. I didin't choose the animation path, but I hope that many people hear your warning. I also did an apprenticeship where I wasn't prepared for the real world. I learned some things, but these things are not needed. I'm foing another one and there I'll actually learn something. Thanks to you, many people will be saved and I appreciate animations a lot more now. I love cartoons and some of them are independend or have not a big team. I'm moe thankful to witness these great stories. c:
This is a general problem in all industries in America. Seeing eploees as replaceble cogs in a machine is a very american thing to do. It's rampent in all industries were there are no unions, like animation an the gaming industries.
I'm in Eastern block, and methinks, it's not an issue exclusive to America. It's been this way here since before the establishment of USSR. The difference is that here the client is sometimes just as replaceable. It's gotten worse in certain industries (like IT) lately with the integration of American project management technologies/methods.
Soooooo soooo glad I'm seeing this vid as a kid about to go into high school and just learning how to properly animate. Because if I saw this 8 years or heck even 4 years from now I'd be sad that I just signed my life away to a corporation and that I won't (likely) make my dream of being a showrunner a reality. Though now I need to see about trying to start a studio of my one day. So I can have the creative freedom of youtube and the well loved stability of a 'Real Job'. Thanks, you just stopped another newbie from getting trapped in this terrible cycle.
Feels like a job as game developer at the company THAT-SHALL-NOT-BE-NAMED.
I like how at 5:40 the gears resemble one of the most famous cartoon characters of all time. Coincidence?
Most likely
Wow, thanks for your insight, and your experience. So sorry you went through all that torture. True it’s not all rainbows and sunshine, but luckily my friend didn’t have such a negative experience when working as an animator with a studio. She always mentioned how well she was treated, and she was also able to get a raise. There’s good and bad everywhere. I wish we could separate the good apples from the bad ones so that fellow animators could avoid the trash companies that’ll abuse them.
Reminds me why I didn't want to to do main stream animation with my love for art.... But, this reveal a darkness I don't know. Thanks.
This pretty much put the nail in the coffin for me & ever becoming an animator. I have been trying for decades to become one, but always wound up in failure.
I tries to give UA-cam multiple times & once again every time I failed. Perhaps it was a mistake to think I could become an animator & especially one on a platform like this. Good luck to the rest of the people who wish to be animators. I will just go die in a hole.
hi abitfrank this actually helped a lot: it not only taught me to not put all my eggs in one basket (finance-wise), it also taught me that you have to know your value to produce your best and I'm really glad you did that for yourself. Also, thank you for managing to make the truth less scary because it's real life. But the truth should help more than hurt; which you did today. So thank you again and I wish you the best.
A few things.
1: Crunch time is largely unavoidable in the film industry and gaming industry due to deadlines and how hard they are to meet.
2: Unpaid internships are NOT inherently bad, they have their merits however, they are largely used to exploit people which is why they are illegal in the US.
A lot of this reminds me of what happened concerning the animators on Food Fight. They got screwed over by the company, some people's names were removed from the credits and more. And it enraged me because as someone who loves art and knows how hard animation is, I found it appalling that these people, who helped make the film, were being treated like garbage. What's frustrating is from what you've said and from what I heard, depending on which company you work with, you can end up in a nightmare.
Ever since I was a kid I've always been really interested in art and as I grew older, animation was my game! My channel is still growing but I've really been wanting to create animations on my channel and make more animation type videos. I'm still in highschool so i'm still trying to figure things out.
Should I start taking animation seriously now or just continue messing around with it and playing with what it has in store?
Found this video super inspirational ^^
I've only watched like 2.5 of your videos and can already say you're great at animating.
A question... if you could offer an opinion?!I actually went to school for animation, with stars in my eyes thinking of all the amazing ideas I could bring to life. I graduated with that same zeal. Unfortunately, the school I went to seemed inexperienced with teaching animation, my portfolio was subpar, and after moving around working unrelated jobs that made me miserable, I started to realize something scary.
I only wanted to make animation as a hobby.
I don’t trust big companies, I hated feeling forced to draw for people (doing caricatures taught me this), and the Babies I dream of fall victim to my own laziness and crippling fear of being inadequate.
Maybe I’m wasn’t made for the art world, but all I want to do in life is art. I’m in a hole, man. Filled to the brim with student loans.
If you were in a situation like this? What would you do? How would you survive??
I can really relate to this! What I do know is that the desire to create my own worlds and stories has never died, but sometimes I have to take work to live :) There have been spans of years where my own stuff was put on hold to work for other people, but the creativity never died, it just was hibernating.
Something that helped me when I was in creative funks was doing "5 second animations" once a month (those add up over time to make a great reel, btw!), or making something small and simple just to keep my head in my animation toolset. I never lost what I learned, but sometimes larger projects are intimidating. Small things are easier to create when you're burnt out. Also, being burnt out is ok, just don't make it a permanent state of being! You have time to make your Babies come to life. Don't put pressure on yourself - when I do that I ALWAYS feel like a failure. Everyone's path is different, but when there comes a day where you just can't NOT make your dream project, you know that it's finally time to start :)
Best of luck!!! You'll do great things!
And about school and sub-par education: I get this too. On your own, learn and study what you need to make your visions come to life. That's pretty much it! You probably know best practices, but your individual toolset will be tailor-made for you.
abitfrank Thank you so much for your uplifting comment! I’m glad someone can relate to this. I’m also seeing that it’s becoming more and more common, though not too many people seem to be talking about it. I’m still struggling with procrastinating and binging on tutorials, but good to know I still have time -you’re right! Also, 5-second animations!! (Wow, I forgot about those, hurhurrr)
I love the way you used Bendy and the Ink Machine in the video. It's really relevant! Anyhoo, thanks for the heads up. I was thinking of falling down that hole
*sniff* i smell underrated
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This is such an amazing and insightful video! Thank you for sharing it!!
Thanks Phancipy!
This seems to be the trend for most creative jobs... I experienced this as a cook too (minus the culinary school). Within the first few months, it became very clear why so many cooks burn out and almost never cook "nice" food outside of work
Working as a vfx artist that is the way the cookie crumbles. I start looking for another job about 3 months before work is completed.
I just got recommended your content (Caroline video), and your content is amazing! Also your voice just makes me happy for some reason.
I thought working in a studio would be fun but now I'm kinda scared but at least you reminded me before I did something stupid keep up the good work on the video's!
This is true for all industries. Not just animation. Only problem for tech is that there is no way in the industry without school anymore. In the absence of college, you need certifications. Without those, you need an unreasonable amount of experience to even qualify for a job. And tech startups are notoriously risky. Unfortunately, not everyone can be successful and have their dream job. That's the lie we were all told as kids, that we could be whatever we put our minds to. If you have any kind of privilege to help you "win", use it.
thank you. I was always told that there was no work in animation as a kid and that my dream could never come true. I believed them and decided to work toward what everyone else wanted for me and it's gotten me poverty and misery. Exactly what they said what would be there for me. I'm tired of living for everyone else. I want to create. it's what makes me happy. I'm going to peruse this and teach myself the skills I've missed.
Wow...That's pretty uhhh...wow. But yeah I needed that motivation boost towards the end! That really helps (with me being a struggling artist and all that jazz).
It's a scary topic, and not a lot of people talk about it for job reasons, but knowing what could happen makes it less scary somehow!
You know you have a point. So many people do go into debt trying to get the career they want, but it's not enough for it to be lucrative in the long run. I guess now it's a long distance dream to own my very own animated studio in order to bypass the debt situation. I'm in the process of making my own 3d animated series, but it is been brewing for over 9 years and I have not put out episode one due to lack of man power and limited resources. Hopefully, I can at least get this thing done in the next year.
I went to university to learn how to make videogames, and found that this was the case for the videogame industry as well. Thanks for letting people know how hard it is for creative sorts!
This is a great video! It really puts some things in perspective.
I have a similar video to this in the works and so happy there are other videos like this out there, although mine's a lot less pretty and well worded ! It's a beast of an industry, I've only been in it for a year and a half and am already familiar with most things you said here :(( so glad you can making a living off youtube !
I work in music by composing, but this works for that industry as well. Crafting your own path where you control your creative input is the way to go. Great video
You are 100% correct, its been this way forever. Always having like 3 or more jobs in case one goes under X_X is the hard hustle! But sadly necessary. And lets not even talk about overseas animation companies taking jobs by bidding for them way lower than any us company =_= ouch. Andddd I'd like to add (2 yrs late to the vid lol) that what you say applies to ALL PLATFORMS. Twitter, Insta, Patreon, etc- if you found your niche spot and know what you want to do and enjoy, DO IT! You don't NEED TO work for any of these BIG NAME companies in order to do what you love =) If you have to make any sacrifices for the craft, make sure its for YOU first. Thanks for the vid!!
The first time I saw Bendy and the Ink Machine, I thought it was going to be about the employees going mad having to work in horrendous conditions under the tyrannical rule of their CEO which leads them to mentally break down and start worshiping the only thing that brings joy to them: the cartoon character itself, Bendy. I thought the game would involve having to fight off the former employees turned cultists and eventually take down the man who fell into madness and was the only one to truly obtain dark powers: Joey Drew. The animation industry is so corrupt and it pains me when I see my favorite cartoon characters because I don’t really know if they were made out of love and imagination or at souly for monetary gain and if the creators and laborers suffered in the process.
Thank you for your share of your wisdom and observation on one of the paths of animation especially on the new experience. I didn't know a project was done that means you as a worker is done. I know the artsy fartsy section was hard but I didn't know it was that hard. I remember watching a Netflix documentary on anime animation about how the high director of the animation(they didn't mention the worker bees but I bet they were) all were tired and desire sleep. They didn't mention what happens to the peeps on the lower end of the team. Which is a real eye opener for me but on the American side not Japanese ( I don't know how Japanese animation studios treat their work peeps but I'm sure their are some dark similarities) I still am fascinated with animation because of childhood influence. I'm not much of a drawer but still can work out of the cocoon phase.
Thank again so much for your experience. Keep up with you self reflective artistry.
Fantastic video! you voiced one of my biggest concerns as a content creator. My dream was to work in the video games design industry, I studied video games design in Uni, which also included some animation studies too! that was fascinating.
My biggest fear however was pitching my world and cast of characters, getting a game made with them in but then that meant the game company owned them, not me.
So after years of decisions, I decided to develop my game independently. My retail job acts to pay bills and I can work on my game in my spare time, no rush and no big corporation breathing down my neck!.
Nice! I wish you luck.
sad to say i only just found this i am concidering going into animation still want to go into animation after watching this but this will definatly change my approch this video was super helpfull so thankyou also love all the bendy refrences you included made me smile when i saw them
That's just exactly what happened to me last week. They kicked to out because I said no to extend my bond further. My studio actually treat their employees as labours. The manager that I admired the most, to whom I never said no for any work, he was the real person behind the decision. And according to my experience that was the best thing that happened to me in past 6 years of my life. The moral is job isn't everything, so we really need to get some time and build our own things.
Watching this as I’m working in the weekend very much unpaid. This is the second time I’ve watched this video and I think I resonate with it even more than before.
I remember being called in by my director for a “talk” because I was reprimanded for going back on time and missing my quotas (which are insanely big and I’m still relatively a newbie). Somehow it lead to being how I should feel “lucky” I got my position because I got in when they studio was planning on just hiring extremely underpaid interns to do the work instead. I’m planning to leave this studio as soon as I get another job because the feeling of being undervalued and set up for failure with crazy workloads is real
I'm so happy I found this video and your channel! I'm only a highschooler, but I've lived long enough to see what the job industry looks like from my point of view. It's all... go to college, get an education, get a job, get married, have kids, die. That's just how our society seems to roll, so clean and cut slate, and no one really matters in the end. That's one of the main reasons that I personally feel no desire to go to college, despite it seeming in my best interest. Instead I have the desire to get rid of what I have and travel the world, seeing what is beyond a city or computer screen, even though that is a lot more dangerous and uncertain.
I don't know, but it's good to know that other people at least feel similar to me. Thanks!
Thank you very much for making this! It took me a lot longer (nearly 30 years) to arrive at the same conclusions you have. I was going to share a long rant on FB for young people thinking of getting into animation, but I just shared your video instead. It did the job so much better.
This is such an interesting method of animation in spite of the fact the animations themselves are relatively simplistic the amount of them is exceedingly expressive very easy to tell what your characters are feeling at any given moment which is very odd considering normally do a simple art style to cut down on animation but your style of doing it makes it very unique and very interesting it seems very alive better than pretty much all the other popular UA-camrs I've seen normally they will use a group of about 50 photos or sketches and then just interchange between them throughout the video as the situation needs where is using to put way way way way more effort into what you do while a lot of people may not appreciated know that a lot of your fans do even on your art style alone that was enough to get me hooked if you're curious what got me into your channel was the Coraline doorway monster Theory sorry using voice to text you later to change it
It's hard because I HATE these evil companies and I want to open my own studio for game development and animation, but those evil practices are why they have the money to hire people and I don't :(
Can I just give a different view point. I didn’t go to art school. A lot of people I work with never went to art school. I got an engineering degree. Back in 2004, my artists friends were making about 40k more than my engineering friends coming out of school, so I decided to go the art route. I did storyboarding. Pay was great, each movie was about 4-5 years job security. So I guess don’t get discouraged if you want to do boards or vis dev.
This is true but not only for animation industry. Anything corporate is like this.