Are the days of self taught Animators and VFX professionals gone? It seems like all the new, young people trying to get into the industry have some kind of speciality animation or visual effects training. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing that all these schools have popped up that charge out the wazoo for a couple months education. But what I am saying is that a tonne of youngsters are taking these animation courses, some excel and some barely scrape through and they have the expectation that they'll get placed in a top VFX studio straight out of school.
It is great that some of the larger studios have developed intern programs that help the graduates that show promising talent get a foot in the door. But at the same time it is frustrating for the senior generation of artists who feel like they are being beaten out of a job by these animation school grads.
I have a circle of friends who fall into this senior generation. They taught themselves Maya on their home computer after they got home from school or working tables and studied books by Disney legends on animation techniques, so I may be a bit on the fence in regards to this topic. While VFX and animation has increased in film and television in the last decade, of course it was only a matter of time that these schools would pop up.
I love the idea of studios getting involved with the schools and I hope that they are really giving the students an insight to professional life in the industry. Of course all students need to get a job before they can really experience what the industry and a normal work day is really like but I feel that VFX is a special case and a lot of insider knowledge should be shared.
In recent months I've started seeing more and more job openings for University Recruiters, University Outreach Specialists and recruiting positions that have a heavy amount of the job dedicated to connecting with universities and working on industry outreach. As a Recruiter I'm definitely excited by these new developments as it's a step in a different direction and you get the opportunity to be very hands on.
I'm excited to get involved in my own University outreach and connecting with some schools and students. I would love to share my knowledge of recruiting and production with students so they can gain more of an insight into the industry and what to expect once they graduate, start job searching and hopefully gain employment.
Look forward to my next post where I'm discussing my Top 5 ways to educate yourself in the VFX and animation industry whether your an artist or in production. I'll list some options that you can do from the comfort of your own home for low or no cost.
