Back To School
By Howard Beckerman
I’ve sharpened my pencils, arranged my slides and brought the old Mickey Mouse movies down from the attic. It’s back to school time again. All across the nation, art schools, colleges and other institutions of learning are once more readying their premises to receive the hordes of interested young people that wish to get involved with animation.
I expect that they will all be tramping in with versions of “Tron,” “E.T.” and ‘‘The Secret of NIMH” dancing through their brains. Their eyes will be all shiny from the glow of contemporary television commercials and program openings. They will be excited about the marvelous field of animation. They will want to do special effects. They will want jobs.
I produce animated films, and like many other film professionals I teach my subject in schools in New York City. So I wonder, what will I tell these young people about the conditions in our business as they are at the moment? I could start with the frame of reference of some of the above mentioned features. Do they know for instance that the Disney organization, producers of ‘‘Tron,” went out of their own studio for the first time to gather story and production techniques when they engaged producer Steve Lissberger? Lissberger is young and just a few short years ago he was making films in school much like today’s group of students. After gaining some successes in commercial production, (he did the Bubblicious spots), he created a special animated hour for television entitled, Animalympics. For quite awhile he carried an idea around about doing an animated film, combining characters with popular video game imagery.
The Disney people, in an effort to break out of the ‘‘G’’-rated trap that they had fallen into, listened to Lissberger’s ideas and out of these meetings “Tron” evolved as a combination live-action-animation-computer graphics production.
The students should respond to that information as a positive hope for the future. Now instead of just learning the rudiments of drawing, design and animation they are going to have to become involved with computer technology.
In regard to such productions as, ‘‘E.T.’’ and ‘‘Poltergeist,’’ and other assorted special effects epics it would be of interest to the new classes to know that an animators’ work is now not so obvious but hidden in among all of the effects techniques used in those films. In the old days, animation was strictly Donald Duck and Bugs Bunny, but now an animator has to know how to create natural and supernatural illusions to be incorporated into scenes that can be combined with live actors or three-dimensional models or matte paintings. Just being able to draw a character with a big nose or three fingers and a thumb is no longer enough for an animators’ bag of tricks. Not only must the skillful practitioners of film illusions be able to render water, smoke or fire with pencil or brush, but they must also understand how to use photo processes and video equipment to enhance such effects.
So it would seem that there are many new problems to be solved by future animators, and there should be enough things to keep them occupied in the search for knowledge about all of these developing worlds. But what about traditional animation? What is happening there? Well I could point to all of the programs for children that abound on network television and show that there is still need for new material in that area, I would also have to explain that there has been labor unrest in Los Angeles where most of that work originates. The main cause of the discontent of the animation workers on the coast is that much of the work done on these shows is being performed outside the U.S. Are there not studios that employ animators to do traditional animation here, they might ask? Such as Disney and Don Bluth who are active in full animation projects. Yes that is true, but I might have to tell them that even for “Tron,” work was farmed out to Taiwan that could have been performed by these very same students. Also, even though audiences seem to enjoy animated films, there is no guarantee how well movies like “‘The Secret of NIMH” will fare at the box-office. Films like ‘‘E.T.”’ or ‘‘Star Wars,”’ which have been runaway successes beyond belief, do not require the years of commitment and the cumbersome staffs that an animated film worth its salt demands.
Those studios that do have a vested interest in full feature animation are still excited about the potential of this form, Disney has, in recent years, begun to search out new young talent to maintain their leadership in this field. Much of what garners interest for Disney products at the theme parks, on television or in novelty stores is generated by that companies feature releases. There will always be a property that demands animation to bring it to the screen, and there will always be a producer who will get the backing to do it.
It might be fun to show these students of animation a list of studios that dotted the New York area 20 years ago. There were about 40 or more companies listed then under union contract and about seventy-five percent of them were devoted to the production of cel animation, the other studios numbered were camera and optical services. Today a similar list would show that the majority of companies are engaged in producing camera effects and graphic representations rather than the cartoon variety of film. The list, by the way, would probably be much smaller since many of the studios that were around in those years have since disappeared.
At this point I would have to explain that with the increase in cost for office space and with the tightening of the economy, studios are finding it tough going before they even get to the stage where they can bid on commercials or sponsored films.
By now everybody should be at the edge of their seats wondering where the whole business is headed.
I think that I would summarize everything by agreeing that business is not too good at the moment. However I am reminded of the words of a sage accountant who said, ‘Business is always bad. There is always some fault you can find with it. You just have to learn how to work with it and seek the best advantages.’’ How does this relate to those of us in the animation field, or for those trying to get a foothold in the business? It is important to remember that animation will always be a desirable commodity no matter what its end use is, Much of today’s technology actually has the potential of relieving a lot of the drudgrey that is connected with animation production. Unfortunately jobs fall by the wayside when new systems take charge.
The advent of Xerox reproducion curtailed the hiring of young artists and inkers since the ’60’s and some computer generated productions may never require the talents that would normally be needed to complete animation done by traditional means.
There is a danger in this field regarding over specialization. Years ago full character animation was the mainstay of the business. While there are still many desirable reasons to employ that technique, other styles have presently taken the stage away from humorous character spots. Now the camera shop that can streak and strobe magnificently with the aid of computerized equipment is riding high. As this form becomes tiresome something else will take its place and we will be off and running in another direction. Time has proven that depending on one technique or style of film production can lead to uninteresting results. Fashion moves much of this industry and fashions come and go. If there is any advice that one could proffer to those coming into the field as well as those of us already in the business it is to be versatile and keep an open mind. For those of us in animation everyday is ‘‘Back to School,”
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