Hello and welcome to my blog! Over the first half of this school trimester, I will be writing a reflective journal for the subject CIU111 – Overview of Industry. In it, I will be further exploring and commenting on the topics covered in class each week, while examining how they will potentially effect my future as an animation professional.
Our class this week focused on a number of potential types and sources of income stream available to people working in different areas of the new media and creative industries, while also examining the various positives and negatives of the careers paths in our different fields.
While it is not an area that I have put much time into researching or thinking about so far in my studies, beyond a surface level at least, I found it very helpful to explore the potential job paths in the animation industry, such as studio work, freelance, crowdfunding and running your own business, and look into them in some more detail.
During my research one of the things that has become apparent, is the way in which a lot of people’s careers transition through different sources of income in the animation industry. The project-driven nature of the animation industry means that, even at a lot of the larger companies, team sizes can grow and decline in line with the work load at a given time. This means that animators often have to turn to other sources of income, such as starting a business or freelancing in order to make ends meet. (Williams, 2014)
These alternatives to full-time studio employment can require the use of a number of skills not directly related to animation in order for your solo work to be an effective source of income. Bookkeeping, contract negotiations, copyrights, time management and building a solid client base, are all skill areas that can negatively effect the success of your creative ventures if not managed well. (Sanders, 2015)
Further reading on the topic for this week has led me to consider my potential career paths for the future. With there being a strong likelihood of having to work with a number of income sources, and varying levels of job stability, I will have to consider expanding my knowledge base to include some of these non-creative skills to help my journey moving forward.
Next week we will be diving further into the topic of copyright and contracts. Thanks for reading!
References
Studio Workers at Industrial Light and Magic [Image] (n.d.) Retrieved from http://static.dolimg.com/lucas/divisions/ilm_02-a823191be7a8.jpg
Sanders, A. (2015) Freelance Animation Work Contracts, Copyright & Benefits. Retrieved from http://animation.about.com/od/careertips/a/freelanceprocon.htm
That’s All Folks [Image] (n.d.). Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/ea/Thats_all_folks.svg/500px-Thats_all_folks.svg.png
Williams, A. (2014) How to survive as a freelance animator. Retrieved from http://www.animationapprentice.org/blog/how-survive-freelance-animator.html
Trenton Bussell 
