Employment Status Report Essay

It is known that the employment status of an individual plays an important role in the present day labour market and influences the quality of work. The employment status report represents the most significant information concerning this or that branch of industry and helps to understand the role of individual in it. As I am focusing on the storyboard and my major is 2D animation, I’d like to represent my employment status report which will include all the necessary information concerning my profession.
GOALS AND PHILOSOPHY
My professional goals
Speaking about my professional goals it is necessary to mention that the world of animation attracts thousands of viewer that is why it requires well-qualified specialists in the sphere of animation. Animation is used in such industries as television, advertising, game industry, movie industry, and software industry. That is why skilled and talented animators are always in demand. The above mentioned facts prove that my professional goals are rather expansive. They include the following ones:
to hold the position of the animator in the animation industry where I can show my best qualities and apply my skills.
To develop my personality and my professional skills (2D electronic animation and painting, using audio-sound effects, painting and sculpting and others) in order to be on the top in my profession.
To use “the newest modern technologies” which will give me the opportunity to perform my duties in a proper way.
To enlarge my knowledge and to learn more and more necessary information each day.
To have an opportunity not only “to utilize the talents of the animator” but also to grow as an artist.(O’Connel 3)
My artistic philosophy
Our life can be shown through art. The artist’s eyes make it possible “to open the mystery of life” and through artist’s eyes all the people can see human nature and understand “the major principles of mankind”. (O’Connel 2)
I think that any animator also has an opportunity to pay attention of the viewers to the major issues that influence our lives: good and evil, truth and lies and so on. I am sure that animation as well as theater, literature and music can influence society.
I can say that animation plays an important role in my life. I am not only interested in this occupation, I can say that I am satisfied with the process of my creative work. Animation is a process of creating animated images by means of computer graphics. These moving images are used for different purposes: in films, in cartoons, in video games and so on. It is very interesting for me to use 2D computer graphics for creating the illusion of movement. Of course, there are a great deal of moments in this work which require special attention and technical skills. The most important traits of character which any animator should have are patience, responsibility, professionalism, love of creative process. As I am focusing on the storyboard, I have faced a problem of the storyboard of some complex shapes which led to wrong transformation of one shape to another. In this case I was told to use shape hints which helped me to avoid this problem. I think that my creative process helps me to develop my artistic philosophy and to achieve my professional goals.
MARKETPLACE AND ITS ROLE IN MY CREATIVE WORK
As a rule, marketplace influences the creative work of an individual especially if his or her occupation is one of the most high-demand occupations in the present day labour market.
Nowadays there is fierce competition in the labour market of animation industry. A great deal of animation specialists are looking for a job and are ready to offer their services to different companies which need well-qualified animators.
My competitors in the labour market of animation industry
My competitors in the labour market of animation industry include those specialists who have greater experience than me and who have already worked for the famous animation companies.
It is known that competition connected with animation jobs is a heavy one. Only those animators who have a talent and good knowledge have a chance to get good jobs. It is expected that the jobs in the sphere of animation industry will be increased by 12% by the end of 2018.(Animator: Required Education for the Career of Animator)
The average salary of the position of animator
It is known that the salaries of the animators are rather high. According to the statistical data the average salary of a qualified animator is $56,000. Of course, the salaries of the specialists who hold the position of the animator are not the same due to different industries which need the services of animators:
Video industry guarantee $71,000 as an average salary for the animator;
advertising services – $57,000;
software industry – $64,000;
design services – 70,000. (Animator Salaries)
In order to promote myself and beat the competition, it is necessary to use only up to date methods and technologies, to have good technical skills which will allow to work better than the competitors.
SKILLS AND TOOLS NECESSARY FOR A GOOD ANIMATOR
In order to fulfill the professional goals, it is necessary to have some specific skills which will allow the animator to succeed in the work and to have a lot of orders and as a result to get fair wages. They include the following ones:
it is very important for the animator to have excellent communicative skills because he/she should work closely with other members of the creative team.
It is necessary for the animator to be flexible in any situation because the animator’s duty is not only “to visualize the project idea” and create the appropriate drawing but also to do a number of revisions of the project according to the requirements of the clients.
The animator should have necessary skills to create different elements of animation such as moving images, backgrounds and so on.
The animator should also have enough knowledge to use computer tools for animation of his/her artwork.
The animator should have at least bachelor’s degree in order to find a good job and to have the opportunity to fulfill his duties in a proper way.
It is recommended to create a portfolio which will contain the best examples of the previous animation projects in order to show the artistic talent and the style of work. All the skills used by the animator can be found in such a portfolio.
As for me I have already got a lot of necessary skills for my future work which include both the communicative skills and the technical ones but, of course, I need more practice and more project works to fill my portfolio and to find a good job.
THE ROLE OF NETWORKING IN ANIMATION INDUSTRY
Networking plays an important role in the animation industry. There are a great deal of different journals in animation which are of great help for those who want to improve their skills and to enlarge their knowledge. Some of the most popular animation journals are the following ones:
Animation Journal which was founded in 1991 and was one of the first peer-reviewed scholarly journals. It tells about the history of animation and the theory including new technologies. This journal was edited by the Ph.D. M. Furniss who is the professor at the California Institute of the Arts.
The other popular journals are Animation World, International Journal of Shape Modeling, Visual Magic, Computer Graphics World, Journal of Visualization & Computer Animation, Computer Animation and Virtual Worlds and others. (Animation and Simulation Journals and Magazines)
There are also a number of different organizations which are interested in developing new technologies in the sphere of animation such as American Animation Institute, Society for the Promotion of Animation, Animation Society, Quickdraw Animation Society, Animation Guild and others. The major goal of these organizations is to share the knowledge and experience in animation and visual effects in order to get the best results in the future projects. The members of the animation organizations are “exposed to a great deal of opportunities in networking”. Moreover, they have a chance to get deeper education, industry support and information on new products. They can get answers to a number of questions which may appear in the course of the work. The above mentioned animation societies arrange annual conferences which provide professional development of all the members of the organizations. (Tai)
THE HOPEFUL PROSPECTS OF MY FUTURE WORK
Nowadays animators have a lot of hopeful prospects of their future work due to the intensive development of new technologies. They have the opportunity to work for different organizations such as studio or web design company where the animators will be able to create animation for web content, TV programs, video games, films, advertising.
I think that I have a chance to use my skills and abilities in the game company where I will be able to create animation for various video games and other entertainment content or to work for the film company where I will be able to use my skills in the storyboard. A specific employer in the animation industry should know the history of art which will help him to create new images, the major principles and structure of design which is one of the most important things in the profession, modeling and story structure, various PhotoShop effects and 2D animation, computer graphics and graphic design and so on.
(Animator: Required Education for the Career of Animator)
I’d like to work for the game company because I have a creative thinking which is necessary for invention of different images. Moreover, I like to play computer games and have an appropriate experience in this sphere of animation industry. The second variant is to find a job in a film company where I will be able to use my skills and abilities in the storyboard.