Looking to enter Animation and VFX Filmmaking?

Reading comics and watching cartoons is part of growing up. But now, it also means more career avenues like never before. Especially with 24X7 TV channels dedicated to just cartoons, animation as a field is witnessing a new high. Hollywood is known to churn out big-budget sci-fi movies with unimaginable special effects, and now Bollywood is catching up with the likes of Ra.One that impressed many with its ambitious use of VFX technology. And who can forget the Hollywood blockbuster, Avatar! In short, the Animation and VFX industry has a lot to offer to the creatively inclined. Are you ready to make your mark?

Get useful insights from the producer of the popular tele-serial 'Little Krishna' and ‘Shaktimaan - the ‘Cyberyogic Hero' of the animated 2D tele-serial on Nickelodeon. Ashish S.K. shares his thoughts on the thriving Animation industry and the careers it has to offer.

 Why should one opt for a career in animation or VFX?

It's an exciting career option. Today's generation can explore career opportunities available to them beyond engineering, medicine, chartered accountancy, law, etc. One has to do a self analysis to understand one's strengths and weaknesses. In the past, we did not have much option for making a creative career; artists had to look to commercial art in advertising. There were only a handful of students who went into building a career in creative arts as compared to commerce and science.

Which industries recruit students who have mastered the art of animation and VFX?

Animation and VFX is among popular career choices today. The entertainment industry, film Industry, games development, broadcasting, web & internet applications, architectural projects, space research, medical research and also fields like marketing, public relations, personnel training and publicity find the use of animation and VFX.
While television and print continues to dominate the Indian M&E industry, sectors such as gaming, digital advertising, and animation VFX have grown at a fast rate and show tremendous potential in the coming years.
In a nut-shell one can say, any field that requires enhanced communication to engage audiences will find the need to use VFX and animation. This gives rise to opportunities in direct employment with film making studios, game development etc and also opportunities for freelancing.

How is VFX and animation being used for education?

Today, given the short attention span of audiences, the use of animation and VFX film-making has made its mark as an effective learning aid. For example, a geography lesson explaining the concept of an eclipse or a biology class about the circulatory or nervous system of a living being, can be dealt with more effectively with the use of an animated film that not only engages the students but can also be viewed over an over again.
It has an added advantage of transcending across boundaries, languages, cultures, etc. The same educational content can be used across the globe by dubbing it in different languages as required.

What can a fresher expect in terms of remuneration in this industry?

The starting salary is Rs 8000 to 12,000 per month for interns and as one gains experience into handling critical challenges in the production environment, the earnings rise to between Rs 25,000 to 35,000 within the first three to four years of one's career.

What's the career graph like for those opting for this career?

Initially, one has to understand the complete process of powerful storytelling and film-making. Right from script writing, pre-visualization, character development & design, environment development & design, prop design & color, acting & animation, facials, lip sync, effects, lighting, compositing, rendering and editing, sound effects and background score... all these areas of specialization are open for students, once they start understanding the grammar of storytelling and film-making.
Once a strong foundation is built in storytelling and film making, students would easily be able to decide and map their likings, skills and areas of strength to make the right choice of specialization. Students can also seek advice from faculty members and mentors in finalizing the specialization area.
Nevertheless, it is pertinent to note that every single specialization will always start with being a trainee. After gaining experience with continuous learning and experimenting, one would grow from being a trainee artist to senior artist, supervisor, assistant director and director or technical director over a period of time.

What are the pitfalls of this industry?

Until some years back most institutes wrongly promoted Animation and VFX as all about learning software rather than as a creative process. One has to understand that the foundation of artistic and creative story telling is the base of success in this field. Technology is just an enabler and it keeps changing. A person with good foundation can always adapt to new technology. Students must be careful that they are not building a foundation on technology, but on grammar of storytelling and film making.

What's the future the like for this industry?

In a country, which loves entertainment, where the act of storytelling goes back to 5000 years into its heritage, where film-making celebrates its 100 years, there is no stopping the young creative minds to reach out to make promising careers in the areas of animation, graphic design, VFX or comic scripts.
It is critical to understand today's lifestyle, with its dependency on digital tools such as cell phones, IPods, Ipads, computers, television, theatres and the rise of theme parks - the form of digital and experiential entertainment has been innovating itself every single day and setting new benchmarks.
This new, futuristic and ever evolving digital content creation era, makes for a bright future of this industry for all those who dream about creating and not just following.

Who all should opt for animation and VFX?

Anyone with a hint of creativity can explore opportunities offered by this field. If creative inclination is identified at an early age, he or she can then decide on one of the many short-term and specialization courses or pursue a comprehensive degree course in animation & visual effects film making for which the basic qualification of 10+2 is required.

- Ashish S.K. is the CEO of Reliance Animation and also the founder of BIG AIMS (Animation Infotainment and Media School) the education arm of Reliance Animation.  

Other interesting reads:

- How to pick the right college for animation
- Institutes offering VFX courses