Animation Tips & Tricks, Volume I - Animation Mentor

situation and hoping the batteries magically recharge themselves and fire you back up.That's the worst thing you can do. If you're in that mode, guess what's going to happen? Your work will suffer. And if you're in astudio, guess what happens when your work suffers? People start to notice. Which endangers your job. Which, I think we can allagree, is not a good thing.And like a lot of problems in life, the earlier you catch this, the better. As soon as you notice that you aren't really caring about thisshot or that shot, stop for a moment, figure out why, and then re-inspire yourself SOMEHOW. If that means trying to get away from itfor a little bit, then try hard to do that. If it means popping in your favorite animated film and marveling at some amazing animation,then do that! Maybe it means drawing some funny drawings, or playing some Halo3, but whatever it is, find it for yourself before it'stoo late. You owe it to yourself, and you owe it to your project, and if you're at a studio who has taken a gamble in investing in youand entrusting their work to you, then you owe it to them as well.Now, it would be a cop-out not to acknowledge (or for you students out there, "prepare you") that the single most common cause ofbattery-drain is an indecisive or hyper-picky client. While your batteries can sometimes drain because of your own missteps – youget stuck on something in your shot, or it just isn't working, or the emotion isn't reading - these are not the real danger areas foryour batteries. In fact, it's relatively easy to avoid any drastic battery drain from this stuff, because you'll find renewed inspirationfrom the solutions you'll discover to the very challenges that were draining you moments before. No, the hardest battery-drainersto face are the outside-influences you are forced to deal with.It doesn't matter what medium you work in, or what studio you work for, eventually you will find a client who just CANNOT make uptheir mind. Maybe they just don't know what they want in the first place, or have no imagination or vision and can't even discussa shot until they see a version of it which they inevitably change a dozen times over, or maybe they just like to suggest changes inorder to feel important or like an integral part of the process.You WILL meet these people. If you're lucky, they will be in the minority, but I'd be surprised if you could go a decade in this businesswithout working (suffering?) under a director or supervisor afflicted with a bad case of "I-Don't-Knowitis."The key to surviving these projects, and coming out the other side with a positive attitude and your passion in tact, is to firstacknowledge the moment that you no longer truly care about the work, and then to do something about it.I know those experiences can be frustrating, but I know from experience that wallowing in the muck of your misery on a toughproject will only lead to more misery and frustration in the end, and you're so much better off just powering through the experience,forcing yourself to stay excited about any little aspect of the work that you can latch onto, and seeking out as much inspiration aspossible elsewhere.Just remember that this project isn't the end-all, be-all of your career, and in all likelihood it'll eventually dissolve into a funnyanecdote you'll tell people about years later when you're sharing animation war-stories with your peers.Most importantly, if a project, shot, or director is hammering away at your batteries on a daily basis, don't let them kill it for you. It'syour art, and you had a passion for it. Remember when Animation was WOW for you? It can be again! It WILL be, if you can hang inthere! It's up to YOU to protect those batteries and fill them back up. Don't let one project, or one co-worker ruin this magic for you.It's yours, and no one can really take the love of this art away from you unless you give up and let them.Ok, that's it! It's great to be back, and thanks again for all the nice messages you've sent! Feel free to hit me with any feedback,complaints, or topic suggestions at: tipsandtricks@animationmentor.com Thanks again for last month - the tribute blew my mind,and I'll always treasure it. Special huge thanks to the AMers who set it up (whose true identity I still don't know! Sneaky, aren'tthey?), and extra special huge mega thanks to my beautiful bride for my 24/7 smile, although it might be nice if you could be a littleless wonderful now and then, because my cheeks are starting to hurt.See y'all next month! I promise it'll be shorter (no one really believes that anymore, do they?), and significantly less sappy nexttime.Keep animating, keep those batteries charged, and as always - HAVE FUN!!!!!!-Shawn82Copyright 2008 by AnimationMentor.com. All rights reserved. This ebook may not be reprinted or distributed in electronic, print, web, or other format withoutexpress written permission.