tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-155031452024-03-11T03:50:10.668-07:00Effects CornerInsights to Visual Effects for Motion Pictures and Television.
Tips: Use the Search in the upper left to search the site or simply check the links on the right if you don't see what you're looking for.
Comments are moderated so may take a couple of days to show up.
All material here is © Scott Squires 2005-2017Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.comBlogger201125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-56361663825668980332022-06-06T14:45:00.002-07:002022-06-06T14:51:23.492-07:00 Testing - Please ignoresMy tests.Jump to to New SectionMore stuff here This is a testMore stuff here as wellNew SectionJumping to here.Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-38902678385105635712021-06-15T17:40:00.002-07:002021-06-15T17:40:46.522-07:00New websiteI've started a new website. Not sure if I'll be going to add new blog posts here or at the new site moving forward. I don't have any immediate posts in mind (nor the time at the moment) but let me know if you have anything, in particular, you'd like covered in future posts.New Scott Squires websiteScott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-38788142854498925222016-09-25T21:46:00.000-07:002016-09-25T21:46:03.632-07:00Preserving VFX Equipment and TechniquesI've had some discussions with a few people about the need to try preserve some of the pre-Digital visual effects equipment (optical printers, animation stands, motion control systems, etc) as well as archiving images and other material. This would also apply to miniatures and models.
Much of this has historical purpose and is still instrumental in learning visual effects even now.
Seeing older Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-90035230174236210792015-03-13T18:51:00.001-07:002015-03-14T09:50:13.185-07:00Visual Effects and Overtime
Visual Effects and
Overtime
The visual effects
industry and workers suffer from a number problems. Two of those are massive
overtime and unpaid overtime.
A full-time job in most
industries is 40 hours a week. That provides some semblance of balance between
work and life and allows 2 free days (typically the weekend) to rest and
socialize.
For the visual effects
worker a starting week Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-12419891505855534762014-08-18T22:40:00.002-07:002014-08-20T19:33:25.583-07:00Visual Effects Company Closure Exit FormSince this is happening more frequently I thought it best to create a form for visual effects workers and reporters.
------------------------------------ cut here -----------------------------------------
Visual Effects Company Closure Exit Form VFX-SOL
Check all that apply.
It was announced on ____________ that ______________________________ , a visual effects company, located Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-61027426351909658772014-08-12T11:18:00.003-07:002014-08-27T19:46:56.895-07:00It's NOT just businessIt's NOT just business
At last year's VES Production Summit I was approached by the owner of a small vfx shop asking why I didn't cover some of the good or successful stories. He mentioned his company and another company (both in California). I said "Good idea, I'll want to talk to you and the other company to get more specifics". To which he replied he didn't want their company named in the Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-50946810810621257842013-11-12T14:14:00.001-08:002013-12-21T16:27:03.663-08:00VFX and Animation school and work exploitationI'm doing some basic research on 2 things:
Visual effects and animation students or graduates who feel they were misled by the school they went to regarding vfx and animation jobs, their ability, learning, etc. This is global so whether you're in US or India or other location if you think the school took advantage of you please let me know.
I'd also like to hear about vfx and animation Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-84964487746493240242013-08-20T09:44:00.001-07:002013-08-20T11:08:03.980-07:00Underbidding Visual Effects
Underbidding Visual Effects
One of the most problematic issues in the VFX industry, besides subsidies, is underbidding
This is where a company knowingly underbids what the company estimates it will actually cost to do the proposed work. It's also known as 'buying a project'.
This isn't done by just up and coming companies. Large, well established companies even in subsidized areasScott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-13970460758335845962013-08-10T13:37:00.000-07:002013-08-11T16:34:04.693-07:00Film Subsidy BubblesFilm Subsidy Bubbles
Dangers to those in the subsidized areas even if they may not be aware of it.
Someone on an email group questions why subsidies for visual effects were bad and why would we want to do away with "Our subsidies".
First off they're not our subsidies. The film studios are the ones who lobbied for them. They're the ones who profit from them. Not the vfx companies, not you, the Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-25345053319225672522013-07-31T15:54:00.001-07:002013-07-31T15:56:08.895-07:00The Impact of Visual Effects Subsidies
The Impact of Visual Effects Subsidies
This was a post in regard to a conversation and postings on a mailing list. I'm paraphrasing the original comments here so these are not the true quotes. I've also augmented it based on some of the discussions that followed.
Steady Employment
"While subsidies are a problem, they're not nearly as big of issue as people make them out to be. &Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-60698986778403743942013-06-10T10:33:00.000-07:002013-06-14T08:56:05.763-07:00Sad state of the Visual Effects IndustrySad state of the Visual Effects Industry
For anyone considering visual effects as a career and for those already working in the industry- please check out this great article by Jeff Heusser at fxGuide:
VFX in Los Angeles – 100 hour weeks & homeless
Puts things in perspective.
This is what our industry has come to. We who make the magic from nothing and we who generate the Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-37581686609543712612013-05-23T16:48:00.000-07:002013-05-23T16:48:16.306-07:00Survey Comments
Survey Comments
I did a simple survey asking visual effects and animation professionals about their working conditions.
For more details and the results of the survey see Visual Effects Working Conditions Survey
Keep in mind when I ask about working conditions many are surprised, even at the VES board meetings. Many of us do work in places that provide reasonable working Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-50740010442782607822013-05-20T14:01:00.002-07:002014-11-08T08:56:30.789-08:00Visual Effects Working Conditions Survey
Visual Effects Working Conditions Survey
[Update: What follows is the details of the survey and then final summery at the end. I'm adding some of summary results here for those who simply skim.
In New Zealand 38% of the workers had worked 100hrs a week during their heavy crunch time.Keep in mind a regular work week for most countries is 40 hours. At 100 hours that's 2-1/2 times the Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-65588269356476041452013-04-18T12:06:00.000-07:002013-06-14T15:26:08.085-07:00Visual Effects Guilds<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal.dotm
0
0
1
6887
39256
Squires Studios
327
78
48209
12.0
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
0
false
18 pt
18 pt
0
0
false
false
false
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-68727179195715096562013-04-16T18:03:00.000-07:002013-05-30T11:24:58.064-07:00What’s the solution?<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal.dotm
0
0
1
356
2033
Squires Studios
16
4
2496
12.0
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
0
false
18 pt
18 pt
0
0
false
false
false
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-35353785418450580922013-04-06T18:11:00.000-07:002013-06-10T20:06:40.917-07:00Visual Effects Professionals United
Visual Effects Professionals United
[Update: 4-12-2013 I've adjusted the page a bit.
The VES has a project in process and one of those has to do with the workforce. I've been tasked with trying to gather feedback from professionals about their wants and needs. Since I had already written and posted this I thought it was right in line.
I'm hoping to also do a survey in the next week.
Please Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-1255812590141103642013-03-15T11:17:00.003-07:002013-03-21T23:28:04.699-07:00VFX World Wide Pi Talk
Last night was a great visual effects event. Visual Effects World Wide Town Hall - Pi Day. A great many people worked incredibly hard to pull this off in the time available. (Big thank you to all of them)
We had abut 250 in Los Angeles where the event was held (Gnomon) and interconnected to New Zealand, the San Francisco Bay Area, Vancouver and Austin.
I touched on this yesterday andScott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-36219864479670105682013-03-13T17:41:00.003-07:002013-03-15T12:30:35.046-07:00Pi Day
In case you haven't heard the VFX Town Hall on Pi Day is being held 3.14 (Tomorrow as I write this)
It's in Los Angles but there will groups in San Francisco area, Vancouver, New Zealand and elsewhere. There will also be a live stream over youtube.
I will be speaking along with Scott Ross (Trade Association), Steve Kaplan (Unions) , Mike Chambers (VES) and Mariana Acuna (http://Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-13681837084186007052013-03-11T14:30:00.001-07:002013-03-11T14:30:19.540-07:00We are artists
We are artists
I was asked in the comments of another post why I didn't care for the term technicians. Aren't there technicians as well as artists doing visual effects? Here's my response that I posted in the comments but some suggested I make it a full post so here it is.
---
My term of 'artists' covers all those creating visual effects. I could have substituted the word vfx workers or vfx Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-23450050946933862622013-03-04T11:24:00.001-08:002014-02-26T13:29:11.515-08:00The Miracle of Visual Effects, will it continue?<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal.dotm
0
0
1
1353
7717
Squires Studios
64
15
9477
12.0
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
0
false
18 pt
18 pt
0
0
false
false
false
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-83203538594760454922013-03-02T11:01:00.001-08:002013-03-02T11:01:31.968-08:00VES Board Member thoughts
Van Ling, a visual effects artists for many years and a fellow board member at the VES has asked me to publish his open letter. I've never had a guest blogger post here before but I thought I should make an exception
-Scott Squires
To my colleagues in the VFX industry:
I wanted to make some observations regarding the recent VES Open Letter, with the understanding that Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-7266704236738671142013-02-27T00:59:00.001-08:002013-03-06T09:52:47.903-08:00Visual effects are inexpensive
Visual effects are inexpensive (relative to other options)
Ang Lee and everyone in Hollywood say visual effects are too expensive. We’ve created the worlds and characters that make their movies possible and the large profits usually associated with them. Yet their thanks to us is to tell us we’re too expensive. They would have loved to get even more profits squeezed out of their latest Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com40tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-6609249684110793892013-02-17T09:47:00.000-08:002013-02-17T17:26:11.110-08:00Risk and subsidies
Risk and subsidies
This post is in response to a comment on the previous post Oh, the mess we’re in! . Blogger is unable to allow long comments so I've made a new post for the response.
Here's the comment:
" Mark said...
Thanks for replying to my comment. You're saying that the risk used to be that the studios would be held to ransom in some way, but now that's changedScott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-62358509967421496592013-02-11T20:29:00.000-08:002013-03-06T09:55:32.687-08:00Oh, the mess we’re in!<!--[if gte mso 9]>
Normal.dotm
0
0
1
3156
17990
Squires Studios
149
35
22092
12.0
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
0
false
18 pt
18 pt
0
0
false
false
false
<![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]>
<![endif]-->
<!--[if gte mso 10]>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15503145.post-52664052760563101832013-02-06T17:38:00.000-08:002013-09-27T13:07:37.710-07:00Bad Visual Effects Business Practices
Bad Visual Effects Business Practices
[ This posts covers specific bad business practices of visual effects companies.
If you're interested in the problems of the visual effects industry check these posts:
VFX Service - The Big Picture
Pass me a nail
Oh, the mess we're in!
Risk and subsidies ]
It seems a few times a
year we hear of another visual effects company going out Scott Squireshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15920073387249178066noreply@blogger.com32