Is it worth it working extreme hours all the time, day in day out – more importantly are you actually getting that much done during that time?
Foreword
This article isn’t a stab at the industry, nor should it be perceived as such. It’s actually a 2 part article which looks at how people, both from the management side and from the artist side work and why we get burned out, ways to avoid this and hopefully inspiring some to reevaluate how they work. I personally think that there’s two sides to the coin, and although a lot of the time management could work a bit better on making sure artists are appreciated for their efforts when they are killing themselves to deliver a deadline, artists too can look at bettering their efforts in terms of communication and self management, and even just raising their hand when they think something mightn’t be delivered on time, rather than waiting until it is in fact too late to do anything about it. The industry itself is pretty shaky right now, both with work being outsourced to other countries, and forcing studios in the US and other countries to underbid to actually be awarded a show, which then reflects back onto artists needing to double their efforts to deliver the same amount of work in a less amount of time to compensate for this.
I want to mention this, as I’m not bitter, or have any grudge the vfx industry as it stands, I work both as an vfx artist, client and producer so I’ve been on every each end of the stick. But I do believe it’s an interesting topic and I’ve wanted to discuss this for some time. Currently I’m in the middle of putting together the VFX Artist Insight Series which while filming this across the US in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York City and other cities I’ve spoken with many artists and it’s really been interesting discussing topics such as this, and some of the current events that are happening that relate back to this. So I definitely think it will be interesting not only to write about this, but also to hear from all of you about your insights into this as well. I have so many talented and smarter people than myself visiting my web site on a daily basis and I’m sure a lot of you will be able to share some of your own insight onto the subject as well! But if not, then I at least hope you take something away from this.
Overtime vs Productivity
Working in the VFX Industry the one thing we can all associate ourselves with is working too much overtime. People constantly burn out, either temporarily or permanently. Others lose it during a project and storm out…
I’ve witnessed plenty of relationships and divorces occur, and most people sick for weeks after a long form project. The thing is, can this actually be avoided? Do you really need to work all of those late nights to deliver your work? Most of the time it’s management wanting artists to burn the candle at both ends to deliver a project. In some cases it makes sense, to save your energy until you reach the finish line and then you gun it as hard as you can to achieve your desired goal. However, there are plenty of people who make the call too soon, and start getting people working late nights when it’s not necessarily called for, such as mid way through a project, rather than when it’s absolutely necessary. And then what happens, you are literally burned out when you actually are at the crucial point.
The truth is that everyone does it, whether you’re a client, manager, producer, supervisor or anyone managing people, you put them through the extra yards to get extra work out of someone for usually no added cost. I mean, if you get an extra 5-10 hours a week out of each of your staff mid way through the project, then that surely means that toward the end of the show you’re going to be days or weeks ahead of schedule right?
The downside is that when people begin to burn out, they lose focus. They begin to make mistakes and fail to concentrate at the pace they should actually could work at. Some get bitter, others just lose any real care for doing their work.
I remember one movie I worked on where I was literally working 145 hour weeks literally living & sleeping at the office, and at the end of the day pretty much getting nothing done. Probably what would have made more sense is working normal hours and actually getting a chance to catch up on sleep, as well as process mentally the tasks I needed to solve. Rather than being so busy trying to get things done and try to concentrate when it felt nearly impossible to see straight, eyes stinging and ears ringing (seriously) that the work I did produce was probably about 10% what I could be producing. I like to think one of the most common issues that comes up is human error, people make mistakes. People take things for granted, miss bits of information they need and have their mind elsewhere and then, make mistakes. However, if they’re well slept, and able to concentrate, they’re less likely to make mistakes. There are plenty of additional things they can do themselves to manage themselves better, and I will get to that at a later time – but when it comes down to it, the less burned out and tired, stressed and used up you feel the more likely you’re able to keep your eye on the ball and do good work.
Recharging and revitalizing
At the same time, if you’re extremely happy, charged and into the work you’re doing, you’re going to care even more and do even better work! So getting appreciation from your peers and seniors, as well as acknowledgment for your good work helps to do this. Just the same if you’re taken out to lunch or other events to help you recharge and also solidify your team better. Taking a Friday afternoon off to go out for some drinks and give everyone a chance to recharge, not only boosts morale but gives everyone a chance to talk with each other and let ideas fly. Taking people outside of their work environment resets their brains enough to start thinking about new things to try and ways to work together. The same reason most business is done over drinks, everyone loosens up and you’re given time with your co-workers to sit in the sandbox and play a little, without needing to have your eye getting something done.
One of the most common mistakes I see, which falls more on the artist – is that people are so busy trying to get their work done, they’re not looking at the big picture, and they’re not looking at whether the direction they’re going is the right one and any possible issues lingering that they’ve overlooked. I honestly think that 99% of most visual effects work you can do sitting under a tree with pen and paper, the same reason I love planes/airports and theaters so much – because it gives me a chance to reset my brain and start to think about my work without physically doing it and narrowing my ideas through false progression. So many people are busy trying to get the work done, that they head down the wrong path and not only do not realize this until much later, but only once they finally are at the point of realization that they have made so many mistakes, that they cannot actually backtrack very easily. But when the pressure is on, and you’re overworked, it’s much easier for this to happen as you’re under too much pressure and limited time to actually question yourself whether what you’re doing is ultimately the best solution?
Another example of burning people out midway through a project, the earlier things begin to be finalized.
The earlier in a show things are pushed to be finalized the more leeway and room for changes. I’ve sat in shows where I’ve completed my tasks sufficiently, however then more unnecessary tasks have come up, rather than moving onto the next stage in the process, purely because there’s time to do it “oh cool, ok well lets try this and this as well, you know, just in case they decide to go down that path, or something” Again this too can be pushed onto the artist and everyone really, to look at the big picture, but preparing and getting a project out the door should be on every one’s mind from the beginning, rather than the last 30% of the schedule when everyone begins panicking how they are only 15% into the actual project’s completion. Looking at the big picture allows for people to push to get things signed off sooner, and get more of the project as a whole done, and fill in the blanks later where necessary. Later revisit those bits for sign off. Some clients are the major fault here, and they see it as having too much time, so they start making changes that aren’t needed. Why do you think on most projects everything gets finalized and approved in the last week? Of course it’s because most of the work is finished by then, but also at that stage people are forced to make decisions and sign off on the studio, and your work. So is it really worth killing everyone mid way through a project when it’s clear the client isn’t in fact making any real decisions until the last quarter of the schedule.
Konami – “Dark Nekrafura”
A great example of this was a Konami project I did in Sydney 10+ years ago, where the client was notorious for having the entire team work the entire 48 hours or so of the end of the project, when they literally come in and make changes in person. They would literally come in from Japan with 15 or so people, take it in shifts art directing our artists, taking turns as each other slept in a non going wave of changes, and in some cases even try to ask if they can supply a completely new script and concept, or new features that were never ever discussed in the month of production leading up to then.
This was common with this client, and it was one of the type of projects artists would try not to get put on because it had such a potent burn out rate (this was actually the last Konami project we ever did before finally thanking them and asking them to find a new studio, as it was particularly brutal this one time). But because we knew how they worked, we were expected to go about our days and not really do any overtime, just do the changes and work the hours we were expected, because we knew everything would probably change once they actually arrived – they were pretty notorious for simplifying a lot of the concepts and animation, perfectly articulated tiger crawling through the jungle then became flying tiger with no body movement and glowing red eyes. “ok, cool, delete all key frames, add glow, goodbye last 2 weeks of work”. Rule of thumb with this client was to “increment on save” because you’ll probably go back to version 01 out of the 500 you have, and they will instantly approve that one on first go.
So in a way we knew what was asked of us, do your job, don’t burn out, and don’t work yourself too hard, because you WILL be required to work crazy hours the last 3 days of the job, let your husband/wife know too so they mark it on the calendar you’re “out of town” for 3 days.
Superman
One of my fondest projects I’ve ever worked on IS in fact probably one of my most ridiculously tight deadlines I’ve ever had to endure. What made it different was that on Superman Returns we had 3 weeks to recreate the entire opening sequence to the movie.
One shot, all CG, 2.5 minutes, 3 weeks to do it. However what was different about this was that I felt like we didn’t really make any mistakes at all on this project. We had a solid crew of people and we had a plan. I was lucky and managed to hit all the right points, getting my initial look for the core of the sun exploding approved first go, and told to proceed and essentially just do whatever it was I was doing. But I also was given the support I was by management to keep me going, rather than putting too much pressure on me, I was given talented and pretty much genius people to take the more redundant parts of my job away from me to focus on building the effects I needed.
At the same time, management – although was applying pressure as we did need it, and they too were getting pressure from Warner Bros. they focused on helping us take our minds off the stress by making work fun. I haven’t really ever seen the President of a vfx studio at 3 in the morning walking around with a blender full of margaritas, or taking all the guys and girls out for Mexican, tiki bars and then a trip to a gentleman’s club some nights (despite how this might be perceived, both the male and female staff would all go along and it was quite an amusing environment to have some drinks in). Encouraging gags and letting people joke around and leave when they needed to, and the rest of the time keep out of our way rather than making us feel like we need to work harder. This is still one of my fondest projects to have worked on, also one of the more stressful, however I was never bitter, and I also think that I did some of the best work I have ever done on this project because we were managed so well.
I did get sick for 2-3 weeks after the project, after all, my mune system totally crashed from lack of sleep. And this isn’t healthy. And there were people who did respond negatively to the project and pressure, but everyone has their breaking points. The fact we were paid hourly rather than a day rate meant I never got bitter or felt like every hour extra I worked, was essentially an equation as to how many dollars less per hour I actually am earning that day. Instead I was able to use a calculator at 6 in the morning to work out how much money I earned that day and feel good about going back to my hotel for a couple of hours and returning at 10am to start a new day.
This is what made it different! We were compensated for our time, and better yet, we felt appreciated for the work we were doing. The environment was fun and people were making the right decisions in regards to what we needed to get done, so we could focus on our work. If at any point I felt like we had wasted a day or a week because of a bad call or decision, I would have lost it. But we were guided in the right direction and left to do what we did. Everyone knew each other on the project, which made it work much better too. We all had a familiarity with each other, and knew our strengths in the workplace, we were all fond of each other and we were all able to communicate, rather than wait for meetings to feel like we need to talk. People could joke or tell stories while we all laughed and continued our work, or help each other out when we got stuck. Because we all were actively going out and having a beer or spending time together relaxing and we were therefore comfortable doing all of this. Which is a key factor to making this all work.
At the end of Superman, the VFX Supervisor who had recently bought a bus company, gave us a bus we could drive to Vegas in. The owners put us up in Vegas for free, and organized loads of events for us there. We stocked the bus full of booze and went alongside the production team from Warner Bros to Vegas, drinking the entire trip. We fired machine guns (well I and a few others did, everyone else was too hungover), Cabaret shows, big dinners, gambling, you name it. It was a chance to relax and celebrate what we had accomplished. We got vfx crew shirts, and we all got to drive back on the bus hungover beyond all hell two days later. This did make the trip, getting a chance to relax, it was a light at the end of our tunnel. And we didn’t feel used up after the show, or worse yet told we need to work late on the next show, days after this one had wrapped (which I’ve seen all too often). During Superman I did witness one divorce personally, and heard of plenty more that had happened at other studios working on the film.
The industry and where it currently stands
The visual effects industry can be very shaky, and a very competitive industry, at the same time making bad calls on bidding, or worse underbidding to be awarded a show can mean that rather than tighter calls on changes etc. Artists just need to work more hours to handle the workload.
I find at times, artists being compensated hourly is great, because it means they are being paid for the hours they work, and are more happy to work the additional hours when they need to rather than being bitter or fighting it. At the same time, it forces management to be more careful with artists working OT because it actually does cost them money. Essentially everyone is paid the amount they’re owed and they can feel more appreciated knowing that they aren’t essentially having their life sucked out of them, and for free. However, that isn’t always possible. And it’s not because of a job is severely underbid, there can be many reasons. Everyone needs to eat, and just turning jobs down because the client obviously isn’t willing to spend the money is going to still lead to studios pockets emptying if they do not take on work. But that doesn’t mean they can’t still try to compensate with a more positive work environment and a show of appreciation for the artists.
An example of semi-successful handling OT
I produced a commercial probably 2 years ago, where the budget was tight, but the deadline was even tighter. 3 weeks to complete a pretty ambitious commercial, I hired another studio to help out with the commercial just so I knew we would have the support we need, however their work wasn’t really as up to par as I expected and they ended up costing more than half the commercial for work we later had to redo. I had a core team of artists on the show, and they performed miracles. They literally killed during this time, performing amazing work and literally saving the day. We had 3 weeks, and I knew there was going to be a ton of overtime, and that wasn’t in the budget. They knew that, I warned them before they came on board. So it wasn’t news to them, and they were all prepared to do it.
However, even though I was VFX Sup’ing the show and wasn’t hands on as an vfx artist, I did stay back late every night to ensure that A) they had everything they need and if a decision was needed to be made I was there to make it and B) for morale so I wasn’t at home snug in bed or watching tv while they were slaving away, rather I was there and helping them wherever I could. Each night I would take them out for dinner, maybe a beer or two but I would warn them not to overdo it as we had to work, but there were times where we’d end up bringing some bar staff (girls obviously) back to our studio to hang out if we had a late dinner, and we balanced having a life and fun with getting the work done. More importantly I made sure they were being taken care. A $40 meal per person isn’t that expensive compared to them working an additional 7 hours that night, I don’t really understand studios who do expect you to work hideous amounts of overtime and not compensate you with a meal, or a taxi home late at night. At the same time if they were to sleep at the office, which unfortunately on this one project it did happen a few times – I would always call my producer on his way into work to bring breakfast in for everybody.
Again such a small thing, but it always went a long way. At the end of the project, again I took everyone out for a very expensive meal and a night of drinks, I was very grateful for their work and also ensured that any future employers knew of this too. I was glad to hear everyone say it was the best team/project and management they had worked with, ever. And I think it was more just the fact that if they aren’t being paid at least they are being treated like human beings and not like machines. I mention this as it is proof that if you are going to make people work late, it’s not the end of the world but you do need to make sure they are appreciated, and compensated as such.
Artists under pressure
People under pressure are more likely to snap, crazy deadlines and depressing work environments lead to people panicking, hating work, not thinking clearly, avoiding talking with management or showing their work in fear of bad responses. There are plenty of reasons and a lot of effects to this. Some people when yelled at, respond well they buckle down and do the work, most however freeze. I’ve seen this even on recent projects I’ve seen artists literally stop what they’re doing for a day because the pressure is too much, most of the time it’s purely all in their head, and this is something I will cover in chapter 2 – but never the less people do freak out and become counter productive. People deal with stress in many different ways, but there are plenty of support people can be given as well as positive feedback to go with the negative to help keep everyone on track.
What is clear is that it is sometimes necessary, not every job has the budget, or there might be other circumstances. However carefully planning projects, asking artists if they are comfortable with their workload and getting others involved will allow for better scheduling of workloads. However more importantly, pushing artists to work too much overtime when it’s not needed can be extremely counter productive when they then begin to make mistakes and slow their pace, mess up and lack the energy to really care anymore, or communicate/play well with others. This ends up making the schedule fall further behind, than if they were well rested and inspired to work faster. Some of the best producers I worked with in my early career literally got into what you were doing, learned how to load a RAM player to view some videos, so they weren’t waiting for you to come in in the morning to show a client a video, they were able to go an extra step to run and get you a coffee or pay a few bills online, or at least have someone else do these things, move your car etc. which sounds extreme, but if you really look at it, it actually keeps you at your desk working, rather than losing time doing these things, and for you it’s one less thing to stress about. Everyone wins, maybe even management more than the artist really. So those little things are just the tip of the iceberg but essentially it’s a good way to keep your machine all lubed up and ready to rock, rather than having minor breakdowns and halts as it functions.
I would be very interested in hearing others insights as well as situations they’ve experienced. I’m not looking to have negative comments or complaints and comments, I’m looking for productive insights into projects people found to be successful and why, or where shows or productions could have been handled more efficiently. As I stated in the foreword, this isn’t a counter productive article, it’s purely an insight into something I strongly believe, that overtime really is counter productive, and the more people all mesh together and calibrate each others work flow to make sure everyone is working efficiently the more things get done efficiently.
The Flip Side – Chapter 2.
So the flipside to this is the fact that although there are good and bad work environments, and managements do have a lot of influence on how much you are going to work – artists are just as responsible for working long hours and burning out. That being said a vast majority of people out there do tend to want to be lead and do not want to seek responsibility for managing themselves and making themselves more efficient through coming in on time, staying focused and communicating and managing the workplace as much as the workplace manages them. But ultimately you are responsible for what you do and do not put up with, and you are also responsible for raising a flag if you think some schedules are unreasonable. It’s better for people to be aware of it then and there and re-coordinate resources to compensate, rather than you taking it on the chin and then later not delivering and saying it was because the schedule wasn’t fairly placed.
A lot of this comes with experience, and a lot of this can be argued. But there is plenty YOU can do on your end to avoid working unnecessary overtime, and helping yourself work more efficiently. I will be following up on chapter 2 of this article shortly!
Click here to read part 2
Article translated to Spanish – Thanks Gabriel Gazzán
// Any other people interested in translating this article to your native language please contact me
-Allan McKay
New York City, November, 2010
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Allan McKay is an award winning Technical Director & VFX Supervisor, working in visual effects for Hollywood films for over 15 years. Also a Public Speaker & Author. Teaching master classes at events such as siggraph and for Autodesk and other events all around the world. Allan has previously worked for studios such as Industrial Light + Magic, Blur Studio, Ubisoft and many others and was awarded as an Autodesk Max Master as well as working on dozens of projects that either received or were nominated for Emmy and Oscar awards. McKay lives in Los Angeles, CA and is the director Catastrophic FX film studio. |
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1:38 pm
Man you just said what we all VFX artists have in your heart…You really spoke our HEART out…
Thak You Allan…(I literally just took a 30 mins break just to think what I should do now..even sobbed a bit just to make my heart a bit lighter)
Thank You again…
1:52 pm
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2:00 pm
Interesting article Allan, I am not a VFX artists but as a graphic/web designer we are also expected to work long hours for nothing. We only get a “thanks” or even nothing from a boss which annoys us.
I look forward to the next article
.
2:32 pm
Thank you Allan. It’s a very powerful article that shows a terrible reality in our work.
I hope it will change things
Sincerely
9:07 pm
[...] New article on Overtime vs Productivity feedback more than welcome! Click here to read it [...]
10:10 pm
Despite all the challenges, most of the work gets done in the end. Somehow we find a way to finish the project. Now if we could only visualize the path taken ahead of time and get on it right away, the life would be much easier.
There is a parallel I can draw from software development. I think we suffer a little bit from what is called premature optimization, They even go as far as to say that premature optimization is the root of all evil. What that means is that you need to build something that works first and optimize it only when and if it is necessary. Otherwise, you’re doing all this extra work for something that no one will ever see.
Looking at myself, I start all my work with a great deal of enthusiasm, not just about the project itself, but with the determination to really do it “properly”. Most of the time this leads me into overdoing certain aspects of the work or spending too much time on details that don’t contribute to the big picture. By the time I’ve hit the end of the project, I would have already abandoned all ambitions regarding the “purity” of the work and I am cutting every corner possible to get it done. I am looking only at what is visible, what makes the biggest impact etc. If I was able only to adopt this approach from the get go…
All this obviously doesn’t absolve the management of their bad judgement.
-R
10:23 pm
Allan, great article!
You really touched some issues which have been the center of my life recently. Commercials with big (and changing) demands, and with 4 week deadlines, can just be rough..
I agree totally that a producer who even just sticks around, goes a LONG way. Because – to me – the work isn’t whats difficult, its the short deadlines. And just having management there, in the same room, just makes you feel good..
i think this comment is already too long, but I find it interesting you mentioned people’s reaction to yelling. I was JUST having a discussion about this. My last lighting sup was a yeller, and though I am one who doesn’t lock up, i will say, it completely destroys any loyalty you have towards that person. It may increase short term productivity, but the anger it makes me feel after the project is over.. well.. its quite upsetting.
10:33 pm
Thanks for this post.
My first ever job I worked like 1 month all days of the week , It was a freelance Job and then when I finished the job , I didn’t receive the opportunity to stay in the company and Now at this time three months from then , I have not receive any pay for that .
10:47 pm
Excellent article Allan. I recently worked as a desktop support supervisor with a school in Canada that trains people for your industry. This is an area I’m sure they don’t cover enough. Also of interest is how your words of wisdom can be applied to my field supporting the technology. I would love to see more people taking these lessons to heart.
Cheers,
Tim
1:30 am
Great article!
As an artist I think is important to try and stand on equal footing as the management, they are there to help you with the dirty work, talk to pesky clients, go to meetings, do the financial planning and such. They are managing the client for you, not the other way around.*
*Real life situation might differ, but It helps to think this way
Mutual respect and understanding is of great importance, some managers will be more open about this then others, but it really help to talk about the project from a management point of view. Talk about how the whole project is doing, is the budget stretched already, what the client is like, are they under a lot of stress and such, how is the company doing in general, etc. Basically just show some interest in their part of the job. It’s much easier dealing with stressed out bastards when you know why they are acting that way.
And try to avoid an ‘us’ vs ‘them’ situation.. artists and management should be on the same team, the client should be the ‘them’.
4:41 am
Great article Allan! It’s all about behaving like a human, not a slavemaster, being fair. Simple kindness costs very little and as you said will get you far!
6:56 am
Great article Allen,
I agree with most of what you said with regard to overtime. As an experienced artist working in the NYC commercial industry, I know that long hours come with the territory. That being said, many of these overtime hours are unnecessary and can be attributed to things like poor management, people not understanding the process, and people not taking responsibility for themselves and their work.
I look forward to the second part of this article. Thanks for posting it.
V Miller
1:47 pm
Thank you, thank you , thank you… As an art student interested in pursuing VFX for a career, I find this sort of insight invaluable. Particularly from such an accomplished artist/individual. While mostly honest about career realities, too often schools and publications tend to romanticize the benefits of working in the this industry while leaving the more undesirable details in the dark. Thanks to you and people like you I can continue my studies with no illusions.
As a couple of the previous comments highlighted, the universality of the core critiques made about the workplace (ie. desire for mutual respect b/t artist and sup, proper compensation etc) is quite revealing. This could no doubt be appreciated by professionals in occupations of all kinds.
3:15 pm
Thank you for this Allan. I am a young architect fresh out of school and all of your points apply to our industry as well. Thank you again for taking the time to write this!
8:08 pm
[...] Overtime Vs Productivity – Allan McKay [...]
2:10 am
An excellent and well balanced article that deals maturely with a difficult subject. I find material like this extremely valuable in planning how a studio should deal with the complicated issues surrounding overtime and productivity. Im looking forward to the second part!
7:10 am
McKay,
I must say – this was a great read. As a recent graduate of a 3D Animation school I’ve yet to actually experience the full effect of what you’ve described though I’ve been told by many. Even at the institute I attend I could relate to a lot of what was said except the only gratification for one’s effort is the work you put out at the end of it – no tiki bars or dinners out. Though we weren’t paid or rewarded for our effort, you felt the same tension and intensity of meeting deadlines and the resulting backfire of words if you didn’t.
Something I noticed most about myself having come through the program is my best work has always come as a result of taking a step back and pacing myself in the way i know I work best. IE I procured the most aesthetically pleasing results when working on a schedule that suited my style. Sometimes it meant misses a daily here or there but that extra day allowed me to achieve result that I wouldn’t have otherwise.
There was always something stressfull about knowing you had to have this miracle ready for dailies…and I know dailies is just to see progress and make sure you’re on track but in a field of perfectionists many artists will push themselves to rediculous lengths in order to please their critics often resulting in work that is degraded and not reflective of their actual capabilities if given an appropriate amount of time.
At the end of the day it is art and in order to work in this field you need to be able to produce the said art withing a limited time frame. It’s so unfortunate that there can’t be more of a middle ground in terms of quality vs time. Maybe there is with some studios…I don’t know.
8:16 am
As a live action line producer as well as an animation producer, I would merely point out the following: there is a reason that unions were formed in the film industry.
[collective shudder among ownership]
8:43 am
Thank you for the wisdom, Allen. Very insightful.
12:50 pm
Thanks Allan! it was about time somebody relevant in the industry said just what you are saying Out Loud with this article, the funny thing is that it is so obvious I still dont see why this relaxed workflow it is not implemented in every major/small studio. My experience is just in small studios, and I had good and bad experiences about all-time-pressure, and you know what?…work gets done at the same time, with a major difference: A relaxed atmo produced better work. Why is it so difficult to understand?…who knows…
I think its our fault (artists down the line), we all want to have a job and we dont complain as we should. I also agree that artists can do much more to be more efficient, but if you dont have time to think, about being more efficient, or simply stressed out, you just dont do it.
Also I have understood through out the years that a good manager/supervisor must be a good motivator first and a good project manager 2nd.
When this discussion arises i always point out an easy example:
If a goverment or a town council needs a building done before the elections, then workers have to work overtime (day and night) and things get done so that the major can show off during the elections…but workers get paid LOTS. Everybody happy, the client and the workers.
In our industry the trend is that we are always late from day 1 and ,at least in my experience, it means working overtime and not getting overpaid. WHY? Are we modern slaves? There is a phrase I always hear when asked to work overtime: “You´ll catch up with free time compensation” …which never arrives…because next project we are late from day 1…again…
Looking forward for next chapter.
Miguel C.
3:57 pm
Allan,
Thank you for the articles, very well done.
As artist and a business owner, having a Union(s) would be the worst thing that could happen. All it would do is create resentment, cumbersome rules and out of control costs.
Allan I think you bring up very logical points and concerns, I am not sure anyone person would have all the answer to solve these challenges, but one thing that all artist could do is become more strict is speaking up about the amount of work they will put into a project for the fees they will be getting.
As a freelancer, it lends to more opportunity to recognize problem projects and budgets, and say no to them.
We as as artist have to let go of having fear of losing a job or client, and just be firm about our rates, and how much we can do in a given time.
I have become more confident in this regard myself over the past 5 years, its hard, but now having a family it is much more important to me to see them, then see someone i am just working with 100% of the time.
Yet I still will put in long hours( my normal day is already 730am-530pm as it is)
for certain projects or clients, because i enjoy challenges and more important always strive to provide quality work, but I am upfront with them about all costs associated with certain aspects and time lines. I provide realistic schedules for work to be done. If they are not please by these numbers then they either go somewhere else, hire some body from India, or realize they are not that committed to the graphics in the first place.
From the business side, profit margins are so small on any given projects, budget numbers on films, tv and more continue to rise, yet the percentage allocated to fx is getting smaller and smaller, because so many people (usually union backed) are taking larger and larger chunks of the pie that what is left over for production is getting smaller and smaller. Thus this leaves studios scrambling to push their artist harder to to do more and more work.
Another point is that many times the people making the key green light decisions for schedules, projects, or more have now artistic background of any kind. They believe in that an image is something simple to create and only takes a few buttons to create a complex world being destroyed or so forth, so they give or calculate budgets and schedules with this mentality that it might take three days, when in reality it may take 2-4 weeks or something (just a example not literal).
These people do not do this to be malicious, it just a lack of education about how the computer graphics/animation industry works.
Our modern day culture is so now driven, that some people expect work to be done right now as well.
Usually when i educate my clients about this, it is very eye opening to them, and they become much more respectful to the nature of our work.
Respect is the other aspect I see problematic in our industry. Allan is spot on when if a supervisor stays late, or buys dinner, or even just takes a break with you to discuss your day/week it earns major respect from the artist to want to give good effort to the project. Yet Respect has to go the other way as well, not to say all do this, but the newer generations have a attitude of entitlement that they feel everything should be given to them instead of earned, even respect. I remember one example of this while working on the Jimmy Neutron film, the studio was very gracious in bringing in catered lunch most days until the end of the production, the crew was lower, and their funding was almost all used up, so various upper staff were cooking the meals themselves, some of it was not my favorite food, so if i didn’t like it i just bring in my own meal or get it, but i remember one artist upset and totally torqued over the fact that catered meals from a restaurant was not being severed, it was totally lost on them, that one, the studio was going out of its way to provide food, second that upper staff were still concerned that people had good meals, thus taking their own time to cook, and bring it in, and third that the artist were being well paid even with over time, that it is to go get your own meal if wanted. Coal miners, forklift operators, mechanics do not get cater lunches, they bring their own, so i have been offended by that attitude at times by those in the film industry that feel they must be treated hand and foot.
Yet i understand why some feel this way, creatives like ourselves are supposedly a specialize profession, like doctors, lawyers, teachers, marketers and so forth.
Yet most look at artist as deadbeat bums who are willing to work for peanuts.
This aspect has been problematic through out history, yet with more and more animated visuals showing up everywhere, our respect level in the general public has not increased.
if some of these points can be shared or taught to others i believe our work to pay ratio will become more balance, which is the great key. Balance, not make the other side pay for up the nose, but balance. Many times in debates balance is lost.
Thanks.
5:45 pm
yeah, um, i’m going to need you to come in on the weekend.
11:02 pm
[...] is an extert, but link through for his views and observations HERE on VFX Solution. It’s a good few minutes of reading, but worth [...]
3:34 am
This took me almost one full day to finish reading, sneaking up on my job hours and such, but I might say I totally agree with all the points you have mentioned so far. Not only did this boost my morale and confidence as a working artist but it did make me realize a few things that I should’ve owed myself or could have asked somehow.
One thing you mentioned was the stress, burn out factor, and too much workload at the start of the project when there’s no absolute need at all. This was probably some of the few reasons why I quit my previous job as a 3d generalist (from a small ambitious claiming-to-be-studio), not being bitter though, but it turns out that the points you’ve mentioned here do reflect on how I was managed as an artist. I was managing a team of artists as well before and at the same time I was working hands-on as an animator, rigger, compositor, texture artist, and modeler too. You wouldn’t probably believe how little I was being paid for such a huge responsibility, to think that the company has enough money to pay for shopping and fuel bills. It was almost one year of continuous overtime and if I had to turn back time, I would’ve said “no” instead to the overtime offer. I was so burnt out and was not able to perform at my best the next day then, and my output just kept piling up and each of them totally sucked, as compared to when I had enough rest.
And I think one best way to keep artists to stay on projects is to “not lie about deadlines”, trust them, share them the script, pay them well, and last but not least feed them “proper” meal.
Thanks for sharing this, Allan. ^_^
-Reyn
12:02 pm
Hi everyone, it’s been really interesting hearing everyone’s responses, I’ve gotten within the 72 hours this article’s been out over 100 emails and a lot of responses on here as well. I find it really interesting, and I know that this article would be slightly misinterpreted by some, others it might be quite inspiring. Again it’s only been 3 days but I’ve spoken with everyone from artists, students, studio heads and producers about this and their take on it.
This subject I wanted to write about for a while, and purely with the intent based on my experiences, both working as an artist doing all of this overtime(OT) and also from the perspective of a producer and managing a studio. But the main intent of this article was to share my experiences and point out that OT is necessary a lot of the time, and it’s not necessarily a bad thing – there are plenty of bad situations out there, but it’s more about when and how to utilize overtime. Burning people out midway through a project is counter productive, getting everyone to pull together and put in the extra hours at the very end of a show to deliver it on time can be successful but how that time is handled can balance out whether everyone’s going to feel used up and angry about the project, or walk away feeling like the project went well and they were appreciated, even if they weren’t paid for their time, just getting the appreciation and respect can go a long way. There’s simple math that can state that $8 meal and a few thank you’s each night vs 6 hours of overtime, is surely a much more efficient way to work someone if that is how it has to be. But it’s usually not the case.
I’m still trying to sift through all the email I’ve gotten, and it’s great to see this has gotten so many peoples attention. I love the industry I’m in and it is a bit shaky at times right now, but in some ways it’s causing it to strengthen. The same way some studios close down, it allows opportunity for several new studios to spawn. Thanks again everybody for your input and I’m still very interested in hearing peoples take on their experiences and thoughts about the industry and this subject. I think it’s great to hear from people other than artists too, Barry for instance who I’ve worked with before when he’s produced many shows in New York, as we all are in it and doing horrendous hours, and whether in the end are those hours always necessary or just tacked on for the sake of it?
- Allan
amckay@allanmckay.com
10:19 pm
I agree with you that the extreme overtime work we experience in the industry is hard on our health and mental well being. So I am glad you are approaching the myth that long hours increases productivity. There have been many studies that show this is not the case. People working steady 8 hour days will over take people doing overtime( 10 to 12 hour days) in terms of their productivity in a mere 2 weeks.
I am surprised at your concept that plying your artists with drinks, brining girls back from bars to the work place and sending them on drunken escapades in Las Vegas is the way to go to make them feel respected and thus more productive.
Actually it is a bit insulting. How about showing some real concern for people’s health and well being- a free pass to a gym nearby they can use over a long lunch break, a comfortable clean place to take a nap when tired, encouragement to take walks over a lunch break rather than bringing in food so they will get back to work faster. I am sure other people would have suggestions, perhaps ask your workers what would make them feel respected and cared about. You might be surprised at their answers. I know that rather than drinks most would probably prefer to be given the best tools to do the job.
How our industry has gotten to the fragile state and what can be done about it is of course another discussion.
4:45 pm
Well i don’t have a lot to say cause I only have 3 weeks of commercial experience but I say that try to imagine a bit of what Alan says and imagine that you are working for free or on the excuse that you are making portfolio. 2 or 3 times can be fun but when you look back and you see that your entire summer didn’t existed, your body is completely exhausted, the work you develop was nothing special and your wallet is empty, you have to think that this is kinda sad and not fun. Well I hope it doesn’t lasts forever and I hope the future becames brighter, thats what I hope for. This is just a bit of my small experience, nothing special I know because it doesn’t compares to the stress of an huge production and it’s responsibility but it’s a lesson and the present that I’m dealing with.
Cheers
2:13 pm
[...] http://vfxsolution.com/allanmckay/2010/10/overtime-vs-productivity Tagged as: Allan McKay, industry, news, rants, VFX Leave a comment Comments (0) Trackbacks (0) ( subscribe to comments on this post ) [...]
9:47 am
Very interresting article which is dealing with so well-known matters.
Cheers.
3:32 am
[...] McKay raises some interesting points with his article discussing overtime versus productivity. If you are interested in learning more about employment law and how it relates to vfx then check [...]
5:41 pm
[...] to 2011! Lots coming soon, the second half of Overtime vs Producivity article will be online next week. Also while I was in New York I filmed a video of the End User Event at [...]
1:56 pm
I’m going to add this to my links page on my site.
Great Job! Also great to see so many comments.
I added some recent thoughts to the fxguide article on the closing of CafeFX currently at the bottom of the comments page here:
http://www.fxguide.com/quicktakes/yet-another-facility-closes-cafefx/
6:48 pm
[...] For those who have not read the first part, please click here [...]
1:45 am
[...] Part 1 & Part 2. [...]
2:10 pm
This is very interesting article…and the truth of this industry.
1:38 am
A very informative & insight article in VFX and Advertising. I love the way you treat artists and the management people should do something like that or even more.
12:16 pm
[...] november förra året skrev han första delen börjar han att skriva om ett av de stora utmaningarna inom VFX-industrin, tid och [...]
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