These days, a job in animation is one of those sought-after career choices. A profession in the animation industry might be the ideal decision for today’s youngsters, providing that it offers an amazing chance to display your creativity in each project. If you intend on taking advantage of this amazing job opportunity, take a look at our list of types of jobs in an animation house and our suggestions on how to make a career in animation.
Things you need to know about a career in animation
What does an animator do?
An animator creates a series of pictures (called frames) that, when combined, create the illusion of movement known as animation. Digital or hand-drawn drawings, models, and puppets can be used to create visuals. Here are some of our products in the newest Showreel.
Characteristics and skills required of a successful animator
● Hand-Drawing
● Basic Art skills
● Cinema knowledge
● Computer skills
● Patience
● Teamwork
● And of course, the love for animation!
Read more: What it takes to become an animator
List of positions in an animation production house
Producer
The producer is in charge of the entire animation production. Producers are responsible for taking care of the budget, sourcing of materials, scheduling, hiring personnel, and ensuring that the project is completed on time, within budget, and to the specification.
The scope of work of the producers can vary depending on the size of the animation house or company. For example, in larger businesses, producers might take on the supervision and coordination work of a manager.
Director
A director is also an indispensable position in cartoon production. Directors must lead the team in their creative direction, making all important decisions on the animation project like how it will look and how it will sound. In the end, directors will be liable for the quality of the final output. Sometimes, directors also set the tone and mood for movies/ series and might even be the creator of the character design or script.
Storyteller/Scriptwriter
The concepts and ideas for the scripts are then devised and developed by animation writers. When a director or a studio as a whole comes up with an idea for an animated project, they would have a scriptwriter to write the script, either for a whole movie or for each episode of a TV series. When the writers are done with a rough outline of what happens throughout the story, they will proceed with the full screenplay, this time including dialogue and action.
Character Design
The name of this position is quite self-explanatory. Character designers create the looks for individual characters and try to convey their personalities through the designs. Character designers are required to have a distinct level of drawing skill. They must be able to excel not only at anatomy and expressions but also at using their creativity to work with a range of different styles and innovative ideas.
Storyboard Artists
A storyboard artist is a person who makes the visual representation of the script by creating shot-by-shot sketches of the narrative. Through the storyboard, the director can easily make out the continuity between stories and shots.
Background artist
Background Artist is one of the two positions with the largest number of employees (along with Animator - animator) and is the one who makes a significant contribution to the final footage. However, unlike other animation genres, the background artist position mentioned in this article is specific to the 2D animation genre.
What does Background Artist do? The role of a background artist can be most briefly described: the background artist is the person who realizes the context of a cartoon scene. And to do that, a background artist needs to do all (or most) of the following roles:
Design space, context
Design props (objects)
Lighting design for movie scenes
Realize the context with drawing skills
Background artist is not just one person, but a separate team that has an important voice in the production of a 2D animated film. A good background not only makes the visual part of the film more beautiful but also greatly affects the emotions of the audience, as a way to convey the content of the story.
Riggers
In 2D cut-out animation, modelers are responsible for creating digital versions of the props and the characters.
Animator
Animators are the foundation of any animation house and each of them might specialize in different types of animation like 2D Hand Drawn, 2D Computer Animation, 3D Computer Animation or Stop Motion. They work with different tools like Blender or ToonBoom Harmony to produce still images played in a sequence to give the appearance of movements.
Compositor
The job of compositors in an animation studio is to create the final image of a frame, shot or sequence. The compositors will take digital components; like the movements, background plates, designs and special effects (SFX) then put them together to create a believable picture. They are also responsible for the arrangement of images and shots, enhance the lighting, create shadows and add motion blur where required. To be short, compositors make sure that the arts from different artists can blend together and match within the frame so that the film is consistent and in line with the director’s vision.
Editor
Editors are the ones who can shape the whole animation. They create the story from the beginning of the creation to the finish. Toward the start, they work with the writer, director, and producer, discussing the script and storyboard. They plan various scenes and shots for the animated movie. Editors will work out what will need to be animated and how scenes will be sorted out. When the animation work is finished, they will arrange the final footage and set up a rough cut, making revisions and corrections if needed for the final cut. However, this must be approved by the producer. Editors then, at that point, supervise the joining of sound into the film by teaming up with sound planners and music editors.
About DeeDee Animation Studio
If you are looking forward to working with a top-quality animation house to produce an animated project for your business, look no further because DeeDee Animation Studio is your perfect choice. DeeDee Animation Studio, is an award-winning animation production house based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Our team consists of young and enthusiastic artists and animators who are all working towards the same goal of bringing Vietnamese animation onto the international arena.
Our animation production service consists of various genres like animated films/ series, animated music videos, animated ads, and more. Some of our best commercial works include “Fun with Traffic - Bi Bo Ben” - an animated program used by Vietnam’s National TV and the Ministry of Education and Training as education materials for traffic safety, “BlueZone” TVC, and “The Legend of Hai Moc Nhi”. Check out our portfolio of past works here. If you have an idea for an animation project, contact us now to get it rolling.
References:
Screenskills.com, Job Profiles for Animation.
Fudgeanimation.com, Types of People in an Animation Studio.
Monsterindia.com, Career in Animation? Here's Your Guide to Choosing Animation as a Career Option.