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I recently had the chance to talk in-depth with Pierre Grage about his new (and amazing!) book ‘Inside VFX’. I have to say the minute this book was released I had it express-delivered because I was so anxious to consume this book. I think there has been so much negative information put out there about the ‘instability’ of the VFX industry, yet there really hasn’t been many resources out there to really help us understand how or why exactly this industry is facing tough times.
What I love so much about this book is it provides so much insightful information about the economics of the VFX world, and Hollywood in general, as well as the history of VFX with many, many insightful case studies on all of the most popular films dating back to the dawn of visual effects. It leaves it up to us to make our minds up about whether VFX is ‘doomed’ but more importantly it gives us the knowledge and understanding to better adapt to this ever-growing and still very ‘young’ industry.
I’m not sure if you have noticed – but I keep clear of these subjects typically. I am not one to get on the fear-train and start screaming ‘the end is coming’ because I simply don’t believe this is the case. I ‘do’ believe that this industry is growing, changing and evolving constantly – and that we need to adapt too to move forward. This is really why I produced this podcast in the first place, to provide -you- the necessary skills and ideas to evolve and to take your career and your life in your own hands and make the most of your career.
This by far is one of my favorite episodes produced for this Podcast. I gained so much insight talking to Pierre and learning both his background and his knowledge as well as his views on both the industry and how we can take advantage of all of this. I had an absolute blast talking with him about all of this and I already want to do more episodes with him – because this stuff is gold!
Listen to this – you will learn so much – and if you are interested, buy the book – it may save your life – it will definitely make you sound more knowledgeable on the subject and form your own views on the ever changing industry that we know as visual effects!
Pierre Grage is a senior visual effects professional with a degree in economics. His specialization in digital special effects for feature films has enabled him to live and work in Europe, New Zealand, Australia and South East Asia. He has held CG artist positions with leading visual effects houses, including Industrial Light & Magic, Weta Digital, Double Negative and Animal Logic. His work can be seen in films like Avatar, Pacific Rim, Sucker Punch and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.
Show notes links
Inside VFX Post on Dreamworks Layoffs
WETA/ ILM/ Double Negative / Animal Logic
James Altucher – Choose yourself
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And finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes to get automatic updates. A big thank you to Pierre Grage for joining me this week!
Great Episode! Thank You.
About the Indian VFX industry though, I hope what Pierre Grage said comes true. In my opinion at the moment the major studios here in India are nothing but a cattle farm, artists are put to work on outsourced project and all they do is slog on shots after shots after shots and by the end of the day, these guys have nothing at hand as a reel to show and end up getting hired at undesirable places when they quit – are they paid enough, nope. I talked to couple of artist and I am surprised that they know nothing except what they do, talk and behave like programmed robots – not a single soul is happy about their designation. Broke my heart. I share your podcasts in hope that, it reaches them somehow and drill some sense into them. They need to explore & try getting exposed more.
Artists here are slider adjusters, color pickers, and work as an extra hand for changing values on something. Like Pierre mentioned, people here are mainly worried about getting the piece out there than quality (quantity over quality). There are but a handful of guys in the commercial realm who knows what they are doing.
My comparison of India is with China too, as China’s IP’s (produced within china by artists there) are way superior than any Indian IP. Again a handful of movie has some visually pleasing imageries but nothing every exciting.
I cant blame the companies though, majority of the artists here are lethargic and adjust to anything you put them through, only a very few strive and those few aren’t here in India.
Once again, awesome episode. One of my favourites among couple of others.
Regards
-G