Performance Reviews for Contract Employees

I’ve recently had some discussions with a few of my coworkers, who are contract employees, regarding their interest in performance reviews.  While it is uncommon for most contract employees to get performance reviews, there’s no reason why a contract employee can’t do their own performance review. In fact, conducting a self-review from to time is a really good idea.

Besides receiving a contract extension or the “no news is good news” scenario, how does a contract employee decide how well they’ve been performing? Four areas of reflection could include: Accomplishments, Strengths, Areas for Improvement, and Goals.

Accomplishments

List three things you accomplished in the last year that you’re the most proud of doing. Focus on the things that demonstrated your work quality. These things should distinguish you from the competition. Here are a few questions to help reflect:

• Are you proud of the projects that you’ve recently completed? Having pride in your work is an important element of being satisfied with what you do.
• Do you feel that projects that you work on represent your best work? Occasionally, first-time freelancers are forced to take on projects that don’t really reflect their abilities. However, you should be able to move past this point.
• Have you done any projects that you would be willing to add to your portfolio? You should be constantly building and enhancing your professional portfolio with your most recent work.
• What project did you enjoy the most? If there was a project that you particularly enjoyed, it may be a good idea to look for similar projects.

Strengths

List three things that you do well. These are your skills that need to be kept up to date. Don’t be afraid to ask peers or previous employers from the past year for feedback. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

• Have you learned anything new about your field recently? No matter what your field is, there are new developments almost every day. Keep up.
• What sets me apart from other artist that have similar skills?

Areas for Improvement

Perhaps the most important section is the “Areas For Improvement”. In this area, focus on those weaknesses that can be improved with some kind of development plan. For example, if you’re a texture artist but don’t know Mari and are finding that a lot of studios are requiring the software, perhaps taking a course will help improve your skills. List three ares for improvement. Here are a few questions to ask yourself.

• If you had to do your recent projects again, what would you do differently?
• What project did you find the most challenging? If a project was particularly difficult, it’s important to find out why.
• Do you feel your current skills are up to date? Be honest. Are your skills really up to date?
• Is there an area of your field that you need to learn more about?

Goals

To complete your performance review, it is important to review your short and long range goals. Perhaps your goal is to be a lead on a project. How much closer are you to that goal?

Do you do performance reviews as a contract employee? What works well for you?

What’s makes a studio unique?

Sony Image Works, MPC, Prime Focus, The Embassy, Zoic, Digital Domain, Method, Rhythm and Hues, Look FX, Image Engine. What do these Visual Effects companies have in common? They all have locations in Vancouver. So, what makes them different?

What are the studios values/ competencies? How are these values communicated?

For some companies their values are written on the wall or included in a welcome package. For others, it’s more quietly communicated through the actions of senior management and artists.

• Work quality
• Teamwork
• Judgment
• Communication
• Adaptability
• Creativity
• Initiative

Is the studio Independently owned or part of a larger corporation? What are the benefits of each?

Does the studio have team building event or celebrate achievements? Some examples of these could include: wrap parties, event parties (Christmas, Halloween), Town hall meetings (studio, project updates)

What is the pipeline like? Does the studio have a strong foundation? How is the R&D team functioning? Is there in house development? Is R&D supportive of artists needs?

What is the studio environment like? This could include:

• Studio/ not corporate feel
• Work/life balance

What kind of projects in the studio working on?

• High-end
• Challenging
• Creatures

Interviewers should communicate what makes their studio unique and why the artist would want to work there. Artists, on the other hand, should research the studio and ask questions to get a good understanding of what makes the studio unique.

 

VFX job titles

So, Match Move Artists, Matchmovers, or 3D Trackers; Texture Painter or Texture Artist; Animation Supervisor or Animation Director? Are they the same? The VES has provided a list of “Recommended Titles For Live Action Feature FX”. The goal of this list is to create greater continuity and credibility within the industry by standardizing the job titles and promoting companies to adhere to them.

When it comes to job titles, they are attached to an employee’s name as a credit on a film; they are found on an employee’s resume or on-line profiles, such as LinkedIn; companies use job titles when posting for an open position. What exactly does a job title mean?

A job title is the official position in an organizational hierarchy, which reflects the individual’s authority and responsibility.

It is important that organizations match the job title with what the employee actually does. For example, is the artist a supervisor or a lead? For some studios this may be dependent on whether or not the individual works on shots or not. In addition, job titles can be more defined to reflect the tasks being completed. For example, a modeler may be a hard surface modeler; or an FX TD may be called a Cloth FX TD.

Artists should not create their own titles for their resumes and on-line profiles. Interviews and references checks can make it clear what position the artist’s knowledge and experience equals. And if the artist was able to make it through the process into the studio, should their skills not match their abilities, it will leave a bad impression on the employer for future considerations.

Transfer of Knowledge – Documentation

In VFX facilities, many employees are hired on a project by project basis. When these employees leave their valuable knowledge leaves with them. Current and future employees benefit, when the knowledge that is stored in an employee’s head (tacit knowledge) is converted into standardized or stored knowledge (explicit) through documentation.

Knowledge documentation comes in many forms and should be easily accessible to the users, such as a company wiki. Some examples include:

• Manuals – a compilation of information or instructions for a particular subject matter(ie. proprietary software how-to’s and FAQ’s)
• Checklists (ie. Model Publishing checklist – a list of tasks to be completed before publishing a model)
• Procedure guidelines – step-by-step narratives, sequencing a process (ie. creating render requests)
• Inventories – a descriptive list of items (ie. hardware & software requirements/ per discipline)
• Quick reference sheets – (ie. Linux cheat sheet)
• Diagrams & flow charts – leads user through a process and assists with decision making and completion of tasks based on a set of conditions (ie. replicating fur/ hair using fur syste

Benefits of Documenting

The purpose of knowledge documentation is to help employees, current and future, complete specific job tasks correctly.  Example benefits include:

• Improves job accuracy and efficiency
• Reduces training time
• Permits less “hand holding” for employees by managers
• Ensures consistency of performance
• Provides powerful tools relatively inexpensively
• Assists with the decision-making processes

Are these benefits being realized? Is the documentation failing because employees lack incentive to make their knowledge public? Exit Interviews and surveys can provide answers.

Job posting – a different approach

I’ve been experimenting recently with job advertisements, which change the focus from “qualifications” to the “duties” of the artist. In the first example below of the job posting for a Senior Animator, I highlighted what the candidate’s requirements were. In this case, we were looking for an “expert in Maya”, among other things. It was my understanding that the more detailed the list was, the more specific the applicants would be.

In his article, Lou Adler (March 2, 2007) describes twelve (12) reasons to ban traditional job descriptions for hiring purposes. He says, “the objective of a job description should not be to pre-qualify the person, but rather to generate interest in the position and company” (Why You Must Eliminate Job Descriptions).

I’ve tried to capture this mentality in the second example by highlighting the aspects of the job. In moving forward, my goal is to better emphasize the results, opportunities, and challenges involved in the job, rather than composing a laundry list of specific skills and desirable characteristics.

Example 1

Senior Animator Needed for TV-series

Company A, an award-winning visual effects studio located in Vancouver, Canada, is seeking a Senior Animator to work on exciting new project. This is a freelance in-house position starting late January 2009 and running for approximately 11 months.

What are we looking for?

• A Minimum of 3 years Visual Effects experience working on episodic television and/or feature films
• Expert knowledge in Maya – this is a senior level position
• Ideal candidate will be a strong visual storyteller and well-versed in cinematography: camera angles, composition and continuity.

To apply, please send your résumé and demo reel to jobs@CompanyA.com with “Senior Animator- TV” in the subject line. Please also provide the date you are available to start.

For more information, you can check out our website at http://www.CompanyA.com

Example 2

Senior Animator for Sci-fi series.

Located in Vancouver, BC Canada, Company A has developed a reputation for creating superior visual effects. Company A invites you to join us in pushing technology’s boundaries to create tomorrow’s best entertainment.

What you can expect:

• Create compelling cinematic, character and rigid surface animations
• Collaborate ideas and effective solutions with external clients and VFX Supervisor
• Mentor junior team members in the art and craft of animation

What we require:

• A demo reel and resume that demonstrates your ability to complete the above tasks.

If you are talented and inspired to create great visual effects, we want to hear from you! Send your résumé and demo reel to jobs@CompanyA.com with “Senior Animator – TV” in the subject line.

For more information about Image Engine please visit our website: http://www.CompanyA.com

Position of the Month – Pre-visualization Artist – Job Duties

Is this the job for you? Whether you’re a seasoned 3D artist or an up-and-coming star, finding the right fit means understanding the role you’re responsible for. If you’re interested in a fast paced, changing environment, than perhaps Pre-visualization is for you! Pre-visualization artists create 3D animated storyboards that assist in the planning and filming of feature films or television productions.

It is really hard to capture what an average day is for a previs or previz artist, since every project and every client is different and needs different things. But, let me give it a try.

An “average” day for a previs artist would involve interacting with the filmmakers (directors / cg supervisors mostly) in some way, either via email or cinesync or in person, or else getting direction from the supervisors who have talked to the client. And then the artists create the shots, which mostly involves animation, but also includes modeling, texturing, lighting, rigging, dynamic effects, compositing, and anything else they need.

On occasion, a previs artist may be required to work on set, if it’s a key part of it of that project. This is determined by the client’s needs, in terms of technical data and turning our all-cg shots into real shots they can film.

Internships

I am in the process of designing a formal internship program. In my research, I came across this great article, written by Tavia Grant (February 14, 2009, GlobeAdvisor.com) called “No pay, but maybe so much to gain”

The article highlighted some of the benefits to the receiver for unpaid internships.

• Short-term, unpaid work can help young people and jobless older workers learn new skills, bolster résumés and network, says Mr. Weber, who has seen those internships “in many instances turn into a [paid] position.”

Specifically within the VFX Industry, rewards of unpaid internships which I felt were of value included: exposure to a VFX house; opportunity to interact with producers and artists; access to latest software of the industry.

The article also highlighted how unpaid internships can also aid the recruitment process.

• Employers who use unpaid interns say the benefits go beyond just free labour. It’s far more effective than a job interview in getting to know new candidates. And it can give a company early dibs on promising graduates.

A recent example of the above occurred at the current VFX studio where I work. The skills and attitude demonstrated by a graduate intern paid off when he recently was offered a paid freelance position.

Perhaps the most pressing issue for me was, the reasoning behind offering internship opportunities. The article noted some similar concerns that I had.

• The challenge for those willing to work for free is they often volunteer hoping to build professional skills – but employers stick them with repetitive, unrewarding tasks, such as filing or knocking on doors. That mismatch between the experience sought and what’s actually on offer is making people “frustrated … and disappointed,” Ms. Kelly says.

• Employers should carefully plan any internships – paid or unpaid – to ensure the experience is meaningful, rather than strictly menial, Drake’s Mr. Weber says.

• “If you want to attract the right person, you’d better give them the right opportunity. Don’t bring them in and not have a clue what you’ll do with them … Give them concrete roles, where they can have absolute results that make an impact.”

Finally, the article answered some of the questions I had concerning the legalities behind offering unpaid internships.

• Employers offering unpaid internships need to tread carefully, warns employment lawyer Christine Thomlinson of Rubin Thomlinson LLP. If interns’ roles aren’t clearly defined, they could be seen as employees – possibly entitled to wages or leaving employers vulnerable to lawsuits, she says. She advises employers to write up a contract addressing these points:

– A clear statement that the intern is not an employee and will not receive any remuneration.
– Details of the training the intern will receive, how long it will last and how it benefits the intern.
– Explicitly state that the internship brings with it no possibility of an offer of employment.
– What the level of supervision will be and who will provide it.
– Whether the intern’s performance will be reviewed and how.
– An ability for the employer to end the internship and how it would be done.

Position of the Month – Lighting TD – Job Duties

A Realistic Job Preview (RJP) is provided to an applicant in order to give a clear idea of what it would be like to work at the job if they were hired. By providing the candidate as much information about the job as possible, he or she can make an informed decision about their suitability for the position. One aspect of providing a RJP is to provide a clear outline of the responsibilities.

This month, we will highlight Lighters, or as generally called in Visual Effects Lighting TDs.

The responsibilities of a Lighting TD may vary from studio to studio, depending on the studio needs or the pipeline arrangement. For example, on a project, a Lighting TD may be required to do their own final-comps. This would require a solid knowledge of compositing software such as Nuke or Shake.

All Lighters have the responsibility to ensure consistency in lighting, color balance, and mood between various elements in a shot or scene. In Visual Effects, Lighters will need to reach a photorealistic look to match the live-action plates.

Some Lighters may be responsible for creating their own lighting rigs, while others will be required to use pre-established rigs. This is generally to help maintain consistency in look throughout the film.

Lighters will be involved in many meetings, including dailies, which provide feedback on shots.

Effective RJPs will also include details about production requirements; number of shots/ week, team size, and reporting structures.

Some examples of questions candidates can ask to get a more realistic job preview include:

• What kind of rendering software do you use?
• Are lighters responsible for doing their own pre-comps?

Position of the Month – Animator – Conversations with Artists

The following is a conversation with, Paul Griffin, a freelance animation director for feature films.

Tell me about yourself.
I started out as a traditional character animator and quickly moved into CG when it came along around 1983 and started directing animation by 1985. There’s been a lot of variety in the work over the years: commercials, TV shows, video game cinematics, music videos and movies. You can get an idea of scope of the films by looking here later: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0341331/

What are some of the challenges animators face? How do you overcome those challenges?
The way I see it… The biggest challenge animator any animator faces is to make characters  believable and have them seem real to an audience. This holds true for both cartoon and for VFX creatures.  A character can
move and move well, but the real challenge is to make them convey emotion to the point of connecting with most people. Good actors can do this as can good animators. I always like to study great performances, analyze what makes the performance great, watch how an actor can emotionally change gears and try to learn from that. It really helps as an animator to loosen up and get in touch with being able to do that. Taking an acting or improv class can help or just being willing to get in front of a video camera or a mirror and learn to read what the tells are that help you convey the emotion you’re reaching for.

Secondly… Mechanically, the toughest challenge is to have CG characters convey weight and mass. CG has a tendency to make creatures feel light due to several factors. Often the heavier flesh that provides overlapping action is missing. Sometimes the very physiology can lend to this as well — for instance bipeds rigged with a reverse leg often look like they are tiptoeing, and not given to feeling that they have great
weight. Again, video reference can be a fantastic aid. Look at the way things move in nature. Also get out of your chair and feel how a character might move — if you can feel the performance in your body, develop “muscle memory” of it, you’ll have an easier time animating it.  Don’t forget simple maxims — like big things move more slowly. In fact, collect a bunch of truisms that are general for animation that you can use as guidelines, as well as rules you can can and can’t break. Those rules will be less rigid for cartoon animation and more rigid for VFX creatures.

What is the difference between animating for a full CG film and a visual effects film with a mix of live action and CG?
Its not as different as people might think. Both the full CG film and VFX live action film require great awareness of the acting and performance skills I mentioned above.  The distinction is being able
to discern the qualities needed for each area. Cartoon animation thrives on stretch-and-squash and the action can be quite broad when called for. The Anticipation/Action/Reaction that gets drummed into cartoon animators’ heads comes into play here. Performances are more akin to the screen actions of Charlie Chaplin or Theda Bera.

VFX creatures are much more subtle and nuanced. Sometimes the anticipation or reaction will be barely perceptible. The action  is what is most significant. The broad actions that are so much fun in cartoon animation get set aside, and the animator has to rely on a different aesthetic to convey both the physical action and the emotional context. Identify actors you consistently like and figure out why. What makes them appealing? If you can figure that out, you’ll go a long way towards identifying qualities you’ll want to put in your work.

Having worked successfully in both cartoon animation and in vfx, something I find interesting is a general bias that exists in both camps.  Cartoon studios think only classically trained cartoon animators can do their time of work while some VFX studios think that cartoon animators will over animate vfx creatures. While its true that some animators can’t work both sides of the fence, I’d say that, on the whole this really isn’t true. Pigeon holing animators into one genre or the other is a mistake.  Good animators, I’ve found, are
extremely versatile actors and can easily slip from one role into another and slide into a cartoon rabbit suit or pilot a dinosaur just fine.  It all depends on their skill as an actor and their awareness of the physics of motion.

As an Animation Supervisor, what do you look for in an animator?
As an Animation Supervisor I look for:
good timing.
willingness to discuss ideas.
ability to take direction and then,
looking for opportunities to “plus” the action, make it better.

As an Animation Director I look for:
good acting choices.
intelligence and humour.

In all cases I go great lengths to avoid:
a consistently bad or negative attitude towards the work.
a non-willingness to learn or try new ways of doing things.
disrespect for other crew members.

How does knowledge of mel scripting help as an animator?
Sure, learning mel can help but if an animator is so inclined to learn a scripting language, I’d recommend the better thing to learn these days is Python. Its much more universal and can be used for much more than just inside Maya. Knowing a scripting language can certainly help but so does a knowledge of rigging, modeling and most areas of CG production that will make the animator a more well rounded resource.

If you had the opportunity to take some courses or workshops to help you advance in your career, what would you take?
Well here’s a few things I’ve done over the years that I’ve found helpful (in no particular order):

– Acting for Animators – specialty classes for animators are out there. (See Ed Hooks)

– Improv/Theatre Arts – or join a theatre group. Community college have lots of these. Grow as an actor.

– Art Direction – a great way to add visual design elements that will help you stage your animation in better ways.

– Basic Photography – another way to start observing and seeing composition in nature and the real world.

– Screenwriting – understand what the story is and learn what motivates your characters.

– Architectural Design – excellent training for 3D space, composition, set design.

– Programming – helps you make tools to automate the repetitive tasks, or just learn how to talk effectively to a programmer. Basic through advanced Unix/Linux – what serious studios use as an OS.

– Ongoing life drawing – find lines of action in the human form. Primary, secondary and tertiary. Study tension and grace.

– Music – is timing, the space between the notes is important, as is the space between drawings. Animation is music.

– Editing – helps animators learn to cut on action. Learn to lead the audience’s eye to focus on what’s important. Gain respect for every frame.

– Film Appreciation – learn the language of film and what master film makers can teach us. Wilder, Hitchcock, Capra, Cukor, Hawks and many others inspired today‘s best film makers.

– Pre-Med Biology – Kinesiology (Study of Human Motion), Anatomy – lot of homework, but knowing the underlying structure of how bone, ligaments, muscles and fat affect the skin is really helpful.

Interviewing Candidates – Give and Take

If you’re like me, you spend a lot of your recruiting time sourcing and screening candidates. And with an ever increasing tight market, finding the right candidates is becoming more challenging. So when you think you’ve found the right candidate and decide to bring them in, why not provide the candidate with a great experience? In my opinion, this requires a little give and take. By this I mean, not only is the candidate trying to sell themselves and their skills, but the studio should also be trying to sell itself, the position, and the project.

Describing the studio’s atmosphere can help the candidate know if this is the right place for them. At the same time, by asking the candidate questions, the interviewer can find out if the candidate is the right fit. For example, if the candidates worked at large and small studios in the past, the interviewer can ask about their experience and which they preferred. Another question may include, “what do you look for in a studio”?

As the interviewer, you don’t want to set the candidate up to fail. Therefore, by giving them a clear understanding about what the position entails, you can help them to decide if they can accomplish the task and if the position matches their career path. As for taking, you also want to understand if they can actually accomplish the task and not just think they can. Asking questions about their demo reel, how they react to criticism; and for leadership positions, how they dealt with challenging employees.

Perhaps one of the selling points is getting the candidates excited about the projects. (Hopefully your studios not working on boring projects – that will have to be another blog) Taking the time in during the interview to talk about the project can really motivate the candidate to jump on board (provided you want them on board). An interviewer can take information from the candidate as well. For example, what kind of enthusiasm does the candidate have towards the project?

By spending time during the interview giving and taking both the interviewer and interviewee benefit. The challenge then lies in being able to balance the two. Overly talkative interviewers can end up coming out of the interview having learnt little about the candidate. On the other hand, candidates who are heavily screened may come out feeling unsatisfied and unsure about the position and the studio and decide to pursue other offers.