Career Advice

[braincase]

In actual years I am an Old Dog. In respect to most of the things I want to do however, I am a newbie.

I love this forum, partly because about 2 years ago I received kind, well spoken advice from Kim Welch.

So I'll quit babbling and cut to the chase. I need some kind of career/education guidance.

I am confused about what Motion Graphics means anymore.
It used to apply to the video/broadcast media but now it can apply to the Gaming Industry, as well as Web Design. Motion graphics persons in each of those industries may be required to use totally different tools and techniques. And I don't think I am the only one confused.
For example here is a partial job listing for a "motion graphics" person:

Motion Graphics Experts should have the following characteristics: - Significant Flash MX 2004 design & animation experience - Significant interactive design and development experience - Significant streaming media & integrated flash sound / video experience Preferred: - Interactive media agency experience - Rich media advertising banner technology (Pointroll, Eyeblaster, etc) experience - Actionscript 2.0 / OOP application design experience - 3D design & modeling experience - After Effects & video compositing experience - Data-driven application development experience.

The job above is more oriented toward a web based position and they are looking for very specific experience. But how in the world would anyone get that training. I can find other job listings that are oriented toward Gaming, or broadcast. But here is my problem. I can find no comprehensive training programs that fit web or gaming, only broadcast - which frankly isn't where the jobs are. And when I look for Web based animation programs, their curriculum is extremely lacking and ten years behind the trends.

Most of these mediums are merging and I can find no place where the training programs are adapting.

Am I making myself clear?
Can anyone offer good training solutions?

 

[Lazlo]

I can't necessarily speak to the motion graphic industry, since I know almost nothing about it. But a lot of stuff related to filmmaking, there isn't really a "curriculum" either. I mean, there's film school, but I've found that mostly, its a self-driven process, that's motivated by an unquenchable curiosity for the subject matter. Definetely continue looking for a course or something, but in the end, you'll probably find that it's a process that's highly dependent on your interest in taking a proactive role in your own education (i.e. self education). David Mullen ASC had a fascinating response when asked about how he got where he is. He went to filmschool, but before that, had read the complete back issues of American Cinematographer magazine (about 80 years), as well as back issues of other magazine's relating to film production, in addition to every textbook he could find on the subject (which from what I understand to be every textbook available at the time...). As well as making as many films as possible. Correct if I'm wrong David. Really though, what I got from that, was just that in any creative field, how "good" you are (which is different from being successful) is directly related to how proactive, curious, and critical you are within your interest. This is just my take on it, I hope it's helpful in some way, even though it's not related to motion graphics.

 

[krillianred]

This is a question that I myself asked colleagues in the industry. And the previous poster is right, there is no right path; you need drive and perseverance. It’s an industry that requires cunning and a sense of moral flexibility while keeping your loyalty to the right people.

And in the words of Tarantino, if you want to make a film, just make it. Don’t worry about the details, the money, how youre going to get off the ground, how youre going to get it seen, just make something, and continue to do so until it becomes second nature.

This is why a lot of people who want to direct—as it seems you want to do so as well—start off with music videos and commercials. They can create something stylish in a short period of time.