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@@noahbossier1131 They will definitely still make originals (or at least films based on existing IP’s) but they’ve never been shy the amount of sequels (“franchise films”) they produce either
I saw the film in theaters this weekend and it is one of the best movies of the year. I also want to thank you for your insight on what's going on in the animation industry today. I'm taking animation classes in college and want to do animation, but I used to be a journalist and still keep my eyes on what's going on in the world. I hope we meet sometime so we can come up with a way to create animation to show the cost cutting studios that their methods are harder than they're worth.
I worked at one of these outsourced studios in Japan. The art direction and storyboard was made in California, we did all modeling, lookdev and animation. Textures and concept art were made by another studio in India. We would send our shots to a local supervisor, and then they’d send it to another supervisor in California. It worked incredibly well and we won an Emmy award. Us foreign workers also put our heart and soul into our work. There doesn’t need to be a loss of artistic integrity just because of outsourcing
I want to be clear that this isn’t about undermining the incredible work done by studios outside the U.S. who collaborate with American companies. The international teams I’ve worked with are some of the most talented and hardworking artists in the industry, often producing Emmy-worthy content that speaks to their passion and dedication. My concern lies with the American studios making these outsourcing decisions. Rather than supporting their in-house artists, they opt for cheaper international partnerships, leading to mass layoffs and destabilizing livelihoods here. While the vendor studios are capable of producing great work, the reality is that many of these companies push their artists through grueling hours for minimal pay-issues we’ve seen in places like MAPPA and across the VFX industry. It’s a system that prioritizes short-term profits over fair treatment, and unfortunately, it’s sustained by the continuous outsourcing practices of these studios.
@ I agree! Like with anything else, outsourcing means less control over working conditions. The video has a lot of valid points! Decentralization have its obvious problems. But also advantages beyond just the economical ones, such as more diverse perspectives.
I hope DreamWorks, seeing the success of The Wild Robot, will make that 50% of in house work, a big 50%, because this film, PIB2, The Bad Guys showed that you need a director and a collaborative environment.
@@pyros. That sounds like a very subjective experience and opinion led to you believing that The Bad Guys is an objectively bad movie. Awkwafina's voice definitely isn't for everyone and she seems to be an incredibly popular actor in the industry atm, I can definitely understand having the PERSONAL sentiment of having had enough of Awkwafina. However, ten minutes of watching is not enough to judge, much less hate, a movie. I can't tell what your intentions were here in sharing a critical view that's not directly related to the original commenter's message, but perhaps some self reflection will help on that.
@@boglenight1551 Never said that I hated the movie. I was looking forward to the movie originally. But that voice is too much to listen to for an entire movie. I'm sure there are others who feel the same way.
@@6-dpegasus425 Not generalizing the movie. I'm sure the movie is good. I just couldn't listen to that voice the entire time. It is 100% a me thing. But I'm also not the only one who feels that way either.
Regarding outsourcing, I think I've read somewhere that the fox and the cat in Disney's Pinocchio where made in a German studio. They look so out of place because they are so realistic and HD in comparison to the Pinocchio.
So according to the film's credits (which I had to look up on Disney+ lol), there were several VFX vendor studios that worked on this film, with MPC (located in the UK) being the largest vendor. It's quite possible that they outsourced even further from there, but sending the VFX to MPC already constitutes as outsourcing on Disney's part. Take that as you will, but yes your original point stands true that sometimes different elements in the same movie are handled by different studios & teams entirely.
0:05 bro, FACTS! The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants is so damn underrated, like, there was one joke during the space ark that was like "I knew it was too good to be true" "Yeah, like Democracy" And then they had a cutaway to the narrator telling Abraham Lincoln to shut up. This show is peak.
Former Dreamworks employee here. When I visited my old crew recently, the Dreamworks campus had such a ghostly aura, a heavy feeling of uncertainty. It's heartbreaking to see the direction the industry is currently heading.
Hi, I worked on the technical/pipeline side for Spider-Verse and the Wild Robot blew me away, loved the story, the humor, and every moment of it. I appreciate you explaining the potential pipeline issues and cut projects and it's nice to listen to someone else who experienced the day-by-day that I have to experience too. Great video, keep going!
this sucks that such amazingly beautiful mediums can have such dark and unforgiving undertones. I feel growing up I've seen that the most ambitious, creative, and fantastical things in life often take the most work to produce, which therefore means they require more care to manage the flow of things over time respectfully and swimmingly. having all these ceos and business oriented decisions deciding artistic endeavours just doesn't seem right.
There are certainly a range of emotions when it comes to this industry. There's a lot of good things happening in this industry like the Indie animation scene, beginning to flourish, and I plan to make a video in the near future, talking about some of the more positive aspects of the changing landscape. It certainly feels like everything is on fire, and while to an extent that is true, there is some good when you know where to look for it.
Hey man, just dropping in to tell you that, as a fellow animator (but from Europe), I really appreciate all your videos and insights you give on the industry. It's nice to feel like there is a voice out there expressing what's going on and informing people. It's such a rough industry, but with such beautiful people. I hope you keep going strong and good luck with your short!
It's been like 20min since I discovered your channel and was absolutely captivated by how you think, speak and explain whatever you're talking about. Makes me, a complete computer .dum-dum, understand 3D animation, for example It would be my dream to help creators like you financially, but as I am also struggling and am not from the US, I can only support by consuming your content 😅 Keep up the good work! Hope to play your game someday 🤗
You watching & sharing these videos is helpful in its own way too! Thank you for being here, I'm happy to help people outside the industry learn about the inner workings of the animation industry :)
Since I was a kid, I dreamt of being an animator and contributing to the creation of these masterpieces... I'm 18 now and ended up choosing other career path for the nearest time but I still would love to have something to do with animation in the distant future and seeing current situation is heartbreaking. I wish y'all all the best! Great videos!
Great insights. I'm a fellow animation industry worker (indie short film director), and goddamn, wherever I look (Japan, US, France), everybody is singing the same song : it's the darkest times of the industry ! Everybody everywhere is either unemployed for 1 or 2 years (I'm one of those) or if they're lucky to still have a job, massively overworked. There's no inbetween (pun unintended). I had an awful gut feeling after watching Inside Out 2, a gnarling doubt that this might be the last actual Pixar movie, with all the news about the layoffs (and sure enough, that recent IGN article confirmed most of my suspicions). And even more after warching Wild Robot, as this might be the last actual Dreamworks movie, since they're layoff was not 14%, like Pixar, but more than 50 !!! (Some reports even mentioned up to 90% inhouse talents)... It's truly the end of an era. The perfect storm that was the pandemic, followed by the false promise of the boom of the streaming era, only to come crashing down, compounded by the advent of gen.A.I... It's all super depressing, and I have no idea how the industry can come back up from such a massive beatdown. I'm hearing that many independent studios are opening or taking in talent as a result to compensate, but where is their funding coming from ? Animation is one of the (if not the) costliest medias for storytelling (save for videogame development, maybe), so I can't quite see how indie studios could be sustainable if they don't have projects in the pipeline that are already paying their bills.
Recently, I discovered that I wanted to create animated movies and features, as many productions inspired me to tell stories worth the watch. But seeing how the state of the animation industry is by now, this is quite concerning... Artits and animators being laid off and treated like crap, corporations caring more about making good box office movies over making good meaningful movies, privileging and milking out existing IPs and rejecting new and original ideas (seeing how much Kung Fu Panda 4 or Despicable Me grossed at the box office despite being mid sequels speaks volume), etc. We don't talk about this too much, but the fans and the public have a responsability concerning the current state of the industry. I don't know if I can manage to achieve my ambition because of lack of opportunities (and also the fact that I ain't an artist by anyway and can't draw/animate correctly), but I wish the animation industry to heal from all that stuff happening to them. They may not be credited enough, but artists and animators deserves respect and fair treatment.
I've noticed that there is a large gap between what audiences claim that they want versus what they actually go out and spend money on. For example, the 2019 remake of the lion King was until recently the highest grossing, animated film of all time. But if you ask anybody about that movie, they will say that it doesn't hold a candle to the original. Audience is claimed that they want original stories, but will hesitate on spending their money at the movie theater on original stories. Unfortunately, it feels like the people that really care about these things like myself are in the minority, and the reason I make videos like this one is to try to educate people outside of this bubble. Hopefully by bringing awareness to the harsh conditions that these films are made in will help facilitate necessary change.
@NoTheRobot Thank you for your take. Your channel should be more popular in order to give such powerful messages to a greater audience. But I have one question: Do you think someone who doesn't have an artistic talent or capability can create great features in animation?
@@NoTheRobot a lot of people don’t seem to care about original ideas in general and are actively hostile to original stories. It’s only socially acceptable to watch animated movies if it’s a nostalgic reboot. According to the stigma. And most people are very choosy over what they want to spend mmoney in the theater now unless it’s a social media event film. The mindset is like it’s a tollercoaster
@@noahbossier1131 And this is the freaking most concerning part: Studios tend to give people what they want, and not what they need. This is why fan service movies like The Mario Movie or Deadpool and Wolverine are gaining a lot of money on the B.O. despite being mid movies in a plot and storytelling pov. Like there's no effort to tell new movies and new franchises 'cause studios can clearly capitalize on existing and very popular franchises and characters because they are very safe bets and therefore involve fewer creative and scriptwriting risks. This is why the indie animation is becoming the new way to tell new stories, without that Damorcles' sword hanging above them. But without enough support and founding, most of these stories never get to see the light... What a pity. The same thing can be said on animated TV shows. If it doesn't get the desired audience (usually unrealistically high) despite having high notes from critics, being excellent in many aspects and made with love, hello cancellation. Recently Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur got cancelled, and now I'm extremely mad at Disney for making that dumb decision. Hailey's on it got the same treatment... They claim they want new stories and IPs, and then they're never there to support them...
I really appreciate your insight, when I was younger I wanted to get into the industry in some way, whether through writing, storyboarding or animation, but at the rate things are going, with CEOs priortising quantity over quality I just think it's such a shame and waste of potential. I have my doubts but I love animation so much, and I just want to see the industry succeed and for the people who contribute to it to actually get paid and treated properly at the same time. I would much rather wait for years for an original film or a good sequel than see a bunch of (AI generated or 'creatively enhanced') garbage that the executives didn't bother paying people to put real effort in. If there's no passion in the project or respect to the people that make it possible I don't see why I should even care to watch it.
I'm more grateful now that I just ended up with a mixed degree, (art history / illustration / classical studies), because although I graduated a year before AI image generation became common place I use felt a sort of uncertainty because unless you make the right connections it's really hard to get an art related job. I still do art in my free time and you can too, even if you can't jump fully into your dream of being an animator.
I’m a big animation fan. People who make drawing move is basically knowing magic. I found my favorite place and it’s the animated student film section. What people make is amazing, and I hope they go on to do amazing things.
I know regardless of the animation industry and whether or not it's collapsing, I still want to push to make my own short films. I have yet to see the Wild Robot, but I've heard nothing but praise for it :) Thanks for the video!
Two things. I took an online animation school where several of my teachers were animators at Dreamworks. I ended up not pursuing after graduation because the cost of moving to Cali and that every single one of the teachers warned about how either A) you practically couldn't make a living alone on animation B) several studios would screw you out of money (like the Sausage Party lawsuit) or force you to constantly work overtime because of how expendable they acted like animators were because "well you love the craft so much you shouldn't have issues working 10 hours 7 days a week" and C) how easy it was to get black listed because it was such a hard industry to get into. So, in the end I just live vicariously through recognizing my teachers names in the credits. But I'm noticing their names less and less even though some of them have been in the industry for like 20 years. The other is there used to be like 40+ names to a project and now it feels like it'll be down to 8. Only later to hear that the majority (Inside out 2 comes to mind) got laid off just before the project got finished just so when the movie did well, they didn't have to give out bonuses to all the animators. So while I really think I dodged a bullet, it's really depressing to see the medium I love so much become such a sore spot.
The Wild Robot has won over people's hearts and it's definitely getting an Oscar. It's also a box office hit. I wish it also happened to Transformers One. The marketing did not do justice for them. Overall, both of them are peak of Cinema 🔥
It totally deserves an Oscar, but I’m betting it gets snubbed for Inside Out 2. Disney/Pixar get preferential treatment when it comes to Oscars. Really hope to be proven wrong though.
Bro They Cooked so hard on this movie It's up There with the best DreamWorks movies In my opinion The best movies? Shrek one or 2, Despicable me 1,And Puss and boots: The last wish.
You said it aloud to yourself; "They found they way they wanted to make movies". Now that they have a template / formula down they can teach it to others. It was always about curating this style in house before expanding outwards. Artistically and economically it makes a lot of sense.
Nah that doesnt make sense at all. When you fire all the people who helped develop/curate that style, you will not end up with a style that can be easily mimicked. All the decisions and mistakes and intercommunication between that team developed this so called formula and when you lose a majority of that inter-connection you lose not only knowledge but team cohesiveness. You see this again and again with video game layoffs and remakes. OG team gets fired, shareholders think theyve got the "style" down pat, grinds the remains into dust trying to re-create the "style" and ends up with a shit product and then their studios collapse.
A jaw-dropping film. Gorgeous. And what SUCKS is that artists will kill themselves for this stuff and then get canned! Just like game companies. Use up your staff then toss 'em out.
In my own opinion, such as yours, I think the industry is not collapsing, as you have said with DreamWorks, they have found their way, their story telling, their sweet spot; remakes not just serve a purpose to keep the audiences that already exist engaged into the continuity of the story, but also delivers them time for the next projects; I know about this matter because I´m an artist too, in my own way and having something new is not an easy task. The creation of something that doesnt exist and turn it into existence has a lenghty process which plenty of times takes a lot of effort, building, scratching ideas or changing them, for them to fit, plenty of things placed on the table thanks to the number of people involved, which has to be listened to and decide if its the right thing to do or not, etc., and after all that; Will Smith has shown the process of his book creation; you have to create a timeline, look for what´s missing, if you get an itch on some part of the script, animation, draft, whatever it is, that is telling you something is missing or something doesnt fit, you have to check it. It´s a really timely processes in which you have to have your timings. For the audience that dont know, working for a company like that, i mean that creates art, the starting of a project is when you already have a good chunk of the story already created, no matter if its drawings on paper a text, etc., but you have to have already something to deliver, nonetheless, as a worker you cant just expect to sit and do nothing and plenty of times the story, drawings, drafts, the way you want to call them, are not accepted. truth be told, it either doesnt fit the company values, is not to the liking of the owners, investors, the bosses, etc., so, it goes back to the drawing board or get discarded.
To me, Dreamworks never felt spiteful like a lot of people say. Their second movie was The Prince of Egypt. Even Shrek, which was a big insult to Disney, was still a very good movie. It had something honest to say and wasn't just about the parody side. And they've made so many gems over the years. It's sad to hear about all of this.
Good video man! Please correct me if I'm wrong here but weren't other recent DreamWorks projects also outsourced? I heard that Spirit Untamed, Boss Baby 2, The Bad Guys and Kung Fu Panda 4 were all partially outsourced to Jellyfish Pictures. I also heard that The Wild Robot had it's rigging done by a separate studio named "Stim Studio". If this is true, will outsourcing to Sony Imageworks really be that different in comparison to the recent outsourcing DreamWorks has already been doing?
Great question. Certain parts of the pipeline have been outsourced to vendor studios, but the difference here is that a large percentage of the ENTIRE pipeline is being outsourced. So where it was just asset creation, character rigs etc. that were being done at other studios, now these partner Studios will be handling every aspect of entire animation sequences.
Spirit Untamed rigs were done by Jellyfish and their own outsourced studio, Minimo, located in Spain. Boss Baby 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, Trolls 3, Bad Guys, and Wild Robot rigs were all created fully in house.
i'm in my first year of an experimental animation program at art school.. should i change majors? i absolutely love animation and i hope to work in the field (either on independent stuff, freelancing, or in studio) but it seems like the industry is going downhill and i need to make a livelyhood
I understand your fear. Right now the best thing you can do is keep your head down & focus on your craft. Don’t worry too much about the future of the industry, as gloom as it may seem, because it will always continue to evolve. The reality is that with indie studios rising up there is going to be plenty of smaller opportunists that you can use to supplement your income. Use this time to hone your skills as an animator & storyteller. If you’re still worried, you can always look at a business minor to help your chances at navigating the freelance world. Hope this helps :)
I don't understand why anyone would want to be an animator. The skill is really hard to develop. The working hours are insane. And when the movie is done, they just throw you out.
Would like to hear more Venice Chronicles, and what kinds of ways you're overcoming problems associated with vr storytelling, cinematography, etc. For example, have you figured out how to change the focal length of the HMD in unreal, allowing for actual shots, or are you really having to approach the cinematography more like theater than cinema? Been doing Unreal VR myself for several years, hope to see more on your project. Edit: I'll check out your patreon.
Thanks so much for asking, I’m hoping to do a video explaining where it’s at. I’ve been so busy getting this channel into a rhythm that I haven’t had as much time as I’d like. What I will say is I’m sitting on a lot of amazing concept art, character designs, and 3D models / renders (like the one in this video). Hoping to put out a progress update video soon! And thanks for checking out my Patreon - every little bit helps, even free memberships 😁✌️ Also it will be staged like live theater since VR has more in common with that than filmmaking!
@@NoTheRobot exactly about the theater. Ive tried for over a year to figure out how to change the focal length or FOV with the camera in unreal with no luck, which means no framing shots. Ive gotten some results forcing the camera in a certain direction but i didnt find a streamlined way of doing it, just brute forcing on tick with my FBIK rig towards a render target. VR filmmaking could be huge and teeming with possibilities, but not if we cant change the camera lens. Any thoughts on this issue? Sounds like you're trying to ignore it and just embracing the "theater vs film" conversation. Do you have a discord or anything?
I’ve considered trying different filmmaking techniques but frankly all of them seem jarring since the medium of film is, by definition, flat and not immersive. So yeah my plan is to ignore what would work in film and instead look towards theater techniques for storytelling. I don’t have a Discord but I’ll be posting more regular updates on my project to my Patreon✌️
Dreamworks started out as a company that was trying to get away from Disney's BS and now they are starting to go down the same path as them. If they don't remind themselves why this company started in the first place, they are going to destroy themselves. I always loved Dreamworks since the beginning. They are the only company in America that can challenge Disney which needs to happen. They should stay away from the live action/CGI nonsense, stay in house, treat their employess well and continue making new things. They are doing good...they just need to work on their merchandising cause god damn it I really wanted Puss2 items
Used to be a success meant job security now there's no incentive to even go into this field... Serval similar fields. It MUST be headed for an implosive crash
It makes me wonder are they just making 3D models at this point and inputting stl's into like primo which might as well just be blender that's that's kind of interesting to me I might try and make a head I don't know man I think right now I just do a egg to start with just because doing shapes is hard with the system I'm using right now.
The big Studios don't care about their talent pool at all. It means nothing to them. They only see numbers and are blind to the wealth of their people. Sesame Workshop has done the same thing. Let's use AI to make content. Ugh!
It means nothing because the studio executives are only concerned about a monster bonus to pay for their next super car, yacht, mistress, 10th home, and super mansion.
But...i hate those cash cow movies. I used to watch dreamworks, disney, pixar and others. But as soon as they started with cheaper movies, ones i absolutely hated as they lacked story, life and meaning, i stopped following them and just moved to follow any other studio or movie that had those in it. I discovered ghibli, SPA studios, Cartoon saloon and so many more. I will just not support those big companies with soulless artwork. What is the point of making those?...If it's just money, then you failed.
It’s named after the main character from my thesis film from college! Maybe I’ll post that here one day for posterity’s sake. But if you wanna look it up yourself it’s called Jukebox Row, it’s on my ZOPStudios channel😁
Counterpoint: supporting these films by paying for them is actually the best way to show the studio that you want to see more of these films. If they see enough people are willing to pay for them, they will change their course and make more films like this. That’s just my opinion though.
DO NOT pirate The Wild Robot. Please, go see it. Twice or three times even. This movie needs to do well in the box office if you want to see more movies like this in the future.
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I’m have a question. Is the implication is dreamworks only going to do sequels right now
@@noahbossier1131 They will definitely still make originals (or at least films based on existing IP’s) but they’ve never been shy the amount of sequels (“franchise films”) they produce either
@@NoTheRobot then how is it going to work with their proprietary software with another studio
I saw the film in theaters this weekend and it is one of the best movies of the year. I also want to thank you for your insight on what's going on in the animation industry today. I'm taking animation classes in college and want to do animation, but I used to be a journalist and still keep my eyes on what's going on in the world. I hope we meet sometime so we can come up with a way to create animation to show the cost cutting studios that their methods are harder than they're worth.
I worked at one of these outsourced studios in Japan. The art direction and storyboard was made in California, we did all modeling, lookdev and animation. Textures and concept art were made by another studio in India. We would send our shots to a local supervisor, and then they’d send it to another supervisor in California. It worked incredibly well and we won an Emmy award. Us foreign workers also put our heart and soul into our work. There doesn’t need to be a loss of artistic integrity just because of outsourcing
I want to be clear that this isn’t about undermining the incredible work done by studios outside the U.S. who collaborate with American companies. The international teams I’ve worked with are some of the most talented and hardworking artists in the industry, often producing Emmy-worthy content that speaks to their passion and dedication.
My concern lies with the American studios making these outsourcing decisions. Rather than supporting their in-house artists, they opt for cheaper international partnerships, leading to mass layoffs and destabilizing livelihoods here. While the vendor studios are capable of producing great work, the reality is that many of these companies push their artists through grueling hours for minimal pay-issues we’ve seen in places like MAPPA and across the VFX industry. It’s a system that prioritizes short-term profits over fair treatment, and unfortunately, it’s sustained by the continuous outsourcing practices of these studios.
@ I agree! Like with anything else, outsourcing means less control over working conditions. The video has a lot of valid points! Decentralization have its obvious problems. But also advantages beyond just the economical ones, such as more diverse perspectives.
I hope DreamWorks, seeing the success of The Wild Robot, will make that 50% of in house work, a big 50%, because this film, PIB2, The Bad Guys showed that you need a director and a collaborative environment.
The voice actress alone for the spider in The Bad Guys, was enough to make me turn off the movie after 10 minutes.
@@pyros.
That sounds like a very subjective experience and opinion led to you believing that The Bad Guys is an objectively bad movie.
Awkwafina's voice definitely isn't for everyone and she seems to be an incredibly popular actor in the industry atm, I can definitely understand having the PERSONAL sentiment of having had enough of Awkwafina.
However, ten minutes of watching is not enough to judge, much less hate, a movie. I can't tell what your intentions were here in sharing a critical view that's not directly related to the original commenter's message, but perhaps some self reflection will help on that.
@@pyros.That's honestly more a you thing honestly if you're gonna generalize the whole movie by a single VA who isn't the main character
@@boglenight1551 Never said that I hated the movie. I was looking forward to the movie originally. But that voice is too much to listen to for an entire movie.
I'm sure there are others who feel the same way.
@@6-dpegasus425 Not generalizing the movie. I'm sure the movie is good. I just couldn't listen to that voice the entire time.
It is 100% a me thing. But I'm also not the only one who feels that way either.
Regarding outsourcing, I think I've read somewhere that the fox and the cat in Disney's Pinocchio where made in a German studio. They look so out of place because they are so realistic and HD in comparison to the Pinocchio.
So according to the film's credits (which I had to look up on Disney+ lol), there were several VFX vendor studios that worked on this film, with MPC (located in the UK) being the largest vendor. It's quite possible that they outsourced even further from there, but sending the VFX to MPC already constitutes as outsourcing on Disney's part. Take that as you will, but yes your original point stands true that sometimes different elements in the same movie are handled by different studios & teams entirely.
They looked absolutely gorgeous compared to the rest of that trash movie
0:05 bro, FACTS!
The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants is so damn underrated, like, there was one joke during the space ark that was like
"I knew it was too good to be true"
"Yeah, like Democracy"
And then they had a cutaway to the narrator telling Abraham Lincoln to shut up. This show is peak.
The fact that every episode is narrated by Sean Astin, Samwise Gamgee himself, is nothing short of amazing.
IKR!!!
@@NoTheRobothe does such a good job. Voice work across the board is spot on.
I loved this show so true 😭
Former Dreamworks employee here. When I visited my old crew recently, the Dreamworks campus had such a ghostly aura, a heavy feeling of uncertainty. It's heartbreaking to see the direction the industry is currently heading.
Yup that’s exactly what I’ve also heard from my friends that are still there. It’s such a bummer 🫠
Hi, I worked on the technical/pipeline side for Spider-Verse and the Wild Robot blew me away, loved the story, the humor, and every moment of it. I appreciate you explaining the potential pipeline issues and cut projects and it's nice to listen to someone else who experienced the day-by-day that I have to experience too. Great video, keep going!
this sucks that such amazingly beautiful mediums can have such dark and unforgiving undertones. I feel growing up I've seen that the most ambitious, creative, and fantastical things in life often take the most work to produce, which therefore means they require more care to manage the flow of things over time respectfully and swimmingly. having all these ceos and business oriented decisions deciding artistic endeavours just doesn't seem right.
There are certainly a range of emotions when it comes to this industry. There's a lot of good things happening in this industry like the Indie animation scene, beginning to flourish, and I plan to make a video in the near future, talking about some of the more positive aspects of the changing landscape. It certainly feels like everything is on fire, and while to an extent that is true, there is some good when you know where to look for it.
@@NoTheRobot then will we keep going back to in house animation at any studio
Hey man, just dropping in to tell you that, as a fellow animator (but from Europe), I really appreciate all your videos and insights you give on the industry. It's nice to feel like there is a voice out there expressing what's going on and informing people. It's such a rough industry, but with such beautiful people. I hope you keep going strong and good luck with your short!
Thanks so much for the kind words! 🙏
It's been like 20min since I discovered your channel and was absolutely captivated by how you think, speak and explain whatever you're talking about. Makes me, a complete computer .dum-dum, understand 3D animation, for example
It would be my dream to help creators like you financially, but as I am also struggling and am not from the US, I can only support by consuming your content 😅
Keep up the good work! Hope to play your game someday 🤗
You watching & sharing these videos is helpful in its own way too! Thank you for being here, I'm happy to help people outside the industry learn about the inner workings of the animation industry :)
Since I was a kid, I dreamt of being an animator and contributing to the creation of these masterpieces... I'm 18 now and ended up choosing other career path for the nearest time but I still would love to have something to do with animation in the distant future and seeing current situation is heartbreaking. I wish y'all all the best! Great videos!
Great insights.
I'm a fellow animation industry worker (indie short film director), and goddamn, wherever I look (Japan, US, France), everybody is singing the same song : it's the darkest times of the industry ! Everybody everywhere is either unemployed for 1 or 2 years (I'm one of those) or if they're lucky to still have a job, massively overworked. There's no inbetween (pun unintended).
I had an awful gut feeling after watching Inside Out 2, a gnarling doubt that this might be the last actual Pixar movie, with all the news about the layoffs (and sure enough, that recent IGN article confirmed most of my suspicions). And even more after warching Wild Robot, as this might be the last actual Dreamworks movie, since they're layoff was not 14%, like Pixar, but more than 50 !!! (Some reports even mentioned up to 90% inhouse talents)...
It's truly the end of an era.
The perfect storm that was the pandemic, followed by the false promise of the boom of the streaming era, only to come crashing down, compounded by the advent of gen.A.I...
It's all super depressing, and I have no idea how the industry can come back up from such a massive beatdown.
I'm hearing that many independent studios are opening or taking in talent as a result to compensate, but where is their funding coming from ? Animation is one of the (if not the) costliest medias for storytelling (save for videogame development, maybe), so I can't quite see how indie studios could be sustainable if they don't have projects in the pipeline that are already paying their bills.
It’s all crowd-funding and merchandise sales keeping indie productions afloat.
Recently, I discovered that I wanted to create animated movies and features, as many productions inspired me to tell stories worth the watch. But seeing how the state of the animation industry is by now, this is quite concerning... Artits and animators being laid off and treated like crap, corporations caring more about making good box office movies over making good meaningful movies, privileging and milking out existing IPs and rejecting new and original ideas (seeing how much Kung Fu Panda 4 or Despicable Me grossed at the box office despite being mid sequels speaks volume), etc. We don't talk about this too much, but the fans and the public have a responsability concerning the current state of the industry.
I don't know if I can manage to achieve my ambition because of lack of opportunities (and also the fact that I ain't an artist by anyway and can't draw/animate correctly), but I wish the animation industry to heal from all that stuff happening to them. They may not be credited enough, but artists and animators deserves respect and fair treatment.
I've noticed that there is a large gap between what audiences claim that they want versus what they actually go out and spend money on. For example, the 2019 remake of the lion King was until recently the highest grossing, animated film of all time. But if you ask anybody about that movie, they will say that it doesn't hold a candle to the original. Audience is claimed that they want original stories, but will hesitate on spending their money at the movie theater on original stories. Unfortunately, it feels like the people that really care about these things like myself are in the minority, and the reason I make videos like this one is to try to educate people outside of this bubble. Hopefully by bringing awareness to the harsh conditions that these films are made in will help facilitate necessary change.
@NoTheRobot Thank you for your take. Your channel should be more popular in order to give such powerful messages to a greater audience. But I have one question: Do you think someone who doesn't have an artistic talent or capability can create great features in animation?
@@NoTheRobot a lot of people don’t seem to care about original ideas in general and are actively hostile to original stories. It’s only socially acceptable to watch animated movies if it’s a nostalgic reboot. According to the stigma. And most people are very choosy over what they want to spend mmoney in the theater now unless it’s a social media event film. The mindset is like it’s a tollercoaster
@@noahbossier1131 And this is the freaking most concerning part: Studios tend to give people what they want, and not what they need. This is why fan service movies like The Mario Movie or Deadpool and Wolverine are gaining a lot of money on the B.O. despite being mid movies in a plot and storytelling pov.
Like there's no effort to tell new movies and new franchises 'cause studios can clearly capitalize on existing and very popular franchises and characters because they are very safe bets and therefore involve fewer creative and scriptwriting risks. This is why the indie animation is becoming the new way to tell new stories, without that Damorcles' sword hanging above them. But without enough support and founding, most of these stories never get to see the light... What a pity.
The same thing can be said on animated TV shows. If it doesn't get the desired audience (usually unrealistically high) despite having high notes from critics, being excellent in many aspects and made with love, hello cancellation. Recently Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur got cancelled, and now I'm extremely mad at Disney for making that dumb decision. Hailey's on it got the same treatment... They claim they want new stories and IPs, and then they're never there to support them...
@ we need to encourage people to consume good stories and animation and I hope indie thrives
I really appreciate your insight, when I was younger I wanted to get into the industry in some way, whether through writing, storyboarding or animation, but at the rate things are going, with CEOs priortising quantity over quality I just think it's such a shame and waste of potential. I have my doubts but I love animation so much, and I just want to see the industry succeed and for the people who contribute to it to actually get paid and treated properly at the same time.
I would much rather wait for years for an original film or a good sequel than see a bunch of (AI generated or 'creatively enhanced') garbage that the executives didn't bother paying people to put real effort in. If there's no passion in the project or respect to the people that make it possible I don't see why I should even care to watch it.
I'm more grateful now that I just ended up with a mixed degree, (art history / illustration / classical studies), because although I graduated a year before AI image generation became common place I use felt a sort of uncertainty because unless you make the right connections it's really hard to get an art related job.
I still do art in my free time and you can too, even if you can't jump fully into your dream of being an animator.
I’m a big animation fan. People who make drawing move is basically knowing magic. I found my favorite place and it’s the animated student film section. What people make is amazing, and I hope they go on to do amazing things.
I know regardless of the animation industry and whether or not it's collapsing, I still want to push to make my own short films.
I have yet to see the Wild Robot, but I've heard nothing but praise for it :)
Thanks for the video!
Two things. I took an online animation school where several of my teachers were animators at Dreamworks. I ended up not pursuing after graduation because the cost of moving to Cali and that every single one of the teachers warned about how either A) you practically couldn't make a living alone on animation B) several studios would screw you out of money (like the Sausage Party lawsuit) or force you to constantly work overtime because of how expendable they acted like animators were because "well you love the craft so much you shouldn't have issues working 10 hours 7 days a week" and C) how easy it was to get black listed because it was such a hard industry to get into. So, in the end I just live vicariously through recognizing my teachers names in the credits.
But I'm noticing their names less and less even though some of them have been in the industry for like 20 years. The other is there used to be like 40+ names to a project and now it feels like it'll be down to 8. Only later to hear that the majority (Inside out 2 comes to mind) got laid off just before the project got finished just so when the movie did well, they didn't have to give out bonuses to all the animators.
So while I really think I dodged a bullet, it's really depressing to see the medium I love so much become such a sore spot.
In any line of business honestly a collaborative environment is what i consider necessary
I heared that they already started making a sequel to the Wild Robot, hopefully it will be as good or better than the first one.
This is so insightful...
Thank you so very much for speaking about this subject, it's a really well made video.
You've earned a sub and a fan!
So glad to hear that, thank you for being here!😄
the little bionicles are awsome
Came here for The Wild Robot. Stayed for the Bionicles.
The Wild Robot has won over people's hearts and it's definitely getting an Oscar. It's also a box office hit. I wish it also happened to Transformers One. The marketing did not do justice for them. Overall, both of them are peak of Cinema 🔥
It totally deserves an Oscar, but I’m betting it gets snubbed for Inside Out 2. Disney/Pixar get preferential treatment when it comes to Oscars.
Really hope to be proven wrong though.
Bro They Cooked so hard on this movie
It's up There with the best DreamWorks movies In my opinion
The best movies?
Shrek one or 2, Despicable me 1,And Puss and boots: The last wish.
Nokama and Maku!!! 🤩
Figured they were fitting for a story about a robot mother😁🤘
you will love transformers one. Make a video talking about it too
No the, and the wild...Robot😂
This movie makes me want to go get the book
The wild robot is a work of art, hoping it wins best animated film
Amazing transition
I'll rewatch the it today
Nice set-up by the way
You said it aloud to yourself; "They found they way they wanted to make movies". Now that they have a template / formula down they can teach it to others. It was always about curating this style in house before expanding outwards. Artistically and economically it makes a lot of sense.
Nah that doesnt make sense at all. When you fire all the people who helped develop/curate that style, you will not end up with a style that can be easily mimicked. All the decisions and mistakes and intercommunication between that team developed this so called formula and when you lose a majority of that inter-connection you lose not only knowledge but team cohesiveness. You see this again and again with video game layoffs and remakes. OG team gets fired, shareholders think theyve got the "style" down pat, grinds the remains into dust trying to re-create the "style" and ends up with a shit product and then their studios collapse.
@@radocar844 I mean it does if you've in the animation industry. From an outsiders perspective though I can see how it might not be as clear.
A jaw-dropping film. Gorgeous.
And what SUCKS is that artists will kill themselves for this stuff and then get canned!
Just like game companies. Use up your staff then toss 'em out.
In my own opinion, such as yours, I think the industry is not collapsing, as you have said with DreamWorks, they have found their way, their story telling, their sweet spot; remakes not just serve a purpose to keep the audiences that already exist engaged into the continuity of the story, but also delivers them time for the next projects; I know about this matter because I´m an artist too, in my own way and having something new is not an easy task. The creation of something that doesnt exist and turn it into existence has a lenghty process which plenty of times takes a lot of effort, building, scratching ideas or changing them, for them to fit, plenty of things placed on the table thanks to the number of people involved, which has to be listened to and decide if its the right thing to do or not, etc., and after all that; Will Smith has shown the process of his book creation; you have to create a timeline, look for what´s missing, if you get an itch on some part of the script, animation, draft, whatever it is, that is telling you something is missing or something doesnt fit, you have to check it. It´s a really timely processes in which you have to have your timings. For the audience that dont know, working for a company like that, i mean that creates art, the starting of a project is when you already have a good chunk of the story already created, no matter if its drawings on paper a text, etc., but you have to have already something to deliver, nonetheless, as a worker you cant just expect to sit and do nothing and plenty of times the story, drawings, drafts, the way you want to call them, are not accepted. truth be told, it either doesnt fit the company values, is not to the liking of the owners, investors, the bosses, etc., so, it goes back to the drawing board or get discarded.
The wild robot was actually a book first. That’s probably why the story stood out so much. But I don’t know really
To me, Dreamworks never felt spiteful like a lot of people say. Their second movie was The Prince of Egypt. Even Shrek, which was a big insult to Disney, was still a very good movie. It had something honest to say and wasn't just about the parody side. And they've made so many gems over the years. It's sad to hear about all of this.
The wild robot seems artistically coherent with Poos in Boots. I mean big fighting scenes.
okay you had me at vr short
Here’s a question. What year and month did the production of the wild robot began.
Good video man! Please correct me if I'm wrong here but weren't other recent DreamWorks projects also outsourced? I heard that Spirit Untamed, Boss Baby 2, The Bad Guys and Kung Fu Panda 4 were all partially outsourced to Jellyfish Pictures. I also heard that The Wild Robot had it's rigging done by a separate studio named "Stim Studio". If this is true, will outsourcing to Sony Imageworks really be that different in comparison to the recent outsourcing DreamWorks has already been doing?
Great question. Certain parts of the pipeline have been outsourced to vendor studios, but the difference here is that a large percentage of the ENTIRE pipeline is being outsourced. So where it was just asset creation, character rigs etc. that were being done at other studios, now these partner Studios will be handling every aspect of entire animation sequences.
Spirit Untamed rigs were done by Jellyfish and their own outsourced studio, Minimo, located in Spain. Boss Baby 2, Kung Fu Panda 4, Trolls 3, Bad Guys, and Wild Robot rigs were all created fully in house.
That's an unfortunate year to start your internship. I was part of those PDI layoffs.
Bless!
i'm in my first year of an experimental animation program at art school.. should i change majors? i absolutely love animation and i hope to work in the field (either on independent stuff, freelancing, or in studio) but it seems like the industry is going downhill and i need to make a livelyhood
There’s also indie animation a lot more freedom and it’s thriving right now
I understand your fear. Right now the best thing you can do is keep your head down & focus on your craft. Don’t worry too much about the future of the industry, as gloom as it may seem, because it will always continue to evolve. The reality is that with indie studios rising up there is going to be plenty of smaller opportunists that you can use to supplement your income. Use this time to hone your skills as an animator & storyteller. If you’re still worried, you can always look at a business minor to help your chances at navigating the freelance world. Hope this helps :)
@@NoTheRobot thank you :D this is encouraging
I don't understand why anyone would want to be an animator. The skill is really hard to develop. The working hours are insane. And when the movie is done, they just throw you out.
I see bionicles. Instant like
🤘🦾
Would like to hear more Venice Chronicles, and what kinds of ways you're overcoming problems associated with vr storytelling, cinematography, etc. For example, have you figured out how to change the focal length of the HMD in unreal, allowing for actual shots, or are you really having to approach the cinematography more like theater than cinema? Been doing Unreal VR myself for several years, hope to see more on your project.
Edit: I'll check out your patreon.
Thanks so much for asking, I’m hoping to do a video explaining where it’s at. I’ve been so busy getting this channel into a rhythm that I haven’t had as much time as I’d like. What I will say is I’m sitting on a lot of amazing concept art, character designs, and 3D models / renders (like the one in this video). Hoping to put out a progress update video soon! And thanks for checking out my Patreon - every little bit helps, even free memberships 😁✌️
Also it will be staged like live theater since VR has more in common with that than filmmaking!
@@NoTheRobot exactly about the theater. Ive tried for over a year to figure out how to change the focal length or FOV with the camera in unreal with no luck, which means no framing shots. Ive gotten some results forcing the camera in a certain direction but i didnt find a streamlined way of doing it, just brute forcing on tick with my FBIK rig towards a render target. VR filmmaking could be huge and teeming with possibilities, but not if we cant change the camera lens. Any thoughts on this issue? Sounds like you're trying to ignore it and just embracing the "theater vs film" conversation. Do you have a discord or anything?
I’ve considered trying different filmmaking techniques but frankly all of them seem jarring since the medium of film is, by definition, flat and not immersive. So yeah my plan is to ignore what would work in film and instead look towards theater techniques for storytelling. I don’t have a Discord but I’ll be posting more regular updates on my project to my Patreon✌️
Why did a random youtube channel need to advertise this robot movie in order for me to know it even existed. I guess they skipped the marketing.
Haha I thought it was advertised quite heavily, idk where you’ve been but I’m glad I could make you aware of it😂
i watched every single episode from the captain underpants show when i was a kid :)
That’s awesome! Which one was your favorite?😁
Dreamworks started out as a company that was trying to get away from Disney's BS and now they are starting to go down the same path as them. If they don't remind themselves why this company started in the first place, they are going to destroy themselves. I always loved Dreamworks since the beginning. They are the only company in America that can challenge Disney which needs to happen. They should stay away from the live action/CGI nonsense, stay in house, treat their employess well and continue making new things. They are doing good...they just need to work on their merchandising cause god damn it I really wanted Puss2 items
Transformers One was Amazinggg
I may or may not have stolen it 💀 But omg was it a good movie
Used to be a success meant job security now there's no incentive to even go into this field... Serval similar fields. It MUST be headed for an implosive crash
Let me see you do some animations
Check out my RUclips shorts to see some of my own animations✌️
It makes me wonder are they just making 3D models at this point and inputting stl's into like primo which might as well just be blender that's that's kind of interesting to me I might try and make a head I don't know man I think right now I just do a egg to start with just because doing shapes is hard with the system I'm using right now.
The big Studios don't care about their talent pool at all. It means nothing to them. They only see numbers and are blind to the wealth of their people. Sesame Workshop has done the same thing. Let's use AI to make content. Ugh!
It means nothing because the studio executives are only concerned about a monster bonus to pay for their next super car, yacht, mistress, 10th home, and super mansion.
boosting
Beep boop 🤖 I am a robot from the future
Same
But...i hate those cash cow movies. I used to watch dreamworks, disney, pixar and others. But as soon as they started with cheaper movies, ones i absolutely hated as they lacked story, life and meaning, i stopped following them and just moved to follow any other studio or movie that had those in it. I discovered ghibli, SPA studios, Cartoon saloon and so many more. I will just not support those big companies with soulless artwork. What is the point of making those?...If it's just money, then you failed.
What is the story behind your screen name, "No the Robot"?
It’s named after the main character from my thesis film from college! Maybe I’ll post that here one day for posterity’s sake. But if you wanna look it up yourself it’s called Jukebox Row, it’s on my ZOPStudios channel😁
murder drones but the opposite
Sounds like the correct way to watch this is to go pirate
Counterpoint: supporting these films by paying for them is actually the best way to show the studio that you want to see more of these films. If they see enough people are willing to pay for them, they will change their course and make more films like this. That’s just my opinion though.
DO NOT pirate The Wild Robot. Please, go see it. Twice or three times even. This movie needs to do well in the box office if you want to see more movies like this in the future.
In any line of business honestly a collaborative environment is what i consider necessary