-
WORK CRISIS! Project guidlines – please help!
I am a motion graphics designer for a large production company who uses AE.I am having a meeting with a couple of my producers(who have never designed anything in their life) at work to help them better understand how much time is involved in doing a specific project. They will speak with a client and tell them on Tuesday, “yes, we can have that to you by Friday.”. This happens all the time without consult one of us designers first, and it effects the creativity and productivity of the graphics/design department. We have no time to conceptualize, storyboard, or anything. Is this normal? Does this happen at your office? It doesn’t seem normal to me. They expect unrealistic results with the time we have to work with and that’s just not going to happen. I want to provide them with some sort of guideline. Is there a web site or book on this subject matter(design specific) that any of you know about?
Any help or opinions would be great!
Thanks!
-
6 Replies
-
Make sure the producers discuss the job with you first before committing to the client. I don’t think you’ll find any guidelines on the subject, it’s all about clear communication and managing expectations. There will always be those jobs where you don’t have time to storyboard – we get them all the time but that’s where your skill as a designer and operator come into play. Sometimes you have to come up with an idea quickly, in broadcast television it’s certainly the nature of what we do. But if it’s obviously a crazy deadline you need to make it clear and offer more reasonable solutions.
JD
John Dickinson
Motionworks
http://www.motionworks.com.au -
They are currently doing poor project management. Did these guys study business? They should have learned stuff…
Look at this on project management:
https://outsourceking.com/PM/Project-Management-Defined.aspx?ref=aw&gclid=CJ3Xvuz5loMCFQ6mSAod5n_gNwHere is some stuff assembled by http://www.belief.com (pollinate sessions). These are like a bachlors degree in art crammed into 45 mins. These are also very helpful. Download ’em and give it to those guys.
https://www.newstoday.com/cinema/cinema.php?id=28
https://www.newstoday.com/cinema/film.php?id=17Most likely, they won’t change. What you are saying has been the norm. in my experience. But, it’s worth a shot. Maybe they will actually listen.
-
In my experience, most producers think it’s their job to say yes to the client, and often don’t consult their animation team.
When I was teaching maya, I actually had a producer I worked for take my classs so that she could understand what the animators working for her had to deal with. Another producer I worked with went to Ringling (the art school in sarasota FL), and she too understood what it takes to put a project together. But it’s rare, and generally they need to be trained on 2 fronts:
1) Learning to understand that things take time, and that they have to consult you (or the senior animator if there is one) before agreeing to anything.
2) That they look like idiots if they promise something that can’t be delivered.
I feel pretty strongly about this – There’s no reason you should have to work a 20 hour day (and beleieve me I’ve been there all too often for the same reason) because they don’t know what they’re talking about. The nature of the business is late nights and hard work occasionally, but if it’s the norm, it’s a problem unless you’re being paid well for it and you’re OK with it.
There’s no way to solve the problem without doing one of 2 things – be direct with them (which may or may not work) or do the best you can, keeping track of your hours and progress, and when the crap hits the fan be prepaired to show you used your time well, and that the person who mucked it up wasn’t you.
Personally, if i couldn’t make them see reason, and understand that they had to conult me before agreeing to a schedule, I’d seek work elsewhere if i could find it. Letting it happen againa nd again will only perpetuate it in the long run.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com -
In the short time i’ve been working in this business (since september last year) I’ve gathered that this is the norm. Our company does broadcast production as well and I’ve so far never been consulted about a deadline or timeframe for a project. Most of our work is short promo’s (for album releases and stuff like that) which are relatively simple and usually have one day scheduled, but last week I was doing this promotional video for a telecom company, 4 minutes with heavy AE work almost all the time. They had scheduled 2 1/2 days for it! I could have told them beforehand that we were not ever gonna make that with the kind of work that had to be done, and in the end it took 5 days with me working 13/14 hours each day to get it finished. And there was no time really to conceptualise or storyboard or anything. The client had a rough script of what had to happen and that was it.
The budget and timeframe were obviously too low for the production, but i tried to make the best of it, and the client was very happy in the end, but it’s true that the producers are likely to only think about getting the job rather than thinking about what it takes to actually create the content.
I do get my overtime compensated as time off though so that’s good 🙂 -
In my opinion it probably varies alot depending on type of work, market…etc…etc.
I can tell you that in my world, where we produce national spots, working for advertising agencies that it is very normal for myself to be involved in the initial production planning phase..etc..etc. BUT, when an agency is bidding 3 or 4 firms on a project, calls you on Thursday and wants a highly polished design and motion test by monday morning the norm is to do it. Why? Because if you do not, someone else will and they will be awarded the job. It is highly competitive and time is a lacking commodity. If you think 3 days is alot of time, keep in mind we are talking national level spot work. Typically, designers, Flame artists, offline Avid editors,Smoke editors, Audio guys and film transfer for tape to tape CC are all trying to coordinate and produce a finished piece in that time.
Very taxing.
Once the job is awarded, we still come up with a timeframe for production for bidding purposes, HOWEVER, that time is always in reality squeezed into the clients timeframe. (e.g. If we have 100 hours of work on the bid, and the spot is due in 4 days,…well….ofcourse it gets done.)So yes, I think the involvement is crucial, and the norm in my world, however if it is 5 days work and the client has a 2 day deadline you simply get it done. Period.
I have found that it was much more lax in local and regional work, but that was years ago….things may have changed. And in TV stations, it was typically a ‘need it yesterday’ attitude and creativity and polish usually suffered.
-
a good production house is good at scheduling things properly – not saying that it isn’t hard work or long hours – but it’s doable. meaning it’s possible to get the project done in that space of time.
if the norm at your company is to be given unrealistic deadlines, then that’s a problem.
—————————————-
Aharon Rabinowitz
aharon(AT)yahoo(DOT)com
http://www.allbetsareoff.com
—————————————-
Creative Cow Master Series DVD
particleIllusion Fusion Volume 1
available @ http://www.pIllusionFusion.com
Reply to this Discussion! Login or Sign Up