Hi Chris, what can you tell me about Jellyfish Pictures?
We’re a team of around 50-70 artists working on a variety of projects from television and advertising all the way up to feature films. The range of work varies from project to project, but we specialise in creature work and motion graphics. Our end goal is world domination, but for the time being our overall aim is to provide the best visual effects (VFX) work we can for each project and to create believable character performances.
Can you tell me a bit about your role as head of animation?
I’m responsible for bringing the creatures and characters we work on to life. Central to that is figuring out a performance for the characters from shot to shot. I work alongside other talented animators and help troubleshoot and problem-solve when the need arises.
For that past few years I’ve also been responsible for “rigging” the majority of the characters we’ve worked on, which is the setup of a character model before animation can take place; we essentially add a computer-generated skeleton. Knowing how a creature will move and prepping it to get the ranges of motion we need is something else my role entails.
What’s your artistic process?
First, I gather reference. I often make use of the vast online libraries of animal footage, which are invaluable for figuring out how a character or creature should move. Thumbnailing and blocking out a shot on paper is also a super quick way to throw around ideas about shape and movement. Shots are usually blocked out quite roughly in 3D to begin with, just to get a feeling for the position, size and overall motion in the scene. We call this first step “previs” (previsualisation). At this stage it’s often immediately obvious if something isn’t working and changes can be made very quickly.
After that comes a first pass of animation, where the actions are blocked in and the character begins to come to life. This is the stage where tweaks and changes to the overall performance come in: for example, instead of a character’s foot landing here, it should be over there. From there it’s about adding details to the motions of the character and small tweaks to specific actions as we refine the performance. I try to stay close to the reference I gather at the start of the project, but adding your own ideas is part of what makes the process fun.
Different characters move and act in different ways, but the process of making that happen can be surprisingly similar. A robot might have clunky movements and a dinosaur might be stalking through a jungle, but their performances are always motivated by an objective.
How would you gauge the health of the VFX industry at the moment?
There’s more VFX work being produced for film and TV than ever before. I think that the gap between the quality of work seen in film and TV is rapidly closing too, which is a testament to the artists working on those shows. Having said that, the competition is fierce and – honestly – I’m not so sure the industry is particularly healthy.
There were recently major layoffs at some US animation studios and the recent wage-fixing scandal also undermined a lot of confidence. Demand has never been higher, but the expectations are also continuing to rise.
What career tips would you give to a wannabe animator?
It’s never been easier to make animation independently: software is more readily available now than it was 10 years ago and there are online tutorials explaining how to get started with most of it. I started out making short clay and 2D animations in my bedroom before I ever used 3D software. For someone just starting out, most 3D packages offer free personal learning additions. For 2D or stop-motion animation, a cheap digital camera, a PC and basic capturing software is all that’s needed.
Sketching from life and observing how things move will keep those traditional drawing skills sharp. Animation is tough – animating well even tougher – so practice, practice, practice. Getting a feel for animation is trial and error as much as it is studying principles from books, especially when starting out.
Does VFX get the artistic respect it deserves?
I think it comes down to lack of understanding. There’s a steeper learning curve using a computer compared with traditional mediums; it’s not intuitive like picking up a pencil and drawing or sculpting something in clay. A pencil won’t suddenly stop working and erase all your work. You also don’t have to learn combinations of buttons to push clay around.
There’s also a misconception that the computer does all the work, but an artist still has to create something. The computer is just another tool, as different charcoal is from clay, but no less able to produce impressive art.
The advent of affordable 3D-printing will hopefully blur the line between digital and traditional sculpture even further. There is certainly also a big issue with getting recognition within the film and TV industries, where VFX artists are often listed at the very tail-end of the credits. Given the huge influence VFX has on blockbuster movies (the 20 highest-grossing movies of all time being VFX-driven) and indeed all film-making now, it’s a shame there’s not more recognition and respect for it within the industry. Hopefully this is changing!
This interview was co-commissioned with Arts Industry magazine
Chris Seed is head of animation at Jellyfish Pictures
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