After looking at the New Zealand animation and games industry for the past couple of weeks, this week I wanted to look at the what the UK has to offer. In total there are over 4, 700 people who work in animation in the UK, this number covers 2D, 3D and stop motion. Most studios will concentrate on one discipline, were as some studios like Aardman Animations will use all 3.
One way of starting out in the industry is being a Runner. Also known as production assistants this is a apprenticeship approach where animation skills are gained from experienced artists at the studio. Some skill in drawing, animation and 3D modelling is expected, however your jobs will be delivering and collecting materials and helping out around the office. The experience and skills gained from doing a job like this I think are invaluable. Being able to see how everything fits together and getting feedback of your from people who work at the studio can help you become a better artist. http://www.creativeskillset.org/animation/overview/
Further looking into how to get a job in the animation industry I found an article by Dr Val Williamson giving some interesting advise. http://drval.over-blog.com/article-animation-85867517.html
The first paragraph discusses getting the correct qualification to get into the industry. also having a show reel displaying your work and having a done a dissertation based around animation will look good on your CV. These are things I'm doing already for example the show reel I've started to plan out and basing my dissertation on animation. The article also talks about animation festivals as being a good way to network and gain contacts with people already working in the industry. This would include events like Game City which I've been to many times, however there are animation focus based ones happening all the time for example the London International Animation Festival that's taking place this week.
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