The Visual Effects Crisis
Summary
TLDRThe visual effects industry faces a crisis with artists enduring brutal working conditions, including excessive hours and burnout, often due to last-minute studio demands leading to project delays and financial strain. The case of Rhythm and Hues, which filed for bankruptcy after the Oscar-winning 'Life of Pi', exemplifies the industry's challenges. Calls for change include better production practices, residuals for VFX companies, and the push for unionization to address the mistreatment of artists who are central to blockbuster success but often overlooked.
Takeaways
- π The visual effects industry is facing a crisis with stories of overwork, unreasonable deadlines, and burnout being common among artists.
- ποΈ Artists working on blockbuster movies like Marvel films often experience hundred-hour work weeks, leading up to a movie's release date.
- π€― The pressure of studio demands for major reshoots and revisions can lead to significant additional work, causing financial strain on VFX companies.
- π Winning an Oscar for VFX work can paradoxically lead to being seen as too expensive, creating a mixed blessing for artists and companies.
- π Rhythm and Hues, a leading VFX company, filed for bankruptcy shortly after the successful release of 'Life of Pi', highlighting the financial instability of the industry.
- π The disconnect between directors and VFX artists can lead to unrealistic demands and a lack of understanding of the VFX process and timeline.
- π The trend of studios and filmmakers frequently changing their vision mid-production can result in extensive rework and crunch times for VFX artists.
- π₯ Major companies like Marvel and Netflix have been criticized for their treatment of VFX artists, contributing to the industry's crisis.
- π The business model of the VFX industry has evolved, with multiple companies working on different elements of a film, complicating the workflow and increasing the number of employees involved.
- 𧩠The film 'Cats' exemplified the problems in the VFX industry, with a director lacking understanding of VFX creation and unrealistic demands leading to a disastrous outcome.
- πΌ Economic challenges in the VFX industry, including the pursuit of tax subsidies by studios and the constant need for VFX companies to relocate or underbid each other, contribute to instability.
Q & A
What is the current crisis in the visual effects industry?
-The visual effects industry is facing a crisis characterized by brutal working hours, unreasonable deadlines, rampant burnout, and a punishing cycle for the artists, leading to numerous hundred-hour work weeks and a high rate of burnout and dissatisfaction among artists.
What impact does overwork have on visual effects artists?
-Overwork can lead to nervous breakdowns and allegations of bullying, as well as a general sense of dissatisfaction and exhaustion among artists, which can contribute to a high turnover rate and a negative reputation for the industry.
Why do visual effects artists often work long hours leading up to a movie's release date?
-Long hours are often required to meet the movie's release date, especially when there are last-minute changes or revisions demanded by the studio, which can result in a significant amount of additional work and pressure on the artists.
What was the situation with Rhythm and Hues during the production of 'Life of Pi'?
-Rhythm and Hues faced serious financial difficulties during the production of 'Life of Pi' due to a major change in the project that required substantial revisions, which they had to shoulder the cost for, leading to cash flow problems and eventually bankruptcy.
How did the success of 'Life of Pi' contrast with the fate of Rhythm and Hues?
-While 'Life of Pi' was a commercial success, grossing over 600 million dollars, Rhythm and Hues filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy and laid off more than 250 employees, highlighting the irony and disconnect between the film's success and the struggles of the visual effects company.
What is the role of residuals or profit participation in the film industry?
-Residuals or profit participation are additional payments made to actors, directors, producers, and writers based on the ongoing revenue generated by a movie. However, visual effects companies are typically not entitled to this kind of profit participation, despite their significant contribution to the film's success.
Why are visual effects companies often not entitled to residuals or profit participation?
-The business model of the film industry typically does not include profit participation for visual effects companies. Instead, these companies are usually paid a fixed fee for their work, regardless of the film's success, which can be a point of contention given the importance of visual effects in driving box office revenue.
What is the significance of the protest by visual effects artists during the 2013 Academy Awards?
-The protest was a call to raise awareness about the mistreatment and undermining of the visual effects industry, highlighting the need for better working conditions, recognition, and fair compensation for the artists who contribute significantly to the success of films.
What are some of the challenges faced by visual effects houses in securing contracts?
-Visual effects houses face challenges such as constantly moving to territories that offer the best tax rebates, underbidding one another to secure contracts, and dealing with the complexities of the economics of the VFX industry, which can lead to financial instability and closures.
What is the role of unionization in addressing the issues within the visual effects industry?
-Unionization is seen as a crucial step towards improving working conditions, securing fair compensation, and providing a collective voice for visual effects artists. It is an overdue measure that could help address the systemic issues within the industry and ensure better treatment of artists.
How has the increase in the number of visual effects shots in movies impacted the industry?
-The increase in the number of visual effects shots has led to a greater demand for artists and VFX houses, often resulting in more companies working on individual sequences or elements. This acceleration has put pressure on the industry to keep up with the pace, leading to issues such as long working hours and a lack of respect for the artists' work.
Outlines
π Crisis in the Visual Effects Industry
The visual effects industry is facing a crisis characterized by brutal working conditions, including unreasonable deadlines and excessive work hours leading to burnout. Artists often work hundred-hour weeks, especially during the pre-release period of movies. The industry's invisibility despite its significant contribution to ticket sales and viewing hours is highlighted. The narrative discusses the challenges faced by VFX houses and the irony of winning an Oscar, which sometimes leads to being avoided due to perceived high costs. The case of Rhythm and Hues, a leading VFX company that filed for bankruptcy shortly after the successful release of 'Life of Pi', exemplifies the industry's struggles.
π‘ The Irony of Oscars and VFX Protests
This paragraph discusses the irony of the visual effects industry's situation, juxtaposing the success of 'Life of Pi' at the Oscars with the bankruptcy of Rhythm and Hues. It describes a protest by nearly 500 visual effects artists to raise awareness of their mistreatment and the lack of respect for their work. The industry's inherent problems, such as last-minute changes and reshoots that lead to crunch times, are highlighted. The narrative also points out the disconnect between studios and filmmakers and the VFX artists who suffer from the lack of understanding of the VFX process and its time requirements.
π€ Disconnect and Mismanagement in VFX Production
The disconnect between directors and the VFX craftspeople is emphasized, with large-scale productions like Marvel movies complicating the situation due to their size and the number of employees involved. The industry's evolution from a few VFX houses to many, each specializing in different aspects, is outlined. The narrative criticizes directors with no VFX experience, using 'Cats' and its director Tom Hooper as a case study for the industry's issues. The economic challenges faced by VFX companies, including the pursuit of tax subsidies and the constant need to relocate or underbid each other, are also discussed.
π€ Possible Solutions for the VFX Industry
The paragraph suggests potential solutions for the VFX industry's ongoing crisis, such as residuals or profit participation for VFX companies, which are not traditionally part of their contracts. It questions why VFX companies, which contribute significantly to box office success, do not receive a share of the profits like other branches of the film industry. The narrative also advocates for unionization as a long-overdue step to improve working conditions and ensure artists are treated fairly and recognized for their contributions to the industry's success.
π¬ The Impact of Streaming Services on Cinema
The final paragraph shifts focus to the impact of streaming services on the film industry, promoting Mubi as a curated platform that offers a new film every day. It discusses the overwhelming number of entertainment options available and positions Mubi as a reliable source for discovering new and classic films. The paragraph serves as an endorsement of Mubi, highlighting its value proposition in an era of numerous streaming services.
Mindmap
Keywords
π‘Visual Effects Industry
π‘Crunch Time
π‘Burnout
π‘Blacklisting
π‘Oscar
π‘Rhythm and Hues
π‘Residuals
π‘Unionization
π‘Disconnect
π‘Tax Subsidies
π‘Blockbusters
Highlights
The visual effects industry is facing a crisis with stories of overworked artists and unreasonable deadlines.
VFX artists often work hundreds of hours in the weeks leading up to a movie's release.
Artists have reported nervous breakdowns and allegations of bullying due to studio demands.
Many artists requested anonymity in interviews due to non-disclosure agreements and fear of blacklisting.
Digital effects are prominent drivers of ticket sales but remain largely invisible to audiences.
The system is described as broken, with a history of issues that have persisted for over a decade.
Winning an Oscar can be a mixed blessing for VFX artists, potentially labeling them as too expensive.
Rhythm and Hues, a leading VFX company, faced bankruptcy after the success of 'Life of Pi'.
The bankruptcy of Rhythm and Hues highlighted the financial struggles within the VFX industry.
Oscars 2013 saw protests by VFX artists to raise awareness about industry mistreatment.
There is a disconnect between studios, filmmakers, and VFX houses leading to tension and misunderstanding.
Seismic reshoots and redesigns are common, leading to extensive additional work for VFX artists.
The term 'crunch' describes the intense overwork periods in VFX, often with 14-hour days and office sleeping.
Marvel and Netflix are criticized for their treatment of VFX artists and contribution to the crisis.
The disconnect between directors and VFX artists can be exacerbated by the size of productions.
The film 'Cats' exemplified many of the VFX industry's problems, including unrealistic expectations and tight deadlines.
Economic pressures in the VFX industry lead to companies moving or closing, affecting employees.
Residuals or profit participation for VFX companies is a suggested solution to improve industry conditions.
Unionization is advocated as a long-overdue step to improve working conditions for VFX artists.
VFX artists feel undervalued and unrecognized for their significant contributions to box office success.
Transcripts
foreign
[Music]
visual effects industry is in a crisis
this summer a wave of stories emerged
that paint a picture of a looming
disaster for visual effects houses
across the world and a punishing vicious
cycle for the artists within one marked
by brutal working hours unreasonable
deadlines and rampant burnout it's not
at all uncommon for visual effects
artists to pull numerous hundred hour
work weeks in the months leading up to a
movie's release date one artist
interviewed by vulture said that a light
week on a recent Marvel movie still
totaled some 64 hours and that's to say
nothing of the nervous breakdowns that
have come from overwork or the
allegations of bullying were the insane
Studio demands on Blockbusters that
undergo massive reshoots and retooling
or the fact that many of the artists
interviewed for these recent pieces
requested anonymity due to both
non-disclosure agreements and the fear
of blacklisting
as the history of the art form has
progressed digital effects have become
simultaneously more prominent than ever
but also more invisible they're in
arguably one of the main drivers behind
ticket sales and viewing hours and yet
they also fill out the majority of the
films and television that we watch in
ways that we hardly notice all of it
accomplished on the back of a Workforce
that's being driven into the ground the
system as many people have said is
broken but if you've been around and are
familiar with this world you'll know
that this is a story that's not exactly
new
you know when you when you win an Oscar
which is of course a fantastic honor
this is from an interview that Kim
Masters recorded with veteran VFX
supervisors Craig Baron and Jeff Oaken
in February of 2013. people who were
uninformed sort of say well you must be
set for life now you know you've made it
and sometimes you know having the Oscar
means that oh I I don't want to use that
person they're too expensive now or
something like that so it's a bit of a
mixed blessing from that standpoint
we're below the line meaning you know in
the craft area it's not quite like when
an actor receives an Oscar or or the
film wins best picture and then that
helps the box office of that particular
movie or raise the bar for that
particular star but um yeah there's a
certain irony to that but clearly
there's a certain irony in our industry
which is what's happening right now it's
filled with irony the irony that Baron
is referring to here is in large part a
response to the circumstances revolving
around Rhythm and hues
if that name doesn't ring a bell then
their work certainly will Rhythm and
Hughes was one of a number of visual
effects companies that started up in the
late 1980s in the era when computer
generated effects were beginning to find
their way into feature films think of
some of those early CG characters and
sequences in movies like Young Sherlock
Holmes in the abyss
[Music]
of Rhythm and hughes's Specialties was
photorealistic creatures and animals and
by the turn of the century their ability
in getting these characters to
believably interact in a live-action
environment had turned them into one of
the industry's major players and it was
that resume that led director Ang Lee to
hire them to work on his CGI heavy
spiritual epic Life of Pi rnh were one
of more than half a dozen VFX houses
that worked on the movie and among other
things were responsible for Richard
Parker the Bengal tiger pisman's much of
the movie with
[Music]
now there are differing reports about
what exactly went on behind the scenes
but one recurring story that's popped up
in multiple places is that roughly
Midway through production Ang Lee in the
studio called a major audible that
required a substantial amount of the
work done on Richard Parker to be
entirely revised that's not exactly a
simple task that you can solve with a
little bit of overtime changes like
these are seismic and can result in
months of added work to a Project's
timeline it's the exact kind of working
situation that ends up requiring those
hundred hour work weeks in order to meet
a movie's release date again it's not
confirmed but as the story goes this was
what ultimately sounded the death knell
for rhythm and Hughes because as
counter-intuitive as it may sound they
were the ones who had to shoulder the
cost for these major changes not the
studio despite the studio demanding
those changes in the first place profit
margins in the VFX industry are already
Razer in and for r h this contributed to
Serious cash flow problems and wound up
pushing them to ruin
Life of Pi was released in November of
2012 and was a slam dunk success
grossing over 600 million dollars but
less than three months later
Rhythm and Hughes filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy and laid off more than 250 of
its employees the movie may have been in
profit mode but its unsung star was on
its deathbed that's the irony in this
story but it's not the only one
the Oscars live Oscar Sunday February
24th on ABC
just days after rnh filed for bankruptcy
Life of Pi picked up four Oscars at the
2013 Academy Awards
but the story outside the Dolby Theater
where the show was held was much
different
nearly 500 visual effects artists
including a number who worked on Life of
Pi protested to raise awareness for the
ways that their industry was being
mistreated and undermined and back
inside when pai's VFX team won this is
how they retreated when they tried to
shed a little light on the situation
finally want to thank all the artists
who worked in this film for over a year
Rhythm and Hughes
sadly Rhythm and Hughes is suffering
severe financial difficulties right now
it's I urge you all to remember
[Music]
if you're interested in more of Rhythm
and hughes's story I'd highly recommend
giving the documentary life after pie a
watch what's important is that their
rise and fall wasn't just a catalyst for
conversation but that they exist as a
definitive case study that highlights
many of the problems inherent within the
industry problems that have only
persisted and seem to be as bad today as
they were 10 years ago if the story
about Pi CGI being significantly
reworked is accurate then it slots in
with one of the key problems affecting
the industry which is that there is a
tension between on one hand the studios
and the filmmakers and the other the
visual effects houses and when it often
boils down to isn't just a lack of
respect for the artists but a
fundamental misunderstanding of what the
visual effects process actually entails
and the amount of time that it takes to
do correctly
there's a spectrum of experiences across
the giant CGI heavy Blockbusters that
I'm focusing on and it would be wrong to
suggest that all Productions are this
unhealthy but more and more the
recurring experience that keeps popping
up is one that's marked by a singular
lack of precision by a lack of concrete
final locked decisions and we understand
that if you have a vision and you're
you're moving toward that Vision but as
long as you're moving in the same
direction toward that Vision that's fine
you know we're going to get there but
what we see often is that you know
they'll be heading towards a vision and
you might be heading toward that vision
for six months and then
all of a sudden they turn around and
they're heading off in an entirely
different direction
think of the seismic reshoots that took
place for Justice League in Rogue one or
the near page one redesign for Sonic the
Hedgehog yes these are extreme examples
and reshoots are nothing new nor
necessarily a bad thing but this story
of backtracking and reshooting scenes
and reconceptualizing visual effects is
at the heart of so many of these
grievances because at the end of the day
it's the below the line crafts people
who have to execute a plan that God
willing won't go through yet another
iteration for VFX artists this is what
leads to the crunch when 14-hour days
and sleeping at the office becomes the
norm for months on end often accompanied
by a cycle of never-ending redelivery to
clients who are never satisfied there's
a term for this kind of thing an artist
required to deliver numerous final
versions of the same shot because the
client keeps changing the parameters of
what they want down to the most minute
detail has been as they say pixel
at the bullseye of all of this two of
the biggest offenders as you might be
able to guess are Marvel and Netflix
this crisis stretches far beyond them
but they're the two that have been the
most criticized and painted as villains
Marvel especially as one former artist
said they're too big they're too
powerful and working with them is the
equivalent of stepping into a kind of
toxic relationship case in point in one
anecdote that's garnered a lot of press
the company reportedly forgot to tell
all of their VFX vendors that they were
pulling Infinity war and endgame's
release dates back by a month leaving
them to instead find out from a press
release
it's from situations like these where
you can start to see how burnout can run
rampant it's not that artists are
completely against ever working any
overtime or against ever redesigning a
shot there's an amount of both that's
just inherent within not just visual
effects but in all areas of
post-production but a degree of overwork
this intense is just not sustainable and
is the exact thing that drives people
out of the industry and one thing that
doesn't help in the slightest is when
things like this happen
okay
does that look real in that particular
shot no actually
it doesn't really right would you look
close you need to be more blue well you
know does he look real no no
something looks very off about this but
no no he changes Hues don't you think
yeah
apart from its relative tackiness take
away TD's comments here suggests
something deeper this is a point that
Drew McGary made in his article for
Defector suggesting that what it
illustrates is a level of Disconnect
between a director and a below the line
Crafts People and that's an important
idea I think in understanding this
ongoing crisis
foreign level this kind of Disconnect is
just inexcusable but on another while
certainly not ideal it's somewhat
understandable given the sheer size of a
production like one of Marvel's and the
army of employees that it takes to
create I think that that's worth keeping
in mind when looking at all of this the
kinds of massive Blockbusters that we're
focusing on and the way that they're
produced has naturally evolved
we've gone rather quickly from movies
that boast say a hundred individual VFX
shots to where we are today with movies
that feature thousands it takes more
people than ever before to construct VFX
for movies like these and in some cases
more individual VFX houses for reference
just over 20 years ago The Phantom
Menace employed just one VFX company ilm
to create all of its digital effects
whereas the rise of Skywalker just a
couple of years ago employed a dozen the
2002 Spider-Man employed three VFX
houses no way home 14. and this is a
part of an overall change in the
business model instead of a small number
of houses tackling the effects for an
entire film you'll now have numerous
houses each taking on individual
sequences or individual elements that
each respective house specializes in you
can see this kind of escalation across
the history of the MCU especially it's
now commonplace for some 25 over more
houses to work on any one individual
film this is how much the industry has
accelerated over a very short amount of
time and with this many separate
companies and this number of employees
it's not difficult to see how a director
can become disconnected from a
mammoth-sized production like this of
course any sense of Disconnect
regardless of the number of houses is
likely only accentuated when a director
who has virtually zero visual effects
experience is hired to helm one of these
movies nowhere has this been better
demonstrated than in cats and its
director Tom Hooper
[Music]
foreign
if any one movie fits the bill as a
touchstone of all of the problems
infecting the VFX industry it's this one
the concept was flawed to say the very
least the working hours were insane the
deadlines far too tight and at the
center of it was a demeaning tyrannical
director who quite literally had no
grasp on how visual effects are created
in a beautifully titled report by The
Daily Beast an anonymous artist who
worked on the film described the
environment behind the scenes as a
complete nightmare you don't just add a
layer of fur to an actor in a motion
capture suit in one step this is a game
of stages in simplest terms a character
isn't textured until their movement is
finalized Hooper allegedly didn't
understand this and instead demanded
fully rendered shots any time he needed
to look at what was being worked on
which if true is nothing less than
bizarre
we all know what happened next we've all
gawked at images from the movie and read
about how it was literally released
unfinished but for the artists within
the Fallout continued after the movie's
release
members of the motion picture cats
nobody more
facts
[Music]
the visual effects house in question is
MPC Motion Picture company
who closed their Vancouver branch in
late 2019 in order to pursue Better Tax
subsidies in other territories they're
one of a number of VFX houses that have
made similar moves in recent years or
who have just closed out right the
economics of the VFX industry are
complicated those tax subsidies don't
actually go to the visual effects
companies but to the studios and because
Studios will understandably pursue the
cheaper of Labor options that forces VFX
companies to constantly move to
territories that offer the best rebates
or to underbid one another in order to
secure contracts and if the companies
are moving all the time what does that
spell out for their employees
solving these issues isn't easy and
won't be done quickly obviously improved
production methods and sharper
pre-production on the Studio's part is
ideal but I want to end by bringing up
two things that I've seen people talk
about that are worth considering as ways
forward the first is residuals or any
kind of profit participation we hear
about this all the time actors directors
producers writers earning residuals on
the movies that they make for years on
the highest end you've got someone like
Tom Cruise for instance who's reportedly
set to take home an eye-watering 100
million dollars from Top Gun Maverick
alone but this goes all the way down the
line it's not a perfect business of
course Hollywood accounting is Hollywood
accounting after all and people are
screwed over all the time but it's worth
considering that VFX companies for
whatever reason are not entitled to this
same kind of profit participation deal
which increasingly makes no sense when
considering just how big a box office
driver the visual effects are consider
just some of the big CGI characters few
people I imagine saw Godzilla vs Kong
because of Rebecca Hall or Alexander
Skarsgard few saw Sonic the Hedgehog
because of James Marsden or Transformers
because of Shia LaBeouf or Jurassic
world because of Chris Pratt that's not
to slag off those actors but it is to
question why the VFX companies who
create the characters that do Drive box
office revenue are not entitled to
anything on the back end in the same way
that other branches of the film industry
are
here's VFX supervisor Jeff Oaken talking
to Kim Masters in that 2013 interview
again
I've never gotten a residual for
anything I ever did nobody up there did
that did the work so what we got out of
that movie is what we made from doing
the work and the bragging rights whereas
you know you always hear like you know
Tom Cruise and all the big actors oh you
know I'm working at scale and only
taking you know X percent of the back
end at least they have the back end if
the movie succeeds they're rewarded well
so so nobody's getting back in like life
of pie did not get the back end to
ribbon Hughes I've never know I've never
heard of anybody on a visual effects
movie getting back in except George
Lucas and Francis Coppola at least in
the early days spread out back into all
they gave bonuses right it wasn't like
necessarily a written thing Craig
probably asked that but also on Matrix
Keanu Reeves gave his visual effects
crew a bonus a very Hefty bonus that
they split that's the only time in all
the years I've ever heard of visual
effects people getting anything
Far and Away however the most
overwhelming step being advocated for is
unionization to many a step that's long
overdue if nothing else go back and look
at the working conditions that led to
the establishment of other labor unions
in the film industry the Actors Guild
The Writer's Guild iatse and so on
you'll find a lot of grievances that
sound awfully similar to those that are
being shared by visual effects artists
today
little has seemingly changed since
Rhythm and hughes's story and unless
something does more and more stories
like the ones that have emerged this
summer will continue to spill out the
work itself will no doubt suffer
talented people will be driven out of
the industry and worst of all artists
will continue to be mistreated
right now I would say that all the
artists are angry and they're angry
because we're doing fantastic work we're
driving the box office we're not getting
paid commiserate with what we're
bringing to the table we're not getting
recognized for what we bring to the
table we're being minimized you know we
feel we've been very loyal to our
employers we've been loyal Warner
Brothers and fox and Universal you know
and we deserve like a little better than
yeah whatever
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