The Computer Graphics Wasteland of the North

Since I arrived back in Vancouver I have more or less gone from the frying pan of finishing "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" in Los Angeles into the fire, no, make that raging inferno of finishing season nine of "Stargate-SG1" and season two of "Stargate Atlantis" the television series. I have been working pretty much 12 hour days, 6 day weeks at Image Engine.

Getting back in touch with the different demands and challenges of television post-production has been trying to say the least. The words "from scratch" have often come to mind. It has reaffirmed assumptions such as "television may be more forgiving, but if you can get it done on this schedule... You can do well on a features schedule." It is not that working on feature films is any less work, in fact at times it seems to be a lot more work, because you can't get away with anything - the scrutiny of the work is extreme (and often kills people's enthusiasm, but for me I love that scrutiny) and you therefore have to "build for it." The work has a different focus depending on the medium. "Make it look amazing!" always out-ranking "get it done" in the feature world. In the television world "done" is the only word of the day. Of course, all projects finish at some time, so there is an inevitable "just get it done" phase on films too. But, for television, you remain in that phase regardless of the production cycle. I suppose I lost touch of that a bit.

The great irony that I know that I face coming back to Vancouver is that I have just left a job and company (Rhythm and Hues) in Los Angeles that was certainly the best I have ever had in terms of working "family hours." In fact, it may have been the only employer I have ever had in this regard. This is ironic because we have returned to the Great White North for all of the non-work reasons such as starting our family, seeing close friends more frequently, job opportunities for both Meg and I (rather than I alone due to the U.S. visa situation Meg faced) living in the great city of Vancouver and living Canada in general (yes, it is better, thanks for asking!). But, we both seem to be killing ourselves at work these days. So, as a result... We aren't enjoying any of the above. I keep telling myself "this is temporary" due to the rare circumstances of our return to Vancouver (timing is everything after all). But, the cruel truth is that working in Vancouver... I have never experienced anything else but this manic pace because trying to achieve anything of quality here often takes Herculean effort above and beyond the call of duty and that is why I often refer to it as "The Computer Graphics Wasteland of the North" (tongue firmly planted in cheek, mind you). I fully realize and am very grateful for the opportunities that I have "on the good side of the border," but I have to say that so far that work has a real sticky point. Methods must improve.

Why does it have to be this way? Well, thus far the real answer is that it has to do with the access to higher end work, which is limited in Vancouver due to the limited relationships with people who have access to the work. To make a long story short, you have to do good work to get noticed, but really you have to have the relationships in place for that work to get noticed. A "chicken and egg" phenomenon. People in Vancouver have often made the mistake of thinking "if we just do good enough work..." When in reality, the level of accomplishment is very often secondary to the principle issue of "who has a relationship with whom?"

So, what to do? Well, now that I have seen the light so to speak at some pretty top-end studios over the past few years, I am bound and determined to bring some of that know how home. The thing is... Even some basic improvements will go so far (farther than I think people realize) and it will be very fulfilling to see them happen. It is just a question of having the opportunity and then doing the work to make good on that opportunity. One fine example is, of course, The Embassy who have recently done loads of high end work and all largely for out of town clients. I think it would be hard to argue that they are not doing the best work ever done in visual effects in Vancouver. A model for the future of The Computer Graphics Wasteland of the North? We'll see!