the yak occidental

I really don't like 'why' questions at work and some experts agree! We all have our particular quirks and workplace hangups. One of mine is that I don’t like 'why' questions. Interestingly, I have found over the course of the pandemic that I’ve been getting a lot more 'why' questions, and so for this video I want to offer a couple of perspectives. First, I want to be clear that when I was being trained in Production, it was  many years ago  and a different world. When I was learning about Production, the common, if old-school way for me to learn to do something was to do so without knowing the ‘why’ behind it. I just did something because I was told to do it that particular way, no questions asked. I admit, I have inherited this old-school attitude, and my current attitude (which is perhaps a bad one) is that sometimes, we aren’t entitled to an answer. It’s our job and duty in Production to carry something out with minimal questions. Not everything is going ...

Advancing along the Production career path in the VFX/Animation industry isn't just about acquiring skill, it's also a series of shifts in mindset. I want to talk about the growth of Production staff, not in the sense of PA to Producer, but of the changes in mindset and attitude that indicate a progression along the career path of Production. When it comes to growing and advancing in the Production role, it’s not just about mastery of skill, but understanding of your role in the greater context of a show. I find this is a common misunderstanding of those who are hoping to advance their careers in animation Production - it's not enough to know Shotgrid and Excel/Google sheets inside out, its also about the professional maturity and understanding. So you're a Production Coordinator When you’re a coordinator, you start with the understanding of yourself, and your role in relation the department(s) you are coordinating.   I find at this beginning stage, a common pitfall is ...

Here are 11 tips for taking better notes in dailies. If you’re in Production, good note-taking practices are essential and it never stops. As a coordinator, you might take notes for dailies. As a Production Manager or Producer you might have Production reports, all of these tasks rely on good note-taking.  A huge part of our role is data entry and management. Getting specific, let’s take a look at what you can do to take better notes in lighting/comp dailies. Even if your artists are in dailies, still make sure your notes are as specific as possible, don’t leave it to them to take their own notes, let them have that time to answer their supervisor’s questions or to focus on the feedback.  Let me be very clear: if you are in production and you are taking notes in dailies, it is your job to take accurate, efficient notes. Wherever possible, give the frame range.  Don’t just say ‘near the beginning of a shot’, say F8-12 if you can. If there are multiple characters in a scene...

Using complete/full sentences in emails and chat helps with clearer communication at work The complexities and nuances of  work-from-home  or hybrid work setups have put more pressure on all of us to communicate clearly and efficiently. While I don’t have a silver bullet for all our new communication challenges, I have found one thing very helpful:   answering questions in complete or full sentences. “Complete sentences” is something we all learn about in the Canadian education system and basically means we answer questions using the same words in the question, and avoid giving one-word answers or using sentence fragments. A complete or full sentence is usually officially defined as having a subject and predicate. Here is an example of a  complete  sentence in action. Let’s say your Producer asks you: Is the delivery going out today? You respond in a complete sentence like so: Yes, the first pass of animation for episode 307A is going out tonight around 6:00...