Preparing creative industry graduates for a career in high pressure industry: An animation practitioner's perspective

The transition from Higher Education to working life is not always smooth for graduates. For some, it can even be traumatic. With the benefit of professional hindsight, acquired from a decade of experience working on blockbuster films, television, and advertising, my discussion centres on the urgent need for new pedagogic approaches. I point out the need for exposure to additional essential skills to reduce the [culture] shock of transitioning from tertiary education to professional life within the creative industries. Animation production, when pursued as a means of income, is like all other service-providing creative industry practices, it is goal-oriented and money-driven. It is both highly competitive and timeline-driven. A practitioner’s success is measured by their ability to respond to externally-driven changes in highly pressured environments that demand the provision of exceptional quality. Therefore, the teaching of theory and techniques alone are not sufficient for the preparation of graduates for success in the notoriously volatile world of creative practice. Higher Education Institutions must address these additional competencies to streamline graduate transition into employment. This paper examines new approaches for more efficient facilitation of students’ progression to the so-called real world. A particular focus is placed on the need to introduce cultures of change management and the ability to meet deadlines under pressure. It will investigate the use of feedback sessions similar to “Dailies”: an established practice used in the Visual Effects industry, it offers students the experience of responding to rapid change and critique. It will also consider short problem solving examinations, combined with self-reflection. These will provide students with valuable experiences necessary to learn from [their] mistakes, enabling them to develop their own systematic and efficient workflows. The addition of these competencies to higher education curricula [in the creative industries] will better prepare graduates for their working lives, ultimately benefitting the creative labour market as a whole