Agree to an extent, because Arts world is often an exception to the rule: how often you see untalented people with not that big experience get the honors because of a pretty face, a gossip trend, a “talent” show?
Unquestionable truth!
I really don’t think some of you guys understand the level of work that goes into an actor’s life. When you become a ‘working actor’, and let’s just say for fun, a ‘celebrity’, you’re life is gone…over. The amount of work you are doing OFF camera is ridiculous. The amount of meetings you’re taking, research you’re doing, interviews, publicity, marketing, promos, dealing with agents and managers, fans, blah blah blah, that’s all being done WHILE you’re deep-diving into several scripts, learning hundreds of lines (the easy part), creating a believable character that the entire cast, crew, producers, and everyone else is happy with and get’s well received. You can’t live an actual life. You are hounded when you walk outside. There is always a price to pay for ‘celebrity’ and making millions. Do you want that? I don’t. Money isn’t worth a life lived in a fish bowl. Not to me.
And let me just say, 1 out of 1,000,000 have a natural talent and pretty face that just throws them into ‘celebrity’ life. And if you get there on your ‘face’, you have to STAY there. Staying there requires real talent and range. It requires learning all the tiny ropes of film acting. Where is my light? Where is the camera, and what lens do they have on? Where is my eye line? Did I say that line as I picked up the coffee, or when I set the coffee down? Oh shit, is my Irish accent slipping? Why did they put me in a scene with a Scottish guy…crap. Oh man, my Uncle just passed, but I have to be super happy in this scene right now…I can’t see my mark, it’s too dark. What lens is on there, and what is the focus depth? Ah, it’s my close-up now, I can’t move when I do the entire scene, but I have to have the same emotions as the wide…Oh you want me to cry on cue and be scared of a green ball that’s suppose to be a dragon? I can’t cry to a green ball. I have to you say!? OK, I’ll be in my trailer… 
There are a TON of pretty faces, but do you have the chops? Do you have the work ethic? Do you have the social skills? Can you mingle? Can you promote? Can you keep a clean life in the public eye? Can you handle it all? Can you handle being away from your family months at a time?
God, honestly, I’m sure you guys don’t want to hear all this. I even annoy myself. The truth is, an actor’s life is one of the hardest jobs in the world…I didn’t make up that statement, it’s been around forever, and for good reason. The only other job that may be harder is ‘stand-up comic’. Do we deserve millions? I guess not, no I don’t need that. But the ‘movies’ gross a ton of cash, and the ‘faces’ of that responsibility don’t just look pretty.
Also, remember, after all is said and done–after paying your agent, manager, publicist, and PA…you’re making a lot less than people think you are.
It is massively layered on so many levels.
I’ve been doing it a long time, and my list of dozens of credits won’t even get me a meeting with a top agent. Don’t even get me started. LOL.
I know this post may be stupid and useless to a lot of you–but some of you work with actors (mocap, perf capt). Some of you keyframe performances. You study yourself in the mirror. You watch other actors. The two jobs can be very contiguous.
Love ya’ll, thanks for letting me ramble.
3 Likes
I would just like to express my joy at the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy username above this comment.
You can ignore me now.
Great things are not afoot.
1 Like
You better have your towel and salted peanuts with you at all times! Oh, and DON’T PANIC!
I have to disagree about “closeness to the idea” – were that true, WRITERS would be the people raking in the cash.
More to the concept is EXECUTION/COORDINATION: lots of people can write a cheesy script but few have JJ Abrams’ ability to make that cheezy script watchable/bankable. I watched “The Rise of Skywalker” the other day and just thinking about the logistics of that film made me dizzy.
I work a bit with a metal sculptor, and his mantra is “ideas are a dime a dozen, but how many people can BUILD the piece?”.
That said, there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of ridiculously talented 3d modelers/riggers/renderers, so the supply is high. (I’m continually gobsmacked by the amateur talent out there.)
I don’t think many people know how most actors get paid. While stars may make millions on a movie deal most actors only make a few thousand. They get paid a day rate and it is split into Theatrical Television, new media and commercials. And further split by budget amount etc
Then they usually only get paid for the Actual shooting days. You got a small part that only require a few days to shoot? Small paycheck. Your a major character in a TV series, bigger paycheck plus royalties. Most actors I knew had side gigs or other sources of income, Apartment buildings etc.
So they only make money on the days they work and they have long dry spells in between
Unless your Alec Guinness and pull a once in a life time move. He asked for a gross percentage of the profit from Star Wars instead of a flat fee. James Earl Jones Got $7,000 for playing Darth Vader. Alec Guinness earned 95 million and is still earning money, even after he died. https://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/1977-alec-guinness-demanded-points-instead-salary-star-wars-chose-wisely/
I agree acting is hard work! I once met the guy who played the fish monsters in Hellboy and The Shape of Water and his job sounded grueling!
CG animators work hard too though, and their faces are never seen. I think the truth is that most people in this world work hard and deserve a good life, but some people are more replaceable than others, so they get taken advantage of. That does not make the work itself any less necessary though, which is why unions are so important. If you’re in a union, you can say to the boss, “you can replace one of us but you can’t replace all of us. Try making a movie without us,” and they can’t! That’s why they hate unions!
1 Like
Reading this thread, I would say that a major factor, if not mentioned already, is that an A-list actor ends up being critical to the continuation of a franchise.
For instance, Disney could’ve done Iron Man 2 and 3 without many of the artists who worked on the special effects (an explosion or skin shader looks the same everywhere), they couldn’t do it easy (if at all) without Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark (because of how difficult it would be to perfectly replicate the style, the voice, and so on with a different person). Keeping actors’ involvement in a franchise is pivotal to where storylines get changed significantly if said actor dies or doesn’t want to act anymore.
And lets not kid ourselves, people would pay money to watch Scarlet Johansson modeling a box in a bikini. They would would not pay the same money to watch any of us model a box, Bikini or not.
3 Likes
I think in every field there are “super-stars” : very talented people that every production company want to work with.
You think 3D modelers don’t get enough recognition because you’re interested in that field, I guess average people don’t care about that .
https://vimeo.com/mattmerk : this guy is quite a rock-star at tracking impossible shots , but while looking at a movie filled with VFX you don’t ask yourself who has done the tracking of that shot.
But I guess this guy always find jobs and he is well known in the profession and I guess quite well paid.
I think most people while looking at a pixar film, don’t ask themselves who is the director, the script writer or the concept artist behind their characters/sets, they just want to see a pixar movie. This is also even true with animated TV series , there are quite talented directors out there but people doesn’t want to know who is behind that show (except maybe very famous show like the simpsons, or south park) , they like the show but they don’t want to know who made it and what other show they made.
I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard of Jeff Cronenweth or Darius_Khondji, but I’m sure you’ve seen some of David Fincher’s movie where as DOP they played a big role in the aestetic of the movie. They also worked on other famous movies but I’m not passionate to the point of going to see a movie because they worked on it. But maybe if I was a DOP myself I would. But now I would probably go to see a Fincher’s movie because I liked most movies he work on…
Secondly, I guess there is a gap between creation and execution, actors, concept artists, directors are considered as artists, so they have a personal touch that you can’t easily replace. And that’s why they get more famous than technicians.On the other hand a modeling artist take the concept art and make a 3D model out of it, and he is a better modeler that another if he can do it faster and cleaner. Probably most modeler are artists/concept artists also and they produce great personal work, but as they don’t get payed for that, they are more easily switchable on a production, so they get less recognition.
But as always , a rock-star modeler is quite well know in the profession, always find jobs and is probably payed much better than the average junior artists.
Why they don’t get millions ? You just have one Tom Cruise on Mission Impossible, but hundreds of CG artists. And as said , if you’re not Tom Cruise as actor it may be harder to earn a living than as the average CG artist…
And let’s not forget where the money would go if the actors didn’t take such a large cut.
Not to the artists, or the riggers or the key grip, but to the producers and the executives.
Hollywood is an industry, and movies are the product, which means they exist only to make money for the company that produced them. If dreamworks is willing to pay a celebrity actor 2 million dollars for their role, it is only because they think that actor will bring in at least 3 million dollars at the box office.
I hear the same argument with sports stars. If a 24 year old athlete is out there sacrificing his health and well-being for a sport that they will only be able to do professionally for a decade at best, I think it’s fair that they take home a big slice of that pie, at least as big as their boss does.
One more point: everything is connected. obviously if all the 3d modelers on a feature film quit, you’re not going to have any VFX. Same if the actor or the director just quit.
Think of a car, which is more important, the engine, or the wheels?
You’re not going anywhere if either of them break down, but I can pay $50 for a new tire. It’s $5000 for a new engine.
1 Like
I’d pay money to NOT have to see that.
1 Like
How did someone like Steven Giesler just…disappear from the 3D world ?
Have you seen Will Smith’s fish bowl?
1 Like
Hahah, I know that creature actor, Doug Jones. Very cool guy. And I actually just worked with Mike Hill, the guy who made the fish suit. Small world here in LaLa Land.
1 Like
That’s quite common. People in this line of work become well known if they are working on the right project. One that gets all the media attention. If they change jobs to somewhere where they don’t feature staff in BTS videos or send them to conferences or whatever then that’s that.
According to Linkedin Steven Giesler has been at Infinity Ward for many years now, probably working in a leadership role behind the scenes.
Someone else who went quite prominent for a while and then vanished again would be e.g. Bay Raitt (responsible for Gollum’s face on the LOTR movies). Also I recall a few who worked at Naughty Dog over the years and then moved on and … apparently dropped off the face of the earth. 
1 Like
How does one apply for this job? 
Quick, quick!
I personally have NEVER, in my whole life, gone for a movie because of who it had in it!
1 Like
Are you sure about that last one? 
:
Me neither. But sometimes I choosed what movie to watch because of the director. Nowadays that criterium has blurred a lot, since many movies tend to be smaller and smaller variations of “Voyage of the Hero”, and vfx just is astonishing (boring) everywhere.
Need an example?
Ok, let’s go off topic for a little more: I recently took the time to complete the Star Wars saga. I saw the 4-5-6 episodes in childhood, 1-2-3 around the 30s and then 7-8-9 now, over 40. Watching them in correct sequence was fun: I clearly got the “jumps” in technology, but most of all what I felt was the big difference in storytelling. The oldest the better: 4-5-6 were light, brilliant and funny. You cared for the characters, the love substory was charming. Drama was strong but enjoyable. The downside is something missing in the spectacular side: see how flat look (nowadays) some duels (Vader vs Obi Wan). But by the time they were “action packed”, you know. So, in a nutshell, all was about what characters had to say, even in combats, and how they say it.
1-2-3 epsiodes were half way to the latter 7-8-9, which were a big delusion to me. Especially the tone of the storytelling: this “epic” trend killed the mood of the saga IMO. Too serious, too strong, too drama, too much of everything for my eyes. Think of Luke for example: in the 4-5-6 he became a Jedi, but was still a nice guy you could get friend of. Now think of Rey (or anyone else fwiw). Does she feel like a real world person to you? Ok she has to face big events, out of the ordinary world. But Luke also had to, and the lightness I was talking about is that thin shade of irony that doesn’t let him change that much.
Maybe the vfx departement has a role in this. There’s almost no amazement anymore, anything is possible now, you don’t even ask yourself “how did they do it?”. All is just big explosions, crushing of more and more, bigger and bigger objects (Starship? Mountains? Worlds? Hell yeah! more! MORE!!). Maybe it’s just because we’ve seen everything already…
End of rant
1 Like