I just blew an interview with an executive who might have helped me to get a directing gig I was interested in. I could kick myself because I could so easily have aced the interview. I was just in a quirky mood and I rambled on and dressed funny. Ah, well...It occurred to me as I was leaving the building, feeling dejected and sorry for myself, that I might have done a lot better if I had just looked the part. Directors wear baseball caps and jeans...or, in another era, riding pants and a crop. I was just too "against type."
You can't blame executives for having stereotypes in mind. We all do. If you were hiring an accountant, which man would you pick: the man with the glasses halfway down his nose like the guy pictured above...
...or the guy in the disco outfit above? The disco guy might be the better accountant, but who cares?
If you were hiring a cowboy, who would you hire? The guy above...
...or the emo (above) with a copy of "Brothers Karamazov" in his back pocket? Be honest. You'd go for the stereotype and so would I.When you think about it, stereotypes convey a lot of useful information. When someone on the street says, "You work in animation? Wow! You must have a terrific imagination!", they're conveying something important. They're telling you that they value and even crave imagination and are willing to dish out money for media that delivers it.
I've often thought that we should be the industry the public wants us to be. They imagine that an animation studio is a wonderland full of wild, zany, talented visionaries...and that's exactly what it should be.
Most professions would do well to live up to the image the public has of them. Rock musicians should be wild, talented guys surrounded by groupies and young writers should peck out great novels under a 25 watt bulb in ratty Manhattan apartments. Engineers should be bright and earnest and poets should be temperamental and wear velvet suits. We all should strive to be what the public wants us to be, what gives people pleasure to think about.
Sorry about the interview Eddie, but thanks for the advice. I may have a job interview soon... Better luck next time.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to disagree with you on this one, Eddie. Normally the people that dress the part are masking the fact that they don't live the part. In my experience the manager with the nicest suit is usually the one with no clue, and it makes sense... it takes a lot of time and effort to keep up appearances.
ReplyDeleteAnd If I go into a job interview and the interviewer is unable to ask me pointed questions to see if I really know what I do and is going to judge me solely on my appearance then that's not a place I want to work. I'm not going to wear a pocket protector and Dockers, part my hair, and start drinking Mountain Dew to get my next programming gig.
One of my favorite of your theories. I agree whole heartedly.
ReplyDeleteNow to decide what to wear....hmmmmm.
Eddie, I'm astonished that you didn't nail that directing gig -- or was it for live action? As for the stereotype of a cartoonist, you and Bob Clampett and Ward Kimball fit that better than anyone I've ever met!
ReplyDelete"I've often thought that we should be the industry the public wants us to be. They imagine that an animation studio is a wonderland full of wild, zany, talented visionaries...and that's exactly what it should be."
ReplyDeleteToday's idea of "zaniness" in studios comes down to screaming purple, lime green and orange colored walls. Oh, and a pinball machine.
I was once told by an executive while visiting a division of a major studio (which they were planning on opening but never did) that this is the sort of thing artists want..wacky wall colors and some sort of electronic game that makes noises and lights up.
Then I was shown the dreary, gray cubicle bullpen area in which the artists were planned on being plunked into.
Not even the prospect of a pinball machine was enough to counter the dread that I felt looking at that oppressive block of sectioned walls.
Sort of the hyper sterile, uninspired version of Termite Terrace.
But at least some of the walls were painted that pukey lavender color. That really revved up the ol' creative juices.
Cynthia
tangoland.com
I'm getting a cardigan, a bolo tie & a haircut at lunch. It's the least we can do for our public to live down to their expectations.
ReplyDeleteI'm practising my goofy faces in a mirror right now.
Hey Im as antiemo as the next sane person, but thats Conor Oberst in that pic, The guys an amazing songwriter and his music is the last thing Id call Emo
ReplyDeleteThe sad part is that the youthful emo would've been hired in a heartbeat for your directing gig due to rampant age discrimination in the cartoon business. Ever hear of anyone in power in their 30's promoting anyone in their 50's? Didn't think so.
ReplyDeleteYour Post describes exactly what I love about cartoons, Romanticized Stereotypes!
ReplyDelete"You work in animation? Wow! You must have a terrific imagination!"
ReplyDeleteYes! I say, " You should see what i can do with a weeks worth of top Ramen".
And if i could Eddie, i would dress like James Cagney every day.
If you Look at pics of Real cartoonists like Don Martin, Tex Avery, Harvey Kurtzman, Clampett Etc. The guys LOOK like cartoonists are supposed to. Crazy Manly guys.
ReplyDeleteIf you were to stereotype todays cartooning scene its basically dumpy emo guys
Notice how executives love to put up wacky, oversized 'cartoony' props to designate cartoonists' habitats, along with the tasteless wall colors? Why don't they put giant coke spoons atop their executive buildings? MBAs deserve their own misguided branding as much as artists, maybe even a little more.
ReplyDeletePreston Sturges was fond of wearing loud shirts on his sets, because he believed the director should be immediately recognizable to anyone trying to find him. My favorite of these shirts was illustrated by repeating images of circa 1940 telephone equipment. Can't even find a copy of that thing today.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about the blown interview. I have blown more than a few for jobs I have really wanted in my time. Point well taken on looking the part. That emo kid could be the best roper wrangler hardest riding cowboy, but you would never believe it by the way he looks.
ReplyDelete>Hey Im as antiemo as the next sane person, but thats Conor Oberst in that pic, The guys an amazing songwriter and his music is the last thing Id call Emo
ReplyDeleteYou're missing the point. Eddie's use of "emo" meant the modern dress style and teen subculture, not the music.
Here's a picture of two musicians. The one on the left looks superficially "emo" or "geeky" The bald 46 year old to the right of him invented emo music.
Anyone who says the musician on the left plays emo is an idiot and the reverse holds true for the one of the right, but the actual emo singer doesn't look emo at all.
I sort of agree with adam
ReplyDeleteIt's alright to meet people's expectations but it's even better to shatter them. They get even more pleasure thinking about that.
If you are going to cultivate an image, you should strive to create a new image so powerful that everyone copies it. Then you become the stereotype and few will remember that you started it.
I thought that accountant was you, for a moment.
ReplyDeleteYes, fun stereotypes are enthralling! They're not possible without really strong personalities behind them, and meet real-life living stereotypes can be a treat.
There are probably a lot less real life living stereotypes because of post-modernism and irony. Everyone is more self conscious and less to have the more intense personalities that come with being unaware of yourself.
Hence "emo." Emo is the most self-aware modern identity today, and it isn't expressive of ANYTHING, despite the implication that it's "emotional"! You want raw emotion, go talk to a stereotype!
I like the dress code of the 20's and 30's cartoonists. Button-down shirts, ties, hats are optional - but certainly no smiles.
ReplyDeleteLike Otto Messmer or Ubbe Iwwerks for example.
Sorry to hear about the interview not going the way you'd hoped. I do agree with you, to a certain extent.
ReplyDeleteIn interviews you are marketing yourself to a target audience. Give the client packaging they can feel good about purchasing. Makes sense.
It makes me think of Daffy Duck, actually. He's got qualities that can apply to many roles. The wardrobe he's given helps place him and adds to his acting. Like when he plays "Robin Hood" in "Robin Hood Daffy". I don't think it would be as funny without the Robin Hood costume, or a similar costume, to place him in that role. Especially if we turned the sound off.
I'm with Adam. If you're an animation executive who doesn't know Eddie Fitzgerald, yuh betta' AX somebody, beeotch!
ReplyDeleteThe preconceived notion of cartoonists is that they're like regular artists only less mature. Since talent is a gift from God, it strikes most people as vaguely blasphemous of us to expect to get paid.
What?
Lime green & lavender walls not enough for you?
Whenever I see someone in a suit & tie in my building, I assume he's here to fix the copier.
You never said what the stereotype look of a cartoonist these days is...
ReplyDeleteI thought your ideal cartoonist/animator persona(the way it should be, that is) was the rock star/playboy type with rakish good looks, a shirt open at the waist with dozens of gorgeous chicks crouched around his ankles, Frazetta-style? What happened to that idea?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you didn't get the job! :(
ReplyDelete"Ubbe Iwwerks "
ReplyDeleteHahahah, Marc is in love with the correct spelling of his name. Change yours to Maarc Deckkteri!
Whenever one sees a person in a suit and tie on a farm they've usually come to milk the bull.
ReplyDeleteAnon: Connor Oberst? I didn't know!
ReplyDeleteMilt: Holy Cow! What a compliment! Thanks!
Whit: I used to promote the older guys whose animation I liked, even when I was just getting started. I've always been awed by the skill of full animators.
Ken: That Top ramon gag was genius!
Chip: Interesting!
Pappy: Thanks!
John: Well, how you should dress depends on the specific job you're applying for and who's doing the interviewing. Ralph said he hires layout artists who look like they'll work quietly at their desks all day, immersed in the music in their headphones.
Kali: Thanks!
Jorge: Good point!
ReplyDeleteMarc: Yeah, they all dressed that way then. I have mixed feelings about formal clothes. They're uncomfortable and wastefully expensive, but then again they indicate the wearer is probably an earnest and upstanding guy.
Eddie: I like the formal clothes because they show a sense of respect for the cartoon business. It is a serious business, after all.
ReplyDeleteKali: Yeah I prefer the original "non-Hollywood" name spellings. I love all those duplicate letters in there - just in case you didn't see the first "a", there's another one coming up... Maaarc Decccketr.
It was different for your generation, Uncle Eddie. There were still plenty of aged animation legends walking the earth when you began and they still pretty much ran the business.
ReplyDeleteMarc:I like the formal clothes because they show a sense of respect for the cartoon business. It is a serious business, after all.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that to a point but theres a lot of really pretensious alternative comic book artists that wear suits everywhere as a gimmick.
As long as you make great cartoons you can be drunk and dressed up like a mongolian soldier for all I care
As long as you make great cartoons you can be drunk and dressed up like a mongolian soldier for all I care
ReplyDeleteGood point!
"I've always been awed by the skill of full animators."
ReplyDeleteYoure a full animator arent you? At the very least youre an animator by todays standards. I think a post on the hierarchy of artistic skill would be really interesting.
That's surprising. When people find out I'm in animation, the first question is usually "So, do you, like, know how to draw?"
ReplyDeleteanonymous:
ReplyDeleteDo you mean a hierarchy of pay?
All the skills in animation are complementary. I've done layout, but I'm not as good as the guy who lays out the scene. I've done enought clean-up to know that I'll never be as good at it as my assistant. As an animator, my job is to protect story & L.O.'s work from the forces of gravity & the person after me tries to maintain my trajectory.
I mean more like Hierarchy of skill level, like The best animator at warner brothers today would just be a staff guy in the 40's and the best artist on a cartoon network wouldnt make cleanup
ReplyDelete