My Anxieties about marriage and some questions about how to deal smartly during its difficult times had inspired me to find and read books about marriage.
Our parents take so much care in making us ready at every stage of life...so that when we face it, no matter wht is the result...their aim is always to make us ready to face any kind of adversity or opportunity with confidence. They teach us how to believe in ourselves and our gut feelings.
But when it comes to marriage or tips and tricks of how to deal with the new relationship and commitment, many of the parents don’t do their homework by telling it in detail about what they have learned over the period of years of courtship. They feel its not necessary to talk about it and the only responsibility what they would like to fulfil is making the girl learn how to cook...or if they are the parents of a boy...utmostthe thing what they would like to do is...motivate and push their son to have a great bank balance and a house or an apartment.
Some kind of pre-marriage counselling should be done by the parents to guide them into the future responsibilities. I asked my parents...they dint speak much about it...so i decided to go ahead and find my own way...the usual way which i choose is guidance by books..i got one and this post is all about what i have read and understood from that book.
Disclaimer And Caution:- The below written lines are no bhramaastra and some kind of be all end all kind of solutions...i have read the book THE 24 X 7 MARRIAGE by Mr.Vijay Nagaswami...and i could relate to it. So, i am sharing it. Please read it in detail and if you feel you have gained even one thing from it. Please leave ur comments.
The new face of Indian marriage and the way it functions.
Whether you fall in love and get married or whether love comes to you after the wedding, it is the way you work on your marriage that determines how successful it will be.
The new Indian marriage is not just like the way the marriage of our parents used to function. Today’s marriage have a lot of demands from both the genders. Unlike our parents..the couples of these times work hard and party harder, financially independent and had grown in an environment where they had the liberty of thought and its execution. So how do u define the face of new Indian marriage.
The New Indian Marriage
Focuses on emotional fulfilment for both partners, and not merely procreation or recreation.
1.Is owned by both partners in the marriage and not by anyone else.
2.Recognises 2 sets of personal spaces (“I” Space) in a marriage, but pays due attention to the marriage space (“We” Space) as well.
3.Appreciates that fights, issues and conflicts are inevitable when two individuals engage in a close and intense relationship
4.Uses rational processes to manage these fights, issues and conflicts
5.Employs a zero tolerance policy towards abuse-whether physical, verbal, sexual or emotional.
6.Pays adequate attention to the experience and expression of sexual and emotional intimacy
7.Works towards transparent and honest communication styles
8.Does not hesitate to seek professional help when things get sticky between the partners or they find it hard to find the solutions to their issues.
9.Understands that divorce is a legitimate option (is the marriage does not work despite the best efforts of both partners), but only the final one.
1. Attitude
2. Looking at Education as a Research
3. Concrete Basics
4. Discovering what excites you the most
5. Practical Knowledge
6. Building your own Nexus/Network
7. Capitalizing on the Specialized Area of Interest
8. Communication/Soft Skills
9. Demo Reel
Attitude
Should and Must have Good time sense.
Constructive Curiosity
Understanding the concepts and sharing with peers
Willing to take responsibility & fulfilling it. Being a good team player and a motivator
Open to Corrections & Criticism
Looking at Education as Research
Make yourself aware of the various departments in the subject ie. Animation
Understand the limitations of the course you have joined by asking seniors, reading journals, getting updates on the industry requirements on a day to day basis.
Read something about the topic which is going to be discussed in the class. It will keep you awake and on your toes during the session. Hence you will be interested in the topic.
Do not stick to only and only to the syllabus or the class room sessions. They only give you a general idea about what it is…but not the in depth understanding of the subject. Go back home and do a lot of R&D on the topics which are discussed in the class. Come back with lot of questions.
Constructive Questioning Attitude will allow you to get a deeper sense and knowledge about your subject
Read the help section provided.
No Questions = No Answers, so Discovering the Right questions is the answer to a successful career.
Try understanding the concepts and think about how to apply it in the future.
Education is not about learning, mugging up and writing exams. Real challenge lies in making an innovation using that education.
Concrete Basics
“Getting the basics Right” will allow you to see the path ahead “clear”.
Get a deeper understanding about the basic concepts so that you can get an insight on how well you can exploit it to the most.
Revise your basics on a regular or a daily basis. Remember “Opportunity knocks only once and only to a prepared mind.”
Enhance your skills which you have by default and work on those which you think are weak at. By default r Like some are born artists or some have very good color sense, very good acting and performance skills, logical and reasoning abilities, aesthetic sense. Weak at :- may be computer software skills, or artistic sense or anything XYZ
Discovering What Excites you the most
►After getting you basics right try finding the area which really excites you the most and you would be happy doing it for the next coming few years.
►Many a times the area of interest is almost the same as the inherent or by default quality what we have. But it may not be an exact match always.
►Try constructive experimenting with your abilities and knowledge.
►Be clear and confident about what you want become and why you want to become. Be true to your self.Ex:- Related to animation, some would like to become a generalized 3d artist, some aspire to become an animation film maker, some would like to become a module specialized artist, whatever it may be…bevery clear about what you want and why you want and that’s the first step towards success.
►The faster you find what excites you, the better it is. Lets take Real life examples amongstus :- Dr.A.P.J Abdul Kalam, A.R.Rehman, Dhirubhai Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar and many more to mention. They all had one thing in common..ie:- They discovered very early in their life what made them truly excited and they started working towards it. Hence the result was success.
Practical Knowledge
►Working on projects would allow you to gain a lot of Practical knowledge. Do as many you can. Big or Small, it doesn’t really matter till you are gaining knowledge.
►Start early. Every successful person dint know the right path…but they knew what they want to achieve. Don’t wait till the faculty or the course or the institute gives you a project to do. Think on your own, take advice from your seniors and kick start the process…Every human being in creative and we all are here today in animation field because somewhere down in our heart we believe in creating something new and innovative…
►Working on lot of small and big projects would allow you to understand with which areas you are comfortable with and can excel in the future.
►Do something which really gives u a HIGH.
►Industry will never allow you to do projects as a fresher because it costs them a lot. Academy/School/College/Institute is the only place where you get a lot of creative freedom and time to experiment. So don’t loose that opportunity, rather direct it in a positive direction
Building your own Nexus/Network
►The first and foremost mistake what we do as students is to totally rely
on the college for everything. From providing the knowledge to getting a job. Everything we don’t learn from our parents. Certain amount and share of knowledge is gained by interacting with our friends, by looking at others how they behave and respond.
Understand your industry, how it works, try and meet people, talk to them who have worked and served the industry, working professionals, freelancers. Start building contacts in your field. Trust me, it does wonders. Building your own network will not only allow you to get a job when needed but it will also allow you to be constantly aware of the developments and requirements in and of the industry. You can help yourself as well as others and not depending on the faculty or the college all the time.
►Thanx to these Social Networking sites like orkut, facebook, Hi5, Twitter and chat rooms where we can meet like minded people and discuss our thoughts. Effective use of internet can be your trump card. Put it on the highest priority.
Capitalizing on the Specialized Area of Interest
Current animation production houses ask for specialized people to cater to various needs in a specified amount of time. Being a specialist in 1 or more areas would give a deeper strength and sufficient knowledge in other areas of production would give a wider perspective to your resume. Because of this you would compel the employer to think about hiring you when compared to others in the line.
When Isay specialized, I don’t mean tools or software skills.. specialization and expertise means, a deeper and stronger understanding about the subject. For ex:- In Lighting, if you don’t know the basics of natural lighting like behavior of shadows, light directions, technical terms like reflectivity and refraction, sampling, passes and so on and so forth…if these kind of things are very clear to the candidate, he or she can exploit it and light any scene with any kind of brief description
Effective Communication & Soft Skills
►Communication is the core for every deal. Being in a creative and media industry, it is a must. Every student who is aspiring for a job should look at learning and communicating in English, as it is the widely used language in many national and international studios.
►Read books on how to face an interview, Verbal and Non Verbal language (body language), Books published on IAS and many competitive exams would help you give an insight on it.
►Talk to people who had given interviews in animation companies, working professionals and ur seniors. This will allow you to understand and prepare yourself effectively.
Slide 9
Demoreel
Your demoreel is your one chance to shine without necessarily being present. It needs to demonstrate, in a couple of minutes, the genius of many years of hard work. It ’s not just a compilation; it’s the unique you and your life ambitions condensed into a few minutes. It’s also the ticket to your future.
Points to Remember while making your Demoreel
►Demoreel should contain your best work. If you are not happy with your work, please don’t put it. No one either would be interested.
►Leads would be looking 50-60 demoreels a day. If they are not impressed by the first 1 min of your reel, they will not see it further. So always put your best work first. Presentation also matters. Its all about packaging. You are a commodity and production house is a buyer. You have to sell yourself.
►Demoreel should contain a copy of the resume. It should be properly edited and indented. The Demoreel CD should be enclosed with a Demoreel Breakdown. CD should contain a soft copy of the same.
►Demoreel Breakdown is the sheet which tells the employer in brief about what your reel contains and what kind of effort you have put to make it.
►Sound should be properly taken care of for the demoreel. It should compliment it and not disturb it.
►Include a title card at the beginning and end with your name, address, phone, and email. Including the position you're looking for is not a bad idea, either.
►Demoreels can be anything ranging from 30 sec to 3 mins (max) long. It should be effective.
►Please do not put class assignments in the demoreel. Companies can make out if it is so. They are interested in your work which u have done after completing the course.
►Mention the techniques which u have used as a scrolling text or with a fade in and fade out.
►Studios abroad will have their prerequisites for the demoreel. They may ask in different formats. VHS,CD,DVD, please take care of the video standard-NTSC/PAL. Typical Indian animation studios would ask in a DVD PAL format. But then please do check the website of the respective studio before sending the demoreel. If not mentioned, please take the pain of calling up or mailing them and asking the format in which they would like to have the demoreel.
►Demoreel should contain domain and module specific work. If the demoreel is being sent for an animators position, studios would not look at the kind of textures or the models u had made. They would be only interested in your animation work and sense you have got for it.
►Modeling, Texturing, Lighting, Animation :- 1 to 2 mins
►Rigging:-2-3 mins
►Just in case, put a .mov, .avi , .mpeg format. Before sending the CD/DVD, try playing it on a very low end computer. Look for no scratches on it.
►Focus on what you do better than anybody else.
►Please put the credits list for all the models and stuff that u have used.
►While sending the demoreel via post, wrap it around a bubble paper and send it in such a way that it should not break. Better u put it in a plastic cd case. Do not forget to Write your name and details with your contact number.
►Upload your demoreel on a video sharing site and include the link in your resume. Please carry a folder with copies of resume and demoreel cd’s while applying to companies.
Bottom Line
►Turn your passion into your career and you would not have to work a single day in your life.
►To survive in the industry, 2 essential things which are needed:-
