The Cost of Art
Better, Faster, Cheaper! It’s been the rallying cry in my vocation for a while now, as I’m sure it has been in many industries. Everyone is obsessed with getting shiny new things at a better price than their last deal. Convinced that if they manage to get something for cheaper this time, then it must mean that that is the new fair market price. It’s a problem in the creative industries because we’re so impassioned by what we do that we’re often willing to put ourselves into unhealthy conditions just to be able to continue doing what we love.
On Monday, I really wanted to write about the state of the Visual Effects industry. It’s where I’ve worked for a number of years, it’s something I care deeply about, and it’s something that I may find myself doing again in the future. On the one hand, Sprixelsoft is not supposed to be a place for me to vent, but rather to celebrate what is happening in the gaming industry and our own projects. On the other hand I don’t think it’s entirely fair to ignore a subject that is a big deal just because I’m personally connected to it. Especially since it isn’t just the visual effects industry that experiences this turmoil, but all creative industries.
You may have either heard about it on the news, or be aware of the green images that have been popping up as profile images on social media this week. The visual effects community is in an uproar at the moment due to the large pressure that has been placed on it it to continuously produce better visuals for less money in less time. And as I’ve mentioned before, this stress unfortunately has some nasty repercussions. By no means is that a complete list there… the number of companies that have gone under in recent years is chilling. And as you can see, it’s not just visual effects, that includes game companies. And all the while, while we’re busy underbidding ourselves into eventual bankruptcy, we’re being told by rather wealthy individuals ([1], [2]) “I really wish you were cheaper” before being snubbed during an award speech for the product he had commissioned.
So, as I stated, I was planning on leaving that to the void as I wasn’t entirely sure that this was the right venue for discussion on the topic; but after reading this article about the emotional price of making video games, I couldn’t help but draw parallels between my experiences working in film, and that of the developers in the article. In particular the part that read:
Traditionally, game studios have tended to work in a cycle that sees a game come together over the course of two years. The first year starts off extremely slowly and moves at a pace that many of us would consider like that of a “normal” work schedule. There are then six months of escalation, where the work becomes much more difficult, followed by another six months of the project consuming every waking hour. Until relatively recently, once a game shipped, that was it. “It was almost confusing,” says Kazdal. “There’s so much excitement, so much effort up to that moment of launch, and then…what? It’s sealed away in a shrink-wrapped case or sent off to the publisher, and you can’t touch it, ever again. Lots of developers talk about post-ship depression, and I think it’s a very natural reaction to being so emotionally wrapped up creatively in this thing that has been growing and solidifying for years, and one day it’s just…over. It’s hard to deal with.”
Last year, I was working on a feature film which saw me working almost every day for four months straight. It’s something that I thought I was handling fine. It’s a job, it brings in money, you do i… wait that’s… that’s appalling… this is not just a job… it’s a passion. It’s what I want to do. It’s what I’ve worked hard to do. I’m a creative person and I’m putting in these hours because I love what I’m doing. Right? Right? Well… whether you love something or not, you pour that many hours into it without getting a chance to breathe and you’re going to start losing any sense of how to function as a normal human being. I came off that project barely able to hold conversation with my non-industry friends. I had no idea what was going on in the news, and I’d spent so much time at my desk working that I just didn’t know what to do once I had spare time. And the most frustrating part about the experience? As of the date this blog post was made, ten months after that period of strenuous crunch… that film still isn’t in theaters. What exactly was the rush again?
So what is the going rate for art? What should entertainment cost? Clearly the creatives are willing to put up with a steep emotional cost to be able to spread their inventions, but what about finances? I’ve been used to higher prices since I forked out $90 for Final Fantasy III on the SNES at Zellers back in 1994. Games have always been a thing that cost money, but are worth it (to me). That $90 I spent that day provided me far more hours of entertainment than that same $90 would have provided at a movie theater. Indies and the popularity of mobile gaming has drastically driven down prices on games in the past few years. After all, if you can sell a million copies of your app for $1 each… you’re doing pretty well right? And… who wants to risk selling at a higher price when it means no one will buy it? It’s an odd struggle for the creative individual who wants to give life to new things and entertain others. Mostly we want to have enough money to get buy and continue to be able to bring new things to you. The problem is, this has setup expectations for what future products should cost and now it’s not uncommon to hear people bitching about how expensive a $20 game is. Should a full featured game cost the same as a fart app? It’s a crazy world that we’re in, right now where Free-To-Play is becoming the standard model. I seriously saw someone complain about The Banner Saga (a game that got it’s funding through Kickstarter) having micro transactions. Someone felt that it was unjustified for a group of people to release a free multi-player game, and then attempt to offer a way for people to spend money within that free game.
When I saw this post on Kotaku about the Skullgirls IndieGoGo campaign, like a lot of other people I found myself in a knee jerk reaction of “Bwa!? $150,000 to add a single character to into a game?!”. But think about that for a second. The salaries they are asking for end up being little more than minimum wage given the time and the number of people that they have to complete the work. Is that really unreasonable? Thankfully, (despite all the kicking and screaming of those who believe artists are overpaid and that entertainment should arise for free) a lot of people agreed that $150,000 was not unreasonable. One small victory.