What Does “Competence” Mean to Animation Creators

: “Floating Norms” and Reference Group

Abstract

The skills used by creators in the animation industry are not expressed in an objective form, but they have the shared understanding of their professional skills among their peers. By employing the notion of “floating norms,” which means that the criteria for evaluation changes while judgments on worker’s skill or value are appropriate for each situation, this paper clarifies the inner workings of competence as understood by animation creators based on their narratives. As a result, it became clear that directors had a different set of skills due to their career trajectories. Directors who previously worked as production managers or compositions had experienced overseeing the entire process. Directors who were in charge of animators specialized in drawing and visual expression. Furthermore, each animator’s skill was understandable as a form of differentiating themselves from others. Based on these findings, it was pointed out that even if the skills were not objectified and were based on relationships, skill formations in on the job training has a significance for workers in the post-Fordism.