speech

Good evening.
My name is Kim Broadbridge. I am graduating this Spring with a Bachelor of Fines Arts in Animation. After graduation, I plan to return home to New Orleans to pursue a career in the animation industry.

I entered MCA as a freshman with intentions of being an animation major. Four years have passed since then and I can't believe how much I've learned and accomplished during my MCA experience. Through the good times and not so good times, I have made the greatest friends I've ever had during my time at MCA, and I'm definitely not the same person I was when I started here as a Freshman. I will deeply miss the friends and the classmates I've grown so close to during the last four years. I wish the best of luck to those friends and the rest of the graduating class.

Now, please enjoy my Senior piece.

Indie Memphis

My piece "The Egret" is gonna be in the Indie Memphis student show!! wooooooooo!

Career Fair

The career fair for me went well. Participating was a good experience and I received good feedback and got to do some networking. All of my interviewers enjoyed my work and said it was good. One told me that I should make a cartoon series on the web and another said that New Orleans is a great place to be right now for creative people. What I need to do b/c it was recommended is to make a demo reel of the commercial work I have done or add it to my reel. I think that I established good rapport with all my interviewers and I wasn't nervous, but the experience was good practice for interviews I will have in the future.

STAR Answer

• Give me an example of a time when you had to deal with a difficult co-worker or fellow student on a project. How did you handle the situation? What were the outcomes?

S- In my surface design class that I took my last semester of college, a fellow student and I were assigned to work on a collaborative piece together. Developing the concept was the first vital step before going to work, but the subject matter and ideas that my collaborator mainly focuses on in her own artwork vastly differed from mine.

T- The collaboration project focused on the alteration of fabric. We had to chose textile articles and alter their normal perceptions and form an artists statement for our project concept.

A- My collaborator and I began working by first brain storming, but I couldn't help but noticed that our general ideas were very opposite from each other. My collaborator had a concept in her head, but she wasn't communicating her ideas to me clearly. Her ideas were all scattered and I initially couldn't put my finger on exactly what she was trying to convey. I can tell that her idea was one that I normally wouldn't work with, but I wanted to push myself to try new things and to fully & clearly understand her idea.

We had already picked out some materials to work with from when we were brain storming and messing with an idea. After our first meeting with the teacher, she told us that our concept needed further developing, so I took notes on everything she suggested to us and decided to take control of the situation. After the meeting with the teacher, I asked my collaborator if we could sit down and visually map out our concept.

While preparing for discussion, I told her to put all of our materials away in my locker so that we can just focus on our concept at hand. We sat down and I took out a pen and some paper and began asking my collaborator basic questions so I can visually write out her concept through her simple answers. In time, I began to understand her idea more and more and began to take the concept and logically break it down. From there, I was able to break down the concept to support the 6 ideas and suggestions the teacher had given us. So, in about half an hour, we had a finely developed concept and what I had written down from our meeting was all the information I needed for writing our artists statement.

R- We evenly split up the work and our project resulted in a success. We received supportive and positive feedback in critique. My collaborator and I both worked with ideas and subject matter we usually wouldn't work with and the teacher was impressed with our project.

Job/internship positions & info

1. Vanguard Film and Video Production, LLC- Visual Effects/2D and 3D Animation Internship
   
• To be included with the application:
  • Copy of your resume/reel (if applicable)
  • Samples of your work
  • Answers to the following questions:
  • What internship are you applying for?
  • What do you wish to accomplish from this internship?
  • What can you contribute to Vanguard FVP?
  • What are your strengths/weaknesses?
  • What is your availability?
  • Do you have a reliable source of transportation
  • Do NOT send resume as text in body of email
  • contact via e-mail
    


2. Creative Alliance of New Orleans- Organization for promoting the film and video industry in the New Orleans area
   
• Internship
  • Contact Katherine Bray for more information in internship opportunities



3. entertainmentcareers.net

This is a great site for finding jobs within the digital media field!!

Jobs

Link that helped me find jobs and companies.

I think that getting my name out there is really important to get started in the industry. I have made one informational interview this year with Bayou effects back home. Here is a list of other companies that do animation back home that I can personally visit and hopefully land a job back home.

Factory VFX- New Orleans, LA

AEstatic Motion & Design- Alvin Epps

Bipolarbear Productions (features work using cut-out animation in AE and many other types of animation)

Maison Post LLC (a little different from what I'd like to do, but worth checking out)

The Mothership FX & Post - Odin Lindblom (C.E.O.) (Services include editing, compositing (including blue/green screen removal, visual effects, animation, motion graphics and titling, color correction, dvd menus and more)

420 Hickory Ave.
New Orleans, LA 70123

duMonde Visual Effects (has a link for Jobs)

Vidox Motion Imagery (a little distance from home, but does animation)
REC Studio

I honestly would love to one day have a company of my own.

It would be of my best interest to meet all of these companies personally and get information on how they got their start plus I can distribute out my resume and portfolio.

I'm very excited to have found these companies that I've never heard of before. I think New Orleans offers lots of opportunity.

Desperate Out of town job options:

Stuff to "Brag" about

Internship at Robert Berning Productions- Metairie, LA 2010

• made animated assets for local Ford dealership commercial/music video (popping balloons, animated arrows, exploding shapes, exploding light bulb, organ grinder)


• produced commercial about Louisiana shrimp via Avid with own footage

Freelance job for David Cardwell (DnA Productions)- Folsom, LA 2010

• animated pig for Grumpy's BBQ commercial

Participation in MCA Spring 2011 BFA Show Part 1

(2 Digital animation pieces)

• The Egret
• Undressed

Interview with Bayou Effects- Covington, LA 2011

Interview with Jack Meyers- 2011

BFA Artist Statement

Kim Broadbridge ‘11_Digital Media: Animation

Undressed & The Egret

Since an early age I have been fascinated by the illusion of life that is animation. I am intensely interested in the way the medium causes an audience to develop an emotional response and a belief in something the audience knows to be fiction. Growing up, I built an admiration for the character, especially the anthropomorphic character.

Along with my life-long attraction to character animation, I have developed a deep appreciation for the unique history of the New Orleans culture in which I was raised as well as my Catholic faith, which directs me in life to follow God’s will. In my animations, I strive to establish the illusion of life through anthropomorphic characters that share my culture and manifest human traits within narratives that deliver lessons of Catholic moral virtue.

While creating the illusion of life, real life issues are incorporated with that illusion to help establish a suspension of disbelief. I incorporate issues of morality into my animated narratives through food and animal characters that personify sinful human traits of lust, sloth and gluttony as well as reflect the New Orleans culture. New Orleans is culture that some people associate with sin. Despite association with sin, my audience that shares and loves the New Orleans culture may appreciate the setting of my work. In my Catholic faith, lust, sloth, and gluttony are three of the seven deadly sins. As a Christian, I believe that one who sins is a slave to sin and all sins have consequences. These characters become slaves to sin as they fail to control their desires, allowing their desires to control them. Through their immoral actions driven by the craving to attain sinful, immediate self-gratification, my animated characters all meet their fates.

These animations are narratives that follow the structure and purpose of a fable. As in a fable, my animations involve anthropomorphic characters and lessons of morality. Animation allows me to address these issues of morality but still allows me to have fun with comical characters and incorporate references to my faith and culture. With the use of comical characters, the audience more easily accepts my moral messages and enjoys the comedy of the animations instead of feeling lectured.

Kim Broadbridge

self-critique of my BFA project and process

Undressed
The Egret
29 March 2011

Undressed: A hot sausage patty lusts over a loaf of french bread. When they finally come together and relish in their lust for each other, the two as a sandwich meet their ultimate fate as someone's lunch order.

The Egret: A lazy egret takes no interest in learning how to fish, so he becomes dependent on humans for food. When his food source ceases to replenish the bird, this sloth of an egret learns the phrase, "Eat or be eaten," the tragic way.

Intent: The intent of these animations is to comically deliver narratives that convey lessons of morality.

Source of main ideas: From the conceptions of these ideas, I knew I wanted to incorporate characters and settings that reflect my New Orleans culture and theme of self-destruction. I wanted to show how sinful acts are self-destructive to the body, mind, and soul.

Theme: Self-destruction through immoral behavior

Strengths: I think my strengths lie in the character development of these two pieces. Their personalities are well conveyed.

Problem areas: First off, I wish I could make music. I think my staging of shots could have been better and more interesting. I'd like to have more detailed and polished backgrounds and environments.

I have learned very much working on these two projects. I discovered how to create things in simpler and quicker ways. I learned new programs. Luckily, didn't run into too many frustrations besides figuring out what to do for my BFA. Editing sound and finding proper music were a bit frustrating at times. The whole project was a constant learning progress of putting together an animation, organizations, and new tools.

Undressed from Kim Broadbridge on Vimeo.

The Egret from Kim Broadbridge on Vimeo.

Stuff going on

There is plenty for me to do this weekend, but the first thing I need to tackle is my second draft of my artist statement, so I can send it out today. I think I need to reevaluate what I'm trying to say. If I can break down a concept for a collaborative surface design in 30 minutes, I can surely generate a better break down for my BFA artist statement. I'm going to start by making a new outline like a would an essay. I think I just need to get used to writing in a different structure.

I'm still in the search for a new song for "Undressed" but I'm not getting anywhere. So I have to move on to completing the sound effects for "The Egret." So, that's a few things I need to do this weekend besides reading 6 chapters in The Picture of Dorian Gray. I have no idea how I'm going to do that or how many hours that will take. I also need to make a entirely new redesign of my resume page for web design. I have a full plate this Mardi Gras weekend. Thank God it's the last one I have to spend away from home.

Almost There!

At last, I am nearing the end. It's time to tackle this sound and music! I know I can easily handle sound, but music is going to be a challenge.
I am not worried about finishing on top because I am way ahead of the schedule I made at the beginning of the semester.
There is one part in "Undressed" that I want to animate in toonboom. It's the part where the hot sausage patty throws the sausage link at the link about to go on the french bread. I think more emphasis has to be placed on the character to really show that he is mad. That is the last thing I'd need to animate. I know it will be worth the time put in to animate it. So, before the end of this month, I want to have that animated. I can definitely be tackled in a weekend.
So, sound, music, and credits are next! yay!

Thoughts on Animation

OK, there are a lot of thoughts going through my head right now.
First, my BFA is coming along fine. The last bit of animation I have should be colored by Thursday. Music and sound effects are the next thing I have to tackle.

Besides the progress of my project, some deep and serious questions have been brought to me concerning my artist statement. I am being challenged to answer, "Why do my ideas manifest best in animation?" and "Why animation is the best medium to involve Suspension of Disbelief?"
These questions have brought me to a lot of thinking and reading. I am I very competitive person. I take challenges seriously. I like to win. In order to prove my point, I must study rigorously and I must be very logical. Animation is a medium that I am very passionate about, so I must understand it on a professional and highly intelligent level.

I have been reading about Cesare Ripa and Marshal McLuan and their thoughts on medium, message, context, and concept. I have also returned to my animation books by Don Bluth, Richard Williams, Eric Goldberg, and Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston.
With what I have learned from them, I'm taking this challenge.

I need to clarify the ideas I am trying to convey through my animations and I need to define why animation best delivers those ideas. I need to really breakdown the function of animation. But I think I'm going to re-study animation first. I'm breaking out the old notes and the old books.
I need to rethink the intent of my statement and organize my thoughts so that my artist statement may be structured in a logical and informative order.

Following this statement are my thoughts on animation and how it functions as an illusion of life and how it differs from specifically film. What I have written is honest and raw. Most of the knowledge written here had been acquired years ago in the rise of my interest in animation, before I ever animated. I'm glad I studied then, because the information is very useful to me now.

First, I will talk about animation.

I am being challenged to prove why animation is the greatest illusion of life. How is animation more of an illusion than people acting in film?
I know that both drawings (when I refer to drawings, I am referring to drawings in animation) and actor's bodies are instruments that play a range of emotions.
Drawings are emotional symbols. Drawings are a medium in which we can express something, profound, human, and universal to human understanding. Therefore, animation is about acting. What I find different between actors and animation is that the actor's bodies already exist. They are real and ready to be directed. Animation on the other hand is completely made from scratch. These drawings depicting emotions are fabricated from the start. Not only are the emotions fabricated, the drawings depicting them are fabricated as well.

Now, drawings are emotional symbols. Right? As I have said, they are fabricated, abstract, human-made. The word animation comes from animus which means "life" or "to live." Animation is about investing a character with life. Drawings are known to be just symbols, depictions, renders of something real. Drawings mimic real life. They are just pictures. Even a painting can depict an object so well, that the viewer almost believes that object actually sits before them. How does animation better achieve this suspension of disbelief? Well, to animate is to bring to life. It is more amazing to see a drawing come to life than it is to see a human body go in character when it is already known to be a living thing. The whole embodiment of animation is fabricated. It's appearance, anatomy, structure, personality, and emotions are all imaginative and fabricated by human hands.

With drawings, we can push the envelope. With these character drawings, we can give them all of he accurate human proportions and correct anatomy, but once this character begins to move it's all about exaggeration. These drawings can portray exaggerated movements well beyond what any ordinary human could do. The characters expressions and feelings can be exaggerated in the same way. These movements and body gestures can be simplified at the same time they are exaggerated. In the words of Don Bluth, these broad, exaggerated movements magnify the emotions, give the character sincerity, and move the performance from ordinary to unusual. An audience want the unusual. These drawings are caricatures. They capture the essence of a subject in it's simplest form. These drawings abstract something from the real. They are simpler, cleaner, sharper, and BETTER, than real life.

It's time for me to breakdown Believability vs. Realism in animation. Animation is not about imitating realism, even when delivering a realistic message concerning moral virtues or what have you. According to animator Eric Goldberg, "-- it's about observation and caricature, utilized in such a way that it convinces an audience of your character's existence." The goal in animation is to convince your audience that the character exists. It is important that the character's actions are a result of its thought process. All the character's actions and attributes must come from its unique personality. I character's walk may not be realistic in terms of physiology, but it is believable as it is a result of the character's (fabricated) personality. The character can be a ball with half a face, but still show a thought process driving emotions and actions. When these drawings, these emotional symbols act upon their given personality, they come to life.

Not only are the drawings and actions and emotions in animation fabricated. This illusion of life only works with spacing and timing that the animator has to create. The audience wants to see the character think and react. Anticipation, action, and reaction all must be created and established by the animator to make a character come to life. Drawing is very personal. It is so human. It is up to the animator to work from the inside of this fabricated character and recreate through drawings real emotions that will manifest themselves on the face on body. Drawings are emotional symbols as much as they are a language that simply is understood universally.

Time to talk about the message in my BFA animations.

Somehow I'm going to have to take these thoughts and package them in a simplified manner to fit into my artist statement. I think the easiest way to do so is to just freely write and outline these thoughts and I can organize them after. The breakdown of my thoughts on animation cannot stand alone to prove a point without my description of what I intend to convey in my two BFA animations.

I'll start of with the exact conception of the ideas for these animations starting with the first one, "Undressed." The idea for "Undressed" was conceived my last fall semester at MCA when I was taking Dynamic Imaging. Midterm was nearing and the homework assignment was to come up with a narrative or idea for the BFA project. As you can find the post for the idea in my Dynamic Imaging class blog, I came up with the concept in class, the morning the idea was due. Despite my laziness to do the homework before the day it was due, I don't think I would have came up with the same idea any other way. But like most of my epiphanies and great ideas, they result after a dumb idea and realizing it was dumb, forcing me to do something smart. Here's a link to that blog if you are interested in what went through my head that morning. In that blog, my concept developed as I wrote it. I end up writing that my focus is on pleasure, self-gratification, which led me to the concept of sin and destructive pleasure. In the next post I write,

"I have this story set in New Orleans because this is the area where I am from and the sins of lust and gluttony are two issues I had struggled with over a certain period of time in my life."

So, that's where my concept started and it hasn't drastically changed since. The past four years of my life prior to last August, I was a really "lost soul." I'm a Christian and a religious person, so in that sense, I didn't really have God in my life the way I used to. I was making bad decisions, I was pleasing lustful appetites, I was lazy in my school work, and I have a known fetish with food and I love to eat. For personal reasons, I can't get into great detail, but I can say that i was a slave to sin. When you sin, you become more distant from God, and you can't see Him as clearly. "Blessed are those who are clean of heart, for they will see God." "Whoever sins, is a slave to sin." When I got tired of lying, hiding, being disrespectful, being dishonest with others and myself, and when I felt very hurt, I turned my life around. After one night of being upset and beating myself up over my unwise actions, I challenged myself to decipher why I was acting a certain way. Once I have recognized my motives being caused by lust, sloth, and gluttony, I was able to correct those attributes and amend my life. I owned up to my father for everything I have done, for my actions had been revealed by another person out of spite any way and my new life began there. In a Christian light or not, my story can be seen as a fresh start in life. Maybe a more descriptive write-up of my experiences in morality may be the best thing for my artist statement, but much of my experience is very personal so I'm unsure of how much to put if necessary.

So, I'm going to get some what "deep" here. Very deep. I'm just gonna be raw and honest. I may sound like a dumb ass, but whatever. Life is a gift because knowledge and wisdom do not come easily. What makes life precious is that knowledge and wisdom are not easily handed to us but acquired through hard work, pain, turmoil, hardships, and yes, moral struggles. The experience of learning to attain truth and a higher understanding makes life very grand. It is funny how animation is all about life. This is a medium I was destined for and I do not question EVER do I question whether I am meant to animate or not. In my two BFA animations, some of the sins that people struggle with in life are of focus in a medium that gives life. What better medium to choose than one that literally means bring to life.

I looked up Cesare Ripa as I was advised by a professor to do so. Looking up this man gave me a better understanding of allegory and icons. Thanks to stumbleupon, I found a web page about unsolved problems in philosophy. It seems like a weird fate for me to find this page. It mentions Essentialism. It says, "In art, essentialism is the idea that each medium has its own particular strengths and weaknesses, contingent on its mode of communication." The article on this page described that a chase scene would be better depicted in film than in a poem. This may be more of an opinion than I fact, since poems function to convey not a point but an experience. In the next paragraph, Marshall McLuhan is quoted, "The medium is the message." Then the article states, "The study if the medium can yield greater results than the material of the medium seeks to communicate. That in studying the way an idea is presented, one can understand the intent behind its presentation and thereby conceive the nature of the piece." I'm very interested by this theory. I can see my animation as the embodiment of my message, since animation brings life and my characters are the manifestation of actual human traits and the story focuses on issues of morality. My project is very life themed.

So, have to ask myself these questions. Why animate? Why not film actors or use illustration to get my points across? Is animation the best medium in which my ideas can manifest?

Personally, yes and in general, no. On the personal level, animation is indeed the best medium for me to work in. It is an art form I love and passionate about and one that is very appropriate for manifesting my ideas. I believe that animation best gives life to characters over film, illustration, and fictional prose. The medium is all about giving life, and the content of my piece deals with real life subject matter and involve characters that give animation the reason to animate. So, I answer the question "why animate?" I animate to create what cannot be done in reality. Yes, hot sausage patties and loaf of french bread can be brought to life in a fictional written story can and they can be illustrations in a comic, but what animation brings to the ultimate illusion of life where viewers can witness, believe, and accept these characters as real beings with visible emotions and unique a thought processes driving their actions. Maybe it is just my opinion based on my love for the medium, but I cannot see my idea presented in a more suitable medium than animation.

Conclusion

So, those are my thoughts on animation and how it's the best medium for my BFA project. I may not even need to mention in my artist statement why it is the best medium to manifest my idea. I should just say why it works.

Progress

This past week was a little hectic, but I was still able to stay on top of things. I had to make up some lost time this week, but I now know how to avoid losing time to work on anything. Handling several classes and assignments and BFA work is a balancing act, but I'm starting to find my balance. I think that I am on point with my progress schedule. I few things got moved around, but I still got a good amount of work done. My animations seem to be coming together better each time I work on them. They seem to flow better. There are a few things that I want to add/revise and some assets that I want to clean up, but the list is getting smaller and smaller fairly more quickly than I had thought. I've started to gather some sound effects together in a folder. I need to convert their formats and have all my animation roughly done before I can use them. I've been listening to different types of music as I watch my animations so I can start to get an idea of what kind of music works best with these pieces. My goal for the end of this month is to have a solid idea of what kind of music of want and possibly have something already collected.
I'm going to use this week to get ahead of the game. I'm not behind, I'm on point, but I feel more comfortable being a little ahead just in case something comes up and slows my progress. So, I hope I can get a lot of work done this week because I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel and it is rather exciting.

Sound Effects and Music

The search for sound effects and music is going better than planned. I have a nice collection of free sounds. While I was searching sounds, I came across a recording of an accordion. The song being played was rather annoying, but I like the subtle yet catchy sound of the accordion. For some reason, the sound reminded me of Pixar shorts. So, I decided to look up some of those shorts to listen to the background music. I want to have music that compliments my animation with out distracting from it.

Goals for Tuesday

I need to finish my animation assets for "Undressed" and address the other issues mentioned in critique because I need to get started on a scratch track. I want to make sure that my characters have continuity as well and I want a nice title. I need to knock these things out so I can get started with my revisions for "The Egret."

Critique

Critique today was very nice. I am really grateful for the feedback I received in class. I'm going to have no problem punching out the last bit of animation needed for "Undressed," but I see that there is a lot of work to be done for "The Egret" plus I need to acquire some sound. I first need to go over my options of what kind of sounds to use, and of course how and when I will attain them. I really need to plan this out because I can see the process to be very time consuming. I also have had bigger plans for the ending of "The Egret," but didn't have the time to execute those ideas last semester, so I'm excited to be fulfilling those ideas. There are a few other things not mentioned in critique that I'd like to fix, so I have plenty to do, and no time can be wasted. I do think that I have established good momentum and a strong dedication and passion for the project. I don't wanna hold anything back. I can't just have a bunch of little half-ass things in the piece. I want to spruce it all up!

The Weekend

It's been a while since the last time I had this much fun working on a project. It's nice having my work load planned out where I can handle certain amounts each week and each weekend. I really love to traditionally animate. It's time consuming but my sense of time disappears completely.
As I add more nice revised assets to my piece, I keep wanting to add more so that some assets don't outshine another. I have to reach some consistency. I can't help it. I'm so pumped. I'm way ahead of where I had thought I'd be at this point, so I might as well keep up with refining assets so that they all match and flow.

I need to keep the properties of my characters consistent. That's the main thing.

I'm looking forward to some feedback.

I'm also a week ahead of my schedule. It took me a week to finish work that I thought would take two weeks to complete. So, I have the extra bit of time I need to make more awesome revisions.

Demo Reel Research

This is one of my favorite demo reels. It features a lot of character animation and the mastery in portraying thoughts and emotions. This animator's real demonstrates her ability to know her characters from the inside-out and her firm understanding and use of the basic principles of animation. This is also a rather long demo reel, but it never gets old or boring to me. The music works great with the reel as well. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlXGzUouqjE
I would like my reel to show skills in that area among other things.
This real has a variety of animation types.
That one also seems to be a bit long. I think 2 minutes is the best amount of time for a reel.

This reel also has a lot of traditional animation showing the portrayal of emotions, but much shorter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a2-o3w6Jqs&feature=related

The transitions from rough animation to clean colored animation are nice.

I'm not crazy about the opening text. That text is cheesy and so it hurts the presentation as it makes it look less professional. A more low key text would work better. The music also seems to take away from the reel.

This reel has a nice variation of 2D animation.

It has strong work, interesting characters, and the editing works nicely. The music fits with the reel's content and does not distract from the animation. There is also a nice variety of aesthetics and styles. I don't think the space men fit in too well into the reel because the other clips of animation look like stronger work.

Unpacking Jobs

Well the first job I looked at among my classmates' blogs and found interesting was 2D ANIMATOR: KABAM STUDIOS that Mike posted. I found this studio appealing to me because it mainly focuses on traditional 2D animation and are searching for people who know how to traditionally animate and traditional 2D animation is without a doubt my favorite type of animation and I love doing it. I like the fact that the company mentions that someone who'd work with them would ought to know who Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, or Richard Williams are. Those are some of my favorite animators and I am a big fan of the pioneers of animations.
I'm not sure if I'd fit into "gaming" animation though. I've never been a big video game player like most of my animation friends so I suppose gaming animation is something I should read into to get a better understanding. I don't know flash, but the studio is looking for the willingness to learn, and character design skills and some 3D animation experience is a plus. I don't have 4+ years of traditional animation experience at a gaming company either. I'm not too hot on the idea of moving to another state. I want to be able to start a career at home if anyway possible. The film industry is bombing in LA because of the taxes are low. Not only are films being shot is LA, post production studios are being permanently established which will create more jobs in the area and maybe attract other types of studios. Here is a link to an articlr about another company planting a studio in New Orleans very similar to the studio that just opened near my house in Covington. http://www.wwl.com/pages/9072219.php
I think it is a good idea to look at studios outside of my home state so I can get a better idea of what kind of job is best for me.
Okay, so I had to look at Pixar. Who wouldn't? One thing that Pixar expects of a demo reel is that it demonstrates application of the principles of animation to tell a story with meaning through movement. And again, my knowledge and experience with using traditional animation would help me out if I were to apply for this job. I'm surprised that computer animation experience is not even required even though it is preferred. So if I were to apply, my 2D animation will be my strong point since I have not much experience with 3D rigging. I definitely need more experience in 3D animation though. I'm all about emotions and expressions in my drawings and animation. I should make sure I include animation in my reel that demonstrates my skills in expressing thought and emotion through my characters.
Of course a job at Disney would be a dream for me and for most animators. I couldn't begin to count how many times people have told me that I should work for Disney. The Talent Development Artist Program seems to be freaking awesome and something to consider because it is only 3-6 months and I'd get paid to learn!! A firm understanding of animation principles is expected, which is something I love to study and strive to accomplish in my animation. Practice, practice, and practice is what I need indeed. I want to have quantity and quality work to put onto demo reels so that I can demonstrate my knoweledge and use of these principles.
All this research is getting me excited about making my demo reel!!! I think I have some nice pieces of animation to put into it.
The research I've done has also given me a good idea of what should go on my reel. I should make an outline of what I think my demo reel should consist of and how much of what I put in it.

Goals for Tuesday

By Tuesday I plan to finish my revisions for "Undressed." If I execute all of the revisions and editing needed, I will be a week ahead of my schedule! I will also do research on short animations to get an idea what kind of sounds I need for the piece. I honestly feel that I'm on point, but there is absolutely no time to spare, so I cannot slack off in any way. It just takes good time management to be able to work on my BFA project, my homework, and BFA work.

Meeting with Gadsby

My meeting with Gadsby went great. We talked about my internship and freelance experiences I had last summer and we talked about the networking that I have been building. Gadsby thinks that my networking skills come to me very naturally as I have made I lot of connections through my internship, my freelance experience, and my willingness to meet potential employers. So, I'm on the right start and Gadsby gave me some helpful information about job searching, which I am reading at the moment. I also need to complete a resume to send to Gadsby. I'm going to complete more than one template and the information she gave me sure helps getting it done. Since I've had much experience in the professional world this past summer, I'll have plenty to add to my resume and portfolio.
I think this meeting with Gadsby is just the extra boost I need to get a kick-ass resume and portfolio together and to broaden my network.

Friday

Today is a new day. A fresh start and the weather is nice. I may just eat lunch outside while I break from my work. I'm going see Gadsby at 11 and then handle a few other things at the business office and then I'll go to Burkes to get some of my Gothic Literature books.
I'll probably will eat after that and then get started on Senior Studio homework and then work on my BFA project. I think if I can get in enough work done this weekend, I can get a week ahead of schedule!!
I'm also ready to work on my Artist Statement, since I wrote my proposal last night. I need to see Meredith during her office hours so I can get it approved.
I have also scheduled out and marked down all of my BFA deadlines and meetings.

Other Things

I need to research what makes a good demo reel, what skills and programs are being asked for, and how I can attain these programs, learn them, and broaden my skills. I failed to do the amount of research needed so I need to do a better job by researching the the things I need to know. I need to look deeper into what is generally expected of a professional in these different careers. I gotta get my shit together. I'm learning from my mistake and I'm going to improve.

possible jobs

1. Freelance for David Cardwell Productions, Robert Berning Productions, So It Goes Productions
2. Digital FX- visual effects animation, assistant, internship
3. Bayou FX- digital animation, assistant, internship

I need a terrific demo reel and resume.

Progress

Progress is going well. I am finishing a lot of revised animation. I really want this two pieces to stand out and not be a drag. I one technical problem. My toonboom quicktimes are being cut off by the size of the screen. I've adjusted sizes in TB and the export settings. I'm not sure what to do. I need to figure it out so I can start putting these revisions into my project.

Detailed Schedule and Plans for the Week and Semester

I have written a list of all the revisions and editing I want to complete. I have already started working on those revisions starting with ones for "Undressed." The past weekend was an experimental weekend to see how long it takes to accomplish these goals.

This week, I plan on re-ording the first few shots in "Undressed" so that it the communication of the two main characters make sense. I want to add a shot to the piece, that can be executed fairly easily and quickly.

I will then Story board those shots in order before the weekend so I can finish the revisions and edit those shots together over the weekend.

In addition to what I want to complete this week, I will write a list of the sound effects that I need for each piece and how I will acquire them. I will also search ideas for music/background sound and start planning when I will work on sound.

I will move on to planning editing and revisions for the next scene or collection of shots the following week and then execute those goals during the weekend. The visual refinement of the first animation should only take two weeks.

I plan to follow this pattern of work for my second animation "The Egret" as well.

An average of 4 editing and revisions are completed each week, meaning that I will be finished revising by March 10 at the latest. That gives me 3 weeks to tie up any loose ends before March 31. I have already listed what is to be done each week. I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt, because I may be more productive than I predict to be. When I animate, I just can't stop, but I have to take into account other things I may have to handle during the school year. If necessary, I will move my editing and revisions finishing date up a week, so I can have more time refining sound or other revisions. I'm still working on how I am going to work in time for sound development, but at least I am starting to plan out what I need and that's a big step. I should have a better idea of when and how to acquire my sound by next week. Each week I will improve and push myself to work harder than the last.

After March, I can more so focus on demo reels, DVD's, and whatever else I need completed by the end of the school year.

Gadsby

I'm meeting with Gadsby at 11 on Friday.

Job Research

So I did a few hours of research and found way more companies and studios than I did in previous job research.
Some of the larger film/video-related production companies in my area include, Robert Berning Productions (where I interned this past summer), Digital FX, Inc., local news stations, Incendii LLC, Red Pictures, Ghost Rider Pictures, Essential Images, Casanova Productions, Draw Pictures, LLC, Rum Productions, Scaffidi and Chetta Entertainment, Jeti Films, Morrison Productions, OZ- The Production Company, Fosterfilm, Inc., Endymion Digital Filmworks, Solomon Street Films, Louisiana Media Productions, Lucid SFX Development, Nims Center Studios, Digimation, and O6ee. These companies are in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, or MS Gulf Coast areas.

Here are links to some of these studios:

www.berning.com

www.digitalfx.tv

www.bayoufx.com

www.redpictures.org

www.incendii.com

www.lucidsfx.com

www.digitalcinemastudio.com

www.digimation.com

These companies range in production from film, video, TV, music, sound, photography, visual effects, 3D modeling, editing, web-design, animation, graphics, and motion graphics, but I keep in mind that opportunity can lie anywhere.

There are a few freelance people in the field that I know and/or spoken to in the area as well, including the company for whom I did freelance over the summer.
I have a meeting with the Creative Director, CEO of "Bayou FX," which is a visual effects studio located in my hometown. I am meeting with him the next time I am home or over spring break.
I have also spoken with other freelance artists in the area, who most are willing to meet up with me and chat.

I'm pretty pleased with the amount research I've found.
I also am making sure I keep in contact with the people I've worked with and other contacts that I have that can lead to a possible job.
I think that the next time I research, I'll research careers rather than jobs.

Pitch for "The Egret"

Log Line: An egret ignores his responsibilities to gather food for himself and falls into self-destruction by becoming dependent on the human hand for food.

Synopsis: A baby egret who lives in a city canal ignores his mother's fishing lessons as he is more interested with the free food being given by humans to other animals up on the neutral ground. The egret leaves his family and feeds upon what is freely given by the human hand and grows dependent. By the time the egret is grown, the feeding of canal animals is forbidden and his food flow ceases. The egret goes to several different sources for food including a man eating french fries in his car, stealing from other egrets, and trying to eat the vegetarian food of a nutria, but all of his attempts to get food from another fail to suffice his hunger. The egret's last resort is to try to fish for food himself, but he has no skills in fishing. During his attempts to fish for food, the egret becomes food himself.

Tone and Execution: My approach to this project was to create a story to be executed in the style of a fable. In order to do establish that tone, I incorporated a lesson to be learned and many non-human characters.

Objective: My objective for this project is to execute how the sin of sloth can be self-destructive to one's life conveyed through a personified animal character.

Target Audience: The message delivered in this animation is targeted towards young adults and older, but the characters, places, and terms used in the piece should be more familiar to the people in my audience who share the culture portrayed.

Positioning: I plan to reach my audience with a comical story, a friendly aesthetic, interesting characters, a valuable lesson, and references to a certain culture.

Mandatories: What was needed to make this project happen is

• good story/concept
• interesting characters
• software
• music and sound

Inventory: Animation is completed with the exception of a few revisions needed. Sound and music is still needed.

Time line: A list of revisions has been made for the animation. Those revisions will go into affect right away. The next step is to acquire sound-effects and find or produce music. The weekends plus my Fridays off from school will be greatly utilized for the post-production of this piece. Any sculptural projects in relation to this piece will be created in my Sculpture 3 class, which I have every Wednesday.

Pitch for "Undressed"

Log Line: Lustful feelings lead to self-destruction when a hot sausage patty and a loaf of french bread suggestively flirt and are united only to be eaten.

Synopsis: The story takes place primarily in the kitchen of a po'boy restaurant. As the hot sausage patty is being cooked on the grill, he sees the loaf of french bread being dressed on the counter top beside him. The two food items suggestively flirt back and forth which each other. With all of his fixation on the seductive loaf, the hot sausage patty fails to notice the hot sausage link flirting to the french bread as he stands on the grill right behind him. The grill cook's spatula comes down to the grill and scoops up the hot sausage link to be put onto the french bread. The hot sausage patty is distraught at the sight and throws a piece of meat from the grill at the link to knock him off of the spatula. The patty is then scooped up by the spatula and put on the french bread instead. The loaf and the patty bask in the moment of their unity as they are in the hands of a customer destined to meet their doom.

Tone and Execution: My approach to this project is to create a piece that appears to be safe in content but in actuality contains quite suggestive material.

Objective: The objective of this project is to convey how lustful thoughts and actions can lead to self-destruction in a comical light and through unusual characters. I believe that animation is the best way to tell my story and to make my characters believable and brought to life.

Target Audience: The message delivered in this animation can be understood by young adults and older, but the characters, places, and terms used in the piece should be more familiar to the people in my audience who share the culture portrayed.

Positioning: I plan to reach my audience with a comical story, a friendly aesthetic, interesting characters, and references to a certain culture.

Mandatories: What was needed to make this project happen is

• good story/concept
• interesting characters
• software
• music and sound

Inventory:

Animation is completed with the exception of a few revisions needed.

Time line: A list of revisions has been made for the animation. Those revisions will go into affect right away. The next step is to acquire sound-effects and find or produce music. The weekends plus my Fridays off from school will be greatly utilized for the post-production of this piece. Any sculptural projects in relation to this piece will be created in my Sculpture 3 class, which I have every Wednesday.

Due by Tuesday

Over this weekend, I will make pitches for both of my animations and post those to the blog. Secondly, I will make of list of revisions I want to make for those animations. I am also going to reschedule when I need to record/attain sounds and music. I will rethink the installation idea or just go ahead and make marquettes of my characters as a separate project. I'll sketch out some ideas. Along with those things to do, I gotta do the assigned homework.

BFA Pitch

Well, I just organized my pitch. I feel that my concept is thoroughly thought out and that I have some interesting and unique ideas. I started writing for my pitch on Tuesday on paper. This morning in sculpture class, I talked about my BFA project with Tom Lee and showed him my ideas and Tom gave me some great things to think about. He recommended that I look up an artist named Bill Viola to see examples of how things are projected. The reason why I talked to Tom is because I want to make an installation. I believe that a project on a screen in a big white room is bland and uninteresting no matter what is on that screen. At least I'll be able to present my animations in The Show Up and Show out where it is appropriate, but the rest of the time, I want an environment more involved with my animation. So I've came up with some ideas and I've included them in my pitch. Whether or not my pitch and ideas go well, I am content knowing that I put a lot of thought and effort into this idea.

First Day

I love the first day of classes. I feel excited and focused and motivated. I'm going to strive to stay that way all through the semester because this is the end. This is it! If I have a good, organized, and focused start, that might just be the boost I need to keep on trucking and to make lots of progress. I've never told a teacher besides one at MCA that I have ADD and that it creates a struggle for me to stay organized and focused on the right thing. I don't use my disability as an excuse. I see my attention disorder as a trait that requires me to put in extra effort just to get something done. It calls for extra self-disipline and I bring that to the table. So just like in my old cross-country days, I'm going to build endurance and perseverance, and I'm going to stay on track and finish strong. So here's the end of my senior year!