The PowerPoint presentation goes over what I concider the key findings in my research and can be downloaded from the following link:
Final Research Presentation
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Advice from Ed Hooks about the animation industry
Earlier in the blog I mentioned that I would be sending email to Chris Williams in hopes that he could get me in touch with anyone from Pixar but unfortunately it lead to a dead end.
Then Siobhan Fenton adviced me to try emailing Ed Hooks and see if he could help me.
Very recently I sent him that email and got a reply. To me, his reply is one of the most valuable pieces I have done during my research and it defiantly gave me a lot of intersting information.
Instead of me trying to explain what he wrote me back I think it's much better to share with you the email between me and Ed Hooks:
________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
ED HOOKS ANSWER
Hello Remi -
Then Siobhan Fenton adviced me to try emailing Ed Hooks and see if he could help me.
Very recently I sent him that email and got a reply. To me, his reply is one of the most valuable pieces I have done during my research and it defiantly gave me a lot of intersting information.
Instead of me trying to explain what he wrote me back I think it's much better to share with you the email between me and Ed Hooks:
________________________________________________________________
MY MAIL
Hello!
My name is Remi Vaage and I'm currently a student at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, UK.
The course I'm doing is BA 3D Character Animation and Siobhan Fenton is the module leader in 2 of my modules; Creative Character Animation (Siobhan told me you worked on this module last year) and Studio Practice and Business.
The reason I'm sending you this email is because I am doing research about the animation industry in my Studio Practice and Business module and I have hopes you might be able to answer a few questions regarding the animation industry.
Personally I am studying to become a 3D Character Animator and my biggest dream and ambitions is to one day be working for Pixar.
The reason I want to work with that studio in particular is not just because of the quality of the films they release. It's also about the working enviroment. I've seen pretty much every Pixar film there is and especially the "behind the scenes" features which reveals what a great working enviroment they have at Pixar which is one of the main reasons why I would want to work there.
The reason why I'm telling you this about Pixar is because that's what my research is about. My main goal/ambition is to end up at Pixar but also about how to get into the industry. How to get that first job.
So here it goes:
So do you have any pointers on how to get a job at such a big studio as Pixar? What are they really looking for in a new employee?
In general do you have any pointers on how to get that first job in the industry? To get noticed?
Is freelancing the best way to go or to get hired at a studio/company?
What do you think is the future for 3D animation (Considering that the technology is constantly getting better and Motion Capture for example is getting widely used)?
I know it's not that many questions but it will still be of great help to get them answered by someone who is as profiled in the industry as yourself.
I would like to thank you a lot for your time to read this email and many thanks in advance for any help you can provide me back.
Kind Regards.
Remi Vaage
Read more about my work at my blog: www.djvaagespb.blogspot.com
My name is Remi Vaage and I'm currently a student at Teesside University in Middlesbrough, UK.
The course I'm doing is BA 3D Character Animation and Siobhan Fenton is the module leader in 2 of my modules; Creative Character Animation (Siobhan told me you worked on this module last year) and Studio Practice and Business.
The reason I'm sending you this email is because I am doing research about the animation industry in my Studio Practice and Business module and I have hopes you might be able to answer a few questions regarding the animation industry.
Personally I am studying to become a 3D Character Animator and my biggest dream and ambitions is to one day be working for Pixar.
The reason I want to work with that studio in particular is not just because of the quality of the films they release. It's also about the working enviroment. I've seen pretty much every Pixar film there is and especially the "behind the scenes" features which reveals what a great working enviroment they have at Pixar which is one of the main reasons why I would want to work there.
The reason why I'm telling you this about Pixar is because that's what my research is about. My main goal/ambition is to end up at Pixar but also about how to get into the industry. How to get that first job.
So here it goes:
So do you have any pointers on how to get a job at such a big studio as Pixar? What are they really looking for in a new employee?
In general do you have any pointers on how to get that first job in the industry? To get noticed?
Is freelancing the best way to go or to get hired at a studio/company?
What do you think is the future for 3D animation (Considering that the technology is constantly getting better and Motion Capture for example is getting widely used)?
I know it's not that many questions but it will still be of great help to get them answered by someone who is as profiled in the industry as yourself.
I would like to thank you a lot for your time to read this email and many thanks in advance for any help you can provide me back.
Kind Regards.
Remi Vaage
Read more about my work at my blog: www.djvaagespb.blogspot.com
_____________________________________________________________
ED HOOKS ANSWER
Hello Remi -
Thanks for writing, and please send Siobhan a cyber hug for me. I will be seeing her - and hopefully, you - during Animex in February.
Regardless of which studio you hope to work for, the key that opens the door is a top-drawer show reel. Or an award winning short. I have not looked in a while, but Pixar used to have a list of attributes it looks for in new animators. Number One, as I recall, was "story telling ability". Pixar, like DreamWorks and Sony, is going to use its own proprietary software, and new animators will have to learn it anyway. So the fact that you may have become expert in using the most popular software will be nice, but it won't land you a job. I suggest you poke around in the Pixar website to see what you can find about their procedures and standards for hire. Do the same thing with Disney, DreamWorks, Sony and Blue Sky (20th-Fox).
Pixar has indeed created a fun and stimulating work environment for its animators. The thing is that, by the time you get your show reel together and wrap up your studies at Teesside, Pixar may not be the most desirable place to work. Even before Disney bought it, Pixar was showing signs of production strain, trying to release more movies in a year than are actually ready to be released. Now that John Lasseter is running Pixar plus the animation division of Disney, there is even more pressure. Go to my website, ActingforAnimators.com, and look at the archived newsletters I have written. August, September and October all had references to Pixar's situation.
Speaking of the newsletters, I am going to take the liberty of putting your address into the database so you can receive it. It is free, and it sounds to me like you really ought to be reading them, if only for the craft notes I write each month.
My advice to you is that you not put all your eggs into one basket that is labeled "Pixar". The situation there is too fluid and, anyway, you will find better odds almost any place else. Your best strategy, in my opinion, would be to land a studio job someplace, any place, even at a game company. Once you have your foot in the door, you can start moving from one studio to another. Further, try to get into a studio that is in a major city, whether that be London, Berlin, Beijing, Los Angeles, New York or San Francisco. Good career-building gigs are hard to find in northern UK, unfortunately, but that might change by the time you graduate.
There is a lot more work to be had in games than in feature films, and it is no longer considered slumming to work there. Bay Raitt, the lead animator for Gollum's facial animation at Weta in New Zealand, is working for Valve Software, makers of the "Half Life" games, in Seattle. I know many excellent animators who pop back and forth between game companies and feature animation.
Which brings me to your question about motion capture. The use of it is still limited in feature animation, largely to Sony ("Polar Express", "Beowulf", "Monster House"). Probably 75 percent of game companies use it because it is fast and because the animation does not have to reach the standard of feature animation. It is conceivable that your first job offer would be from a game company that wants you to clean up and finesse mocap data. That's okay. It is a foot into the door. The job you land first does not have to be the one where you stay for twenty five years.
Once you have a drop-dead wonderful show reel, start going to the big animation conferences. Have some business cards made up. Go to FMX in Stuttgart, Germany. If you can, go to Siggraph in the U.S.. Maybe the Game Developers Convention, also in the U.S. Those events are terrific places to network as well as giving you the opportunity to see first-hand the state of the animation art internationally. Really, Remi, you ought to be planning to compete on an international stage. Animation is global. China is pouring a lot of money into development, for example.
One final bit of advice: Even though you aspire to 3D, learn to draw. Go to as many life drawing classes as you possibly can. Learn how to draw the human body. Keep your best stuff for a portfolio, which you can also show to prospective employers.
Good luck to you, Remi. It is a great time to be an animator.
Best -
Ed
Ed Hooks
Acting for Animators
Sunday, 6 December 2009
Online PR
Of all the companies and studios I’ve been mentioning and talking about throughout my blog, pretty much all of them stick to their webpage to give info to the outside world.
The only company who is actually using more than just their webpage is FunCom which can be followed on both Facebook and Twitter.
After looking at FunCom’s Facebook and Twitter page it seems like they’re using these pages to quickly and easily give news updates regarding their games as well as other publicity events/stories.
Since I do have a Facebook account and was curious if Pixar does have a group or not I did a search and came up with countless results of groups that were “Pixar”.
Obviously all of these groups are non official ones and if Pixar do have an official Facebook group I would expect them to put that on their webpage.
When I looked to other companies that I’ve mentioned in my blog, I found a lot of the same thing. All of them except FunCom stick to their own webpages.
It seems to be more common that new and fresh companies and studios that are still at their starting point make use of Facebook/Twitter in order to get noticed and get clients.
All of the companies I’ve been talking about are well established and have been around for quite some time and probably don’t need to use Facebook/Twitter in order to get clients or to get noticed by the public.
Even though FunCom also is a well established company my conclusion is that they are probably just following the flow and found a use for the new tools.
Sources:
Look in Sources Links
The only company who is actually using more than just their webpage is FunCom which can be followed on both Facebook and Twitter.
After looking at FunCom’s Facebook and Twitter page it seems like they’re using these pages to quickly and easily give news updates regarding their games as well as other publicity events/stories.
Since I do have a Facebook account and was curious if Pixar does have a group or not I did a search and came up with countless results of groups that were “Pixar”.
Obviously all of these groups are non official ones and if Pixar do have an official Facebook group I would expect them to put that on their webpage.
When I looked to other companies that I’ve mentioned in my blog, I found a lot of the same thing. All of them except FunCom stick to their own webpages.
It seems to be more common that new and fresh companies and studios that are still at their starting point make use of Facebook/Twitter in order to get noticed and get clients.
All of the companies I’ve been talking about are well established and have been around for quite some time and probably don’t need to use Facebook/Twitter in order to get clients or to get noticed by the public.
Even though FunCom also is a well established company my conclusion is that they are probably just following the flow and found a use for the new tools.
Sources:
Look in Sources Links
The future of the animation industry
The animation industry is without doubt a growing industry both in Norway and worldwide. You might wish I had an article with facts to prove it but simply it’s obvious that this is a growing industry. If you “do the math” you’ll notice that we continuously see new films and work from new studios on the market every year so I don’t think it’s necessary to go more in depth about that since it should be clear enough already.
Of course since it’s a growing industry the technology takes a leap every year. Most software developers/distributors like Autodesk release new versions of their software packages every year.
Every year our hardware get’s better (the goal is to double the computer power every year) and therefore allowing us to constantly make more detailed work (high poly 3D models for example).
Because of the increasing processing power, companies also develop tools for specific tasks like liquid simulations (RealFlow).
We see our render engines becoming better, getting new features that allow us to produce even better imaginary.
The goal for many is most likely to be able to create real photorealistic renders (especially of humans).
Putting the technical aspects aside and returning to animation more specifically again I would like to mention a project for animators I came across during my research I found interesting.
While I was doing research about the future for animation I came across a project called “Mass Animation”.
The Mass Animation Project is lead by Sony Pictures Animation executive Yair Landau and the society asks for both professional and amateur animators to come together and produce a 5min CG animated short that should be released in theatres.
And where does all of this happen?
Actually it all takes place via a group at Facebook.
There is of course a chance you won’t get your own work used in the project itself but it’s a great opportunity to get some of your own work shown and do networking with other people of the same kind. This could as well be a good resource to benefit from as a freelancer as far as I’m concerned. This section might have gone in on PR a bit but I couldn’t see why it would fit under that subject alone which is why I put in this post (It can also be the future of recruiting animators).
Sources:
Of course since it’s a growing industry the technology takes a leap every year. Most software developers/distributors like Autodesk release new versions of their software packages every year.
Every year our hardware get’s better (the goal is to double the computer power every year) and therefore allowing us to constantly make more detailed work (high poly 3D models for example).
Because of the increasing processing power, companies also develop tools for specific tasks like liquid simulations (RealFlow).
We see our render engines becoming better, getting new features that allow us to produce even better imaginary.
The goal for many is most likely to be able to create real photorealistic renders (especially of humans).
Putting the technical aspects aside and returning to animation more specifically again I would like to mention a project for animators I came across during my research I found interesting.
While I was doing research about the future for animation I came across a project called “Mass Animation”.
The Mass Animation Project is lead by Sony Pictures Animation executive Yair Landau and the society asks for both professional and amateur animators to come together and produce a 5min CG animated short that should be released in theatres.
And where does all of this happen?
Actually it all takes place via a group at Facebook.
There is of course a chance you won’t get your own work used in the project itself but it’s a great opportunity to get some of your own work shown and do networking with other people of the same kind. This could as well be a good resource to benefit from as a freelancer as far as I’m concerned. This section might have gone in on PR a bit but I couldn’t see why it would fit under that subject alone which is why I put in this post (It can also be the future of recruiting animators).
Sources:
- Cartoon Brew (The LA Times on the Future of Animation Production)
- Mass Animation
- RealFlow
Qvisten Animasjon
It is actually kind of awkward that I didn’t mention this Norwegian company earlier in the blog. But, better late than never I usually say.
Qvisten Animasjon AS is an animation company located in Oslo who is defiantly on the rise.
After looking into their homepage and portfolio I realized how much work they have actually done that’s been on TV without me being aware of it’s their work.
Of course during a commercial it’s normal that you don’t get to see who actually made it since the commercial itself is promoting another product and usually during commercial breaks it doesn’t come to my head “who made this”.
It’s very easy to get hung up on local companies/studios like Bug and get knowledge of them and then missing out on such a good studio as Qvisten Animasjon located in Oslo.
Qvisten Animasjon AS was established in 1994 and specialises in all kinds of animation.
In their portfolio you can find a huge list of commercials they’ve done as well as shorts, feature length films and TV series.
Back in 2006, Norway released their first feature length 3D animation film called “Slipp Jimmy Fri”(Free Jimmy) which was produced by a company called Storm Studio.
The film did have a very high budget and faced several problems during the production and did get financial problems since the budget became 3 times as much as the original one (total cost of approx 120 mill NOK).
Because of the problems the film’s premiere was also delayed by 1 year.
The film did actually win the “Amanda-prisen” but personally I think it was failure of a film with boring characters, poor story and a poor look in general.
The time after this there has been released a couple of other 3D films but most recently, Qvisten Animasjon premiered with their feature film called “Kurt Blir Grusom” (Kurt Turns Evil).
Of course if I was to compare with the bigger players in the industry like Pixar, Dreamworks etc. Norway does still have a way to go but, Kurt Blir Grusom is defiantly a step in the right direction.
Qvisten Animasjon is also currently working on a new feature film called “Pelle Politibil” which looks very promising.
That’s just one example that proves that the industry is indeed flourishing in Norway and Qvisten Animasjon is defiantly becoming a major player in the field.
If I was to work in Oslo, Qvisten Animasjon would be without doubt my first choice.
Sources:
- Qvisten Animasjon AS
- Wikipedia
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
So where do I go from here?
My goal is pretty clear but how to reach it is still an unknown path for me. The secondary research I have done so far has helped me getting a better overview and has taught me some things I didn't know. I do have hopes that I will get some primary research done about Pixar and I have contacted Chris Williams in hopes that he somehow can connect me to Pixar for some kind of interview so I can get more inside info that won't be revealed with secondary research. So far I'm still awaiting my reply and whatever the reply will be I have a feeling I won't get that part of my research done before Pixar is here during Animex so for now I guess I'll put that on ice. As much as I could wish for it I don't expect to get my foot inside Pixar straight from the university so naturally I will have to start working somewhere else to get experience and climb my first steps on that ladder. The industry might not be as big in Europe as in the U.S but it's still an exciting and growing industry. Working in Europe is defiantly (almost) just as interesting for me as working for Pixar. I've seen a lot of great work coming from Europe and particularly from France. I don't think I would mind working in several places in Europe to gather up experience. At the same time I would get to travel and see more of the world around me which I also consider a plus. Preferably I would like to get hired under a contract for a studio or a smaller company but will also look into the opportunities of working as a freelancer. It is hard enough already to get into the industry so if I'm not including freelancing in my job search I'm afraid it's going to get a lot harder to get a job. My first priority will of course then be to get hired under a contract. That way I can gain more
working experience and feel more confident and independent as a freelancer later on. Even though I am studying specifically to become a 3D Animator, I still have some skills within modeling, texturing, lighting, rendering and if I'm offered my first job within one of these areas it would be just as interesting to me because then I have my feet inside the door and can take my first steps on the ladder. National Companies
So where do I start searching? As I've mentioned earlier I don't expect to be walking in the door to Pixar straight from the university and will have to start some place so why not start somewhere local/national where I'm from? I think starting my career in my own country could be a good thing since it will most likely be the most comfortable starting point (language, close to family/support etc.) when I'm still fresh in the game. There are some companies locally in Bergen that I'm interested in working for:
- Bug (One of the major companies in the region and probably Bergen's answer to Pixar)
- Gosu Design (Also one of the larger companies in the region with a big client list and impressive portfolio)
- Michelsen Design
- Northern Visual
- Maestro Media
- FunCom
- Toxic
- The Longest Journey
- Dreamfall (The Longest Journey 2)
- Anarcy Online
- The Age of Conan
The Rest Of Europe
When it comes to the rest of Europe I still haven't researched enough to know what companies are there but France is defiantly an interesting country for me based on what work I've seen from them (even the French student works are amazing). In the UK I still have little knowledge about what companies exist here except from the ones we have been introduced by in lectures and the one that interests me the most is Blue-Zoo Animation Studio. Based on what I've seen on their webpage they seem like a very profiled studio with a lot of exciting projects that I would love to be part of.
Freelancing
I guess the beauty of freelancing is that I don't necessarily have to be with my client physically so I can work externally which then opens a lot of doors and job opportunities. Being realistic about it though, I suspect I already should have a good rumor about me in order to get such projects without meeting the client in person. Putting that aside. Where to search for such jobs? There is a chance I could come across a work ad in the newspaper or through some recruitment agency. But based on my own experience, this industry doesn't seem to announce job offers (not in Norway anyway) in newspapers and similar media that often. Most likely they will announce this on their own homepages or on forums.
CGTalk - A Highly respected community on the web. This is where the "big boys/girls" are and from what I know this is also where people from the industry and potential employers/recruiters log in now and then. CGTalk also features a page for job search alone where companies often announce jobs. The good thing about the system is that it also consists of filters so you can for example look for one discipline and even narrow it down to one country if you want. I've seen a lot of job announcements here for the U.S and UK. Unfortunately it's been rather quiet from Norway there.
Det Store Dyret - Norway's answer to CGTalk. This is probably the most respected forum/community within the creative industry in Norway. Like with CGTalk, this forum is also visited by potential employers/recruiters within the Norwegian industry. The forum does also include a thread for jobs where both employers and employees can announce job offers/looking for jobs. It might not be as sophisticated as the job search at CGTalk but it works for its purpose and I've seen a lot of announcements there that has never been announced at CGTalk filtered to Norway. If I'm looking for vacant jobs in Norway this would be one of my first places to look (especially as a freelancer).
3D Hue - Another big Norwegian forum/community but I would say less respected than Det Store Dyret since I've seen work here that should have never been posted (people posting their first 3D models. Like snowmen for one example). The forum also features a job thread like Det Store Dyret and there's a chance jobs could be announced there instead of Det Store Dyret so it's still a resource worth checking when searching for jobs.
Festivus - A job search webpage for jobs in the animation industry, mainly in the UK. If I'm looking for work in the UK it's defiantly a place to stop by and check. That's how far research has taken me on these subjects. Any further research will be to look more into Europe and what companies it has to offer, especially France.
Sources:
- Design Region Bergen
- Western Norway Film Commission
- Animation Industry Database
- Bug
- Gosu Design
- Northern Visual
- Maestro Media
- FunCom
- Toxic
- Blue-Zoo Animation Studio
- CGTalk
- Det Store Dyret
- 3D Hue
- Skillset
- Festivus
Monday, 9 November 2009
The U.S Green Card
Since my goal would be to work (even do internship) for Pixar it also means that I of course would have to move to the U.S and therefore would need a visa.
Personally I wouldn't apply for a visa to the U.S without already having a job offer so based on that scenario the most relevant type of visa (or green card) for me would be to apply for "immigration through employment".
What I've found in my research on this subject is that there are four categories for receiving the green card based upon employment:
EB-2 and EB-3 are the alternatives I consider relevant ones for my situation which I'll quote in more detail below:
"
EB-2 Professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability
EB-3 Skilled or professional workers
I can't say I'm certain of what "advanced degrees" would classify as but since I'm planning to do Master's degree I'm thinking it could possibly fall into that category.
If not, EB-3 should be my best option.
Applying for any of the two options mentioned above is still a 3 step process:
I guess that pretty much everything in short about what I've found out during my research about work permit/green card in the U.S.
Source: U.S. Citizen Immigration Services
Personally I wouldn't apply for a visa to the U.S without already having a job offer so based on that scenario the most relevant type of visa (or green card) for me would be to apply for "immigration through employment".
What I've found in my research on this subject is that there are four categories for receiving the green card based upon employment:
- EB-1
- EB-2
- EB-3
- EB-4
EB-2 and EB-3 are the alternatives I consider relevant ones for my situation which I'll quote in more detail below:
"
EB-2 Professionals with advanced degrees or persons with exceptional ability
- Foreign nationals of exceptional ability in the sciences, arts or business
- Foreign nationals that are advanced degree professionals
- Qualified alien physicians who will practice medicine in an area of the U.S. which is underserved.
EB-3 Skilled or professional workers
- Foreign national professionals with bachelor's degrees (not qualifying for a higher preference category)
- Foreign national skilled workers (minimum two years training and experience)
- Foreign national unskilled workers
"
I can't say I'm certain of what "advanced degrees" would classify as but since I'm planning to do Master's degree I'm thinking it could possibly fall into that category.
If not, EB-3 should be my best option.
Applying for any of the two options mentioned above is still a 3 step process:
- The employer needs to obtain a labor certification from the US department of labor (DOL)
- The employer needs to fill out a form with U.S Citizenship Immigration Services (USCIS)
- Once the form has been approved and the visa bulletin reflects that a visa is available, the employee will apply to a U.S. consulate for an immigrant visa or to USCIS for adjustment of status.
I guess that pretty much everything in short about what I've found out during my research about work permit/green card in the U.S.
Source: U.S. Citizen Immigration Services
Sunday, 25 October 2009
After all. Pixar is where I want to be in the end so because of that I have decided to start my research there.
Pixar's History
Pixar is based in Emeryville, California, US and has been around since 1979.
At this point Pixar was originally a part of Lucasfilm ltd doing graphics and visual effects (Graphics group).
1984 was the year when John Lasseter left his job as an animator for Disney to start working for Pixar as an animator instead. Here he animated the first Pixar short ever made: André and Wally B, which was premiered at Siggraph the same year. Pixar's goal with this short was not only to showcase animation done by a real animator but also 2 technical inventions which were a particle system and motion blur. Motion blur became a huge success commercially, and is still being used today. The crowd loved what they saw and one guy asked John Lasseter what software he had used to animate the characters since it was so funny. Of course this proves the focus and interest was still on the technology.In 1986 Pixar was bought by Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple and the company got divorced from Lucasfilm as an independent company called Pixar. The same year the Luxo lamp was born when Pixar released their second short film "Luxo Jr" to demonstrate the new technology that their software and hardware were capable of doing. Luxo Jr premiered at Siggraph and was a huge success. This time, when John Lasseter was asked about the characters the question was not about the technical aspects of the film but if the big Luxo lamp was a father or a mother. John smiled and thought for himself that he made it. It's not just about the technical aspects any more; it's also about the characters which today is what Pixar's films are all about.
Luxo Jr showed to the world who Pixar is and what they're about and has become a trademark/logo that the whole world knows them for.
In these early years, Pixar was mainly a high-end computer hardware company selling both hardware and software which was mainly sold to government managed companies and Disney. Their core was the "Pixar Image Computer" where their leading buyer was Disney. Even though they had such a big studio as Disney buying their Image Computer, it never sold well. Next to selling hardware and software, Pixar was also making short animation films and they were the first ones to ever release a CGI film.
Even though Pixar has managed to amaze the world with their short movies as demonstration of what their hardware were capable of the sales were still too poor and Pixar was threatened to bankruptcy. To save the company from facing that fate, John Lasseter and his animation department started producing CG commercials for third party companies. This saved them from bankrupcy with campaign success' like Listerine, Tropicana and LifeSavers. Next to doing the commercial work, Pixar kept their relationship with Disney who later proved to become a major partner in Pixar's success.In 1991 Pixar signed a contract with Disney to produce up to 3 feature length films were the first one to be released was Toy Story in 1995 with huge success as the highest grossing film of that year.
Because of Pixar's success, Disney went into a new agreement with them in 1996 to produce 5 films where the following films were: A Bugs Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles.
In 2006 Pixar gets bought by the Walt Disney Company which makes Pixar a fully-owned subsidiary company of the Walt Disney Company
Throughout the years Pixar has produced several short films as well as feature-length films which are listed here chronologically:
Pixar's Films
Pixar Short André and Wally B (1984)
Pixar Short Luxo Jr (1986)
Pixar Short Red's Dream (1987)
Pixar Short Tin Toy (1988)
Pixar Short Knick Knack (1989)
Pixar Feature
Toy Story
(1995)
Pixar Short Geri's Game (1997)
Pixar Feature
A Bug's Life
(1996)
Pixar Feature Toy Story 2 (1999)
Pixar Short For The Birds (2000)
Pixar Feature Monster's, Inc. (2001)
Pixar Short Mike's New Car (2002)
Pixar Short Boundin' (2003)
Pixar Feature Finding Nemo (2003)
Pixar Feature The Incredibles (2004)
Pixar Short Jack-Jack Attack (2005)
Pixar Short
One Man Band
(2005)
Pixar Feature Cars (2006)
Pixar Short Mater And The Ghost Light (2006)
Pixar Short Lifted (2006)
Pixar Feature Ratatouille (2007)
Pixar Short Your Friend The Rat (2007)
Pixar Short Presto (2008)
Pixar Feature WALL-E (2008)
Pixar Short BURN-E (2008)
Pixar Short Partly Cloudy (2009)
Pixar Feature Up (2009)
Pixar Short Dug's Special Mission (2009)
Career opportunities at Pixar
So how do I get there? How do I get my foot inside their door? Become part of their team? Simply, how do I get a career at Pixar?
I guess there's the same difficulty (if not more difficult) as with any other job you would apply for to actually getting it. One way in however could be doing an internship so at least the employers at Pixar will get to know me and see what I can do. As far as I've found out, internships are possible for anyone in the world and not US students alone, as long as the applicant have the required qualifications.
As with probably any job in this industry it's important to show the work I've done to any potential employer if I would have a chance on getting a job. In most cases this is done by making a show/demo reel and Pixar has a list of 11 points on how to do this right:
"
http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/howto.html
Pixar announces job vacancies as well as their internships on their webpage. Unfortunately they currently don't have anything about animation and they don't answer emails from students who have questions regarding their school projects.
That is in short what I have found out about career opportunities at Pixar. Even though they don't answer emails for students who do projects I still hope I can manage to get an interview of some sort when representatives from Pixar will be here in Teesside at Animex to find out more about what pathway to go in order to get hired at Pixar.
This concludes my research about Pixar so far.
Sources:
(2005)
Pixar Feature Cars (2006)
Pixar Short Mater And The Ghost Light (2006)
Pixar Short Lifted (2006)
Pixar Feature Ratatouille (2007)
Pixar Short Your Friend The Rat (2007)
Pixar Short Presto (2008)
Pixar Feature WALL-E (2008)
Pixar Short BURN-E (2008)
Pixar Short Partly Cloudy (2009)
Pixar Feature Up (2009)
Pixar Short Dug's Special Mission (2009)
Career opportunities at Pixar
So how do I get there? How do I get my foot inside their door? Become part of their team? Simply, how do I get a career at Pixar?I guess there's the same difficulty (if not more difficult) as with any other job you would apply for to actually getting it. One way in however could be doing an internship so at least the employers at Pixar will get to know me and see what I can do. As far as I've found out, internships are possible for anyone in the world and not US students alone, as long as the applicant have the required qualifications.
As with probably any job in this industry it's important to show the work I've done to any potential employer if I would have a chance on getting a job. In most cases this is done by making a show/demo reel and Pixar has a list of 11 points on how to do this right:
"
The list is a quote from Pixar's webpage, to see the list in more detail go to:1) An application that requires a demo reel submission has 5 parts:
a) the cover letter
b) the resume
c) the demo reel
d) the demo reel breakdown
e) the on-line application (the application contains the Reel Submission Agreement)
2) Your reel should be no more than 4 minutes.
3) Don't show un-approved work.
4) Nobody cares about music/soundtrack.
5) Put your best work first.
6) Demo Reel Breakdown (DRB).
7) Include a title card at the beginning and end with your name, address, phone, and email.
8) Show work that proves that you know what you did.
9) Take the time to polish.
10) Show it to other people.
And 11) If you really don't have stuff to put on a reel, don't send one.
"
http://www.pixar.com/companyinfo/jobs/howto.html
Pixar announces job vacancies as well as their internships on their webpage. Unfortunately they currently don't have anything about animation and they don't answer emails from students who have questions regarding their school projects.
That is in short what I have found out about career opportunities at Pixar. Even though they don't answer emails for students who do projects I still hope I can manage to get an interview of some sort when representatives from Pixar will be here in Teesside at Animex to find out more about what pathway to go in order to get hired at Pixar.
This concludes my research about Pixar so far.
Sources:
- Pixar
- Pixar Short Films Collection Volume 1 (DVD)
- Wikipedia
Thursday, 22 October 2009
Welcome
Hello!
Welcome to my blog about Studio Practice & Business.
This is the blog where I will post all my work progress and reasearch material for my Studio Practice & Business module.
First off I might as well tell you about me:
I'm a 23 years old (born in 1986) Norwegian which have always had a big interest when it comes to computer/video games and Computer Graphics. The interest started of course with games as I got my first meeting with computer/video games at the age of 4-5 and was basically hooked ever since, and of course had the dream about participating in creating games in the future myself.
In my early teens I started to become more aware of 3D software and tried whatever software I could get my hands on. Of course as young and dumb as I was I didn't get very far with any of them. Softwares like "TrueSpace" "Blender 3D" "Cinema 4D".
It was first when a friend of mine gave me a copy of LightWave 3D 7.5 I started getting hang of the basics and principles within 3D which helped me a lot once I started my education for this field of study.
Of course by this point, several CG movies had been released (Shrek, Ice Age, all the Pixar movies etc) and I have gotten more and more interested in film production and animation specially. It's a lot of hard work, but so satisfying seeing that character come to life.
For the past 2 years I have attended Noroff Instituttet in Bergen where I have finished "3D Design and Animation" and "3D Filmproduction". The first year mainly focuses on teaching the technical aspects of 3Ds Max (Modelling, Texturing, Lighting, Animation, Rendering) while the second year focuses on how to produce a short movie in terms of story telling, concept art, storyboards and everything that has to do with Pre-Production. At the end of year two we are given the task to produce a short film (2-5min) in approx 6 months.
I fancy 2D animation but personally I'm a 3D animator.
My biggest goal and dream is of course to end up working as an animator for Pixar. Which I hope will be the outcome of this module. By this I mean that I will learn the pathway to get to reach my goal (Pixar) in the end.
From here I guess there's not much more to tell about me so if you have further questions just ask me=)
Welcome to my blog about Studio Practice & Business.
This is the blog where I will post all my work progress and reasearch material for my Studio Practice & Business module.
First off I might as well tell you about me:
I'm a 23 years old (born in 1986) Norwegian which have always had a big interest when it comes to computer/video games and Computer Graphics. The interest started of course with games as I got my first meeting with computer/video games at the age of 4-5 and was basically hooked ever since, and of course had the dream about participating in creating games in the future myself.
In my early teens I started to become more aware of 3D software and tried whatever software I could get my hands on. Of course as young and dumb as I was I didn't get very far with any of them. Softwares like "TrueSpace" "Blender 3D" "Cinema 4D".It was first when a friend of mine gave me a copy of LightWave 3D 7.5 I started getting hang of the basics and principles within 3D which helped me a lot once I started my education for this field of study.
Of course by this point, several CG movies had been released (Shrek, Ice Age, all the Pixar movies etc) and I have gotten more and more interested in film production and animation specially. It's a lot of hard work, but so satisfying seeing that character come to life.
For the past 2 years I have attended Noroff Instituttet in Bergen where I have finished "3D Design and Animation" and "3D Filmproduction". The first year mainly focuses on teaching the technical aspects of 3Ds Max (Modelling, Texturing, Lighting, Animation, Rendering) while the second year focuses on how to produce a short movie in terms of story telling, concept art, storyboards and everything that has to do with Pre-Production. At the end of year two we are given the task to produce a short film (2-5min) in approx 6 months.
I fancy 2D animation but personally I'm a 3D animator.
My biggest goal and dream is of course to end up working as an animator for Pixar. Which I hope will be the outcome of this module. By this I mean that I will learn the pathway to get to reach my goal (Pixar) in the end.
From here I guess there's not much more to tell about me so if you have further questions just ask me=)
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