Dreamworks feels very different from Disney. Not better or worse, just different. I will be in training for the rest of the week so I’m starting off slow. Btw I was looking through the art of one of their next films Rise of the Guardians and liked that film a lot. The main character Jack Frost looks so much how I want my character Liam to look. I saw some art of him with his hoodie over his face and I was so excited by how cool he looked haha He is really cute isn’t he? 

I’m going to be doing hand drawn animation at dreamworks, they are doing a movie that is half computer animation and half hand drawn. For Disney, I’m just doing publicity art for Disney Fairies. I have done a lot of art for Disney fairies in the past. I’m sure you can see the similarities even in my own drawings on tumblr to that of Disney fairies art you see around. 

thanks :) finding jobs is not easy. 

My first day working at Dreamworks is tomorrow. I hope I do good art and fit in with the crew :) I’m also currently still doing freelance work for Disney at night.. which is craziness. This time last year I didn’t have a job and was stressed about that and now I have too much work. I guess thats how the animation industry works, its unpredictable.  

I still would like to draw a drawing of Kenny and Kyle since so many people asked for that. 

At first Liam feels sorry for himself because he is a victim. But then decides to use his abilities to save a little girl who is missing after her father is shot and that starts him off into becoming a stronger person. 

A lot of people suggested Stan and Kyle, how can I not draw them. There were a lot of great suggestions of what to draw, I will try to submit more this weekend. 

yeah

Maybe one pantomime scene (acting/emotion scene with no dialogue). Sort of like the animation test I have on my blog. In this its important to have the characters change emotion through the scene to show you can do acting. The audience needs to be able to read exactly what the characters feel. 

Maybe one dialogue scene. Show them you can do lip sinc and acting to a voice track. 

And maybe one full body scene of the character acting with his whole body. Dialogue or no dialogue it doesn’t matter. Just make sure there is like a little story going on so he is acting. Don’t just animate a character walking, why is he walking? how does he feel while walking? These questions will give personality to whatever action you have the character doing. 

A demo reel can be short too. Just a minute long is fine, just as long as the animations are strong. 

My attempt at drawing Kenny’s live action actor. He gave his friends “cold sores” then he died, perfect Kenny moment. 

I wanted Deadbeat Hero to be a comic but the chapters are set up like tv episodes in a way. There would only be a part one (like a season 1) then a part two (season 2) so I already know how I want it to end, I don’t want it to be very long. The problem is that the characters and story keep evolving in my head so I’m afraid to start anything because I might change my mind about it again. 

sketchbook drawing

Maybe I can tell you how I found some of my jobs and you can get an idea of how people find animating work.

My first job in animation was an internship at disney during my 4th year in school. I saw the internship was available from a flyer I saw at school. After the internship they hired me to work on a movie. My second job was at a small video game company. Some friends worked there and helped me meet the boss and I took a test, passed and worked on a videogame. The 3rd, I took my portfolio to a portfolio day viewing at a college and a Disney recruiter saw it and liked it and hired me to work at disney tv as a character designer. Recently my friend who works at dreamworks recommended me as a good person to work on a movie they are doing. Since they trust his judgement the studio asked to see my portfolio and animation reel and come for an interview. 

I guess you just need to be aware of when and where the job openings/internships are and have a strong portfolio and animation reel to send. The biggest way to get jobs though I think is to be connected with people. Animation people tend to look out for each other. Friends tend to hire friends or tell each other about job openings. So being connected to your animation friends is a big help. Feel free to ask any more questions about this stuff, I don’t mind. 

Thank you :) 

yay great episode. Now we know how Matt and Trey picture the boys looking as adults in real life.

Stan is officially a hottie.

That is a smart question. Animation work is basically working in the film/movie industry, (which we all know is tough to get into and stay in) so the work is inconsistent, but if you do get a job, it usually pays pretty well. So when I have a job I do very well but when I don’t find another movie, TV show or video game to work on right away then its very difficult financially and I struggle. 

For me personally it has been extremes. I usually work in really big studios that pay me well for like a year and I’m very happy, then I get let go and don’t work for 6 to 8 months and it kills me. And then I suddenly get hired again and go back to the studio (That seems to be my cycle so far anyway.) 

Anyway, you shouldn’t give up on your dream, being an animator was my dream too and animating and drawing means a lot to me. But it is good for you to know that the jobs usually last only as long as it takes to finish the movie you are working on, so you will have times of struggling. But then when you do have a job, you will be happy and proud and make relatively good money and if you work at a Animation Union studio like Disney, Dreamworks you could possibly make a ton of money. Its all very random and unpredictable. 

I used animation paper that I took from Disney, the paper is thin and smooth with peg bar hole punches on the bottom. But any paper that is thin and smooth works really well for animating on. You just need to be able to flip them to see your drawings. You can always make a flip book with a blank notepad.