*If this thread has been created already or a thread containing the same kind of idea, please excuse me.
Well, judging by all the internship threads and such, I assume everyone wants to work for Pixar? Am I correct? Of course I am! I mean, who wouldn’t want to work for such a wonderful and lively company!? Anyways, What I want to know is how you guys are getting ready for the world of working with animation. Wether you want to work with scripts, lighting, texture or whatever! How are you preparing for school, a job and such.
Ill go first:
I am currently studying the “Blender” animation program, which is a free software. I bought a book called, “Blender for Dummies” and I have been studying the book like a Bible. Am I good at animation and character modelling? No. Am I improving? Yes. Also, something that I do to keep me going is posting posters and buying books, plus other merchandise relating to Pixar. I don’t know why, but it inspires me.
So how about you guys? What are you doing? Trying to learn a software? Maybe reading a book or just praying you will be amazing the first time you try animating?
…I do all those CG things for long time, so I am prepared You can check my blog, but I can give you a recommendations.
Before you start to learn Software, be sure it can do all you need to make a CG short. They use Maya, but I use Max. Also be clear in what you really wanna be and do it hard to become the best in your field. Dont rush, focus and research.
Well, if everyone took a look at my profile, they would understand why and how my love for Pixar started.
I’ve always, always, ALWAYS wanted to write and there’s nothing more I love than story telling. Whenever I watch a Pixar film, I am so captivated unlike anything else!
My dream job is to one day be a story-artist at Pixar, to work with the storydepartment and to help write and create the amazing stories that Pixar creates! I DO NOT want to be involved with business or anything like that. A lot of the job offers that I’ve looked at on the Pixar website don’t offer the kind of work I want to do - which involves the story department and working out the STORY of the film.
I have an idea about how I want to work my way up towards this goal. I'm still in college, so I know that I'll have to become a junior before I can apply for an internship at Pixar. HOPEFULLY, Pixar will have some kind of story-department internship open when I plan to apply for one!
I plan to finish at the community college with an Associates in Arts, then transfer over to another college that offers the degree I'm looking for (which seems to be the ONLY degree that really matches the description of a writer) - Bachelors of Arts in English.
In the meantime, I'm a freelance writer and my hope is to have a few of my stories published as children and young adult novels. I've been writing since I was 10, and I'm a graduate student of the Insitute of Children's Literature.
I'm hoping that if God is willing, this path and plan will work and if I can become part of an internship at Pixar, then I will be MORE than thankful and happy!
But I still have doubts in my mind that this is the "right" path to take, because I really don't have any contacts or know any connections that could help my application to becoming a story artist. PLUS - I'm not a very good "sketching" artist. I'm not much in the habit of drawing, but I know I'll have to be if I want to be a story ARTIST. I think I have the "story" part of that job squared away, though.
Does anyone have any advice on what I should do? Or if the plan I'm currently following right now is the best shot I can make?
What I would do in your case, is the same thing I would do in my case
Me as a Artist, I draw as much as I can. As a writer, you should read a lot of books, get inspire, write a lot, use all your fantasy. Find some character you like or make your own character, give him a personality and give him a story. Make the story funny, emotional with happy ending and educational. Every story should bring a message. It doesn’t matter how long it is. Make your own world, characters, style and put something in there that people can relate to, so they can be familiar with it.
If you are asking about How can I get job like that, its mostly about contacts or you can start publish your books, so people know more about you. Also you can write short stories for newspapers and magazines.
Just this week, I sent a play I wrote last summer to 2 different publishers, so that’s at least one step closer to one day HOPEFULL getting published sometime soon!
From what I've learnt from the Institute, a story is ALL about the character. Characters come first, and then everything else about the story flows from what the character does in the story. Think about it! The main character of a story has some kind of struggle or conflict to deal with...and the personality of that character will determine how he/she deals with problems, other people, and most especially how he/she changes and grows towards the climax of the story. The bottom line is this: characters create the story. Who that character is as a person, how he/she deals with problems, what his/her goals or dreams are, what are his/her motives, his/her virtues and talents....etc. Whatever that character does, it's writes out the story!
More or less, I imagine I’m having an interview with my characters and pretty soon, they are telling me their story and I’m just writing it down!
Anways…to get back on topic…
I will most definitely keep up my reading and writing...but most importantly, continue with school. Sooner or later, I'll apply for an internship at Pixar! God willing!
Hey all! Been awhile since I posted. The last few months have been an emotional rollercoaster as I finished up my Bachelor’s in Graphic Design. That went well but I could have done better. Add to that the pressures of now being responsible for student loans and the “what do i do now?” feeling when any great endeavor ends and it has been a wild ride. I think I getting to the end of it though, thus my renewed interest in this site. For a while I did not think I was worthy of being amongst you all. I fight with my self doubt all the time. You see, I am over 40, and have a very comfortable job that I am highly valued and respected at, and just got a nice raise and a bonus of all things - even in this economy!
I still have the hunger though.
So what was the point of my little pity party up there? Just to show that there are folks who want to work for PIXAR at the other end of the age spectrum.
I am preparing by getting ready to leave the comfort zone I have built and essentially start over in an art career. My wife is fully on board, so no problems there but I have no illusions that it will be easy. PIXAR is the goal but I know it will be a long road of (hopefully) other professional art gigs to develop with before I get there.
My plan is to do an original animated short as a reel package for PIXAR. I am going to submit both a flat portfolio and a DVD/digital file package. My dream is be a story artist and a background.layout artist.
How am i preparing lets see… Um since i’m going for animator i would need to get a animation software to ready myself and some books to start studying up. Then there’s Pixar Artist that i’m also gonna look into.
I tried using an animation program once…it was actually really disturbing XD It scared me a bit, but I stuck with it and got somewhere kinda ish. But I draw all the time, so I’m getting ready for either Pixar or Disney someday!
Well, the way I’m preparing is by exploring everything in the art world. I draw, paint, animate, sculpt, sew, write stories, and I want to learn how to do taxidermy. (no, it’s not what I want to do as a lifelong job, but I think I would enjoy it and it would help improve my drawing skills) I also read everything I can about animation/art. I really want to be a character designer because I love making up characters. And I would also like to publish my own children’s books.
The main thing I do is draw just about every time I have a pencil in my hand.
You can check my blog, but I can give you a recommendations.