Hey guys,
My Background
I have been in the industry for 10
years, working as an animator in video games. Its a great career that
has opened so many new opportunities in my life. It gave me a solid
foundation to have a house and family.
My Dream
After 10
years of studying animation, I fell in love with animations for film. A
month to create 11 seconds of animation! I love how film animators spend
so much time crafting and polishing their work, and creating a dramatic
scene that can emotionally have an effect on people. In game industry,
its more fast pace and quantity over quality, in my opinion. My dream is
to some day work in the film industry and create quality over quantity.
My Fear
Invested
10 years in games, I have developed senior level experience. I created a
career path where I am financially stable and able to raise a family
and have a house. I am 99% sure that if I made the switch to film, I
will start out as entry level, and have to work really hard to be
financially where I am now today. And not to mention all the moving I
would have to do from one studio to another. I am not sure my wife and
kid is up for that life transition. But there is nothing wrong for me to
keep on dreaming.
What I am doing now.
I am committed to my
day job, creating fun animations for games. I continue to learn to
animation techniques and skill with Animation Mentor, Amin School, and
11 second club. Watching all the latest animation films and checking out
the behind these scenes clips. Spending quality time with family and
friends. And I continue to dream and see my name on the big screens.
Thank
you guys for taking the time and read about my Dream, I hope this helps
others identify what animation career path they will be interested in.
You can make a solid career in both Games and Movies, but its all about
what are you passionate about.
Kiko
Justin F - Your closing a door before it's open. Do what you need to do to get the door open first...and then decide if you can swing it given what you find out. First thing I'd do is reach out to some people you know, or some you respect that are doing what you are doing...tell them you want to do feature animation, show them where you're at now, and find out what you need to do (specifically...) to even get interviewed . You're going to need to build a feature animation reel, drawing more, make a Career Map.
ReplyDeleteDan S - It's tough man. I think there's so many ways to get into film that you can't really say "Do this certain thing and you'll make it." It's funny that you say you fear starting all over in film. I have the same perspective in the film industry. Even though I've been working in film for about 5 years, I've had to start all over each time because every project has been with new supervisors and sometimes even a whole new team. That's the nature of animation. You need to prove yourself on each project. With kids it becomes more risky to give up your life to get where you want. It really is a tough industry inside and outside of film. From my perspective, you can only work on having high standards for your animation and keep trying to break into the industry. If it happens one day, then you can make that decision to continue at that point. If it doesn't, then you are still animating for a living and you still had a great career doing what you love. What else would you be doing? What else would you WANT to be doing?? (This is rhetorical) Personally, I'd be animating regardless.
ReplyDeleteJessie S - Yeah, life's goals really change when you introduce a significant other and a child into the equation. When your kid is old enough to not need constant care, you will still be young enough to change industries. The film industry is not going anywhere. The formative eyars are the most important. There's a natural transition between games and film, and that's cinematics.
ReplyDeleteChad S - Yea. I mean, there is definitely CRUNCH periods where you will works ALOT of hours...So you will need to be away from family at times....but once you do it you can start finding a balance that best works for you. Now that I have a kid I want to be home more. So that just means i need to manage my time really well while I am at work.
ReplyDeleteMookie W - Coming from the film industry (ILM) I can tell you that at the end it is who you work with that matters the most. The people, your team and your friends will make any challenging project- fun. I don't have experience with feature film animation studios but many of my friends have and they like their job the same way I like mine now in the gaming industry.
ReplyDeleteAlways keep wanting to learning and grow, always keep sharing what you know, but most important keep appreciating and be thankful to what you have.
There is nothing that says you can't do both the things you want to do. If you keep working hard at it, stay humble and stay open minded you will end up getting what you want even if at times that road may seems the tough.
You have improved a lot so keep up the good work my friend,