College: Ex’Pression College for Digital Arts
So when I saw that Travis had started up this blog with the
intention of giving voice to his animator friends to relay their stories of how
they, well, started the whole animating thing… I thought, “Hey, I’m sure I have
something worthwhile to share. Right?” Now after reading through some of the
previous posts of super talented artists, I’m not quite sure how my story will
fit in? But hey, let’s find out together!
Oh, and I’m not so much of a “writer,” more of a
“write-like-I-talk-er,” so you know, just imagine me talking about all this…
Thanks for bearing with me.
Anyways, I didn’t grow up dreaming of being an animator. I
mean, sure I grew up on cartoons like the rest of us, and I loved all that
stuff - everything from classic Disney to uh, classic Snorks? I don’t know, but
cartoons and animation (of questionable quality, perhaps,) have been in my life
ever since I was a kid, as were video games, but more on this in a bit.
As I said, I didn’t grow up dreaming of being an animator. I
dreamt of being a rock star. I had a little 3-piece band back in high school
that was as grungy and punky as the mid 90’s could offer. Just imagine Nirvana
and Green Day mashed together like there was no tomorrow. Oh, and also imagine
’96 is your senior year. Oh yeah. Good times. But as with all good times, they
come to an end, but not before an indie record label helped us record and put
out an album! We played shows throughout SF and even drove down to LA for a
weekend of shows. It was great. Such fond memories...
Sorry – I’ll get back on track now. So while that didn’t
really come to fruition, we had a fun time of it. Once we all graduated it was
determined that college was what came next, (much to my disappointment,) but
hey, education, it’s a good thing. So anyways, I decided to put off jumping
back into school because I really didn’t know where or what I wanted to do. At
the time I was working at Noah’s Bagels, and I know what you’re thinking,
“Bagels are pretty awesome,” and while you would be correct, bagels weren’t
really the career-path I was hoping for. But again, as it turns out, that was
where I first heard of this place called Ex’Pression Center.
A guy who used to work with us at Noah’s quit and took off
for school, (smart move on his part,) and at some point after that, he stopped
by to visit and told me that Ex’Pression had a “bitchin’ audio program” and
that I would probably “really dig it.” That’s how I remember him saying it at least;
he was that kind of guy. So I eventually warmed up to the idea and went in to
one of Ex’Pression’s open-house events. It was then that I knew what I wanted
to do from here on out.
While I started on the tour of the audio-program, my epiphany
came when I walked past one of the windows and peered into the lab packed with
students and rows upon rows of glowing CRT monitors. I saw 3D models of
half-built creatures and environments tumbling about on screens as their
creators sat, in some bizarre meditative state, transfixed on their work. Everything
looked like pieces of the video games I had grown to love (in an almost-obsessive
manner) over the years. “That is what I want to do.” I thought. “I want to make
video games.” And soon after that, I became enrolled in Ex’Pression Center for
New Media’s “Digital Visual Media Program” (Editor’s
Note: The school has been rechristened “Ex’pression College for Digital Arts,”
and the DVM program has been retitled “Animation and Visual Effects).
The next 14-16 months were a blur. I hear now the schools
courses are far expanded past what I was familiar with – with an actual Game
Development program and whatnot. But whatever, I was getting a crash course in
Media that was Visually Digital. Honestly, it was was a pretty intense and
amazing experience, and by the time I graduated, I had found my calling as an
animator. Making stuff move was my thing. As a kid, I spent countless hours
playing with action figures; manipulating He-Man and G.I. Joe figures in my
tiny hands to create epic slow-motion fights where each impact of their plastic
feet sent me bending and twisting the figures about as I imagined each part of
their body would react to such a devastating kick… I was still doing the same
thing only this time, on a computer. So, you know, now it’s respectable.
After graduation, it was a month or so until I found my
first home at a game studio. And now after all my rambling, (and for those of
you still reading,) let me impart my first bit of wisdom. “Don’t turn down opportunities, even if you think you already know
you’re not interested.” I got the chance to interview with a couple of
artists from a company called Digital Eclipse. I hadn’t heard of them and
before the interview I looked them up online, as anyone should always do.
Digital Eclipse was a little independent studio that at the time, focused on
Game Boy games and arcade ports. Now pixel art and Game Boy games are great,
but that wasn’t at all what I had just gone to school for, and there was part
of me that was thinking on just skipping the interview all together. Again, “Don’t turn down opportunities. Especially
if you don’t know where those opportunities will lead to.” I realized it
would be ridiculously dumb of me to not go, and so I went in for the interview.
As it turned out, their studio was in the process of merging with another to
become Backbone Entertainment, and they were looking to assemble a team of 3D
artists for a brand new IP. That sounded pretty cool. (FYI - Now that I’ve been
in the industry for 9 years, I’m very aware that getting that kind of
opportunity, especially right out of the gate, is super rare and probably the
dream of every developer. That’s pretty much what we all want; to get the
chance to work on something new. To create something unique.) So as luck had
it, they were impressed enough with my work to bring me aboard. And the rest,
as they say, is history.
Anyways, I’m an animator. That’s how I started.
One word of advice for future animators:
“Don’t turn down
opportunities.”
@JxRK
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