This was in response to a question I got on my tumblr (which you can find here).
What are studios looking for? How can I
get into a good animation school? What should I be studying?
I get a lot of these types of questions
now and again, and I never know how to answer them. I can't be sure
of what studios are looking for, I don't control admissions policies
to schools, and I have little idea what makes for a current and
relevant curriculum. There are a lot of variables in your bid for a
career in animation, and it's kind of impossible to control most of
them. You must be crazy to want this job!
I find it helpful to focus on the
things I can control. Among those things are your study habits and
how you spend your personal time. It's good to work hard and have
goals—without them we would get nowhere. Study hard and make
decisive strides towards achieving your art goals. But in the heat of
that pursuit, don't forget to go out and live your life!
If you spend any amount of time looking
at artists online, you've probably figured out by now that there are
about a million dudes and dudettes in internetville who draw better
than you (I relive this realization daily). Once your have done your
best to rise to their level, the only tool you have to compete with
these crazy talents is your background, your personal character—is
you!
Consider developing your whole self
with the same raw focus and intensity that you develop a particular
skill set. Get focused. Go out, have adventures. Run, jump, skin your
knee, fall in love, root loudly for the away team at a baseball game,
barely escape a crash of stampeding rhinos, live to see another day.
Experience things big and small. Go for a walk. The world is full of
wonders.
I know this advice is not particularly
animation-specific, but maybe that's for the best. At any rate, it is
something I feel strongly about. Animation is great, and there are
few things that I enjoy doing more than drawing and storytelling. But
in order to have stories to tell, first you have to live them.
Be good, and see you soon!
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