These two characters will be sitting next to each other on the train, just waiting for the hobo to stead away their precious soda. It's pretty epic... I wanted to play with colors and have their clothing be opposite each others skin tone. it working out rather strangely and i don't know if i'm going to change it, but i liked the idea...oh well.
Anyways, speaking of changes I would have liked to make, I'm really beginning to see alot of things that I would have liked to change about my stay at RIT. I'm really discovering that I would have done things a lot differently had I not been a stupid freshman with an ego and a close minded attitude towards animation and my career in general. I have established a list of things I would like to call "The List of Stuff to Help you Succeed"
1. Drawing is Important
Even if you are a 3d animator, like i considered myself freshman year, you still need to learn how to animate in 2d. It helps with your timing, and your composition and your posing. Buy Richard Williams book and love that thing until it falls apart! DO IT. I don't care what you think you need.
2. Make Friends
This seems like an easy thing to do, but freshman year I was very caught up in my own thing with my own clubs. A lot of the kids who are good friends now met each other in a special interest house on campus. They have made friends with a lot of talented artists. They will succeed because they're all good friends now who will look out for each other in the workplace. (to a certain extent) Dave Levy has been teaching us time and time again that your networking starts NOW. Your classmates may just be your foot in the door to a job. The kids who made connections and built relationships with the kids from Art House have invaluable connections to other artists. Which leads me to another point
3. You are an Artist
No matter how much you want to fight it, you are an artist. Freshman year, I fought the idea that I was supposed to create. I wanted to be plugged into a system and do a job that would benefit a greater project. I had no interest expressing myself. I have come to appreciate this however. (though my thesis is very, very frustrating) When you consider yourself an artist you will open yourself up to other artists. This was a big problem that i felt i had while here at RIT. I didn't consider myself an artist, so i didn't open up to the artist community. I distanced myself from them because i didn't think i belonged. My friends from the Art House have made lasting friendships with other artists, who who beautiful matte paintings and give invaluable design advice that is really making their films look gorgeous. Never underestimate the importance of connections and never back down from an opportunity to make friends with other people.
3-1. You are not a professional yet.
Though you should strive for professional quality, you are still a student. So enjoy being a student. You're growing and you're learning, and your films are not going to be Student Academy Awards winnings, unless you're a freaking prodigy. As much as I would love to be a prodigy, I'm not. So I need to take my films where they are at, realize what i can learn from them, and move on to better myself. Animation is a growing skill that you hone and become better at. It's not something, no matter how much you want to be, that you will wake up and be amazing at. Sure you can be an amazing drawer, or an amazing animator, but there will ALWAYS be someone better, and if you feel like you're creating your best work in school, then where does that leave you to grow and become an even better artist.
4. Take classes for the content, not the grade.
This is something that I can actually say I did. I was very happy with my class choice, though I wish i had more time to take MORE classes than when I'm taking now! But if you go to RIT, be sure to take ALL the classes you can. The cinematography courses and the live action courses are more useful to an animator than you think. The importance of storytelling at SOFA is a very useful thing. As an animator you will understand the most important actions to make, as a designer you will understand the importance of color and mood to influence a viewer. Take stop motion classes and 2d classes and flash classes. Take illustration classes and painting classes and DEFINITELY drawing classes. If you can't take a drawing class then go to a figure drawing session as much as you can. The more comfortable you are with a pencil, the easier it will be to make test animations before even trying anything in Maya.
5. Storyboarding is important
Just do it. I used to hate everything at SOFA that wasn't 3d animating or 3d related, but I'm starting to find that I'm starting to enjoy storyboarding and the planning stages of animation.
6. LOVE ANIMATION
The most important thing by far is, you need to love animation. You need to love it even when you hate it, because it's worth it. Animation will not always be fun. It will not always love you back, but you need to stay loyal. As frustrated as I find myself with animation, and as hopeless as I feel like my career will be, I won't give up, because I believe in the power of storytelling and the positive effect it can have. And I love animation.
That was rather scatterbrained, but I think I made some good points. Don't leave college with any regrets. I wish I made stronger connections with the people here at school. That is the most important advice I can give. Make friends and keep them, because they're not just your friends, they're your future job opportunities (and buddies to hang out with when you're bored)
