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Early Beginnings Since I was a very young child, I've wanted to be an animator. I grew up admiring the classic, traditionally-animated Disney movies, and spent all my Saturday mornings watching Warner Brothers cartoons. I drew all the time. I was hardly an Eric Larson or a Tex Avery, but I enjoyed trying to mimic my favorite characters and often came up with my own. Suddenly, though, computers came onto the animation scene. I remember watching Sesame Street when I was perhaps 8 or so, a little on the older end of their target audience, and becoming mesmerized by a new style of cartoon that looked almost realistic in nature. I think what I was seeing at the time were one of a handful of small short films that Pixar had developed using their famous "Luxo Jr." characters to illustrate concepts such as surprise, light vs. heavy, up vs. down, and front vs. back. I was fascinated. When I was a few years older and visited DisneyWorld's Epcot Center with my family, I saw the real Luxo Jr. short film for the first time, and something clicked - this is animation! This is just like all the cartoons I used to watch, except it's done on the computer, which thrilled me since I enjoyed tinkering around with technology. In an instant I knew exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up. From then on, I united my love of art with a love for computers, and looked for ways to develop both talents together. I went on to study computer animation at Purdue University's College of Technology, and after I graduated, I felt that I had achieved a broad sense of animation, including modeling, rigging, lighting, and texturing. However, it was obvious that I wasn't ready to send a reel out to the major players in the computer animation industry. I needed focus, and I thought it would be best to continue on to a master's program in animation. I spent nearly a year looking for the right school, traveling across the country and beyond. When nothing seemed to fit just right, my mind kept returning to an online school that had opened during the first year I had attended a SIGGRAPH conference. It was none other than Animation Mentor.
The Place to Be Being in an online school was great - I could save money by living at home again, keep a steady job as an art director for a local company, and tune in to lectures and assignments at any time of the day. My parents had been skeptical at first, thinking that an MFA program might have been the more professional way to go, but they patiently accepted my choice as they have always been a strong support system for me. I knew in my gut it would be a great program, led by Pixar and ILM veteran animators Bobby Beck, Shawn Kelly and Carlos Baena, and that every student is assigned to a mentor who also has worked in the animation industry. It is difficult to get that kind of learning experience anywhere else. This school was not only accessible and affordable – it was essential to my career. Animation Mentor's unique way of teaching was exactly what I needed. Every week, there was a new assignment (and a chance to improve upon the last week's assignment), all the while you're getting crucial feedback from peers and mentors. That sort of attention to detail is so important to have as an animator - to constantly observe life around you and use those observations to convey the essence of believable life in your characters. AM taught the principals of animation, as well as body mechanics and acting, through a series of online lectures and assignments, but learning wasn't just about the time involved in study and repetitive practice. Having an online network of talented, passionate people around gave me the encouragement I needed to become used to showing my work more frequently, accepting criticism, and finding my own voice as an animator to share with others as we helped each other become better at our craft. Ironically, and for a surprisingly large number of people including myself, the biggest challenge in my pursuits became the willpower to stay motivated. It is a terrible thing, to go after a love of something and feel struck down by the odds, by self-consciousness, self-doubt, or societal pressure. There are so many ways that a person's passions might be halted, especially at a time in life as precarious as it is for young adults or people going through a lot of changes, and maintaining enthusiasm can feel like putting all your weight against a mountain that refuses to move. This is especially where a supportive community is vital. AM students and my mentors were always excited and ready at all hours to dive into animation discussion and to share their experiences and advice on staying motivated, and the AM Career Services staff is also there to listen to students' issues and help them determine the next best course of action. I am forever grateful to all these people.
Turning Professional At the time of my graduation from Animation Mentor, I had the pleasure of meeting a lot of the staff, including the career services manager at the time. About a month later, I caught up with the career services manager at the Game Developers Conference, and although we chatted a lot about personal things - I was getting married that fall - we also talked about the animation industry and where I might see myself working. Admittedly, I still gravitate toward cartoons - for me there's something infinitely special about creating content for children. I always think back to Luxo Jr. and how much of an impact it had on my life, seeing otherwise inanimate objects as each having a curious and sometimes comical life of its own, and I realized how open I am to any experience that would allow me to work with a team, like my fellow AM students, living through characters and bringing them to life. That summer, I moved across the country and prepared for my wedding on September 6, 2008. A week after my husband and I tied the knot, I received an email from the executive producer at a small, but rapidly-growing animation company in Westfield, NJ, called SpeakeasyFX. Their team was about to embark on 13 eight-minute animated shorts aimed at preschoolers which would air in November 2009, and they asked me if I would like to join their team as a character animator. At any other time in my life, I would have leaped without looking, but in my case I had just gotten married and moved to Chicago, and I wondered if they might allow me to work remotely, since I had experience doing that. However, knowing that a collaborative environment is always best, I asked if they might consider me for a contract position for the first episode or two, while my husband and I considered our options. They responded favorably with a link to some of their pre-production assets, and I was sold. Instantly, my husband and I agreed this looked like a great project, with artwork that combined a Jim Henson character style with a Dr. Seussian environment. It was the beginnings of Abby's Flying Fairy School, the latest segment to be added within the Sesame Street hour on PBS. Let me just tell you how surreal it is to see your dream come full circle, from a time when you were eight years old, bouncing around in front of the television, to almost twenty years later - still bouncing around in front of the television, because the same show you watched as a kid is the program you now have the honor and privilege to work on during their special 40th anniversary year. Of course it was difficult, moving away from my newlywed husband, our new cat, our new apartment, and our new life together. Sometimes I don't know how I did it, but I certainly know why. I am lucky to have a longstanding relationship with my very patient husband, and as it has always been my goal to be a character animator, he along with all of my family and friends supported me and urged me to go after my dream job. With its fearless leaders and its promising technical staff, this company soared as it brought together 13 Animation Mentor alumni who put their hearts on the line in all of their work, and in working with each other. It was our collaborative spirit, infectious enthusiasm, and persistence of quality work that we had developed during our time at Animation Mentor which I feel had the most positive influence on our work environment. I used to think my proudest animation moment would happen the day our show aired on television for the first time. Indeed, we all have a lot of pride for what we've done at SpeakeasyFX, but perhaps larger than that was simply having the chance to work with each other. I think back on this past year with the most pride and affection toward our daily reviews with the director and crew, and I realize how rewarding it is to take an idea from its roots in the blocking stage to all its final nuances. The whole process is inspiring, complete with toys on our desks and Nerf gun wars. I'm truly thankful for the good fortune I've had, and I wish you all the same.
To learn more about Laura, check out her web sites: http://inbetweenthekeys.blogspot.com and http://www.laurasko.com |
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