November 25, 2015 : One Year After Graduation
It has been offically a year since graduating Full Sail University with a Bachelors of Computer Animation. I have had the pleasure to work on many awesome projects. I ran out of work, and now currently do not have a job in the animation industry. Please read on to hear my story so far.
Right after I graduated, I got my firsr gig! I worked remotely from my house. I was a n-betweener and clean up artist for Echo-Bridge. The in-betweener drew out the frames in-between the animator's key frames. The clean up artist was responsible for the final look of the animation. While working there I had the honor to work on the following cartoon shows : " Major Lazer," and " Axe Cop ."
Major Lazer
Axe Cop
It was a really cool experience to work on these shows. I learned much about the Flash pipeline for cartoons. Although my contract ended, and the work ran out. I was forced back into bartending and serving table.
After having multiple crummy nights bartending, I met a guy who made decent money. He was a rickshaw driver. I decided to do the same. It was a fun job and kept you in shape. I biked people from point " A," to point, " B."
Here is a photo of my friend Brent Taber, a dog, and I on a rickshaw.
During this job I had the motivation to start this blog and update my website. Then I applied everywhere in the USA. I must of applied for around 20 jobs. I waited for weeks. I kept recieving disappointing emails. No one wanted me. I applied for many, " Game Animator, " positions. Video games these days are going for realism, and my animation was too cartoony.
So I found out that my animation is not directed toward game studios. I also discovered movie animators usually are well experienced and kick start their careers by working in games. So I felt defeated. My animations were too cartoony for video games. I needed to work on video games to get the experience for movies. I kept seeing my colleges get jobs. Some were the same jobs I applied for. I started to see everyone else being successful. I was working 2 jobs and 60 hour work weeks. Both jobs were non-industry related. Then also finding myself barelying making my bills. I started to slip into a depression.
After a month or two being depressed and going through the motions... I decided to man up! I know deep down inside I have what it takes to be a great animator. I know I am meant to be part of something great. Many great leaders fell before they could rise. Micheal Jordan was not a good enough basketball player for his high school team. Sylvester Stallone was so poor he went homeless before his golden egg, "" Rocky." None of this came easy. It was all hard work, practice, and dedication. I too will put in the work and be who I am suppose to be.
My plan was to come out with a new demo reel. It was obvious that no one will hiring me with my current demo reel. Therefore I had to make a new one. The plan was to make this reel reach out directly to the gaming industry. A game animation themed demo reel. Hopefully with a new reel, I will land a the dream job.
Thank you for reading about my first year after graduating. I am currently working 2 jobs. I work 60 hour weeks. I have one day off. I try to get as much animaiton in as possible, but it is hard with the busy work weeks. Eventually I will have a new reel, and my new journey will begin. Until then the struggle goes on....
