Hey, good for you and congrats! Now you’ll see the “other side” of things and start asking yourself “was I like that???”

And yes, spread the “Show up. Do the work. Don’t be an ass.” far and wide. It can’t hurt, right?

And I noticed the link from your former teacher. Cool! I have his blog in my resources section as well. Great to hear about the other link too. Love the linky love.

Good luck on the new job!
K

Since I last posted, I seem to have developed a stutter in my salutations AND I’ve got an animation job.

My first real animation job will be teaching animation in 3D. I must have done OK as a student, I guess.

So here’s the bite.

In 2008 I was a student. A tardy student. No-one else is listening are they?

In 2009 I am an animation teacher giving out alarm clocks to the class to make sure they turn up on time.

It’s like being turned inside out. Thank goodness for this blog post! And the “Show up. Do the work. Don’t be an ass.” mantra that I will brand onto their student brains.

Oh, by the way my former animation teacher has made your blog an essential resource link on his animation resource blog (linked to my name over there on the left) and another former teacher (now a teaching colleague) has just discovered your blog and linked to the “working for free” post.

Cheers

I wouldn’t say it qualifies you as an ‘ass’. If you didn’t do it on purpose, then of course not! At worst, maybe just a little ‘flaky’ (kidding).

They knew you were pretty new and if you came across as trustworthy the whole time, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

Just use it as a lesson learned. But yes, you should have been more careful with it. Studios don’t want their scripts getting out and especially with the internet, you can understand their concerns. It was a good lesson to learn at this early stage in your career.

But don’t beat yourself up about it. As long as you didn’t keep it, that’s all you can do now.
K

I just finished film school and had 2 days work experience at a studio as part of the school’s program. I did some storyboards and previs, which they really liked.

However, afterwards I got a call from the studio saying they can’t find one of the scripts they lent me to work with, and asked me to check if I have it. I didn’t, and I probably left it sitting around in a different department as I was showing others what I have done.

But now I felt like such an ass now I shoulda been more careful with this sort of sensitive document. Does this qualify me as being an ass in their eyes?

Yes, being professional and being great to work with is a huge asset in this very small industry. It can get you further than you think! Once people like you and your work, more work will come.

I guess I’m not quite clear about your last question about composition. You can email me (check the contact page) and if you give me more details, maybe I’ll be able to answer you better. Thanks!
K

[...] inside the animation industry and how it works, whether it’s the must-read breakdown of the importance of professionalism in animation or handy storyboard templates or the value of training for an aspiring Storyboard Artist. [...]

You’ve got some pretty solid work on your blog…nice stuff. Thanks for the feedback. Lots more to come!
K