How Do You Take Criticism in a Professional Environment?

Being an animator is a team effort, so always welcome criticism with a smile. I always have a pencil and pad of paper on hand so I can write things down. Really listen and understand why they are suggesting the things that they are. So many times I have caught myself just making the changes to make them, but not really understanding the intention behind them. When I take the time to understand it never fails to put more life into my scene.

Getting direction you don’t agree with is a kind of a tricky thing in a professional environment. Bottom line, you are working for them. But in good work environment your opinion matters and is wanted. Personally I always try to do what they suggest first and then if it’s not working I can show them why and have a couple ideas on hand that might work better. Sometimes it has to be a certain way and I will just have to make it work the best I can.

Guest Blogger Jess Morris

What Made You Decide to Become an Animator?

I decided to become an animator when I realized that effects animation involved math and scripts and programming and all kinds of things I wasn't good at. :)

Before I started taking animation classes I had a general interest in visual effects and animation, but I didn't know which parts would be done by hand and which parts would be part of a computer simulation. Early on, as a kid, I liked video games and movies, both live-action and animated. So I was always exposed to that field.

My interest leaned more towards computers, though, since my drawing skills weren't that promising. I loved drawing, but it was clear to me that if I'd apply at Disney that it would lead to nothing. So effects were my main focus until I saw Toy Story and realized that there is a future in computer animation. The combination of all the ILM effects movies from the 80s and 90s combined with Pixar's first computer animated movie really convinced me that this is the type of work I'd love to do.

After moving to San Francisco and starting my bachelor in Computer Arts at the AAU, I began to understand different aspects of the filmmaking process and the distinction between visual effects, special effects and animation. I decided that animation was the way to go. Of course, I had no idea if I was any good at it. The first classes were encouraging, but most of all it was a lot of fun and the idea that you could do this as a full time job was just unbelievable.

Guest Blogger Jean-Denis Haas