Rebecca Explains 2/Transcript


 * Rebecca Parham: One more time. Hello, my geeks and peeps, my explainers and entertainer,s my little oo-de-lallies. Welcome to episode 2! That's for two of Rebecca Explains. Turns out you guys wanted more of this, and this up here and this. Hey, I ain't complainin'! And what's really awesome is that you guys wanted to know even more about animation, so let's get to it. blueberryking asks "What is a usual work day for you?". Well, let's see, I get out of bed, I fiddle on my phone for a while, I go to work and freelance for a long time, and near the end of the day, I work on personal stuff that's usually the stuff you see on YouTube, Instagram or Twitter. But in all seriousness, I classify myself as a freelancer. And yeah, there's not a lot of stability that comes with being a freelancer, but I have been blessed to have some really steady clients, and if truth be told, the animation industry really isn't known for its stability. You hop from studio to studio all the time. I can't keep track of my friends half the time because sometimes, they're working at Disney, and sometimes they're in Florida doing something else. I don't know. Contracts run out, and sometimes, you just get tired of the place that you are, so you move on to the next place. It's really not the easiest line of work to be in. It's a lot of problem solving, a lot of penny-pinching and a lot of calling in favors from friends and family. Hey, but if it makes you happy, then do it. I'd be miserable if I were doing anything else. Well, I could do other things and be happy, but I like this the best. Next question: Gabstei. This person asks "What do you think of Japanese animation and the art style? I like it.". You know what? I like about Japan. Japan treats animation like a medium, not a genre. Here, in America, we kind of associate all things animation with the exception of a couple TV things, but we kind of treat animation as a family-friendly only thing. But in Japan, they've used it to tell so many different types of stories. Mystery, romance, comedy, sci-fi, horror, and I really appreciate that. I wish we had that sensibility here in America. Although, I will say, learning about the working conditions and anime studios, they're kind of notorious for working there artists like slaves, so do I really enjoy anime? Yes. Would I ever want to work for an anime studio [shakes head side to side]. Next question: A lot of people asked "2D, is it a lost cause?". Let me just tell you this: a lot of the best 3D animators out there are also incredible 2D animators. When I went to Ringling, we had to take two semesters of 2D animation before we even touched a computer. We had to take two semesters of 2D animation. That's where you learn all the principles of animation. The big-name studios expect a lot from people and being versatile in 2D and 3D is something they like to see. It's still really important in the industries, especially at the higher levels, so no. It's not a waste to study, if I can be doing yourself a favor, and who knows? Maybe one day, Trudy will come back. Optimism. It's not just a four syllable word. How? Look, I got an Instagram question. justinfayette says: "What computer do you use to animate?". And it's an Adele.. it's it's it's a Dell XPS. And I also have a Cintiq hooked up to it, too, and show it to you, but it's currently acting as my tripod reclusive sweatpants. Asks if animation covers a spectrum of jobs and skills. "How does one go about deciding where they should be?". Oh, that's a really good question. For those who don't know much about the 3D animation process, there are a lot of different steps for that movie to be made. First you got a write and storyboard the whole thing, and that's the story department, and then you gotta do concept art for everything, and that's the concept department or concept development, I don't know what they call themselves, but they're cool. And they do character designs and set designs and prop designs, and they just kind of figure out the basic look and feel of the entire movie, and then you move on to making the models and the character rigs. It goes on to layout, then set in and props and animation, and all of that loveliness and lighting and compositing. There are so many things you could do in animation. So the question is "Where do you want to be in the animation process? Do you want to be story? Do you want to be animation? Do you want to be modeling? Do you want to build a snowman? [FROZEN JOKES]. The best way to figure out where you want to be in the 3D animation process is to just jump in and get your hands dirty at Ringling. They would force us to have very complete animation projects. You had a storyboard, you had to do your own concept art in your own character designs, you had to model and rig your own character and texture your character and animate your own character, of course, and you do all of the lighting and compositing and singing that you figured out what you wanted to do. By the end of my thesis at Ringling, I decided I really like animation and I really liked story. I have a theatrical background and that really lends itself to being able to tell a story and putting yourself in a character's position and acting through a character, and I will say, there's a lot to be said for being a 3D generalist. Being someone who can do all of it and just knowing the entire process knowing how to do the entire process, gives you so much more confidence. I would just say research the process, go get yourself some Myette, try making your own animated short, learn how it all works and figure out which step in the process brings you the most joy. You may surprise yourself, you may discover that you love lighting, you may discover that you hate story, but layout is awesome, so just go on and do it and figure things out. Next question [singing]: Braden Aust asks: "How many people work on each animation? Is it just you?" Yep. It's just me. Loic Cremer asks: "What got you started in animation personally?". Well, this is actually a story I've told a lot. When I was young, one of my favorite channels to watch was Nickelodeon, and sometimes, during their commercial breaks, they would do these 30 seconds of behind-the-scenes stuff. And for one of these little bumpers, they asked this guy: "What's the best thing about being an animator?" to which he said: "The best thing about being an animator is you never have to grow up". Into little Becca, that was like, but here's the thing: I immediately told myself: "Oh. you'll never be as good as someone from Nickelodeon or Disney.", but still from that moment forward, the thought of being an animator was always in the back of my head, and so, I studied theater and music for a long time, and that made me really happy. I even studied theater for a year at my first college and music for two years, and even though I was learning all of this and I was generally pretty happy, I still knew theater is probably not gonna pay the bills, so I thought to myself: "Well, what else could I do?" And then that little thought in the back of my head just came creeping up: "Maybe I could do animation.", so I looked around the internet, my mom found Ringling and I spent one semester taking art classes to build up a portfolio. And after a long time of being on their waiting list, I got it, and now I'm here. I'm making animation for a living, and I'm living the dream. That's how I got into animation it's amazing how the world worked isn't it I'll write my explainers and entertainers I think that's all the time I have right now but go ahead, and leave me more questions in the comments section below, and for those of you who are wondering: "Okay, Becca, where's the next animation?". While my schedules opened up some, so there's probably going to be more animation on the way, but as long as you guys keep asking questions, I'm gonna keep answering them. Also, if you want to see a secret video, I did audition for the less than famous panel for VidCon, this year. So, if you want to see that video, it's gonna be right here or in the description. I have to say, you guys ask great questions. You really, really do, so ask more and don't forget to subscribe. Thank you so much for tuning in, but now, I gotta tune out. Bye!