Rebecca Explains 3/Transcript

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 * Rebecca Parham: Something is different about this situation but I just can't put my finger on it. Hello, my geeks and peeps, my explainers and entertainers, my little oo-de-lallies, you like to admire. I did it for VidCon. Welcome to episode three of Rebecca Explains or #RebEx, as I've been calling it. I really wanted to get a video out to you guys before I head off to VidCon, and none of my animated stuff is anywhere close to being finished before that time, so here we go another Q&A. legendofmiranda says: "What's the name of the software and tablets and things you use, and how much do they all cost?". YOU'RE SO... a bumpity-bump camera. At the moment, the software that I use the most are Photoshop, Flash, Premiere and a handful of other Adobe products. And when I know for a fact that Adobe is doing is, they're doing the Creative Cloud now, instead of paying an outrageous amount of money for one piece of software or for the entire Creative Suite. You can now pay a monthly fee to get some of their creative software, or all of their creative software. Now the hardware, I have, well, that's-that's different. What I use is something that's known as a Cintiq. It is basically a computer screen that you can lay flat and draw right on the screen with a special stylus pen. They come in a couple of sizes and there's even a portable one called the "Cintiq Companion". I got that one too, it's my baby, and those are gonna cost you anywhere from two thousand to two thousand seven hundred bucks. Yeah, that's expensive, but here's the other option: Wacom, the company that makes the Cintiq, also makes the tablet and that's gonna be a little bit cheaper. I haven't looked up the prices, but I know for a fact it's cheaper. So if I were just starting off drawing in Photoshop or animating in Flash, I would get myself a tablet, first. Next question: TheLiveingDeadOne says: "Are you the Annoying Orange?". Of course I'm the Annoying Orange. I thought that was established by now some guy named Dane Boedigheimer, Flem Steve De Fer has been claiming my work as his own for years. Don't you believe him? It's all me, I play all the characters: Orange, Pear, Marshmallow, Grapefruit "Oh, oh, it's grapefruit:. I'm the tool character. I can't do the voice right now. I had an opera lesson the other day, but yeah, I am the creator and the voice of Annoying Orange. DISCLAIMER: Rebecca is not actually the creator of Annoying Orange. An orange is created by the awesome and talented DaneBoe. Stray Vagabond says: "About animation, what do you know now that you really wish you knew before getting into it?". A lot of things, but mostly how much work it was gonna be. If I'm being completely honest, before I got into Ringling, I was not the hardest-working student in class. I really skated by on my ability to do things the last second, so I was completely caught off guard by how much work it was. So with animation comes a lot of motivation and a lot of self-discipline. Ain't nobody holding your hand in animation, don't make my mistake. Moving on! Tacitunum says: "You mentioned that writing and story is one of the steps in the animation process. Do you need to have a background in animation to get a job in that area, or can you simply be a writer?". I'm not too involved in the screenwriting process, I don't know too much about it, but I will say in animation, you kind of have to have some sort of animation background for you to be considered for a screenwriting gig. I'm sure there are exceptions to that, but you also have to remember there are a lot of screenwriters out there. So you're competing with a lot of people if you're just going by a screenwriting basis. But if you're involved in the animation process at a studio and you happen to also be a really great writer, well, that's your foot in the door. They already know who you are, so overall, I would say that your chances for writing for animation are a lot better if you're actually a part of the animation process, preferably story. So go practice storyboarding. Moving on! Eryn Baker says: "About how many years do you have to spend in school to get into a top-notch animation studio?". Oh, boy, this is gonna answer a lot of questions that you guys have been asking. By all technicality, you don't need to go to art school to get into a top-notch studio. Studio recruiters will tell you: "It's not where you went, it's what you do.". To be completely honest, I'm not even sure they really care about the school on your resume. I don't even know if they read the resume, have the time you want to know what they look at. Your portfolio, your demo reel and a tiny little bit of anybody else knows you in the studio. Like I said, an episode one, you got a network. Recruiters are all gonna be different. Some recruiters are gonna care about what school you went to, because it's kind of like, an insurance policy for them: "Oh, this person went to Ringling, so they know how to do the 3D process. Ringling always puts out good stuff. This kid probably knows what they're doing.", and some of them are not gonna care: "Holy, look at this portfolio. It's still good, it doesn't matter that this person didn't go to art school.". I wasn't making fun of that type of recruiter, I just really like that voice, and as far as how many years you have to spend in school. that really depends on the school that you're going to. If you go to a trade school like full sail, it's about two years. Ringling and a lot of other schools are a four-year program, and then, there are some weird schools that make their animation program a graduate program. All in all, just research the school, figure out what their timeline is. Mehki Howard says: "I want to work for Cartoon Network, but my art style is anime. Will I be hired?". Oooh, I'm gonna crush so many dreams by answering this question. If all you do is anime, then you're probably not going to be hired by Cartoon Network to make it in the American animation industry. You have got to be flexible. You've got to be able to draw every style, Under the Sun, you got to draw realistic, you gotta draw like the Looney Tunes, you gotta draw like Disney, you got to draw simplified like current Cartoon Network shows. And if the only style of art that you can perform in is a style that's not even popular here in America, then you're not going to get a job. I'm sorry, that's the sad, hard truth of it. In fact, a lot of schools who require a portfolio to get into the animation program, they'll say: "No anime", because anime is just super popular among young artists right now, and you've got to prove that you can do more. It would kind of be like me wanting to be a character designer over at Disney when the only animation style I can do is Butch Hartman. It doesn't make sense, and I'm not going to get the job, and the recruiter is going to go for the next fifty people who can do every art style, Under the Sun. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but if you really want to be a part of the animation industry, you have to push your own creative boundaries, and do something other than anime. Next question: Miho Cor says: "I'm curious... Which animated movie is your favorite?" [Rebecca freaks out] did you just seriously ask me that? Up, no, Wreck-it-Ralph, no, How to Train your Dragon, oh my gosh, The Secret of Nimo... It's so gorgeous and so beautiful, and I know nobody else likes it, but I really love Monsters. What is that? I'm alright, yeah. It's your life back together. Alright, explainers, and entertainers, that is really all I can do for right now. It is late at night, and I still have so much to do in preparation for VidCon, so go ahead and ask me more questions in the comment section below. And don't forget you can also ask me on Twitter or Instagram. You can ask me about animation, you can ask me about drawing, you can ask me about my shoe size, not really. Sure, why you'd want to know that? And if you're gonna be at VidCon and you want to say "Hello!", shake my hand give me a high five, scream me from across the convention center, then let me know. I want to scream right back at you. I'm good at screaming. I got that opera sound alright guys. Thank you so much for tuning in, but now, I gotta tune out. Bye!

Extras video

 * Rebecca Parham:
 * There's no lever underneath my chair. Why? But I feel like that's like not putting a break in your car.
 * So here we go with Reb x3. I can't count.
 * Oh! Ooh! Ooh! Ooh! Oooh! Oooh! It's grapefruit. (Do you hate me yet?)
 * Is the screen out of focus or is that just my eyes? Probably a little bit of both.
 * I mean really just take a look at what's on TV right now.
 * Unless you count Legend of Korra, there's really no anime style show being produced for America.
 * If you want to be an anime artist, you gotta go to Japan. And like I said in a previous video, you don't want to work for an anime studio.
 * I'm gonna post a cartoon brew story below about how awful anime studios are.
 * I'm looking like a Disney villain. [thumbs up]