[synj]

*stomp stomp stomp* I am so damn mad. haha okay not really but it sure is frustrating to have fresh ideas.

Allow me to share my travels of trying to find a job as an ANIMATOR, not a modeller god dammit. These people with power are so weak minded they cant see past the look of the cartoon and study the movement.

This has happened to me like 200000 times, so now i feel like sharing. The numbskulls cant grasp I say I do motion instead of modelling. And I'm not about to animate different models - I want to be hired by someone with a brain.

The story begins with an email (top cut off):

> My site, which is basically my online portfolio, is at http://www.synj.net
> My resume can be found at http://www.synj.net/author.htm
>
> I urge you to look at a few of the animations, as they are my forte.
There is also a small game beta listed in the news for download. I can
guarantee quality and humor out of them.
>
> Best Regards,
> Dan Paladin
> http://www.synj.net
> Ridiculously good stuff.

The response?

> Thanks for the email; however, after reviewing your work I do not see a
fit for your style in the game industry. My suggestion if you sincerely want
to break into the game industry is to emulate the type of art that you so
frequently see in hit video games.
>
> Good luck to you.

My response?

What I was referring to was the motion I can capture. Not particularly the look of the art. Yes, it does not look like run of the mill. I thought that would be a plus. I suppose I overlooked the fact that we are spiraling downward into a boring, gory mess of metal, armor, whatnot, and apparently the game industry would like to keep it that way.

Regards,
Dan Paladin

hehehe dammit. okay i'm done ranting.

Wait no i'm not. Do any of you see me as being the dumb one? Did I say anything about my art reflecting the game industry's look? dafsjfdsdfsafsd The moral of this story is: dont think, be a clone to everything you see and you'll get hired. And, don't try to apply as an animator because they somehow skip over that part and look at the models instead.

[This message has been edited by synj (edited April 28, 2000).]

[Loki]

Synj - which company was that?

If they can't see beyond that and aren't able to recognize your talent, which you undoubtedly have, you wouldn't wanna work for them anyway!

Don't give up - everyone I've shown your stuff to LOVED it - the animation and the humor. I think it's just a short matter of time for you, until then, make some more cool stuff, because once you're employed somewhere, you won't be having that much time anymore

[synj]

Thanks, Loki. I was going to keep that info private as to who that was, but since you asked, it's the 'infamous' Melanie Cambron, which I've heard is tied in with Peter Molyneneyxuxxeuxoxux, former bullfrog president and founder, and tons of other big wigs (btw: Peter RULES!). I bet one of them might even read this. She apparently is a great way to get into the industry, but somehow lacks the ability to decipher what is said in emails.

This is her signature, for those of you who might want a position that i didn't get:

> Melanie R. Cambron
> Game Recruiting Goddess
> Virtual Search, Inc.
> 800.779.3334 x 111
> [email protected]
> http://home.earthlink.net/~mrcambron

-synj www.synj.net


[This message has been edited by synj (edited April 28, 2000).]

[Frost]

Seriously, I don't know who that guy was, but he's a real jerk, speaking on the part of the entire gaming industry ("I do not see a fit for your style in the game industry." -- that is such bullshit). I have worked in the computer game industry, and I know you have the talent for it. Forget what that loser had to say about that, he obviously can't recognize the quality of your work.

frost.

PS - Some people obviously think highly of themselves! The big Lionhead recruiter... anyway, Lionhead rocks, Peter Molineux rocks, but that doesn't give that braindead chick the right to put you down on behalf of the entire industry! (fuck her). (Sorry, but I can relate to what you're going through).

[This message has been edited by Frost (edited April 28, 2000).]

[Muzman]

If life has taught me anything it's to expect imagination, originality and vision to be practically killed off by commerce every time (and yet funding it.)

Don't worry synj, you put more character into 20 frames than I've seen in whole games.
There are people who understand that out there, I'm sure.

(oops: hey look, there's one now! "ridiculously good stuff" the animated series?)

[This message has been edited by Muzman (edited April 28, 2000).]

[Joachim]

Synj,

That must be some really dumb ass idiot answering your e-mail. I can't imagine that every game company can be like that.

If it would have been possible to get you into Norway, as an immigrant, I would have loved doing character animation with you.
So, I'm sure there must be many other companies/artists that can see that you are a competent animator.



------------------
Joachim
web: http://home.sol.no/~jbarrum/

[Nex]

First off:
I love Synij's work and his style he is very recognizeable.

And there we are:

If you have a very distinctive style it can be both a blessing and a curse. If someone sees your stuff he may assume that you can't or dont want to do different stuff.

I know this problem from another side.
A professional musican I know applied for a job in a band some years ago. They asked him to bring some demo stuff of his previous work.
He was very good but quite unique. They dumped him because his approach was not like what they were used to hear from radio, MTV etc.

They were not used to the way he played and did not want to invest time to integrate him into the band. They searched for someone sounding "average" and "normal".

Maybe thats why they did not want to hire you.

Anyway.. keep it going. Youre good.

[napalm]

synj,

I'm worried about facing a similar situation. I'll be finishing up my demo reel and sending it out next week. While I would love to do game or movie work, dark and gritty realistic stuff, the main focus of my reel is my newest short in which i made a conscious decision on the visual style in which it was presented. Unfortunatly the cartoony look I went for might come back to haunt me in a similar situation to your own. Any GOOD HR person at a respectable studio would be able to recognize ability in motion, overall production value, timing, etc.. and see the energy put into a production. Unfortunately too many tape reviews are conducted by people in bad moods, people with narrow minds, people on their lunch break, people doing other things or by cockroaches in the basement of the studio where the thousands of demo tapes are stacked up unviewed

Although this may be a good thing in the long run, would you really want to work at a company with such an ignorant and blind staff such as the one to which you applied? probably not.. still, we all have bills to pay, get to work on those alien fighting marines and space ships!



------------------
[email protected]
personal: http://www.deadzebra.com / cia productions: http://www.creators.org

[synj]

Thanks for all your insight, kind words, and support, guys. It really has lightened up this situation for me. 2 possible job opportunities came out of flaming this putz! Maybe recruiters are good for something afterall eh?

Side note for whom suggested it: I have applied at game companies directly before, with no responses at all unfortunately. That is why I went to a recruiter.

oh, almost forgot:


-synj www.synj.net
Ridiculously good stuff.

[This message has been edited by synj (edited April 28, 2000).]

[HariKari]

Before I say anything, I just want you to know that I'm a pretty dumb teenager. However, anyone (including the dumb teenagers) would know that you have great talent. I love your work, and your posts are the ones that I read first, cuz I know you always got something cool to show. Keeping in mind that I'm a dumb teenager, I think your characters remind me of the Blizzards Warcraft characters (don't know why, but they do). I searched Blizzards site for job listings in Blizzard and you may want to take a look at some, here's the link http://www.blizzard.com/jobopp . In the whole game industry, I think that Blizzard's art are the coolest, and the company knows what they're doing. I really want to get into the game industry when I grow up, I think being part of Blizzard would be a great honor. Again, I don�t know crap about the industry, but I would just like to point that out. I think that you�ll have plenty of opportunities, and whoever finds your talent will be like finding a gold mine in the game industry.

------------------
HariKari http://hk.tf2flak.com

[synj]

Hey thanks, hari. A ton! You aren't the first to mention it as blizzard-ish. I personally don't see the connection, but, I do enjoy blizzard's art. I remember warcraft 1's intro gave me an extra kick in the butt to start learning 3D, and I'll never forget that. I look back on it now and its age is showing, but its still a good piece. (Especially the ending where the orcs win!!)

-synj

ps.


[This message has been edited by synj (edited April 28, 2000).]

[napalm]

ok, while this thread is going on and synj will check it.. do you key in 5's and then tweak/add keys, do forward keying or key in poses? just curious to your personal technique.

[synj]

Napalm: Yes, yes, and yes.

I started out by doing it in 5's, but as time went on I learned what kinds of actions should be done in less or more frames. But yes, keying in 5's is a pretty good general rule-of-thumb when experimenting, unless you know he's going to have to snap back or something, which would be about 2 frames back, 3-5 frames forward.

Now what I mostly do is combine poses with present frame amounts in my head. The more I work on animations the less I have to tweak, but I doubt I will ever perfect it enough where I don't. Thank god for that, its not fun without frustration.

hope that helps,
-synj

[Francis]

Hi synj

I'm also in the game industry. I had a similar story back when I was still trying to break in. I contacted a "recruiter" and provided a link to my portfolio as well as some background stuff (I graduated from arch school, yada yada). I asked for advice about how to break into the industry and what I should concentrate on in order to make myself more marketable. Her response was basically "well, I really only deal with people already in the industry. You should try to get a job with a game company in order to get some experience."

Hello!?

Anyway, in my experience, it's a tough route if you approach the suits/marketing twits. Good luck to you - I know you have the chops.

Francis

------------------
www.teamgt.com

[zayats]

Synj

If you're kinda just starting out, it's highly unlikely that an independent recruiter will be able to help you much.

Recruiters are not artists/animators.
They rarely have any real ability to assess your creative skills.
Typically, they will only judge you based on two things:
1) Your professional experience as indicated on your resume;
2) Whether or not your artwork is similar to that of exisiting work which they are familiar with.

Recruiters take a percentage of your yearly salary (paid by the company). Sometimes as much as 25%. Therefore, they will focus their attention on clients who can command the highest salaries. "Entry level" people are not a high priority for them because their cut of the "entry level" salary will be pretty small.

I work for a large Film Special Effects studio. We have in-house recruiters. They are not artists/animators themselves, and they know that. Therefore, all the portfolios & demo reels are reviewed by Animation/Art Supervisors who are usually more interested in your skills than your resume. (The recruiters sit in and take notes).

An independent recruiter doesn't have access to Animation/Art supervisors who can accurately assess your skills. So they either judge you entirely on your resume or look at your stuff & think, "Gee, this guy's stuff kinda looks like the stuff that Namco does. Guess I'll send it there".

If your work has a unique style and your resume is light on professional experience, sending your stuff to an independent recruiter is probably a waste of your time.

You're much better off sending your materials directly to the companies you'd like to work for.

Are you just interested in the games industry? Or would you consider working in film? Or TV?

I've seen your work. It's great.

We have some pretty cool feature film projects coming up and an interactive division is currently being assembled here.

Contact me directly if you'd like more info on applying for a job here.

I can't necessarily guarantee you a job, but I can very likely get you an interview at some point (which might include a free trip to Southern California).

Keep up the good work.

[failsafe]

I'm going to take a bit of a different approach to this thread, first is the fact that a recuiter will not give great feedback of your work(though I'm aware it's because you've tried the direct approach) But in my oppinion the direct approach is better for someone with a unique style as yours because the lead artists will likely see it, and they're the ones you want to impress.

If I was a lead looking at your work, and taking into account that you want to animate, the critique would include the following.

First it looks like you definity have the potential for talent, I think right now your strength's are your sense of creativity, and I've seen some scenes that have been staged very well. You've done a unique style very well (dispite the opinions of some recruiters But here are things you could work on.

your stories are great, and entertain a lot of people, but on a strict "animation critique" I can see some improvements that need to be made, really just stuff that comes with practice (personally I think you'll get in the industry, hang in there)
things like hitting poses, and the vital priciples of animation like overlapping action, anticipation, timing, exaggeration, blah blah blah.

What I suggest you do is do some strict animation tests, your stories are great and a valuable addition to your reel, however now I suggest you do some simple exercises that prove you can animate, things that can show weight, timing, character, etc.

When a company is looking to hire an animator, they want to be absolutly blown away, which doesn't have to be eye candy, your creative inputs are great, and are a great contribution as an artist, but I think to be an animator you have to animate so well that there is no question to "x" company that they "need" you on there team. Large scale story projects often make a person a great generalist, which may help for a really small game company, but you have to be so good at what you want to do "animating in your case" because despite the fact that they'll love that you also have this great creative side, they want someone who can animate first and foremost.

This critique is not meant to be harsh, personally I think you have some great animations and with a little more work (I know it probably seems like you've gone through so much already) I think you'll break into the industry. Timing is everything when your looking for work so don't get discouraged too soon. good luck

[synj]

[censored]

[This message has been edited by synj (edited April 29, 2000).]