Industry Awareness - Continued

From the first week of presentations it became clear to me that a lot of classmates were picking companies who they really had a passion for. Although I admire Studio Distract's work their content never really appealed to me as much as I'd liked. Again, although I have a passion for the work of Pixar and Dreamworks, I didn't particularly want to research them again so I kept exploring other smaller companies.

I decided to change my own presentation to focus on another company called StudioAKA, an animation company based in London. They are relatively small and often work with directors who approach them with ideas, they focus on the journey of the project rather than on the end goal.

They have done work in the advertising industry but have also created their own short films. One project of theirs I admired was 'Lost and Found', based on the children's picture book by Oliver Jeffers. The animation style is soft and emotive, which reflects the tone of the book.


For the section on job requirements and skills I kept the same criteria as on my last presentation which can be viewed previously on this blog.

View my presentation on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/bjw6ure3wqjrqvg/CAP%20Presentation2.pptx?dl=0

Industry Awareness Presentation

As part of the Computer Arts Practice module we were asked to give a short, informal presentation on research we have done on a company in the industry we want to work for.

I have previously looked at animation companies before for a similar task but I had only considered the larger studios such as Disney Animation Studios, Disney Pixar, Dreamworks and Blue Sky. Although its great to have ambition I thought I would look at smaller companies as they'd be my likely choice following on from university.

I looked at companies such as Blue Zoo, Axis Animation, and others but decided to look further into Studio Distract, a 3D animation studio based in Manchester. They have worked on a lot of producing their own content as well as working with clients such as Disney, Hasbro, BBC and Mattel.

A project they are currently working on is Rollie & Friends. An animated series targeted towards children and located in a theme park. The company have designed everything themselves from the characters and environments to the character rigs and story.

You can take a look at their showreel for more information or see my presentation attached at the bottom of this post.


Studio Distract 2014 Animation Showreel from Studio Distract on Vimeo.

While this studio didn't have any animation jobs currently available, I used the other companies I looked at to gather a basic understanding of what's required from a 3D animator. Some companies hired freelances while others had some permanent jobs. A showreel is always required and having experience in the industry always helps.

The skills required are the same as most jobs in the creative industry such as good communication and teamwork skills and the ability to work within a deadline. Skills more specific to animation include an understanding of the principles of animation, knowledge of anatomy and cinematography.

View my presentation on Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/skqok726frfyfto/CAP%20Presentation.pptx?dl=0