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Other Ways to potray your ideas

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Other Ways to potray your ideas

Hey guys. Im a little lost on my future at the moment and Im looking for some information. Ultimatley, I want to end up as a project lead on an animated film. Whether that is a 2d or 3d film doesnt make a difference to me. I just want to be the creative force behind a movie like The Incredibles. Now, the only path I have seen to this goal is to become an animator, a grunt like everyone else. Then from there impress the right people and work my way up. The problem is , my art skills at the moment are somewhat lacking, and with college admissions due, im not too hopeful about getting into college with my current portfolio.
My question is whether there are other ways to make it as a project lead on an animated film without being drawing adept? I want to inspire the way the movie looks, feels and the story. Any other path to this goal without being an amazing artist?
Thanks

John Lasseter was not an outstanding artist. Tim Burton draws in one style (it's a cool style, but it's his only style). Andrew Stanton is the first to say that he isn't an excellent artist. You don't have to be an outstanding artist, but you should have something that showcases your storytelling ability.

All these guys did small personal projects to show what they could do story-wise, animation-wise, etc. It's one way to go. You'll have a hard time finding anyone who will trust you with a major production without your having some previous work to show. If your goal is to be a director, then you must have story ideas that you can use to showcase your skills. Pick one and get started! :)

Ultimatley, I want to end up as a project lead on an animated film. Whether that is a 2d or 3d film doesnt make a difference to me. I just want to be the creative force behind a movie like The Incredibles.

I could be wrong but I think that Brad Bird was not and is not an animator.

I could be wrong but I think that Brad Bird was not and is not an animator.

Brad has primarily been active in story and as a director, but he was personally mentored by Milt Kahl after Brad's first animated film (made when he was 14 ) was screened for the old guard animation dept. at Disney , and was trained as an animator at Cal Arts and in the Disney Animation Training Program. Brad Bird worked briefly as an animator on "The Fox and the Hound" (no screen credit) and received screen credit as an animator on the animated features "The Plague Dogs" and "Animalympics". Brad also animated several scenes in "The Iron Giant" (the sequence where Hogarth gets wired on the espresso at Dean's place).

"EustaceScrubb" has left the building

Brad has primarily been active in story and as a director, but he was personally mentored by Milt Kahl after Brad's first animated film (made when he was 14 ) was screened for the old guard animation dept. at Disney , and was trained as an animator at Cal Arts and in the Disney Animation Training Program. Brad Bird worked briefly as an animator on "The Fox and the Hound" (no screen credit) and received screen credit as an animator on the animated features "The Plague Dogs" and "Animalympics". Brad also animated several scenes in "The Iron Giant" (the sequence where Hogarth gets wired on the espresso at Dean's place).

So Brad Bird took advantage of opportunities has the came his way, while developing his skills. Sounds like a good approch to me.

There are three ways to become a project lead in any sort of job.

A) Work your way up. Start as a grunt and work your way up. Any job with a promotion path to project lead will do. Many companies promote based on experience. Some companies promote based on experience alone, with little regard to leadership skills. Keep in mind that eventual promotion from entry level to project lead may not be an option in all companies. Some companies have different entry paths for different kinds of jobs. That brings us to...
B) Transfer. Become a project leader/manager type person somewhere else. Prove that you can manage people and make things get done. Then transfer into the position you want to be in and do just that. Needless to say, this is easier said than done.
C) Do your own thing. Start you own project and direct it. Start small and do bigger things as you go. This is hard. A one man band is hard because you have to be able to do everything on your own; you also have to have the discipline to actually get things done. Working with other people is also hard. First you have to convince them that they'd rather be working on your project than their own project. To do that you need to either be very persuasive or pay people (paying people can get expensive). Then you have to finish before people lose interest (ie, run out of money if people are paid; people get bored if unpaid). On top of all of this you need to manage to make some wonderful. Not easy. Presumably you'll make your own big thing eventually. Or you'll "transfer" somewhere else and make their big thing.

What do all of these have in common? You'll need much experience. The good news is that fantistic art skills are not listed anywhere above. The bad news is that it is hard to become a project lead on a big project. It will require time, hard work and dedication. Giving up will guarantee failure. =)

Good luck!
-Brendan

You could try to marry you way into a family that has control of production,.

Pat Hacker, Visit Scooter's World.

How about getting both feet ( and hands, and head, heck---the whole body!) in the door as a writer?

Quick note...It might help not to think of an animator as a grunt, even though the work itself can often have a grunt element to it. People that consider themselves grunts don't have a full understanding of their role and what they need to be aware of and sensitive to and the work shows it.

It'd certainly be difficult to lead a project full of people who are reasonably in tune with what you work with and not having a reciprocal relationship with them and their skills to some extent.

So familiarity can also breed teamwork---hmmm, another take on "familiarity". I'm writing this one down. Oops! I already did! :)

So how about being a project lead from a writers stand point? I have pretty good story telling abilities as a writer. Could I get there form that path?

So how about being a project lead from a writers stand point? I have pretty good story telling abilities as a writer. Could I get there form that path?

It depends on how you play your cards, and that depends on what cards you have to play. =) The short answer is "yes, probably". Like any other path, it will be a long hard road.

You need experience leading projects to properly be a project lead. Pseudo-professional work counts. Nobody needs to know it's "only" pseudo-professional. If I were in your position (granted, I don't really know what your position is), I'd write "stories" and try to present them visually if that what you really want to be doing. I'd do that even if it means holding a part time job and paying people token amounts to create the visuals.

Disclaimer: I'm heavily biased toward "do it yourself", as that is what I'm attempting to do right now. =)

-Brendan