Hi guys, I'm FutureComicsPerson678 (aka Robert Misirian).
I have a very ambitious goal in the entertainment world, and that extends beyond animation (though it is a big part of it). I am planning to work on my own versions of preexisting franchises and work on original products for existing companies. What's more, I'm planning to make my own big franchises and companies and then merge them all into the world's largest media conglomerate.
That's a lot to work for, but I am going to start at internships at major studios. I admittedly have been writing and drawing and even learning for my dream career, but I feel that only my writing is good enough. Still, I've decided internships may be good for me. Especially since I can make good connections in the industry. I have phenomenal ideas, but I'll need someone who knows me as a creator and all the experience and skill as possible to make it in this industry. So if any of you can, please let me know if any big studio can offer me internships.
Many thanks. Have a good day.
You should be checking their websites. I know that Pixar has that information there.
Big studios hardly offer internships unless you are a student. If you are really seroius about this maybe start going to a universty that will help you with your goals? If you choose the right instituition not only will you grow as a creative person but if done right you will be able to network in school. My old football coach once told me; "If ou go to college and dont network, you just wasted four years of your life.". Most studios offer internships for junior year students going into there senior year. If you want to get into film matbe make short films and enter them in festivles and get recgonition that way.
Well, I am in my third year of college and I am taking a character design for animation class taught by Mike Jones. I believe that I can network with him and my screenwriting teaher, Micheal Shilf. I plan to do both art and writing so I think this is a good start.
That is a very good start! Look into your schools internship programs and also apply to programs like pixar, dreamworks and other big names. Bookmark the sites and check daily for application opening and get your application is asap when the process starts. Find out what you want to intern in and look into what kind of portfolio they need. What are you majoring in may I ask?
I am not in a specific path to any degree and I am enrolled in community college. I didn't know what degree could help me get a job in art and writing for comics, animation, video games, and movies (as well as directing and producing the movies and TV shows). I realized later that getting multiple degrees can take so many years and I won't have much time for my career if I really do get those degrees. I am currently enrolled at Glendale Communty College in California and I will need to transfer to another college to get my degree. So would visual development be a good major for me? If so, what will I need to do to get started writing, producing, and directing too?
Some school have a BA in Animation (or can be called Experimental Animation) that emphasis storytelling and new ways of thinking, plus the drawing courses will help you in comics and most of these schools require you to take multiple writing classes as well as screenwriting classes . Another good degree would be Game Design with a dual major/minor in Animation (easier to do that other dual majors because of many overlapping classes) to learn how to; code, storytell better, draw, animate and get the basics down. Many colleges have gen eds that are required so I would suggest choosing smart classes to take at that time. Take a bunch of writing, drawing and film classes.
Another good avenue to take would be Majoring in a film oreinted major and minoring/dual majoring in animation. A dual major will be very hard with animation if taken with something that has such little overlap, but you can always minor in one of those things. Then if you want you can learn how to code(for video games) on your own just get a good book on C++ and go through it.
You second question; get a camera and start filming. That easy, it dosent even need to be a state of the art camera just get one that you can record with. Go to your community theater and ask if you can help assist the director. Start writing everyday and just get better at it, bring a notebook with you at all times and whenever you get an idea write it down. Practice drawing a lot and start penning your own comics. Start animating things at home and learn how to do basic animation stuff like rigging and modeling. But keep in mind if you do all this stuff you proably wont have a social life at all, but if this is the route you want to undertake you need to make big sacrifces.
So what I think I may try is majoring in animation and dual majoring in screenwriting and minoring in filmmaking. I am not really interested in coding games; I just want to come up with all the used ideas for gameplay. This is especially good considering that you said if I wanted to code my own games (professionally, right?) I would need to get a good C++ book and learn from it. What's more, I can probably also design the characters, props, and backgrounds and locations for animation with this majoring/minoring. So I must ask, is this exactly the right path for me? Also, what about producing or directing? As far as I know, producing is calling the shots in animation and maybe video games creatively, and directing movies and TV is determining how specific actions area carried out. The storyboards of any scene may serve as a guide if that is the case, but is determining how actions are carried out a part of directing? And is producing calling the shots in animation and video games while it's determining the funds in movies?
A producer is someone who makes sure that the movie is going to be done by a spiecific deadline within budget. Each studio has its own way of wworking things, but directors tend to be the minds behind the movie. A good animation degree does more than teach you how to animate, it teaches you how to use camera angles, explore new mediums as well as storyboarding modeling and rigging and lighting. Combined with screenwriting you will learn how to express your ideas both artisticly and on paper. With that filmmaking minor you will go deeper into the art of camera angles and getting that perfect shot, as well as exploring and anylzing other films. I recomend you take one game design class as a gen.ed or over summer so you can learn the theory behind level design and how to make fun games. And yes it is possible to learn how to code on your won, but keep in mind it will be hard. C++ is ussually the go to code for games.
Some big producers tend to call the shots as they are the funding behind the movie, but others tend to let the directors do what ever they want. Somepeople even direct/produce movies themselves so they have full controll.
Okay, so basically I need to get a major in animation, a dual major in screenwriting, a minor in filmmaking, and a gen.ed in game design. The last questions I will ask are these: is this a good way to go for me? And what do you mean directors are the "minds behind the movie"? And what is a minor, gen.ed, and dual major and how long will it take to get these degrees?
A gen ed is a clss you can take for credit that dosent have anything to do with your degree. I.E when you need to take classes that are not animation/screenwriting related. Most often times that not normal univisities will require General education classes to be taken, often times freshman year. talk to your acedemic advisior about gen. eds. This will be a good way to go to get a well rounded education for all the things you want to do. A minor is something you can do along with a major to gain more knwledge in that feild, it is basicly a mini-degree in that field. If you work VERY hard you can complete a dual major/minor in 4 years, averge is 5 years though with some summer classes.
A dual major is were you get two undergradute degrees working on them at the same time.
By mind behind the movies i mean that they are often the ones who choose sets and make adjustments to the script and do all the artistic suff behind the camera.
Okay, though I still have a few more questions: what does a producer/executive producer for TV do? Is he or she in charge of the artistic decisions the creative team makes? And how do popular franchises and specific works in them (like Marvel or Transformers) get adaptions in mediums like comic books, video games, animation, and movies? How does the process start, proceed, and end in each medium? And what advice would you give me on starting my own media conglomerate? How do you start one and establish its brand and identity? How would you establish assets like TV networks, airlines/cruiselines/resorts, theme parks, intellectual properties/entertainment franchises, restaruants, studios under a division like TV or video games, and shops? The best idea I have in mind is starting the main company and making all the other branches gradually, each with their own brand and identity. Each branch would make comics, animation, video games, and movies in my dream media conglomerate. So is this the right idea?
In order to have all of that stuff it would cost you in the billions. Start small like with a game or comic studio. Slowly grow that out for a couple of years until it becomes a major revenue source. Then you can either create a new studio for another assest or buyy out an existing one, or you can even finacially back and partner with a current owner. The rest of the stuff I know very little about, so I hope someone else will chime in as well.
So if you know little about how woks in a franchise are made and what producers/executive producers do, then I guess that's all I need to know.Many thanks. Wish me luck. :)