Yellow Jacket Times - Jefferson County Public Schools

Annimation, It's Real. Myles Brock
What is animation? Oxford dictionary defines it as the state of being full of life or vigor; liveliness. This
describes the way I look at it perfectly. Animation, to me, is just that. Making life of anything! Your
wildest imagination in plain sight. It can be as basic as drawing on a flip book, or as advanced as CG
animation used in our favorite films, shows and videos today. In my opinion, Animation is the most
magnificent production tool ever created, and with the right tools, anyone can broadcast their
thoughts vividly through it alone.
Most people see animation and think "This isn't real," but that's just it, it is. When you're watching a
movie, Marvel's: The Avengers, for example. The visuals in that film are just stunning. The Heroes
some people only saw in comic books actually there, with personalities. Anyone with common sense
knows that Marvel's comic book superheroes aren't real, and they aren't really in New York City
fighting Loki, the Norse God of Mischief and his Alien army, but in that hour or so the film is on, you're
seeing it! We all know the saying, "I'll believe it when I see it." Well, you're seeing it.
My Interest in animation started very early. Growing up, I was on the internet a lot, like most of my
generation. When I was 12 or 13 years old, I discovered Flash. For those who don't know, Flash is a
very popular animation software that's used professionally and domestically. Some examples of
shows that are made with Flash are Bob's Burgers, launched by 20th Century Fox; Ugly Americans,
launched by Comedy Central; Total Drama, Johnny Test, and Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends,
all launched on Cartoon Network, and various others.
I found Animation on Youtube. Flash to be exact. I started with leisure animations that weren't really
serious. I'd maybe show some friends and that's all, but after months of steady improvement and
encouragement from friends and family, it became a hobby that I would love to have a career doing.
When I first found out about animating, I didn't think of it as a career. It was always something I did
when I had free time. There was one project, though, that I was working on for about 3 weeks - the
longest animation I'd ever made at that point - about 6 minutes of a ninja stick figure fighting other
stick figures. I showed it to my Dad and he suggested that I post it somewhere, so I uploaded it to
Youtube. This was the point where animation became serious. This was the first time I actually got
feedback, both positive and negative. This also lead to me watching other people's animation much
more, and lead to me animating more and putting much more thought into my animations.
I started joining different Animation forums, like Fluidanims and Stickpage; Animation became the
most time consuming hobby I'd ever had. I met some amazing people who helped me reach a
potential I had no idea I had. After a while, I became the guy teaching new guys how to animate. I
learned the software inside and out and began producing animations way beyond my original
expectations. After about 2 years of animating, I decided that I loved it, and I want to do it for the rest
of my life.
My 1st college choice would be Full Sail University. "Full Sail’s Computer Animation program was
designed to prepare you for a career in this exciting field. By expanding your abilities as an artist and
learning the latest tools, applications, and design theory used to create 3D content for different media,
you’ll not only be able to take your art in new directions, but also put your skills to work realizing – and
sometimes even improving – the creative vision of others." (http://www.fullsail.edu/degrees/computeranimation-bachelors)
I'd love to attend Full Sail, but it's in Florida and I don't know if I can afford it. My second choice is