May 20th Meeting Notes

For those of you who turned up at the May 20th meeting to find it canceled at the last minute we apologize. When we moved the meeting from May 13th to the 20th because of finals week we were not informed that the school would switch to summer hours and basically lock down at 6:30 PM. We will get things straightened out and announce the date and location for the June meeting soon.

One of our scheduled speakers for the event Ken Kornacki and his partner @ Aurum Design Neille Hoffman did make their way over to MIAD anyway with me and we met a few folks outside the building. When a group of ten or so assembled Ken and Neille offered to host an impromptu meeting at their studio a few blocks away.

We made our way to Aurum Design and ultimately Ken gave his presentation to the 17 attendees followed by some good Q&A and demo reel viewings.

Ken's presentation ran about an hour and was full of great insights from his years in the business. Ken shared his notes with me and I editorialized a bit from the meeting conversation to give some of the highlights:


About Aurum Design:

Ken Kornacki has been in the business 21 years and is the Creative Director and co-owner at Aurum since 2002. Ken worked at over 15 other companies both as an employee and freelancer(he named most of them, quite a list).

Aurum was started in Chicago by print designer Neille Hoffman in 1996. Aurum Design is a design studio, which includes motion graphic design, visual effects design AND print design. The key is that all of their projects are DESIGNED, that is the ideas are generated by Aurum Design, usually starting with paper and pencil. They are not a "post production" facility, though they have the same hardware and software as one. Aurum Design works as the creative partner to ad agencies, directors, and corporate clients.

In 2009 they changed from employee based to a completely freelance hiring structure. There is abundant experienced talent available everywhere. About half of Aurum Design's projects have freelancers who never come into their studio. This is especially true for 3d.

Clients include ad agencies, both locally and nationally. Corporate marketing departments for large companies. Live action production companies for both commercials and feature films. And broadcast clients including HBO, TLC and the Oprah Winfrey show/ABC TV.

These clients are the result of relationship building for many years. Ken says "I didn't just call them and ask for a project. It's an expensive and delicate way to make friends and we fiercely protect our relationships with our clients."


Looking For Work

Ken has some very specific and direct feedback to give animators/motion designers in the field.

Avoid tutorials!
Tutorials are ok for learning basic techniques but they are not intended to be on your reel. Mimicking a tutorial and changing some settings does not constitute mastery of the application or expose your creative talent. Show your own projects or those that were hired to do. If you do use tutorials on your reel such as a technical tutorial (3d tracking, keying, etc), make sure that the sample looks good.

Visual Effects Artists/Animators looking to become employed either full time or a a freelancer:

MUST greenscreen.
MUST motion track/stabilize
MUST learn expressions.
MUST know 3d space, even in 2d design.
MUST edit.

This is a technical field and there are too many talented people with MANY skills. Know what you want to do, but have these skills available. THIS IS WHAT TUTORIALS ARE FOR.

Do work outside of your main interest.
Immerse yourself in creativity. Every skill applies and adds depth to your knowledge and relevance to you as a potential hire. You can include these things in your portfolio/reel to show your capabilities, broad interests and talent.

Photography
Painting
Print (Posters, CD, website, etc)
Music


Have more than a few samples on your portfolio site. This is your chance to show more than techniques. Explore techniques and AVOID TUTORIALS (get the message?).

There's a difference between 'opinion' and 'quality'. You can disagree with someone's opinion (Avatar), but there's no denying good (or poor) quality. Don't defend an obvious mess. Learn from it and move on.


Demo Reel

Decide what your specialty is.
Show your best work only.
Keep it under 3 minutes.
Pick music that you can edit, or fade out and is not offensive/annoying to your target viewer.
Your demo and or portfolio must be available online.

Give credit to the studio that hired you. The studio has worked hard to gain their reputation and clients and you are working for them.
-Gives you credibility.
-Gives the studio more exposure.
-It's the right thing to do.

How To Get Hired

Demo reel. First point of contact.

Be ready to work out of Milwaukee. Milwaukee is not a "hot bed" of animation today. There are great companies in Chicago and other cities doing fantastic work. Go there, learn deep skills, learn about the business, then bring your knowledge back to Milwaukee. This will raise the bar locally and build a sustainable culture.

Have a decent attitude at the interview. This is pretty self explanatory

Be available. If not, make it known early. The employer is calling you because they have a need, not to talk shop. Know if you are available or not. "I have something but..." and "Let me check and get back" are not acceptable. The job will be filled by the time you call back.

Know your day rate. What you charge.

Understand that it's a team. You'll get your chance to shine. This is the employers project and every project has a leader. Contribute, observe, learn, wait your turn to lead.


On The Job

Play to your strengths. Compositing, 3d, design, etc. But, FOLLOW THE CREATIVE LEAD. Demand to see the boards. Demand a creative brief.

Comment only when appropriate.

Suggest a technique that's relevant to the project. Don't get offended if it's not picked up right away.

Don't engage in gossip/border disputes.

Watch out for 'neck down' projects. Beware of being hired for your headless skills re: robot pushing buttons. Try to find work where you can contribute and have something to offer. Your competence, skills and teamwork get you noticed. Not button pushing.


THERE WILL BE BLOOD

Big projects come with big expectations. Managing a large project includes dealing with client expectations AND employees/freelancers. You don't work for me (the studio), we all work for the client.

You'll make mistakes. You'll get hazed by the veterans. You'll get blamed for some screw-up that maybe you didn't even cause. You might say the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person. But it's not the end of your career. Get past it and finish the job.

It's the fox-hole camaraderie that makes you a better artist and gives you that experience you won't get working on your own projects.
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Thanks again to all for your patience, Ken and Neille for your generosity. We will keep everyone posted on the details of the next meeting by e-mail, Twitter @MilwAnimGrp and the MilwaukeeAnimationGroup.com site.

-Scott Hill
MAG Board Member

From our friends at UWM, their first student animation festival.

Tuesday, May 11, 7:00 pm

Next meeting date change

Please see the attached poster for details...

Because so many of you who want to attend the next meeting are students, we've made the decision to change the date of the next meeting from May 13th - the middle of finals week - to May 20, 6:30, in the same location at MIAD.

We have some awesome speakers lined up (no hyperbole at all!). Both Ken Kornacki, owner of Aurum Design and Jerry Reidel, Principal from Independent Edit will talk about what they look for in freelancers and potential employees for motion graphics.

We are also opening the floor to anyone who wants to present their "Group Project" proposals. Do you have a project in mind that will need more than just your own work? Need a sound editor, traditional animator, storyboards, voice work, specialized 3d? Here is your chance to ask for help from everyone who attends (and perhaps their friends, too).

Don't forget to bring your reel or recent work to show as our traditional meeting finale!

Brad Krause
Chairman, MAG