The Alumni Spot

Spartans Helping Spartans: Alumni Jury Animation/Illustration Senior BFA Exhibition

Tue, 1 May 2012 11:51:26 -0700

Seventeen dedicated Alumni representing feature films, television, and gaming, returned to San Jose State on Saturday, April 29 to jury the annual Animation/Illustration Senior Exhibition. The jury reviewed animation, concept art, storyboarding and modeling and spent several focused hours culling the best work from hundreds of submissions. The results of their efforts and a years worth of hard work by the 2012 graduating class will be on view from Monday, May 7 through Thursday, May 10 in Gallery 3 in the Art Building. The opening reception will be held on Tuesday May 8, starting at 6PM.

Pictured from left to right are:

(Top Row)
David Yee, Digital Imaging Specialist, Apple, Inc.
Courtney Granner, A/I Internship and Distance Learning Coordinator
Don Ta, 3-D Story Artist, LucasFilm Animation
Cole Higgins, 3-D Story Artist, LucasFilm Animation
Derek Brand, Concept Artist, Double Fine Productions
Chris Carranza, 3-D Artist Storm 8
Brian Perez, Lead Artist, Breaktime Studios
Priscilla Wong, Visual Development Artist, DreamWorks

(Bottom Row)

Miles Dulay, Concept Artist, Electronic Arts
Alice Carter, Animation/Illustration Program Coordinator
Candace Downey, 2-D Artist/ Flash Animater, Zynga
Steve Hirt, Production Assistant, Nickelodeon
Katie Corna, Production Artist, Zynga
Stephanie Lew, Concept Artist, Zynga
Craig Kitzman, 3-D Artiost, Storm 8

(Not Pictured)
Chris McKane, 3-D Story Artist, LucasFilm Animation
Nelson Hernandez, Associate Artist, Zynga
Wilbur Lang, Production Artist, Zynga

SHM 15 Year Reunion: RE-IGNITE!

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 13:28:08 -0700

Event Dates: Saturday, September 18, 2010 at 6:00 PM  Sunday, September 19, 2010 at 10:00 AM

Graduates of the SJSU Animation/Illustration Program, please join us in celebrating, reconnecting, and having a great time at the Shrunkenheadman 15 Year Reunion. In just 15 years, we have grown to be one of the largest student groups at SJSU, and this will possibly be the biggest student club reunion in San Jose State University’s 153 year history.

PLEASE NOTE: 100% of the ticket fees go towards funding the event.

SATURDAY EVENING 9/18, 6 pm – 11 pm
The reunion will kick off on Saturday evening at the Corinthian Event Center; a beautiful 1924 landmark located in the heart of historic downtown San Jose. This “formal” affair will include appetizers, full seated dinner buffet, a retrospective presentation, a “look ahead” address, free raffles, and much more. A cash bar is available on premises, SHM merchandise will be available for purchase, and there will be a silent faculty art auction.
Money raised from the auction will go to helping fund the event, and any profits will go to the SHM club.

SUNDAY MORNING 9/19, 10 am – 1 pm
Wind up the weekend with a informal visit home on Sunday morning at an open house in the Art Building at SJSU. Have a chance to reminisce, unwind, and meet current students at this casual event. It’s also an opportunity to pick up any unclaimed projects and clean out your old lockers!

The morning will include a catered brunch/lunch, nostalgia tours, and exhibitions of current work. And depending on your energy levels, there’s a strong potential for some games in the Art Quad and Frisbee on Tower lawn.

For complete details, registration, and list of attendees, please visit the official reunion page: http://shm15.eventbrite.com/

Concept Design Offers Creative Opportunities for Jesse Lee

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 10:46:56 -0700

Jesse Lee has always loved to draw, and throughout his childhood he made his own comics and sketched out ideas for games and movies. When he first saw the film “Labyrinth,” he was so excited that he designed an entire cast of characters for his own sequel. But although Jesse enrolled in the School of Art and Design when he began his university education, he had no idea that he could turn his childhood daydreams into a career. “I really didn’t know much about the industry or getting into the entertainment arts. I don’t think I knew anybody who considered that it could be a practical job choice, and I’m not sure that I believed it was either,” Jessie recalls. An introduction to Art and Design course featuring a presentation from Animation/Illustration faculty and alumni changed that. “I was a little shocked that I could actually make it happen and do the things I dreamt about as a kid. But as it turned out, the A/I program equipped me with everything I needed to get that job as a concept designer.”

After graduating from SJSU in 2005, Jessie joined a group of SJSU alumni who were creating concept designs for games at Factor 5. “I learned a great amount in a small time, Jesse writes. “I worked alongside about eight other Shrunkenheadmen—being with that group was probably the most fun I’ve ever had.”

Electronic Arts (where his colleagues were again primarily SJSU alumni), was the next stop on Jesse’s ascending career. While working on the game Dead Space, he had his first chance to have an impact on a new property. “I came in at a great time when the visual style was still being molded. I was able to contribute inspirational style paintings, vehicle designs environment, lighting and fx designs, as well as some character/creature development. This project had an amazing payoff. I got to see several of my designs on television—first for the teaser on SpikeTV, but later in a nationally broadcasted commercial. Our artwork also found its way into the Dead Space animated film, as well as a comic book series, and an “art of” book for the game. It also set the stage for later games to be produced under the Dead Space franchise.”

Currently, Jesse is working as part of a rapidly expanding development team on a massively multiplayer role-playing game for Trion. The company has high expectations for the project and Jesse is also enthusiastic about its potential. “The artwork and standards for games seem to improve all the time. It is an interesting challenge to create a world where a character can hang out and explore.” Although he thoroughly enjoys his work, Jesse is open to related career possibilities and would welcome the opportunity to work on both live action and animated films in the future.

Picture one from a new game for Trion World. Pictures 2 and 3 from the game “Dead Space” for Network Electronic Arts.

Noah Klocek Earns Production Designer Credits at Pixar

Fri, 15 May 2009 11:41:18 -0700

Noah Klocek, who graduated from San Jose State in 2004, reports that although both of his parents were artists and encouraged him to draw, they were not optimistic about the prospects for professional artists. “Thankfully the discouragement didn’t work,” Noah writes. “After trying everything from wildlife biology to paramedic training, I decided to go to school at San Jose State and pursue a career in art.” At SJSU, Noah excelled in his classes, and by the time he reached his final year, successfully competed for an internship at Industrial Light and Magic. When his internship ended, Noah was hired as a matte painter at PDI/DreamWorks. After two years, during which he worked on Shrek 2 and Madagascar, Noah was ready for a new challenge and accepted a position at Pixar Animation where he has contributed to both of the studio’s latest feature films; WALL-E, and Up.

Recently Noah was selected to be the production designer for the new Pixar short film Partly Cloudy, which will debut with Up in theaters nationwide on May 29. A production designer is responsible for the overall look of a film and works in collaboration with the director to create a cohesive vision for the project. Noah is not sure how he came to be chosen for this prestigious job so early in his career. “I don’t know what happened behind closed doors that landed me the position,” Noah writes. “I believe that Ralph Eggleston (WALL-E production designer) recommended me as one of the up-and-coming artists who could handle the job, and that at the same time Pete Sohn (the director) saw one of my plein air pastels and also recommended me. So when I was asked if I was up for the job, I jumped at the chance.” Like most great opportunities in life, Noah says that this one was the result of “being in the right place at the right time with the right skills.”

Noah’s life has given him more than one of these serendipitous chances. While studying at SJSU, he met his future wife Lori who also graduated from the Animation/Illustration program. Lori preceded Noah at Pixar, starting her job directly after leaving school. These days Noah commutes to work, but Lori is doing double duty—freelancing from home while taking care of the couple’s eighteen-month-old daughter, Amelie.

Artwork and movie clip from AWN and AWNtv

Life After Graduation

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:32:05 -0700

My experience after college was not what I expected at all. But, to be fair, I didn’t know what to expect. My goal was to be a live action storyboard and concept artist, but I didn’t have much experience in the field. I knew how to do it, but I had a portfolio full of animation pieces. So I thought I’d half-heartedly seek positions in animation (storyboards revisionist, layout, storyboards, whatever). I had a few gigs, but for the most part, I found myself fighting veteran story artist for whatever scraps were left over in the industry. People are taking major pay cuts to stay employed (we’re talking 40% of what they made at their prime).

I didn’t want to do it, but I knew I needed the experience. I decided to work on-spec for an indie film. Working on spec means that you don’t get paid until/if they get money for the project. I got the storyboard job with ease (come on, who wouldn’t want to hire a shrunken headman), and they told me I sold myself well. It wasn’t until after the interview did I find out the connections these people have, like Marc Gabbana. Plus the director is the brother of the actor, Aaron Eckhart. So now I was looking to be a little more active in the film and art community and I randomly entered a film poster illustration contest and won the grand prize!

Okay, here’s where things get interesting. The story starts to sound like a film in which a character climbs to a level of success after a series of events. So, I have my $2000 cash that I won for the illustration and decide to invest it into buying Toon Boom’s Storyboard Pro software and start using it in current projects. I post a couple boards that I created in Storyboard Pro onto my blog and start raving about the new software I was using. Toon Boom sees the post and calls me the next day to offer a sponsorship and a spot in their expert corner, where I give a review and show some of my work. I’m then hooked-up with other big names in the film world who use the same product to teach them how it works. I explained to Jason Reitman (director of Juno, and Thanks For Smoking) how the product is beneficial to him and worked close with a veteran board artist who’s mentored me in our line of work. Once Toon Boom found out how helpful I’ve been with these individuals, they asked if I was interested in teaching digital storyboarding in their software to veteran artists at the Art Directors Guild (a very exclusive union for art directors, production designers, illustrators, storyboard artists, etc…).

Now that I had the exposure, I was offered to work on multiple pictures with one production company, creating concept work and storyboarding. I’m scheduled to work full time on an independent animated feature, yet to be announced, very different and all done in a classic, illustrative comic book style. The other board artist I’ve been talking to all this time has recently had too much work on his hands, so he’s been passing some work off to me. I just finished a Kanye West music video to his new song “Robocop” and worked on set with some of the brightest talent in Hollywood. Oscar-winning talent. By the way, Kanye’s a really nice guy, just a diva. Because I took that short-notice job, the director and other talent asked if I would be interested in doing more work in the field very soon.

Connections, connections, connections. People will hire you, just because they shook your hand sometimes. They want to know you, they want to see what you can do, and most of them will give you good money to make more of it. I go to many social events where people in a niche industry meet and I could land two or three gigs in one night because I make myself known. Make a website, some business cards, know what your business rates are, go to those events, and always say, “YES! I can do that!”