What is your current job title and where do you work?
I am currently on the market! In the mean time I'm headed to Mumbai, India to teach at the American School of Bombay.
What does your job entail?
My [internship] required me to create character sets for in-game models, and high-res models in the 'eggroom' for the titles StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm as well as the yet-to-be-released Blizzard All-Stars. I was animating everything from bipeds to decapods on a weekly basis.
What inspired you to become an artist?I suppose I've always been immersed in the culture. My parents are both triple threats of the stage and beyond (understatement of the year), and thus they were always teaching my siblings and I about art. That being said, I always thought I'd be a scientist. I loved technology! Computers, space, Chemistry, whatever - I was into it. Throw something under a microscope and I was endlessly entertained.
However, I never did have a chance to seriously pursue it, as I ended up attending Victoria Composite School for the Performing and Visual Arts. I studied instrumental music (orchestra, jazz), drama, musical theater, regular theater, and visual arts (painting/sketching). On a whim one year I signed up for a class called 'AGA' or "applied graphic arts. It was an introduction to photography (which I also pursued), web design (I dapple) and animation! While I still never heard the word "principles" until college, I fell in love with animating (in Cinema 4D), and the rest is history.
Where did you study?
I just graduated from the Academy of Art University here in the Bay Area with a BA in Creature and Character animation.
Why did you choose the studio to apply for the internship?
I've always been a fan of Blizzard Entertainment. I grew up on Warcraft, and played the hell out of Brood War. Still do! I think it's important to be working on something you care about.
What did you submit for your portfolio and how did you prepare for the submission?
I submitted my portfolio online. I didn't think much of it - you know, you press that "submit" button and it's your application is lost to cyberspace. I didn't know anyone who worked there or anything, so there was no internal connection to give me even unofficial updates -- or even confirmation that it even existed on their end!
When it came to prepping for the submission, I just did what I thought felt right. I put my best stuff in my reel - not just cycles and things (because it's a game, right?). I figured if they saw that I could animate something other than a cycle, they would know that I could do whatever they needed me to.
What do you believe separated you from others who were also applying for the internship?
My cover letter. I'm honest.
I don't like to be shy when it comes to those things. The way I figure, the recruiters have to sift through so many other candidates (after I got the job, I was told I beat 8,000 other applicants), they must read through so many long-form resumes. I refuse to fall into that niche. Even if I don't get the job, I like to think I made a recruiter think for a second (maybe even smile) and hopefully feel a little bit better about a tedious process.
Plus, like I said above, I didn't just put cycles in my reel. They probably see enough of that, too!
What was the interview process like for the internship?
First things first, I waited. After I applied, it took Blizzard 4 months to get back to me. I nearly forgot I had applied!
I received a "specially encoded" e-mail with instructions for completing an animation test. On a normal day it would have felt fairly stressful - but on this particular day, it was the first day of midterms, and the test told me that I had one week to rig the mesh they had sent me, then animate an idle with a look around, a run cycle, an attack, a death and something of my choice. I immediately e-mailed all of my teachers, told them I wasn't going to make it to class that week and started my test. I took about 1 day or so for 'rigging' and the rest of the week for animating. I also took the time to render everything with an occlusion pass, but I wouldn't recommend that as I didn't end up turning in my test until two hours before the deadline.
From there, I got a call about three days later to schedule an interview. The interview was easy, it was supposed to be with several of the folks on the team, but it ended up being only with Allen Dilling (an amazing man who ended up being my manager). We laughed a lot. Well, I laughed a lot…I was pretty nervous.
Three days later, I got a call with an offer!
How did the internship prepare you for your current career?
Even though I was an intern I was never treated like an intern. Either emotionally, or with the actual work they gave me. While I was only there for three months, I feel as though it gave me a relatively deep understanding as to what some of the challenges and obstacles lie in wait for an animator, and how the workflow differs from that of a film animator.
Beyond anything else, though, it gave me confidence. I left feeling like I was truly a part of a team. I can really do this.
What is your opinion on paid versus unpaid internships?
No one should work for free.
Personal projects are one thing - if you have something in your heart or your brain or anywhere that you need to get out, and you want to do anything to get there - that's your own prerogative.
But if you're out there busting' your butt under the weight of $50,000 worth of student loans, I feel like it is an insult to an artist - and honestly as another working human being - to ask for work for free. We don't ask a maintenance person to clean up puke without payment simply because "I hear he or she is pretty good at making the floor smell pretty." Why should there be such an unrealistic double standard?
What advice do you have for aspiring artists who want to intern at a studio?
To quote a great, orange-haired giant: Work hard and be kind and amazing things will happen to you.
Thank you Lana for the interview! You can view more of Lana's animation work and her work with Tea Time Animation Club here:
http://bachynski.tumblr.com
www.teatimeanimation.com
@Latienie
@TeaTimeAnimates
And for more info on Women in Animation San Francisco visit our Facebook Page at:
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https://twitter.com/WIASanFrancisco
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