Hi, fellow AnimatedBuzzers!

 

I'm a BFA2 Experimental Animation student at CalArts this year. I remember living in this website during my senior year of high school (when I applied to CalArts) searching for help with scholarship and college queries.

Now that I'm on the other side of things, I thought I'd come back and share a thing or two with those of you in that same situation. Well, actually it's one thing in particular...

 

There's a scholarship/talent recognition/professional networking organization for artists who are in grades 10th-12th of high school (or ages 15-18) called YoungArts. One of their alums from 2007 went to SCAD after college and just got a job at Pixar, and I just discovered that Don Hertzfeldt (y'alls know who he is!) was also a YoungArts winner in '94 when he was a high school senior. Just to name a few.

I was a Silver winner and U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts for my animations in 2011, and they did awesome things for me like get me extra scholarship opportunities for college, several jobs doing animation for them and other artists, an internship offer with Warner Bros. Animation, a chance to meet the President of the United States (uhm, yeah (he was busy last year, though (darn))), exhibition at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and at the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, a show at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and more. Basically YoungArts is awesome and they want to love and support you as an artist, too!

You can visit their website (www.youngarts.org/apply), look through the info, through their YouTube page...and hopefully consider applying. The deadline this year is October 19th, so get to it! Like I said, it's for high school students only, and I also apologize for all you lovely international artists, but it is for residents of the U.S. If you are chosen as a winner (about 500 each year) you'll always be an alum, and have that merit to your name. Part of the program also includes in-person experiences (all-expenses paid) that consist of masterclasses with cool people (this year it was Robert Redford), screenings and performances, mentoring and feedback, bonding with artists just like you from around the country, and really good snacks. Their main event is YoungArts Week, held in January, where they invite the top 150 finalists each year for a week in Miami doing all these fantastic things I just mentioned.

 

So if you're sitting there with your brain bubbling with artistic ambition, I really think you should apply! (Also they have really great award money, anywhere from $250-$10,000). Plus, YoungArts has nine different disciplines, across all types of art: cinematic arts, dance, jazz, theater, music, voice, writing, visual arts, and photography. I was just highlighting animation because this is an animation community, but you can apply to any and as many disciplines as you want, and if you get in you'll be meeting artists with all sorts of talents, and they'll offer you multitudes of inspiration and friendships and opportunities.

It's that *thing* that I was searching for when I was in high school, to be reassured that I was actually good at what I was doing, that it was important to make art for the world, and that there are artists out there who are just as hopeful and determined.

So, look into it? Maybe?

 

Here's a fun video overview:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDFFZfBzQ-o&feature=player_embedded

 

You can contact me for anything if you want, by the way! Whether it's questions about this, about CalArts, about animation, about life, the universe, or everything. That's what Animated Buzz is about anyway, right?

Thanks for your time!

 

Isabela

http://vimeo.com/beladossantos

This post was edited by Isabela Dos Santos at September 1, 2012 6:41:41 PM PDT

Danielle, you are not dumb--the instructions are just very open-ended! I freaked out a tinsy bit as well when I was applying to Experimental BFA two years ago. The way I interpreted it was that they wanted to hear your thoughts on the future of your art. If you have any concrete plans for projects/films/animations/techniques you want to tackle, write about that. If you don't really know right now, just talk about what you see yourself doing with animation and art at CalArts and beyond. I imagine it's just a way for them to get a better glimpse of what you will bring to the school if they accept you. Especially with Experimental Animation, which is very...experimental...they probably want to make sure that aside from how talented you may be, you have intentions to do something with that talent and that those intentions are fitting with the department. When I wrote mine I stated that I didn't have any developed animation plans in mind, but I talked about the kind of moods/topics/genres I wanted to explore in my work, what techniques I wanted to learn, what techniques I thought I would be focusing on, and what my intentions were with my career, my art, and my college experience. That sort of thing. Maybe there was one vague film idea in there somewhere (I don't have the essay with me now). But with all the written parts for the application, I'd say, "Don't panic." Just write what you honestly feel on the subject, however you interpret it. The application is reviewed by the faculty of the program and not robots, so it helped me to think about it as though I were having a conversation with another human being. Even if you're off topic, they still get the insight into your world that will help with the very subjective decision of whether or not you're a match with the program. Know what I mean? Anyway, I wish you luck with all the application business! Feel free to ask if you have any other questions. Not that I have any insight on the actual admission process, but I can at least relate to your woes. That's helpful right? And of course if you have questions about the program, I've been at CalArts for a year now and can answer those types of questions, too. I hope you can join us! It's a small program. I get excited with the notion of having new people join, haha. :)

Experimental Animation BFA, class of 2015 :) Blog: http://beladossantos.blogspot.com/ Vimeo (portfolio): http://vimeo.com/beladossantos

(Note: my "H" key is sticking, so sometimes it doesn't work and I write things like "someting" or "tink." I'll try to fix everyting awkward I see in here, but I apologize in advance.)

Name: Isabela Dos Santos

Profession/Major: Experimental Animation BFA (beginning 2nd year in the fall)

Education: Public high school; CalArts

 

(if you currently working)

Job title: Freelance

Company: projects with YoungArts, Camille A. Brown, and other smaller jobs

 

What type of projects do you work on? Mainly animations for live performance, which I totally enjoy and am beginning to focus on with my independent projects. I also make my fair share of stand-alone shorts, of any animated medium.

 

How did you get into an animation school/become an animator? I began animating without really seeing the bigger picture when I was a sophomore in high school, and whatever it was I was doing felt very real and right for me. Once I finished my first short, it became a concrete goal that I could be "an animator." So I kept animating because I wanted to, and kept working hard in high school because I had to, and when it was time I filled out applications to schools and scholarships with everything I had and was proud of, artistic and academic, and let whatever happen happen.

 

 

What do you hate about doing animation? Uhm. A lot. There's actually a lot of physical pain from sitting/standing for so long, not sleeping, holding a pencil for days, the ridiculous amount of time it takes for anyting to get done, etc. And of course loads of psychological craziness from not sleeping, from losing perspective of the full project amongst all the frames, from having too much time alone to think, and from having too much time alone in general. And for me personally, I always feel like animation is such a passive art form compared to something like dancing or singing.

 

What do you love about doing animation? Despite all the planning and billions of frames and details and frustrations, animation at the end of it is actually a very intuitive process, and to see the final product move, it's never something you could've have predicted. It's really beautiful to get to see "life" in something inanimate which you crafted on your own! And it's very wonderful to see how much other people enjoy animated anythings just as much, and to see them have a good experience from your work as well.

 

 

 

What is a typical day like at work (if employed) ? For work and for school: depends on the stage of production. During the heat of things, throughout the day I do day-time things like eat, run errands, go to classes if applicable, I talk to anybody I can to get my thougts straight about what I'm working on, try to nap. Then all night and into the morning, I sit/stand in one place and animate.

 

What skills do you think are most important? Having a soul, I think. Wanting to express that, whatever it may be for you, so that you make art with intent if that's what you're hoping to get out of being an animator. And then: Patience, determination, understanding of physics, and basic technical skills like using pencils and cameras and computers.

 

Any tips to getting a job in animation/ getting into an animation school? Nobody can tell you what to do to make "good art," so you just have to go with your gut. Be as technically adept as you can without losing your uniqueness, and always stay honest with your intentions whilst being smart about how society works. I was lucky to be part of the YoungArts program in my senior year of high school, which as helped me get to where I am in art and in life. But it's still down to the decisions I make, and the effort I put in, and the dreams I follow, and the person I am. You just kinda' go with it!

 

 

 

Hope that helps. :)

This post was edited by Isabela Dos Santos at June 4, 2012 9:14:33 PM PDT

Okay. Jamie doesn't bully me. But she lures me into things with her Chai tea concoctions. And, oh no, Mary! That's an awful dream. Luckily I found out in February last year, so I didn't have to wait too long! But I did have my fair share of anxiety dreams, too. And Jamie couldn't have said it better! We're rooting for you all and are super excited to see new faces around here, but we welcome you with open arms to the "experimental" community wherever you end up. Annnnnnnnd you should definitely try to make it for our BFA1 Experimental gallery. Mostly because Jamie's installation will blow your minds.