Why else would I post about myself? How about because my grade depends on it? Did I draft some of you over to my team with that statement? Good, let's begin...
I received my MFA from SCAD back in 05. I was one of the last Computer Art kids and I loved the flexibility that program offered. I was able to create my own thesis project that welded sound design and animation together. What I learned at SCAD was that although there may not be a direct route to your dream job, there is always a way to trailblaze yourself one.
With that lesson learned, I worked in Orlando for a company that designs theme park rides. I was able to work on rides such as "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" at Alton Towers and a few other projects that are soon to be constructed.
The most rewarding time I had was during a brainstorming session for a 4D Haunted Mansion type ride we were developing. The problem was a hole in the story. The gist was we had a master of the mansion character that seems sympathetic, as he explains his mansion is haunted by the ghost of his jilted bride. As the story unfolds, it's revealed that he is keeping her ghost from resting because of her affair to a calvary soldier. The problem was we had to show the audience that the Master was also a ghost, but this could not be unveiled until the final scene.
After a few moments of idea knocking, I had the idea that the final scene would take place in a solarium where the audience would see the Master and his bride struggling and fighting. I suggested we have the Calvary soldier crash through the glass solarium on his horse, snatch the bride away, and run towards the Master with the intention of stampeding him. As the horse hits the Master, he would then mist away and reform as the bride and Calvary soldier rode off. This made the cut and will be the ride's finale scene when it is constructed!
After my wife decided Orlando wasn't for her, we came back to Savannah where she had a good job. I now work for SCAD and am pursuing a second degree since the school is paying this go-round. Web design is something I feel I need to know as we want to stay on the east coast, specifically, North Carolina, and jobs in animation and certainly theme parks, are fairly hard to come by. However, web design is needed everywhere and I view it as a new challenge and opportunity to flex my creativity.
Here's a few links for theme park news and rumors. I'm a junkie.
www.screamscape.com
www.jimhillmedia.com
www.miceage.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment