Landing a career as an animator is a compelling but difficult part of the competitive industry.
For Salt Lake Community College students wanting to make their way in the art world, the coursework is only part of the process. Proof of ability, a strong portfolio, some luck, and the right connections also play a factor.
The Visual Art & Design Department is a main focus of South City Campus, and VAD students set high expectations for themselves.
Animation major Ashley Underdown said that beyond the technical skills, being on campus as part of the program offers support for burgeoning artists.
“A lot of people here like the experience of a structured environment,” she said.
The department courses and labs replicate the structure of a real animation studio, Underdown explained. With most careers in this field, an animator must work with others to meet a deadline and adhere to the creative vision of a third party. This kind of structure is what Underwood intends to learn at SLCC, but it’s also more than that.
Learning, Underdown explained, is at the core of most artists’ passion for their work.
“Most artists will start at a young age, and will use anything they can to learn,” she said.
Students learn from experts in the field such as industry veteran Chad Erekson, an animation professor at SLCC. He emphasized that a career in animation is more than creative expression, but a job with expectations from clients tied to revenue and business goals.
In the industry, Erekson said animators do a lot of freelance work and must be flexible and willing to use their skills to adapt to any project.
“You are solving someone’s problem,” Erekson said.
Erekson explained that while students can find most of the information they need online, the most important part of his course is the connections students make on campus. In the animation industry, he noted, it helps to know people who can help to get your foot in the door — people who know other people who can solve the problem.
Networking is a part of how students build experience and the biggest benefit of the course, next to the environment it simulates.
“More than credentials, it’s the connections,” Erekson said, noting he got his start from referrals from people who already work in animation.
