UCF and Portfolios
Albert Writes:
My name is Albert, and I first want to thank you on having a great website. It’s very helpful to those who are planning on joining EA and need some advice on what to expect and what is expect of you. I have several questions I need to ask. I would like to know if you have heard any information about EA expanding their office in Orlando, Fl. I am in the process of getting my BA in Computer Animation , and I hear that EA is building an academy at the University of Central Florida. Will the professors be EA employees? What requirements (skills) are needed in order to intern as an animator at EA? When submitting my portfolio what materials would I include? Does one need to have excellent drawing skills to be considered for a 3d animation position. I work full time and I go to school full time, so it is hard to concentrate on both drawing and animation. I usually stick to animation: even though, drawing does give me the vision and perspective to do my animations. How were you able to network with so many people who worked at EA? Did you come in contact with them before or after you joined EA? If you can give me some tips I would greatly appreciate it. I do apologize for the bombardment of questions, but I am very interested in becoming an EA employee.
My Reply:
Hi Albert, I haven’t heard anything in particular about a Florida expansion, but I cannot claim to be in the loop on that subject. I can tell you that EA is growing apace with the interactive entertainment industry in general, which is roughly 20% a year. I read an article talking about Floridas courting of EA so it would seem we would have good reason to expand there, but who knows? Regarding networking into EAI didnt know anyone at the company before I began my game industry focused networking efforts. I talk about how I did it in my blog (in fact, it documents much of what I was doing as I was doing it)you can find a ton of good ideas to get you started there.
To answer your questions about UCF and animation I pinged Chris Stone and he offered these thoughts…
Chris Says:
As far as I know the instructors at UCF will not be EA employees. As for skills required to intern at EA , these would in clued a strong foundation in animation, basic knowledge of all the principles of Animation, and a good looking Demo reel showing a diversity of work from looping animations (game asset type) to animations that show a lot of character, and personality. With interns we are not looking for tons of Polish but there work should be relatively solid. In addition, an intern’s attitude is a huge part of it. A desire to work very hard and literally DO ANYTHING requested of them, as well as an overall excitement about the product goes a long way. With regards to a drawing portfolio in addition to an animation reel, it is not necessary. As with anything art related, a strong foundation of traditional skills is always a bonus and is looked on fondly, however if the choice needs to be made on what to focus on it should ALWAYS be your animation skills. A Solid animator with no traditional portfolio will, always get hired for an animation position before someone with just a decent animation reel even if their traditional portfolio is amazing.
Removed the link to Albert’s email. Added a link for Chris.