Friday, December 18, 2009

Gobelins School Overview

Director of Gobelin's breaking it down. Interesting. But still seems to me that you have to be a pro to get in, so it's an advanced degree, not an undergrad (3 hour animation test + storyboard test, up against 1000-2000 appliccants, yeah what newb is going to have those skills?)

7 comments:

frank said...

A great way to test out Gobelins (in English) is to go to the summer school. It is a good experience. Not just attending the school, the intense animating experience and meeting professors and recent graduates working in major studios, but being in Paris with so many art resources within walking distance. Continue practising your French and animation.

Alonso said...

definitely a cool thing to do. I should really look into it, but don't have time in my life right now (2 year old at home). I don't have any hand drawn training, I should look that up and see if that matters.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, this was an interesting insight into how hard it would be to get in. I read on their site that they take 25 people in the 3D focused course out of 800 applicants, but they have regular pedagogy/short courses and summer schools for professionals like yourself or you could apply to do one year at the advanced third year level. And you have to be able to communicate in French. There seems to be a three year 2D and a three year 3D course, but it all starts with drawing as much as I can understand, (sorry). They do seem super focused on drawing in their first years. Certainly Gobelin's seems to be a couple of thousand Euro's cheaper per year than Supainfocom who are also awesome and "International" like Gobelin's. Both these schools seem to teach art and design history and film aesthetics very early as well as character animation,and rigging and skinning/texturing/lighting. I think Supainfacom has a foundation 2 years then an added three years. I tried to understand this with my limited high school French so someone correct me if I've got it wrong. However I think it is wonderful that young French animators can do the course at Gobelins as an apprenticeship and that they have an extremely high employment rate and come out of it work ready. Students at Gobelin's are employed, as are Supainfocom students, all over the world in great animation studios. I definitely think it would be worth it and I agree it would be extremely difficult for a beginner to get in. Judging by the animations they make, they seem great schools for developing a students narrative and aesthetic skills as well as character animation skills.Just some observations.

Alonso said...

One of the folks who worked on Oktapodi apparently hadn't really done much animation before going to Gobelins, nor did he speak French. check the article so I guess it's possible to come in without already being top of the heap.

Anonymous said...

Thanks, I love that article! What a great story as Oktapodi really hit's the spot! What a cool down to earth animator! That's really encouraging, as I'm using a bit of my current holiday time to nut out my next step while still trying to "enjoy the ride". Yeah, I think when you have the motivation you find or make a way, as long as it's in alignment with what's best for the you the individual or rather what you can manage financially. I'm researching some great Australian companies at the moment as the Industry Job is my goal and necessity right now, but I definitely see the professional development advantage of attending a school like Gobelins, but I definitely believe that animators can make great films wherever they are and will. I'm really impressed that an Australian Company Mad Cow Pictures is making feature animations within a "Virtual" studio. The production partners are on different continents! Sorry I'm not sure how to link on a comment's page. Thanks for that link.

Alonso said...

These Guys?

A guy I knew (American) who worked at Animal Logic said they were super big on hiring locals. The game dev map has some Australian companies. I think Mad Cow is the future though, I think eventually geographical location will no longer matter, it's just a matter of time.

The thing with Gobelins is, there is so much competition, that you have to be pro to get in. If you're pro enough to get in you're probably pro enough to be working, in which case why pay money to get better when someone's going to pay you to animate and you can use that time to get better. And if you're not pro enough to get in you might need to look at a more open school. Animation Mentor has a pretty good track record and a much more open policy. I don't know what other options are available in Australia, it might be worth contacting some local companies and asking them their opinion of local schools available. In the end what matters is your reel, so even if you go to 3 schools and get 3 degrees it's not going to matter unless your reel is strong.

Good luck :)

To do links in comments you have to put the code in, in pointy parynthesis <> (but round so you can see it) (a href="http://www.madcowpictures.com/")what you want to show (/a)

Anonymous said...

Hey, yes! That's them! I agree the job IS the thing!!!! Thanks for the how to embed link in comment info.:)