11/3/21 Zimablish McCurtis (ONLINE)
Zimablish McCurtis
Introduction by Stefie Gan
Animation Directing, Storyboarding and Design
https://www.zimablishmccurtis.com/
Zimablish McCurtis has experience in all aspects of television and online animation production and design. He is the Creator/Writer Director of "Black Helsing: Occult Specialist". Credits include Animation Supervisor on Room 104, Animation Supervisor on Mike Judge Presents: Tales from the Tour Bus, and Assistant Animation Director on Axe Cop and Major Lazer.
Shengwei Zhou (szhou894@usc.edu):
ReplyDeleteI really like the vampire storyboard that Zimablish showed in the lecture. He successfully told us that for an animator, the most important thing is not clean up or super detailed drawing skills, but the creation and understanding of rhythm, characters, mood, and environment.
Zimablish is very good at controlling the rhythm, and he is also very good at how to create a scenario to substitute the audience into this situation step by step. Throughout the whole storyboard, we can clearly feel the psychological and emotional changes of the heroine step by step. This is mainly done through editing and perspective transformation.
Another point that I find very useful is that Zimablish is very good at fusing different genres to tell stories. This is also a way to create a situation and make the rhythm more dynamic. For example, he showed a fragment that combines documentary with animation and rotoscope. The fusion of real documentary materials and animation elements creates a strong sense of surrealism, allowing the audience to see these real events and characters from another perspective. Another example is in his vampire storyboard, he blends comedy and horror, two seemingly conflicting genres, very well. In some very scary clips, he incorporates comedic elements, such as the heart that was suddenly thrown over, such as the clip of the extremely lively pulling doorknobs, and the scary vampire's face from the darkness turned out to be a face of a decadent middle-aged man who quit from a rock band, etc.
As he said, when you stop limiting yourself to a specific position, you will get more inspiration in your creation, and you will also integrate the character design, concept design, rhythm, and genres from a more holistic perspective.
Charlene Xu
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated Zimablish’s presentation today, especially his advice on how to get a job in storyboarding. He said that your portfolio should show your best work, and should keep on updating what you have improved. Getting your foot in the door is hard, but you must make that first move in order to keep going. And you’ll never be “ready” as you expect you would be, so I think what I got out from his advice is to be brave and take that first step with passion. I also loved how he incorporated his values and concerns of societal issues into his work. Your work is relevant to more people if it probes deep into something that pertains to the well being of more people. Thank you Zimablish for your helpful advice!
Zimablish’s advice on the trade was interesting and could not have been any truer. Having a holistic approach to the animation pipeline is the way to go, unless you are extremely skilled at a skill or if you are irreplaceable at the job you do. I have been trying to add more tools to my approach to animation lately. Zooming out and not just focusing on one position makes you more hireable for sure. I really enjoyed his vampire story. It was so layered, and would definitely be great as a tv series. Thank you for getting him for the seminar.
ReplyDeleteTianyun Lyu tianyunl@usc.edu
ReplyDeleteI am honored that the seminar has invited Zimablish McCurtis as a guest to share his thoughts. According to his own website, his positions are really diverse. He is an all-round director and artist.
His storyboard ability is admirable. As a director, he has a good rhythm control ability and the ability to drive the audience's emotions. This has been achieved in the layout stage, and one can imagine how amazing the whole film will be on the day it is completed.
I am also very grateful to Zimablish McCurtis for giving good advice on the profolio. You should show your best, and you should always maintain a state of progress. Don't think that you are now in the best state. It should be practiced often.
Although there are many outstanding people and artists, don't be scared by these people. You also have your own shining points. If you keep your original intention and your enthusiasm, you are on the road to progress.
It is such an honor to have Zimablish McCurtis. First of all, I really enjoy his works created so far. They are so storytelling and stylized. The most impressive part is when he showed his personal project. I am totally amazed by his personal project and the idea behind it. It is such a big project and an interesting world setting. And his animatic is very effective to show all the things he would like to tell to the audience and is also very artistic. I like how his drawings are not all cleaned up but highly readable and organized. Moreover, when people ask him if he would like to pitch somewhere, his answers also encourage me a lot. He said he definitely will pitch to some big studios, but if they would not accept it, he will do this by his own, maybe with 5 minutes per episode. I am totally inspired and encouraged by him. Even though he is already in a very busy status, he still never gives up his own project and moving hard towards it. I really appreciate his advice to us that we should gradually learn more skills than just continuing learning only one skill. I cannot agree more! I always feel that when we first get into the industry, we have to have some specific skills. However, after we got in, we should never stop our steps exploring, just as what we did in school. I am really inspired and influenced in every class I took in USC. Although I know I may not turn out to do certain job, but this does not matter I learn it and knows what makes this important.
ReplyDeleteI also appreciate his words when he said no matter what position he got, as long as he is creating, he is happy. He is a purely artist when I heard this. Maybe it is the pure heart of creating makes him builds the career he loves. Thanks again for inviting Zimablish McCurtis to out class.
Siqi Fu(siqifu@usc.edu)
Kacey Layson
ReplyDelete(klayson@usc.edu)
Zimablish McCurtis is a highly experienced creator/writer and director in animation and television production. I was intrigued by the work he showed in class through his past animation work with Major Lazer as well as the concepts he shared in class through his vampire series pitch and animatics.
I really appreciated the words of advice he shared for putting a portfolio together as well as getting started in the industry. He referenced working on a storyboard portfolio, and to not get too tied up in clean up. The main thing that people want to see is the acting, the posing, and clarity in story. Including life drawings, anatomy, expressions and posing are great to have in a story portfolio as well. And to put what excites you the most and what inspires you in your portfolio.
As for working in the industry, Zimablish gave great advice to always expand your skill set. It all connects, and will make a more well rounded artist and creator, and to not limit yourself to one category. I think this is great advice, because even as an aspiring storyboard artist having knowledge in different areas can really boost your skills. Knowing how to animate, knowing about character, and writing stories- they all relate and can be used to improve your storyboarding. Thank you Zimablish for sharing your experiences and work with us!
Delaney McCallum (jmccallu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed hearing from Zimablish McCurtis! I watched through his work before the seminar and I really loved his drawing style. He is so experienced in a variety of areas, and it was really useful to hear about how those interacted with each other. I loved his vampire series animatic, and I could feel his passion for it. It is a little scary to hear that portfolio matters above all else, but I appreciated his strong advice. I also like that he encouraged exploration. It seems that he has always been expanding his skill set, and never got stuck in a rut doing one thing. As an artist, that seems to be the career dream! From his work, I could really feel the concentration, understanding, and emphasis on character and story. I get lost sometimes in the visual elements, but it's important to remember above all that things must serve your story and it's purpose, especially when storyboarding. Thank you to Zimablish for a very interesting seminar!
Stefie Gan (stefiega@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Zimablish's optimistic outlook on job opportunities. He mentioned there are many jobs out there and to keep reaching out to connections, about 80% of the jobs he has gotten was through someone he knows. We have met many people from our time at USC and excited on future projects that might come out from this. I've also developed close relationships with my classmates and feel they have been very supportive in my filmmaking. I intend on keeping in touch and building this positive energy!
Zimablish also mentioned to focus on doing what you like. When making a storyboarding portfolio, it's important to work on things you're passionate about rather than tailor it to companies. He mentioned that if the talent is there, a good director should be able to spot it. I also found it inspiring that Zimablish worked on the Black Helsing pilot by himself. As a storyboard artist, we're able to create animatics of our ideas and show them fully fleshed out with thoughtful cinematography, performance, story arc, and editing. I want to continue making films after school and it was motivating to see him create this passion project on top of his daily work. He plans to sell the series and I look forward to seeing it made.
Thank you very much for inviting Zimablish McCurtis, an experienced animation and TV production creator and director. I especially like the story of vampires, because I like western horror materials such as vampires, witches, and werewolves very much. Before, I particularly liked Hotel Transylvania. I didn't expect that I could watch such an interesting storyboard about vampires in this seminar. I also appreciate Zimablish McCurtis give us a large number of advice on how to find a portfolio for a job later. I always thought that the works in our application should reflect our proficiency in a certain technology, but Zimablish McCurtis’s suggestion is that it is best to learn a few more skills and be an all-around player. In fact, every part of the animation is closely related. To reflect your interest in your work, reflect what you are good at, and it is best that each work is the best. This is very helpful to me.
ReplyDeleteshiqihu (shiqihu@usc.edu)
I really appreciated Zimablish McCurtis for coming and giving us such a fantastic presentation. It was always great to have the precious opportunity to hear stories from the animation industry. As an experienced animation creator, Zimablish has produced many animations of different styles. Exposing to as many types and styles of animation as possible can obviously make an artist more professional and skillful through Zimablish’s journey. And it would help you be the more rounded creator. And I was impressed by Zimablish’s enthusiasm for animation creation. It is so challenging to keep creating your own art when you are in a job, especially in animation. But Zimablish’s successful experience shows us that the only person who can limit you is yourself—focusing on doing what you like, as he said. Thank you Zimablish for sharing your valuable experiences and amazing work with us.
ReplyDeleteNaicheng Liu
Thanks so much to Zimablish McCurtis for such a fun presentation! I was particularly impressed by the fact that Zimablish works professionally as an animator, designer, storyboarder, and illustrator. It was hard for me to imagine what it’s like to be accepted and professionally admitted to so many stages of production. But Zimablish sets up a great role model that I look up to. His hard work and dedication shows through maintaining his level at different production skills. Perhaps, we can all benefit from this kind of focus and passion. Thank you again for your presentation and hard work!
ReplyDeleteCherry Guo (guomengy@usc.edu)
I enjoyed hearing from Zimablish McCurtis and viewing his work. He has a unique perspective and style, and his passion for the animation field is clear. I appreciated how Zimablish McCurtis touched on the importance of maintaining a high level portfolio moving into the industry. After years of hearing how artists must specialize to be successful, it was great to see that Zimablish McCurtis works in many parts of the animation world, including storyboarding, illustration, and animation.
ReplyDeleteMcCurtis' storyboards are incredibly stylized and dynamic, and his vampire storyboard was awesome!
tkrantz@usc.edu, Tyler Krantz
DeleteShunyi (Vicky) Xie
ReplyDeleteThis week’s guest speaker Zimablish McCurtis really gives a lot of useful advises to whoever have passion to join the animation industry. A lot of people tend to sugar coating their advises but he said everything straight forward which is really helpful and I like it.
The first advice he talked about is try to have multiple skills rather than narrow yourself to a specific part, for example, only do story boarding and never try to learn something else like animating or character design. It is so true that having a wider skill range will not only bring you more chances to find a work but also will help you to build your own story like what Zimbalish did.
Another advice he gave is, take any job and know people. A lot of guest speakers that I meet said the same thing, but not many of them mention the “take any job”. This is so important because, they might think “you as an artist should not take producer's job”, but not every students have a chance to get the job that fit their field. They might have to start with something else. The idea of “take any job” is a good mind set for any students with ambitions .
The last thing I want to mention is I love how Zimbalish also develop his own story. The amount of effort he put in his own work is amazing and impressive. I really want to be someone like him: working for pay rent, and do my own stuff to fulfill my own artist goal. His work inspires me and give me motivation.
I’m very appreciative of having Zimablish McCurtis come and talk with us. Zimablish is an experienced artist as well as animator, TV producer and director. He provided many advises for us and those words are precious. He advised us how to set up a portfolio that companies like, how to become a rounded and successful artist who can face most styles and obstacles. I love how Zimablish has created lots of beautiful animations in many different styles, I can see the passionate he has for animation. Making various animations with various styles also have helped him became a skillful and mindful artist in many aspects. I’ve learned many form Zimablish today, his speech is really helpful.
ReplyDeleteJiayi Tang
Tangjiay@usc.edu
Vicky Gu (xingyugu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed last week's seminar with Zimbalish McCurtis even though his screen sharing was a bit laggy on my end. Zimbalish has a really amazing portfolio and I really appreciate his unique artistic style. He has had an interesting career and it's really cool to see representations of pop culture in these animated series that I'm not very familiar with. I also appreciate the fact that he is really humble and he had given us really useful tips on how to improve our portfolio. It was also cool to see his personal work and I am amazed by how polished his boards are. I really hope he gets the story made because it's very unique. I also appreciate that he advised us to dip our toes in many different areas and have a wide range of skills. I try to not limit myself to just one kind of discipline and his advice has encouraged me to keep doing so.
Last week, Zimablish McCurtis gave an insightful lecture on his career journey as a story artist and animator. I appreciated his pragmatic sensibility about his process and his approach to creating stories with a team. One thing I found to be inspiring is his dedication to making his own show. This motivated me to realize that working with the industry does not mean you can't make your own movies. Having a diligent workflow and being committed to one's voice as a content creator help one continue creating personal work that can be pitched to studios. This was seen in his animatic which was very funny and engaging. I, too, am a super horror fan!
ReplyDeleteJarrod Chatham (jchatham@usc.edu)
Zimablish McCurtis provided a good discussion regarding his career path and story-boarding. I liked seeing his character designs who were diverse, sensual, and stylized. I also appreciated seeing his work-in-progress storyboard for his original show. The mood and atmosphere of the grungy city at night reminded me of urban/psychological horror movies of the 80s. Some of the shows he worked on had an anime aesthetic with the colors and framing. Additionally, Major Lazer and Axe Cop both were both indie shows that were eventually picked up by FOX and that featured masculine male heroes who were of color. Axe Cop, specifically, began as a web comic. I think it is great that Zimbalish worked in shows that helped represent people of color and it's exciting to see he's planning to pitch a series of his own.
ReplyDeleteParker Chatham
pchatham@usc.edu
Clara Chou
ReplyDeleteyuncheng@usc.edu
I enjoyed Zimanlish McCurtic’s talk from last week so much. I really appreciate that he is super willing to share. The style of his work is very specific, and it is very interesting to see that those works which are more adult-content are premiered by FOX. I like the 2D style of his storyboards. The color palettes he chooses to use are strong and definitely conveys a lot of his style. I also found it fascinating that some of the shows that he has worked on sort of reflects his cultural background. I am glad to see how the industry is getting more and more diverse.
I thought that Zimablish McCurtis’s work was inspiring. I am happy that we had the chance to talk with someone who has worked on 2D animation for television. He had such strong character design, storyboard, and drawing skills. His industry experience was really impressive. I was amazed by Zimablish’s personal project, Black Hellsing, and his dedication to the series. It was interesting to see the initial stages of an independent project done by an industry professional. It felt relatable to watch him develop a story independently, like how we create films at USC.
ReplyDeleteZimablish’s comments about taking the time to invest in your personal goals were important for me to hear. In the back of my mind I assumed that once you get to a certain professional level, the time to work on your own projects will be made available to you and you will always feel enthused about diving into them. However, that is not necessarily the case. No matter what stage you’re at, your personal projects will still take perseverance to complete. You have to actively commit to putting time into your own work. I can see how it is worth investing early on, or else the time will escape you. I think that it is important to remember that at any career stage, it is necessary to be intentional about working towards your goals.
Victoria Cruell (cruell@usc.edu)
It was such a pleasure hearing from Zimablish! Zimablish has a very precise grasp of the rhythm of the story, the emotions of the characters and the narrative. His vampire story is super hierarchical. I can feel the changes in the character's mood. I really like him telling stories with different genres. His attempts at different genres reminded me one of our assignments in the edting class, using the same dailies of the same film in the to edit different genres clips.
ReplyDeleteShengluo Zhang
shengluo@usc.edu
It was nice to see a speaker in animated TV shows, whereas I feel that many of our previous speakers were either independent, experimental animators or they worked for feature films. Zimablish McCurtis’s work really captured the aesthetic of animated adult TV shows. While I personally am not a fan of that genre, I learned to appreciate the process of creating such shows when McCurtis showed his storyboards and personal animatics. I don’t have interest in the adult TV industry but I feel that McCurtis gave good advice on storyboarding as well as job-hunting in the general animation industry.
ReplyDeleteNearly every speaker we get, someone in our class will ask about portfolio advice. While I’m sure other speakers had implied this, McCurtis was the first to state explicitly to not sculpt our portfolios to appeal to specific companies. I feel there is constant pressure when applying to larger companies with established styles, like Disney or Pixar, to show a portfolio that is stylistically similar. But McCurtis brought up the eye-opening yet quite obvious point that, if one were to tailor their portfolio to each company, they would have to constantly change their portfolio. Instead, it is much more important to show what inspires you while also balancing out the portfolio with some range or skill pieces.
Shon Xiao
Georgina Gonsalves
ReplyDeleteggonsalv@usc.edu
I really enjoyed hearing about Zimablish's experiences and how much he has achieved. After seeing his presentation and the work he showed us, I was very impressed with his wide range of skills, his variety and precision in different styles, and different roles in production. I was especially impressed with the show he is working on to get made, the animatic and character design were amazing, I really hope he keeps developing this because his work is absolutely beautiful. So inspiring!
Zimanlish McCurtic's speech from last week was one of the most inspiring and helpful seminars we ever had, for me personally. He touched on so many points that I, and I assume most of our peers too, am and have been struggling with. such as tailoring our portfolios for "major studio" styles, or feeling the need to always have polished and clean work in order to be able to use them as portfolios, and also being able to work on your own personal passion project while working full-time in a studio. I still have the fear and feel pressured to give off that "Pixar" style when it comes to storyboarding because it is also true that I've heard terrifying reviews from people who've made it to the interviews and get rejected with such feedbacks (unless it was a lazy excuse the studios wanted to use). Also, the impressions that I've gotten from the Pixar workshop we had recently, they seem to want particular style rules to be followed. As much as the first thing I want to do after graduating is to get a job at a major studio, I don't think I can fully ignore that. After all, Zimanlish and Jennifer's advice are coming from the ones out of thousands who made it. And I'm pretty sure hundreds of other amazing artists couldn't make it there for not being "studio style" enough. So I guess it is what you take; I will keep that noted but I won't say that I will not try to achieve studio styles, as much as I know how uncreative it sounds, at all. However, I really hope that what he said about works not having to be clean and polished, but just readable and translatable enough is true. And lastly, I really admire him for being able to do his own passion project while working in a studio full time. The one thing I am struggling with the most ever since I got here is time management. Not only can't I manage time for personal works and studies, but I also can't even manage time for my physical and mental health honestly. I know that it is very unhealthy and inefficient in a long term, time management is something that is way easier said than done. I even wish there was a class for this, to be frank. So hearing him do all that just awws me.
ReplyDeleteOnce again thank you so much for the inspiring seminar! I really look forward to seeing more of his personal works in the future.
And also more of my own :)
Aloha (Haekyung) Lee / haekyung@usc.edu
Thank you for inviting Zimablish McCurtis. Although we have heard a lot of great presentations from wonderful storyboard artists during this semester. It is meaningful for me to hear his unique experience working as a storyboard artist in different fields such as televisions, freelancing. I have always been curious about how storyboard artist finds the balance between creating personal projects and working for studios. Since recently am also debating whether I should go for the same route in the future. I appreciate his suggestions that cover the concerns I am worrying about. His passion for the specific topics and the story showcased in his film is inspiring to me.
ReplyDeleteLydia Su
lrsu@usc.edu
ReplyDeleteZimbalish McCurtis presentation was interesting and unique, I found his animation and style quite different from all the other speakers we had in the past. It is great to see a wide range of animators with different backgrounds and artistic skills. I admire that Zimbalish is a very honest, humble and a pure person, the way he talked to us brought out those qualities. I really appreciated his advice about showing your best work “even if it was not polished”, I think a lot of us focus on the polished look of our renderings and try and make it perfect (which is still good) but our main focus should be on the flow of the animation. I respect his advice about finding the balance between your private work and your job, and I also think that finding balance between your private life and your job is really important and not very easy to accomplish. Thank you for inviting ZImbalish McCurtis and I am looking forward to our next guest.
Dina Garat
Zimablish’s presentation today is so helpful for potential storyboard artists! Not only did he give great examples from his storyboard portfolio, but he also gave great tips on how to get a job in storyboarding. Being an illustration major in my undergrad, I’m always very caught up in details and want to make my work look clean and perfect, and that really slows my speed. So Zimablish’s advice is really helpful to me. He talked about how being an animator needs to overlook the little details and focus on the rhythm and mood of the overall animation. I’m also relating a lot to Zimablish’s point about how there’s no such thing as being “ready”, what’s important is to show your best work. I’m very grateful that the seminar brought such an all rounded animator/illustrator/producer/director to speak to us.
ReplyDeleteRuoyu Chen(chenruoy@usc.edu)
Zimablish McCurtis has a lot of experience in different areas of animation so I appreciated his practical advice on working in the industry and getting hired. He emphasized the importance of the portfolio since that is where most employers are looking to see if you can do the job they need you to do. He said not everything has to be fully cleaned up, but your designs/boards need to be clear, engaging, and tell the story well. It is more crucial to show that you have the creative ability they are looking for than to show how well you clean up. Nonetheless, he did mention that having some things cleaned up and in color can be beneficial to show knowledge of color theory. Another note I found surprising and helpful was to include figure drawing in your portfolio when you’re fresh out of school. I had never thought of this before but I can see why employers would like to see raw drawing ability for young talent.
ReplyDeleteBesides the portfolio itself, the work-life advice he gave us stood out to me. Essentially his point was when you first start out, apply for things you know how to do and you’re actually interested in. In your portfolio include the genres and styles you want to work in. This is because over time everyone learns more on the job and diversifies their skills, so there is always opportunity to do something more/different than what you initially started out with. It also makes sense he would give this advice because he admitted the amount of time he has to work on personal projects is really minimal. It seems like his ideology is to work on things you actually like, will learn from, and enjoy, because it will end up taking a lot of your time. On top of that, make the time every week to work on your own projects and develop your creativity. This message resonated with me strongly and I’m so grateful he spoke to our class.
-Nina Ceklic
Aisha Jamila Harper ( 5377-7371-00 // ajharper@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI really loved Zimablish's presentation. We both have a lot in common, where I can potentially see myself jumping between freelance and studio work, depending on what comes up. His "Black Hellsing" project looked absolutely phenomenal! The fact that he has been working on it by himself all this time is simply amazing. I'm also very interested in the horror genre, especially how it intersects with race and class. Jordan Peele's films gave me a much needed taste of how well the genre can thrive. There were also some other shows that followed through the same vein of black horror, but I do see how these are stories that definitely need to be told.
Aside from Jennifer Yun Nelson, Zimablish is doing what I would love to be doing in my animation career, as well! It's beautiful to see. I can't wait to join them.
Jessica Wu
ReplyDeletewujessic@usc.edu
I was truly inspired by Zimablish's talk. I really liked that he shared his own experience with creating a portfolio and how to get in the industry. He talked about not limiting yourself to a certain role, and also on how he’s creating his own show. I was truly impressed by his dedication and his work. His style is very special and I feel like he’s an artist that knows his own strength. His passion for animation really shows and I think it’s very impressive to have that after having so much experience in the industry. Thank you Zimablish for your time!
Zimablish McCurtis definitely has a unique style sensibility in his work. It reminds me of mid-2000s flash animations on Youtube and Newgrounds, with its simplistic drawings, chunky movement and McDonald’s drive-thru-speaker-sounding audio. Some of his work, though, like Tales from the Tour bus, is not only good looking, but has some real depth. I really appreciated the advice he gave us on having a broad skillset, which was great news for me as someone with ADHD who moves on to a new hobby every week and is constantly seeking out new skills to learn.
ReplyDelete-Jackson Roberts (jpr02403@usc.edu)
It was such a bliss to have Zimablish as this week's guest speaker. As someone who also want to become a storyboard artist. He introduced us a new approach into the industry. His work stood out to me as unique and personal, which is something I always want to achieve. I also really appreciate his advice on storyboarding and how to find a job as a storyboard artist. It's more about the rhythm instead of the details. And more about what you like to do instead of how to shape yourself to fit in. And similar to Jennifer Yun Nelson, Zimablish works ono his own personal project while working on others. That is truly amazing. I look forward to see more of his personal work!
ReplyDeleteAnna Wang
awang206
Zimablish McCurtis’ work was really fun I loved the creativeness it really looks like he is having with his “Black Helsing" Project, and we love to see it. There is a lot to say about the work but if no major studio picks it up it, he has to put on the man hours and make it go viral on its own. The project defiantly has the potential but thats just my two cents.
ReplyDeleteIt kind of says a lot about how hard it is to manage your own projects and work on freelance it really made me think a lot about my place in the world and what my goal is. Before coming here the goal was also to work on animation for music industry and get my work at festivals but usc has presented so many new opportunities and routes I just don’t know anymore. Although one thing stays constant and that is my love for music and I think that will be my driving point here.
Before coming to usc my life revolved around creating freelance work thus for me to come up with my own ideas and stories has been difficult to say the least.
Zimablish McCurtis said something that made everything click he said do what you’re good at and what you love thats how you will make it . The world became so much brighter after he said that. I’ve been so busy trying to play catch up with the rest of my class and I’ve been failing miserable I love music what if Instead of trying to create stories and characters ,that I know nothing about, I draw movement to music; suddenly my projects became so much simpler.
It wad really nice to know that Illustrations don’t need to be fully cleaned up, but rather clear and easy to read what the direction is. In the back of my mind Im always worried about my illustration skills but who cares as long as they are clear . I’ll get there when I get there but until then ill make sure my intention and gesture is clear.
Pedro Chinchilla
(Pedrochi@usc.edu)
Adriel Meka
ReplyDeleteAmeka@usc.edu
It was so incredible having Zimablish McCurtis visit the class last week! I loved hearing all about his various jobs in the field and found it was interesting that he ended up back at Sony. Loved the 90s throwback feel of the works he shared and I admired the versatility of his skill set as we learned how we from a storyboard revisionist to to an illustrator and even director. I thought it was very cool to see that though he was working a studio job he had passion and drive to create his own content and he shared the realistic struggles of juggling both. This felt super relatable and inspiring. The pitch he showed us was wonderful and you can tell he was really proud of it. I loved the thoughtfulness that went into it and it was very evident that parts of his personality and interests were reflected in his work. He has a great talent for also finding a way to craft a commentary on the ideas of social and political issue into his work as well! The idea of a detective being hunted by a vampire and all the mysteries that come with the big city setting was very interesting and I'm super excited to see where his pitch goes! Huge thanks once again to Zimablish McCurtis and I look forward to this weeks class!
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteLast week we were very honored to have Zimablish McCurtis as our guest to the seminar! Zimablish is a successful director and animator, highly experienced in TV animation and has a very unique style and great sense of rhythm as a director. Although I haven't seen his work previously, I instantly fall in love with his storyboards and the work he showed, they were so retro and the style was very distinct. I respect that he fully commits to his personal style and refuse to let the big companies or the outside world affect it, and that was one of the very helpful advices he gave us. He told us to not try to tailor our portfolio to a specific company, instead, they should be some of our best work and what we are excited about, the work that we are willing to devote to during private times, even if no one wants to make them (yet) nor it's fully polished. I love his humble, laid-back personality, he was so down-to-earth and honest about every questions we had, whether about portfolio or the industry. He was truly an inspiration to all of us. I really appreciate this opportunity to have him to our class!
ReplyDeletepinghsin@usc.edu
Sydney Chen
Zimablish's works has really good rhythm, which is something I struggle with especially with storyboarding. And once again, Zimablish gives out advice on staying true to yourself instead of forcing yourself to fit in a certain job position. His advice on creating your story portfolio is very useful and down-to-earth too. He pointed out that a portfolio is for jobs which doesn't necessarily represents you as an artist, certainly not as an human. I'd keep that in mind and not get too attached when creating for portfolios.
ReplyDeleteJiamu Tao
It was such a great pleasure to hear Zimablish's talk. Zimablish's advice on trading is fascinating and overturned my previous ideas. When I was MFA1, we always had such an atmosphere that you cannot be a general artist, and you must have a focus field or unique expertise to get a job. I felt very anxious about this at that time. But what Zimablish told us is almost the opposite. He suggested that unless you are very proficient in a particular skill, having multiple approaches in the animation timeline will not cause you trouble. That part of his lecture relieved some of my anxiety and made me feel encouraged.
ReplyDeleteHis vampire storyboard is very attractive as well. I can't wait to see it becomes a tv show!
Giulia Pan
tzuyupan@usc.edu
Even though I am not interested in pursuing storyboarding myself I really enjoyed Zimablish's talk. He brought to the discussion his own honest opinion and stories from entering the industry and what to focus on for your portfolio which I admired. He was such a nice person and had a really interesting style and idea for a pitch. I’m hoping to see his idea for a detective being hunted by a vampire will be developed and I'm really excited to see where ends up. Thanks again Zimablish McCurtis!
ReplyDeleteKaisey
I really enjoyed Zimablish's talk because I also wanted to be a storyboard artist in the future. Zimablish shared his experience in the TV animation industry and gave us lots of great advices regarding portfolio and applying for jobs. He said we should always put the best work on our portfolio and keep updating. I was totally on board with that! I also like the uniqueness of his personal project "Black Hellsing". I really admire the effort and time he put in it. I think such personal projects will keep an artist alive and creative!
ReplyDeleteChenxue Lu
chenxuel@usc.edu