9/15/21 Valerie LaPointe (ONLINE)
Valerie LaPointe
Introduction by Stefie Gan, Q&A by Aloha (Haekyung) Lee
Valerie LaPointe began at Pixar
Animation Studios as a story intern the summer of 2006. She was a story artist
on shorts including “Presto” and “Partysaurous Rex,” on several “Mater’s Tall
Tales,” on the Toy Story Toon, “Small Fry,” and the TV special “Toy Story OF
TERROR!” LaPointe also worked on Academy Award®-winning feature films “Brave”
and “Inside Out,” as well as “The Good Dinosaur.”
As story supervisor on Pixar’s “Toy Story 4,” LaPointe oversaw a team of story
artists. She also contributed story ideas and helped with the writing and
development of the film. Her most recent role is as director on the short,
“Lamp Life” for Disney+, featuring the character Bo Peep from the “Toy
Story” films.
Raised in Virginia Beach, Va., LaPointe received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in art and animation from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. She attended graduate school at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles where she received her Master of Fine Arts in animation. At USC, LaPointe produced and directed her own short films. She also worked on music video projects and commercials, mostly doing stop-motion animation for Partizan Entertainment before coming to Pixar.
I really enjoyed listening to the story from story artist Valerie! The suggestions she gave are also inspiring. I am so affected by her energetic and passionate talk. The way she talked about her life events is so vivid and fun, indirectly showing that she is a great storyteller.
ReplyDeleteCreating a good narrative character animation is like creating a new believable world. It may look simpler than abstract or experimental animation in audiences’ point of view sometimes, but there’s a lot of thoughts behind it. To make the world believable, each character has to have their distinct personalities and background stories. The story should be making sense logically and having surprising moments at the same time. It is hard, for me, but it sounds really natural and enjoyable while Valerie talking about it.
I was also interested in listening to how collaboration works among a group of story artists. Valerie mentioned that characters are created by combining various artists’ ideas. I love collaboration. Collaborations during stop-motion fabrications are easy and fun. But I imagine that it is an uneasy process for story artists physically and mentally because it includes lots of sacrifice on personal ideas. However, on the other hand, putting pieces of oneself into a character also sounds cool, especially for a feature for Pixar! It also gives the character perspectives which would be difficult for one single person to figure it out. There’s always a balance between own opinions and other people’s. No matter we work alone or in a group, we artists always try to stand at audiences’ point of view to consider our own work, in order for our work to communicate. No matter it is a mainstream film or an experimental film, listening to other ideas and transfers them into a more resonate and understandable ones can be a very fun process.
by Xiaoqian Zhu (xiaoqiaz@usc.edu)
DeleteHi Xiaoqian- I think that when there is a culture of mutual respect collaboration can be an exciting and beautiful process. Collaborators can help you push your ideas further, bring some clarity, and challenge you, similar to critiques. Good comments.
DeleteShengwei Zhou(szhou894@usc.edu):
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to today's lecture, what impressed me most was how Valerie's personal emotional world and life experience were put into the work and resonated with so many audiences.
Throughout the course of the lecture, Valerie looked like the character Happiness she created in the Inside and Out, very active, positive, optimistic, and full of strong personality charm. But from her past short films, we can see the other side of her personality: pessimistic, sensitive, gentle, fear of being hurt. This point is especially reflected in her previous stop-motion animation short film with the heart as the protagonist. In that short film, a heart is repeatedly injured by various sharp weapons and objects, but after each injury, it can barely heal until it is completely torn apart and eaten by rats. Also in the short film directed by her, Lamp Life, we can see a similar scenario of the character: after the Barbie doll under the lamp is discarded by the heroine, she lives carefully in various cramped and depressive environments. The most obvious example is Sadness in Inside and Out, which is perhaps the most interesting manifestation of her pessimism. You can feel the helplessness, sadness and despair of the creator behind these characters when facing this cruel world.
This might give a perspective for the success of Valerie's career. She put her true emotions and dimensional aspects of her own personalities into different animation characters, and then just like the suffering and happiness she experienced, she also lets the characters she created experience those similar difficulties.
It is worth mentioning that putting one's own emotional state into character design is like peeling an onion, there are layers. Just as we see Valerie's speech today, she didn't show us any negative emotions, but the undercurrent of those negative emotions can be felt in her works. This is a hierarchical state. Therefore, the characters she created are also very dimensional, just like the relationship between Happiness and Sadness, a pair of dramatic tensions.
Finally, I am very touched by Pixar's respect for the artist's personal emotional expression. It is hard to imagine that the core story ideas and emotional clues of such a large-scale animated feature film Inside and Out come from Valerie's personal feelings and experiences. On the other hand, I have experienced all kinds of compromises being forced to give up self-expression in the live-action film system before in order to meet the market requirements. I envy her for creating and expressing so freely. This also makes me rethink what is the real art work with market potential? Should we consider the tastes of most viewers first, or should we respect the true feelings of the creators first? I prefer the latter, because you can only impress others if you impress yourself first.
Hi Shengwei- I prefer the latter as well, as I believe the personal is universal. The more you reach within yourself, the more relatable it is to others. Great comments.
DeletePedro Chinchilla (pedrochi@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteValerie LaPointe brought a lot of energy to the table, as she is very charismatic and bubbly and above all very positive. She explained her backstory, how she got into animation, and her journey from then to now.
She explained her job position her growth within Pixar along with responsibilities.
Lapointe also explained how people use to think her dream of becoming an animator was cute because no one thought it was a real job at the time. This was relatable as my family never supported my career until more recently.
What I found the most intriguing was her experience at USC and Pixar as it was inspiring to say the least. She spoke about her experiences and what was going through her head at the time, I felt it was super relatable. For example, she mentioned that at USC and Pixar everyone around her was an overachiever so it put the pressure to stay on a level. Coming into this program, I feel like I'm playing catch up with everyone around me; I am not very good at drawing or 3D graphics, as of yet. I will get there, I am not worried. I need to learn to crawl before I can walk, but I digress. Although, I will admit there are times when I feel like I'm just not good enough and then I get stuck in my head and have negative thoughts. which Lapointe touched on and said "get out of your head", I felt that in my soul; I'm not the only person feeling these emotions and thinking about these ideas. Lapointe also said, “not being positive will close all the doors” LaPointe continued to elaborate on how having a negative attitude can be a deterrent to future opportunities. Additionally, not allowing mental health and home life to affect professional life. Thus, always keep your game face on, be positive, and play the game.
As she was explaining these ideas she was also giving examples from her personal life experiences. For example, her being one of the only two women at Pixar when she started, at the time, animation was a man's game. It was super funny how she would overcome the pressure to be on the same level as her male counterparts; she would put on her “man hat”. Which meant putting on a performance and acting like a big shot and it worked for her. In other words, she was faking it or acting out this persona to get the recognition she desired and it worked. Last week, I saw this small 14-year-old boy on the bus that wanted to sit on the only empty seat, but a big guy had his bag on the seat. The boy lacked confidence when he asked for the seat. I looked at him and said hey talk louder, pretend to be older and bigger, ask for the seat; if he says no, who cares! At least you tried. The kid asked again with confidence and got the seat. It was a great real-life example of growing or faking the confidence needed to achieve a goal. In short, be who you need to be to get to where you need to be.
Lapointe gave us the formula. Be who you need to be to get to where you need to be. Keep your game face and play the game. Go hard in everything you do. Positivity Is key. Lastly, keep an iron heart, nothing is personal it's just business.
Very thoughtful and important observations, Pedro. Great post.
Delete-Sheila
Anna Wang
ReplyDeleteawang206
Valerie LaPoint is such a delightful artist. Listening to her speech is like listening from a friend telling you how exciting everything is. The passion she conveyed in her presentation recalled a lot of my own memories of why I have chosen to become an animator.
She is like a character in an animation herself. She gave us an insight of how the industry is like. Listening to how she grew as an artist and as a person was inspirational. It is not only about skills but also about being a good teammate to work with. For example, it is so exciting to hear her explain that, when an idea come up, directors start to lead writers and story artist to do their specialties; Connecting with other people is a big way to thrive and generate ideas. It is also about connecting with oneself. While she works on a project, she is putting her life into the work and learn from other people’s life when collaborating. For story artists, staying creative all the time can be exhausting, but listening to Valerie gave me such a optimistic view of the future.
Valerie LaPointe is an incredibly charismatic storyteller, and her presentation was inspiring, to the point, and profoundly motivational. Immediately when I went on zoom and heard her voice, I was already excited and hooked to learn more about her story. I appreciated how she began by showing her thesis film at USC and walked through her early steps in music videos and the Pixar internship. I loved seeing her sketches and ideas; They all illustrated her thinking process as a storyboard artist and her intuition as a performer. I was also dismayed to hear that women are underrepresented at Pixar and how that can stifle the voices in the storyboarding and writing rooms. I do hope that changes shortly.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that struck me was her comment that there is a growing trend/pattern with interns aspiring to be directors and are wanting the Pixar internship to check a box on their resume. She mentions that in her time as an intern, the general experience was different. Having done different things in school, she faced the challenge in learning how to be a specialist and to do it FAST. I admire her tenacity in pursuing a specialized job, taking criticism, connecting with many talented artists in the process, and building her network of creative friends. I feel many young artists have ambitions to becoming a director, and the road can be a difficult one. Following Valeria's thinking, I say learn from the best studios and produce one's own content, whether it is pitches or independent projects through grants. And create a circle of good friends who care about your work and offer constructive feedback. There is not one way to directing, and the path to it takes time.
Parker Chatham
pchatham@usc.edu
In this week's seminar, we had the opportunity to have Valerie LaPointe come in to talk about her experience at Pixar. It was hugely inspirational to hear her career journey starting all the way back to her attending USC for MFA in Animation. I enjoyed watching her thesis "Lolly's Box" which I have seen before so I was very excited to hear her talk about it in class. The characters, especially Lolly, were so whimsical and playful that I was struck by how personal and genuine the story felt. The fact that she did her thesis in stop motion demonstrated that it does not matter what medium you choose as long as you are able to tell the story you like. Her strong visual style and quirky characters for that short can be directly seen in her illustration and storyboard work for Inside Out and Toy Story 4. Both films explore deep topics regarding identity and do a great deal to humanize emotions in both feelings themselves and toys.
ReplyDeleteI am thankful that we were able to have her in this class so thank you Sheila!
Jarrod Chatham
jchatham@usc.edu
You're welcome- Valerie has always been generous with her time and given back to the USC community. We are lucky to have her as one of our own! BTW, "Lolly's Box" was not her thesis film. She made a beautiful Hubley-style film about climate change. I'm not sure if it is online.
DeleteToday, I was very fortunate to listen to Valerie LaPointe’s presentation. She shared with us the reasons why she likes animation, the huge influence that Disney’s “Little Mermaid ”has on her, how she got the offer from Pixar, and how she worked with different people that from different department, how she grow up in the Pixar.
ReplyDeleteThis animation of “Inside Out” is one of my favorite Pixar animations. After watching it, I have a lot of insights. For example, each of us should correctly face the various emotions in our hearts, expressing emotions in a reasonable way. Suppressing negative emotions for too long can make things worse。However, after listening to the speech today, I feel that Valerie LaPointe is always positive. She is like happiness in the “Inside Out”。She explained to us that a negative attitude can hinder one's development in the future, and we need to keep a positive attitude, and apparently she did. From her experience, animation is important to her as rain in the desert. She seems to be full of enthusiasm and passion for animation all the time, which is a thing that can give her continuous creative power.
She also mentioned that Pixar used to prefer CalArts students, but now things have changed. The worker who in the Pixar come from different countries and regions, and they have different learning experiences and growing environments. It shows that if a person is hard-working and excellent, working at Pixar may no longer be out of reach.These words let me has been a great encouragement, I believe that every student learn animation is desirable to Pixar, I often worry about their work will be imperfect, then don't want to show you, but this is no perfect in the world of work, I can do is to strive for perfection, strive for perfection, then once you have the chance I will try to seize, Go after your dreams.
SHIQIHU(Shiqihu@usc.edu)
I enjoyed Valerie’s vigorous presentation a lot! Loved how her laughter was so contagious. It was interesting to lean about the many backstories behind the creation of those Pixar films that we all have probably watched for so many times growing up as children and as aspiring animators.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I found super interesting was when she said that when she boarded “Inside Out”, she had to work her ways to find out how to make the emotions look like they are influencing the girl but not controlling her. It is a subtle nuance, but I think it is hard to showcase this difference clearly, or otherwise put, to avoid the wrong interpretation. As she went on to talk about the other things about Inside out, I zoned out for a bit (sorry) thinking about how to solve this problem, and I took a quick look at the film after the seminar session. They did succeed to show that ‘’influence“ instead of “control.” This was the moment I realized that the job of a storyboard artist is not merely visualize what the director thinks with drawings. It plays such an integral part of the process of driving the flow of the story as well as guiding the audience to believe in what we want them to believe. I think that’s why storyboard artist the most common path people take in order to become a director.
Another thing I felt related to was the women at work dilemma that Valerie has specifically talked about. It was shocking for me to learn the gender ratio of Pixar’s story artists. I think for women, gender equity the workplace still has got a long way to go, but Valerie did inspire me with her brightness and strength to stay strong and be positive to any possible obstacles.
Thank you, Valerie!
-Charlene Xu
Tianyun lyu
ReplyDeletetianyunl@usc.edu
Thank you valerie for sharing her growth history with us.
It is very interesting to hear about Pixar's internal creative process. Because I am from China，although I have always liked Pixar's film works, I don't know much about the internal situation of this company. I have a relatively better understanding of some Chinese animation companies.
Seeing that Valerie is really a very lively person, I really like her personality and I feel that she can resolve all difficulties and always face life and creation with an optimistic attitude.
So I asked her how to maintain creativity. Because I had worked for a year before coming to USC. I think work is really a human-consuming process, hahaha, because in order to meet the requirements of the director and the investors, we must reduce our style to meet their requirements. This process is not very happy. Gradually, I no longer want to create anything by myself. I just complete the director's requirements every day and everything will be fine.
So after I arrived at USC, I was also thinking about how to return to a pure state of mind creation.
Valerie’s suggestion is very good. She said that the environment is very important. There are a group of good classmates and cohorts, all excellent creators. The environment is very nice and she can put herself in a creative mindset. .
After I came to USC, every time my work was broadcast, everyone would give me positive feedback, encourage me or give me some good suggestions. I think it’s very good, giving me the confidence to continue creating and in my work. There is room for improvement on the existing basis.
I feel so happy!
It’s such a pleasure to meet Valerie LaPoint! She is very much Joy from Inside Out herself, she has such a positive spirit and is so passionate about animation that makes me recall how exciting it was when I first decided to be an animator. Her journey in animation began when she was so young, and every step of the way she’s determined and sure in what she’s doing, and she’s always ready to try something new, which is so inspiring for me. I find her talk about how the industry pipeline works very helpful, as I’m also hoping to work in a big animation studio, and am always curious about what the workflow is like, and how much inspiration from each individual artist is going to reflect in the final production. She’s also very honest about her experience in Pixar as a woman, and how her gender and her being a mother can affect her at work. These are conversations we probably won’t have been able to have somewhere else. She also mentioned her Taiwan friend, who sometimes finds language as a barrier at work. As an international student, I really appreciate her shining a light on this kind of situation and sharing her friend’s experience with us. Another thing that stood out to me in her speech was her pointers about maintaining a group of friends sharing the same passion and artistic taste, but are not competitive with each other. I find honesty and open conversations within artists' friendships to be really important. Not only can we give each other constructive advice, but we can also compare notes and experiences on different jobs. Afterall, animation is all about collaboration.
ReplyDeleteRuoyu Chen(chenruoy@usc.edu)
Stefie Gan (stefiega@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI've been following Valerie LaPointe before coming to USC and it was so amazing to finally have a chance to interact with her. She is whimsical and fun and I can see a lot of what she brings to any story team. When I saw Lolly's Box in Lisa's class, I thought about the fun childlike wonder present in the story. It's the combination of cute voice acting and a squirrel with big eyes and glasses. She was surprised the film received a Student Academy Award nomination, and I just learned from Sheila's comment that it wasn't even her thesis film. I think this is a lesson on going with our intuition as a creator and developing our unique voices.
As someone who wants to be a story artist, Valerie mentioned a few points that reminded me not to glorify a position; we are afterall artists in our own right without the validation of studios. She mentioned being story artists is "all story, no glory" because a film is made by a team, not a single person. It was hard for her to take sole credit for any of the scenes because other people's shots may be interwoven with her original idea. She also mentioned story jobs are hard and take everything out of you, so it's not a job for someone to do indefinitely. Thousands of drawings get scrapped and don't leave the story vault. Story artists have the skills to eventually do projects outside of the studios and launch their own path.
Valerie also mentioned keeping track of all her work, artwork and journals. Unfortunately, I've been moving around so much that most of my previous works have either been lost in packing or flooding. But even reflecting on my work from first semester at USC, I can already see my growth, which is a nice reminder whenever I feel I'm moving forward. It seems all of Valerie's advice to being a good storyteller are things I'm already practicing now. I'm grateful to be at USC and able to explore my passions and craft with knowledgeable professors and encouraging classmates.
Clara Chou (yuncheng@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteIt is so inspiring to hear Valerie LaPointe’s journey from USC to Pixar. Very interesting to see the old USC cubicle, and see how Valerie gets inspirations from her life experience and put those memories in her projects. I have always loved Pixar films and it is really amazing to see how the stories were created. I love that she is so focused on animation since she was a kid and the story of her pursuing her career in the animation industry is very encouraging.
What I learn the most from her is that she always thinks about the characters, what the characters are like, what they are thinking about, how they react to certain things and situations, also why their reactions are like that. To me, the characters matter the most, and they are the ones that push the story to move forward. I think the main reason why Pixar films are so touching is that the audience can really resonate with characters, and that’s how the audience and stories are bonded. I really enjoyed and learned so much from this talk, thank you!
Delaney McCallum (jmccallu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteIt was such a pleasure to speak to Valerie about her journey to Pixar. I was amazed at how much things have changed since she went through USC. It was really encouraging to hear how the workplace has become much more diverse in terms of places of education, race, and gender. One major thing I took away from her talk is that it can be inspiring to look back on your past work, even things you created as a child. It helps to track your growth, but also can spark new ideas that capture that childlike innocence. It was very helpful to hear someone describe the different routes you can take to work in the studio system. While I don't have a particular path in mind for myself, it was intimidating to hear how grueling story work can be. However, I loved how collaborative, goofy, and warm she was. It reminded me that even when the work is hard, making movies is a team sport and it will be fun if you surround yourself with the right people. She had a really lovely spirit that I rarely see in talks with industry professionals (especially men, no offense). I loved that her playfulness and lively spirit have been her strength. I think this absolutely comes through in her characters - they feel incredibly authentic. I see how she is able to bond them with the audience, by embodying them with genuine emotion.
What I appreciated most about Valerie LaPointe’s presentation is how real she was with us. Although highly bubbly, positive, and humorous, she didn’t shy away from telling us the struggles she has been through and what it’s really like to be in her shoes. She is obviously very talented and passionate, but my main takeaway was that to keep a level head in the industry and keep being creative you need to have tough skin, immense drive, and to not let yourself get swept up in what other people want for you but to listen to yourself. Her story about being the first new mother in the story department was really inspiring. Not overworking herself and staying true to her values to go home to her kids is so respectable and truly takes guts. Everything that makes someone different and potentially a target for shame also makes them unique and full of stories/perspectives to bring to the table. LaPointe demonstrated this multiple times; coming far away from LA, one of the first women in her department, and first new mother. She takes what the majority may consider a disadvantage and spins it into an advantage. That’s a winner's mindset, and staying true to herself made for some incredibly human and relatable works (like Inside Out). I also highly respect her for paving the way for other women like myself to feel more welcome into the industry.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly enjoyed her personality and presentation. It was a pleasure to listen to. She truly is Joy.
-Nina Ceklic
Georgina Gonsalves ggonsalv@usc.edu
ReplyDeleteValerie was an absolute joy to hear from. Her personality is so infectious and her creativity is so inspiring. I love that she was in the same program as us and is so successful over at Pixar. It's incredible to see how well she did when she has been in our shoes before. Pixar was also one of the biggest inspirations to me. Watching the Pixar Story and their movies inspired me to pursue a career in animation so hearing her experiences after 15 years working there was so exciting. I love that she provided the female point of view in such a male- dominated industry during production of 'Inside Out'. As a woman entering the industry after graduation, it was great hearing her speak about this experience and her contributions to the film. I also thought it was so fun that she does voice acting! Valerie was so positive and fun, I hope to hear from her again in the future. My favorite guest this semester!
Valerie LaPointe has such an engaging and charismatic energy when presenting last week! I was inspired by and really enjoyed listening to her personal stories and work experiences. I loved learning about her origins and hearing about how she became interested in animation and telling stories. She was raised in Virginia beach, grew up watching Disney and was inspired by Glen Keane, and later on is also an alumni of USC SCA’s Animation department. I appreciated how she showed us not only her current and most recent work, but her work coming from undergrad, graduate school and her films before Pixar. I could really see her voice and passion for storytelling through her films and work, like in “Lolly Box” which was such an endearing story about creativity and the people that help you along the way. It was also interesting to see what the cubicles at USC looked like when she was studying here, and the process of animation at the time.
ReplyDeleteI appreciated the Q & A session towards the end, where Valerie answered questions and gave advice. She spoke about how it’s good to keep something of your own going- whether it's drawing for yourself or creating something personal. And to create something personal, she mentioned how the best story artists are the ones that are living their lives. That sentence had such an impact on me, because yes- working hard is good, and putting in the hours are great. But also experiencing life and having unique experiences make great storytellers. Stories that are relatable, and characters that you can see yourself, your friends, or your parents in are what makes animation so special because it’s so personal.
I also really enjoyed hearing about her journey on becoming a story artist and how she was a pioneer for female storyboard artists in the animation industry. She described “Being the only woman trying to join the team” as a superpower that she has, which I felt was empowering to myself as a woman trying to make it into the animation industry as a story artist. To create believable characters you have to put a bit of yourself in your work, and Valerie fully embraced that idea through all the characters she has crafted with her team.
Thank you Valerie for such a wonderful and inspiring seminar!
Kacey Layson
(klayson@usc.edu)
Vicky Gu (xingyugu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteIt was wonderful to have Valerie LaPointe in our seminar! She is a great guest with awesome bubbly personality. It is always inspiring to see alumni coming back to USC and share their honest opinions about their work and the education they received. "Lolly's Box" was such a cute and whimsical film. It was also awesome to see what the cubes used to be like back in her time.
It was particularly inspiring to hear her talk about her journey to Pixar and how story artists work together on feature films. I love the examples she showed of Inside Out. Her energy and personalities really shine through her work as well. Her experience of being one of the first females to work in the storyboard department was truly an inspiration and great encouragement for future female artists in the industry. I enjoyed her talk, and I hope I can stick to my heart like she does after I graduate.
When Lapointe mentioned the proportion of women in Pixar, I was sad. In the seminars of the previous semesters, there were also guests who had worked in Pixar and shared some of Pixar's shortcomings in these aspects. When I see the shining name of Pixar, I always think of these hazes. Hope things are changing and getting better.
ReplyDeleteLapointe mentioned that it is important to maintain a positive attitude. I feel the same. She mentioned that when she was at USC and Pixar, she was always surrounded by very successful people. When I first came to USC the year before last, I often had imposter syndrome. Many other students feel the same as me. And I also feel peer pressure. But then I gradually found my strengths and no longer had this anxiety.
Lapointe also mentioned the importance of cooperation. A group of artists working together to create a character sounds interesting and painful. Artists' valuable ideas and creative throughs may be discarded, but some will always be left on the character. It should be very exciting to see the artist's own fragments in the characters. Sometimes doing animation is very lonely, especially in school. The animators seem to be shyer. Everyone is more inclined to make everything independently. I discovered the charm of cooperation this semester. I like the sparks created by the collision of ideas among artists, and the happy accidents that arise in collaboration. Knowing different people, and making a piece with different talents is great. I have always been encouraged by my partners. This is very important for me to maintain a stable and positive attitude. At the same time, I would say to myself, "So many people have put so much time and effort into this project, I must complete it, and I must do my best!" In my independent production experience of a short animation project, when I was locked in my room for several days painting alone, I often thought of giving up. Cooperation may be an easier way for me.
I enjoy Lapointe's speech a lot! Thank you so much for sharing all these wonderful stories and experiences with us.
Shengluo Zhang
shengluo@usc.edu
Shon Xiao
ReplyDeleteValerie’s talk surprised me in how casual and personable it was. It took me a few minutes to get used to, as I was expecting to take notes on objective and tactical advice or knowledge, but was met instead with Valerie’s in-depth personal journey through the animation industry. While there were no hard skills I learned from Valerie’s talk, I still learned many lessons through her story. Her diligence and persistence in the animation field during a time where very few women were in animation was very inspiring. Similarly, her animated personality in combination with her reputable position in animation reduced some of the anxiety and intimidation I previously felt about entering the industry.
The Q&A section of the talk was definitely the most insightful. As Valerie went further into how she held the confidence to challenge the male-dominated spaces, I felt encouraged to hold a similar mindset towards spaces in which I am a minority. Valerie rightfully questioned the Inside Out team for not having any women onboard when the main character is a girl, and successfully achieved her place on the team. I hope to enter the animation industry with the same sense of self-worth when there is a project about a minority group that I am part of.
In any industry, I feel that our generation shares a strong sense of impostor syndrome when reaching towards our career goals. Perhaps it is from the exponential increase in global competition. Listening to Valerie answer some students’ questions with “I don’t know,” without any hesitation ebbed some of my fears. Valerie felt very genuine and very human. She made me realize that the idols in industry that I respect so much are just as human, and likely have things they don’t know either. Valerie’s personality and story both motivated me to try harder and comforted my concerns about not being good enough.
Well said Shon! I especially connected with your third paragraph because I too constantly suffer from impostor syndrome for similar reasons. You're not alone. But I believe we are both, us all here are strong enough to overcome the syndrome or just even confront it and embrace it as it is. Together, let's Fight On!!
Delete-Aloha :)
Thank you so much for inviting Valeri Lapointe to our seminar! It was so wonderful to be a part of this and to hear her storytelling her journey to Pixar. Her story was so inspirational and fascinating. I saw her as a very strong, genuine, determined, and full of life woman. She illustrated her story in a way where I felt all her emotions and enthusiasms. I felt like I was watching her life as a storyboard! It was so unique to visualize it this way. Her story truly touched me and resonated with me in so many ways, not only as mother of two, who is struggling and juggling a lot between home and school, but also falling in love with The Little Mermaid and how it was an inspiration to me to become an animator. I saw myself in her and I hope one day I’ll make it to Pixar too!
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Dina Garatly
Having Valerie in the class was an absolute pleasure! I really enjoyed hearing about her rise to success and the story of her trials and tribulations. Breaking into an industry giant like Pixar is really impressive and to learn about her journey was amazing. I liked getting to know how she approached it with curiosity, persistence, and confidence while following her passions and staying true to herself. The ability to stay positive, strong, humble, and self aware while navigating the industry is truly inspiring. She brought vibrant energy, thoughtful insight and helpful advice to her discussion and gave us an incredible formula to strive for in order to pursue success. From a presentation perspective, her talk was very engaging and thought provoking and it was nice to see that it elicited such a warm response from the audience.
ReplyDeleteIt was really cool to hear the realness about how she dealt with things such as being in a minority of female representation at the studio as well as overcoming being a mother at the same time. I also appreciated her discussing how Pixar has changed and evolved over time while giving us a peak at the culture and dynamics of the studio. It's good to know that once she got her foot in the door she's been able to be a party of such a vast variety of features, shorts, and shows. I appreciated her generosity with her time and the thoughtfulness she put into her Q&A. Once again hearing how all of these speakers came to their masters at USC and then made it to the places were all aspiring to go makes the dream that much more attainable and makes me excited to see what the future holds as well as reassured in the decision to take such a big step.
Adriel Meka
ameka@usc.edu
I really enjoyed Valerie LaPointe's presentation. For me, who has not only been inspired by Pixar’s movie since childhood but also has decided to try to go for storyboard direction in animation in future. She is like the hero’s figure I would like to look up to. I am amazed by her warming and genuine personality. And I feel like her characteristics are the key that led her to the point she has achieved in her life so far. I have been considering that storyboarding is a job that often requires artists to project themselves into the characters to convey emotions and stories. But I am also afraid that going for storyboarding can use up the artist’s passion and empathy for the character eventually. After listening to Valerie LaPointe’s presentation about how she maintains to fight on in her career in different life stages. It makes me think that maybe the best way to keep the enthusiasm, is to stay true and take control of oneself, becoming the protagonist for one’s life journey before dedicating oneself to conveying the good stories.
ReplyDeleteLydia Su
lrsu@usc.edu
I enjoyed Valerie LaPointe’s talk on her development and work as a story artist at Pixar. I appreciate that she showed us where she started as an artist and how she got to where she is now. It felt good to see her artistic evolution and to know that the creative dreams we have are within our reach. I valued hearing her perspective as a USC graduate and as one of the few women working in story at Pixar. It was great to see how she carved her own path as a Pixar artist and director, even when she had few examples of people doing what she was doing. I am thankful to know that Pixar is moving towards becoming more inclusive, despite the representation imbalances that are still present. I think that it is important to recognize that there are many different paths to becoming a director, or to getting wherever you creatively want to be. I am happy that Valerie shared this with us and talked about her experiences so openly.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Cruell (cruell@usc.edu)
Jessica Wu
ReplyDeletewujessic@usc.edu
I truly enjoyed Valerie’s lecture. Lately, I have been thinking about being a story artist in the future. And the opportunity to listen to an artist’s journey from the very beginning was very interesting, especially from a woman’s point of view. I appreciate that she shared her process of working on Inside Out. People also asked really interesting questions in the Q&A session. The most memorable answer that she gave was that the best story artists are the ones who are living their lives to the fullest. Everyone has their significant others that they want to spend time with, and it’s important to not be working all the time. Moreover, Valerie’s bright energy made me enjoy the lecture even more.
Jiamu Tao (jiamutao@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the speech from Valerie a lot! She came in with such a high energy that’s infectious. Pixar has been a place that I have dreamed to be a part of, so hearing from Valerie was really exciting. She has this energy that perfectly represent the dynamic of the studio.
I enjoyed her talks about her journey starting as a story artist. I was especially impressed with how she treated every work like her own emotional journey instead of seeing them as a piece of job. It’s hard to keep your personality shining through not only at your own creation but at your job at the same time. I set this as goal for myself: to not only create pretty and workable works, but also create things that I like.
Valerie LaPointe's talk about her journey as an artist was a delight to listen to. I was amazed by all the story ideas she suggested that ended up being an integral part to the Pixar movies she was working on. It's also great hearing that she also attended the master's of fine art program here at USC because it makes the dream of working on a feature film as a director somewhat more achievable. Any time a Pixar artists speaks on their experience working at Pixar, I'm always heartbroken by the fact that it's a boys club and they don't have much diversity when it comes to their artists. Luckily it seems that is changing for the better. With that being said, I'm truly amazed by Valerie's work ethic and overall drive. It's artists like her that make it easier for the next generation to work in a more inclusive place. Overall, I'm amazed by her talent as an artist and I cannot wait to see what she creates next!
ReplyDelete-Armando
I was truly inspired by Valerie's presentation. She has participated in many Pixar films that I grew up with as a story artist and a story director, and by listening to her walking through all the films she had participated in, I felt like I have revisited all of them from a very different perspective with a deeper insight and a new standpoint as an animation student.
ReplyDeleteShe talked about the boarding process of one of my favorite Pixar films 'Inside Out', which inspired me a lot. She talked about how she mixed her own personal experience and emotions into the design of the girl's facial expression and poses, making them convincing by 'influencing' rather than ' controlling'. She also shared a lot of other tips in storyboarding from the perspective of a storyboard director. As an aspiring storyboard artist, these tips are super helpful to me in transferring my personal emotion into the creating process. She also shared her experience of being the sole woman in the storyboard department in Pixar back then, which inspired me tremendously since her courage of not being afraid to speak and share her ideas as a female artist in a male dominant environment is something so vital in the current society. Compared to today’s animation industry, her experience have also reflected a positive trend in the growth of the voice of female artists in the industry, which is a good sign for aspiring female artists. I am very thankful for her presence and was truly inspired deeply by everything she had shared with us.
Rui Han (ruihan@usc.edu)
"Starstruck" would be the right word for the experience I had last week. The Valerie LaPointe, who was one of those figures that influenced me to dream big as a girl, become a story artist, and actually choose this school. How many times in life will there be an opportunity like this, especially considering that I am not even from this country. Meeting Valerie brought up even more aspiration within me; to make it and meet all my childhood role models as future colleagues and co-workers. I have a feeling that I'm on the right path and that I made the right choice.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I too was very caught up with the idea that the west coast animation scene is occupied by CalArtians, and was struggling choosing between USC and CalArts. I had to make the best choice because I would be risking so much time, money and everything I had back in Korea to come here. But when Valerie shared her backstories and early steps, and that she also went through the whole 'CalArts' dilemma, it made feel so much better, especially considering where she is right now! Although I am sure that things will be way more difficult for me, as I am not a US citizen and I do not speak English as my native language, a woman, and am competing now in the red ocean times, it gave me hope that at least us Trojan Mobs aren't ones to be ignored either! (Fight On!)
Meeting Valerie was pure joy, and when I say joy, she literally was the living figure of the character 'Joy' from inside out! Her and her speech was amazingly inspiring and it was a great experience for me too personally, as the QnA mediator. This is the first semester for me to have class on Zoom, where focus is centered on the speaker more than it would've been in real life, so I was very nervous and wasn't sure if I could do a good job handling this. But one thing I knew was that I wanted to be my best, especially in front of my role model. So I grasped courage and the experience turned out to be amazing! I was still shaking during the time, but the many many encouraging feedbacks that I received from my peers, friends and Sheila surprised me and gave me so much confidence! So, I've said earlier, this indeed will be one of those moments that I'll remember till the day I graduate from this school.
Thank you Valerie and Sheila for this amazing opportunity!
Aloha Lee
haekyung@usc.edu
Edit in the last sentence
Delete: So, as I've stated earlier, this indeed will be one of those moments that I'll remember till the day I graduate from this school.
I enjoyed Valerie LaPointe’s presentation. It is very inspiring and joyful to listen to. Valerie LaPointe is a very skillful and successful storyteller and designer. She is a full-time story artist at Pixar and has contributed to various Pixar films since 2007. She is super passionate about storytelling and animation, and she is super hardworking as well. She is not concealing her passion, interests, or ideas. On the contrary, she put a massive effort into showing herself through her work and earns a ticket to her dream job. I love how Valerie creates characters and stories out of her own personality. The characters and stories that she created are incredibly believable. From the stories, it’s not hard to guess Valerie’s personality, how she likes when she is happy or how she likes when she is sad. As one of the only two female artists at Pixar initially, Valerie has gone through a lot. But from her works, I can see her characteristic as a strong and positive person when facing setbacks. She is bringing her true feelings to the screen, and that’s why it is believable and relatable to audiences. I think owning the ability to express and to bring true feelings into stories is essential for being a good storyteller.
ReplyDeleteJiayi Tang
Tangjiay@usc.edu
Gunjan Dere 2447599576
ReplyDeleteThis week's seminar was great! I must admit I was not familiar with Valerie LaPointe before the talk, but I had heard her name in the passing or must have read it somewhere. She had an interesting story for how she got where she is. If I had to summarize her talk, I would say, "It does not matter where you are from, but keep drawing from life, draw inspirations and most importantly have a certain sense of zeal for the art, and it will pay off".
From stop to motion to pixar story artist, I never thought that was a possible route but now I know better. I am so glad we could have her and she was so generous with her time!
Thank you so much for inviting Valeri Lapointe to our seminar. Pixar movies have been a very important part in my childhood and also the decision to study animation. I am very inspired by Pixar's movies, not only the visual images are great, but more importantly is that the stories are heart touching. Telling a story is easy, but tell a good stories that can be connected to people is really hard. Sometimes, I am very struggled to tell a story with emotions that are not familiar with me and Valeri Lapointe really inspired me how to do story telling. After listening to her own experiences, I begin to understand how the person who tells stories is like is the most vital part. Just as I feel its hard to do new emotions, what I need to do is to experience this new emotion and understands it and remembers it. What we experience, what we feel, and what we think build us and make us tell good stories. Influencing others are very difficult, but if we can feel what other people feel, then I think we must be able to tell stories that can influence them. It is something I have never thought before, but now I understand, why I can connect so much with the stories told by Pixar and told by Valeri Lapointe. No matter what we have in life, we can blend them into our own works. I really appreciate this important lesson from Valeri Lapointe.
ReplyDeleteSiqi Fu
Deletesiqifu@usc.edu
Vicky(Shunyi) Xie
ReplyDeleteshunyixi@usc.edu
The animation industry is always a very competitive industry. However, I am still surprised and learned a lot more about the industry, both good side and bad side, after the speech of the storyboard artist Valerie LaPointe.
For the “bad” side of the industry, or, at least the animation industry in the past, is it seems like a club that only people with the VIP card (Calarts) was able to join in like what Valerie said. Personally I do agree it make sense at some point, by hiring people who was trained in the way that will fit in the animation production pipeline do be help the company to save the cost of training and increasing the productivity. However, it also makes the company lack of creativity. Everyone has the same background and same way of thinking and brain storming will defiantly make the films too repetitive.
Another thing that really makes me a bit mad was, according to what Valerie said, she was the only one or two women storyboard artist for a film that illiteracy talks about the inside mind of a little girl. The rest of the team were all men. This is ridiculous. The fact that me as a women still lack of a lot of knowledge about men and boys, those men must also has a lot of stereotypes about girls. Even nowadays, according to Valerie, we still only have 20% women storyboard artists working for Pixar. Instead of USC forcing us to attend the diversity lab, we can defiantly push more in the actual industry.
After all, things are moving on in a right direction nowadays, both the way of how industry hiring people and the equality. This is not a bad sign. We should always work hard and look on the good side. The speech of Valerie and her positive personality inspired me a lot.
Tyler Krantz, tkrantz@usc.edu
ReplyDeleteIt was a treat to hear from Valerie LaPointe. I had seen her character explorations and storyboard work before, but had no idea how integral Valerie was to some of my favorite Pixar films. It is incredibly exciting to see the things alumni do after graduating the MFA program. My main take away from Valerie’s presentation was how much diversity aids in telling compelling and well rounded stories, especially in animation. Her perspective was vital during the production of the film, Inside Out, and as one of the first female storyboard artists at Pixar, she helped break barriers at a time when Pixar was, by all accounts, a “boys club”. Valerie also discussed the collaborative nature of animation, reinforcing how important it is to be a team player.
Listening to Valerie LaPointe discuss her journey as an artist was helpful and appreciated. Her energy and enthusiasm were felt through the zoom screen. I thoroughly enjoyed her talk.
Inside Out is one of my all time favorite films, and it was so great to get this inside perspective on how it was conceptualized, and to see how Valerie Lapointe embodied the spirit of Joy, the character she helped create. I loved her enthusiasm, and the way she described how she got herself put on the film. I also loved to see how much of her personal experience influenced the story of the film, and she has a really unique perspective as someone who turned her own personal story into a monumentally influential one that absolutely anyone can relate to. It was also interesting to hear about how they built the world, the characters, and the mechanics of how the inner world works and influences/is influenced by the actions of the real world. I loved all the attention to detail in the film, from the maze of memory banks to the songs that get stuck in your head to the train of thought derailing, and it was great to hear from one of the people responsible for it.
ReplyDelete-Jackson Roberts (jpr02403@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteValerie Lepointe not only gave an informative talk but inspired me in many different ways. She has such a delightful and passionate personality which encouraged me to be more like that as a storyboard artist and team player. She almost felt like a real character from an animation and I could imagine how it contributed to a storyboard team.
I was also very inspired by the stories she shared and how people came from different paths to a director role. It was about diligence and persistence. It was also very interesting to see how she grew from her USC thesis film to a professional story artist. She mentioned that they will throw pieces of themselves into the story as a contribution. I think that's a great way to create stories that are relatable and humane. Pixar is a big name and everyone wanted to be part of it. But Valerie really showed us that it was these great artists and great teamworks that made it happen.
By Chenxue Lu (chenxuel@usc.edu)
DeleteI appreciated Valerie LaPointe’s inspiring, encouraging, and energetic presentation! Being able to hear a detailed life story of a Pixar story artist is such a rare experience. Although quite a portion of Valerie’s experience may not fully apply to us as students pursuing career in the animation industry today, there is still a lot to learn from her journey to success.
ReplyDeleteI was most impressed with her sincerity and enthusiasm. She always goes through her personal experience and try to embed the true stories into the project she’s working on. These life materials are exactly what makes Pixar’s stories abundant and believable. I think this kind of “investment” is what we should learn! The sincerity and enthusiasm will never go out of date.
Cherry Guo (guomengy@usc.edu)
I appreciated Valerie LaPointe for giving us such an excellent and valuable presentation. It was great to have a precious opportunity to hear a great artist’s career stories from the beginning. I am so impressed by her energy, positivity, and passion for animation from her short films.
ReplyDeleteAs Valerie shared her experience, I realized that she can become what she is today because of her courage to step out of her comfort zone and pursue her animation dream in high school. As an intern in the Pixar story team, Valerie was surrounded by talented students from CalArts. And she tried so hard to be part of the team as a woman. Valerie always has the bravery to step out of her comfort zone, break the embarrassing environment. Her unique charm and particular female perspective can inflect people around her.
Don’t be afraid to get involved in an environment you’re not familiar with, and impress everyone with your sincerity and positivity. I think this is the most precious thing I learned that day.
Naicheng Liu
Aisha Jamila Harper (5377-7371-00 // ajharper@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteWhat a pleasure it was hearing Valerie speak last week!! My mom and I absolutely love the movie Inside Out, so it was almost surreal to see the woman who inspired the character. Fan girling aside, though, I found her story to be very inspiring and also a great indication that I am on the right track with my career path. I've always loved drawing and creating stories as far back as I remember, being here now at USC and doing just that is just as amazing and cathartic as Valerie described it. I didn't know what exactly I wanted to do in animation, aside from obviously drawing, but I think that I'm interested in exploring being a story director. I also LOVE character design/ development, as well. I'm starting to narrow down my interests! :D
Something that is very daunting, is the fact that a lot of there careers are very male-dominated. Seeing Valerie make a space for herself and others was definitely something that I needed to hear to keep me moving forward. I'm definitely not going to back down or shy away from something that sparks my interest; I want to create spaces and make paths for women, as well! If Valerie can do it, I certainly can. :)
It was such an inspiring experience to hear Valerie's talk last week. I love how she shares her personal stories and career paths so selflessly, letting us know that she also came through some obstacles in the past as well, like everyone else does, even as a great artist now. I have always been interested in the career of a storyboard artist, but never dive deep into what their every day life looks like or hear from a lot of "real" personal experiences, so it was an exciting opportunity to learn more about the career itself and to understand what it's really like to work in that position. Everything Valerie shares is so bright, lovely, uplifting, and so are her work! She has this most enthusiastic, optimistic personality that I truly admire, I can tell her great personality traits are one of the many reasons that led her to her position today.
ReplyDeleteComing from a Fine Art background, Valerie continued to pursue her dream working in the animation industry, and she made it! Not afraid to compete with other CalArts students, she still stands out and let her work speak for themselves, which encouraged me to think that nothing is impossible when you set your mind to it, especially coming from an Animation background myself, there really isn't any excuses for me to pursue my dream. Thank you, Valerie!
Sydney Chen (pinghsin@usc.edu)