9/29/21 Jennifer Yuh Nelson (ONLINE)
Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Introduced by Shon Xiao, Q&A by Aloha (Haekyung) Lee
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jennifer_Yuh_Nelson
Jennifer Yuh Nelson is a CSULB illustration alumni and has spent her career in TV and feature animation. She is the first woman to solo direct a major animated feature with Dreamwork’s “Kung Fu Panda 2” for which she received an Oscar nomination. She has also directed “Kung Fu Panda 3”, the live action feature “The Darkest Minds”, and is currently the supervising director for “Love Death & Robots Vol 2 and 3” for Netflix.
Jennifer Nelson is a phenomenal speaker and talented artist. The personal work she shared had a very cinematic, dynamic, and graphic style that illustrated her unique vision. It was eye-opening seeing her process on Kung Fu Panda and Love Death + Robots.
ReplyDeleteHer wisdom was truly inspirational and many of her advices were invaluable life lessons that she learned from her experiences as a storyboard artist. One of the most interesting advices she gave is do not show your most personal work. She discussed that we artists are always hammered by judgement of other people whose opinions and tastes do not necessarily reflect ours. Therefore, it is important that we tune out that judgement and only listen to that “weird broadcast in the other dimension” that propels you to make your art. Never give up your vision. Pursue what you love even though it can feel frightening and lonely.
Another great advice she gave was do not be afraid of getting fired. Guillermo del Toro told her this when he was discussing that fear will only prevent you from taking chances. This was a profound statement because it puts the goals, instead of the risks, in your mindset.
Thank you for inviting her to this class, Sheila! This was an amazing lecture. I am very grateful!
Jarrod Chatham
Aisha Jamila Harper (5377-7371-00 // ajharper@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteJennifer Nelson is definitely my favorite speaker that has presented to us. Not to bring too many hippy vibes to this assignment, but I absolutely loved her energy and the mellow aura that surrounds her. Very peaceful and radiant. I really loved how she emphasized the importance of creating for yourself, and staying true to yourself and your vision. We do live in a time now where we borrow from everyone, constantly, because we’ve been told that “true originality” has died. There is always something new and beautiful to be added or expanded on. The concept of “originality” has been tainted, in my personal opinion. Also, not everything that we love doing has to be capitalized on, either. Of course, making money doing what you love is glorious, but it’s also important to remember why you enjoy doing what you’re paid to do. Or rather, I think the most important thing to take away from that is to not lose your spark. I also loved the advice GDT gave her about how she will inevitably be fired for one thing or another, so she might as well be authentic to herself.
Our authenticity and individuality is what makes us who we are, so it is important to take care so that we don’t lose ourselves in the pursuit of a more fulfilling career. She has provided me with so many beautiful words of wisdom. I will hold Jennifer’s advice to heart as I navigate the creative world. Very amazing work getting Jen to speak, Sheila.
Jennifer Nelson gave an incredibly empowering and open discussion regarding creativity, the importance of protecting one's work, and career growth. One piece of advice that struck me was having a clear goal - whether it is at a job or on a personal project - that follows what one wants to do in life. I also loved how she showed her work at the start of her presentation. It showed what she was interested in and illustrated the importance of nurturing one's work. I also appreciated her answers to the questions asked during the seminar. One of her responses was the difference between artists who are willing to collaborate versus fundamentalists who are unwilling to change their style/work. Overall, I appreciated Jennifer's insight at tonight's seminar, and I feel less stressed about my career!
ReplyDeletepchatham@usc.edu
Parker Chatham
Shengwei Zhou(szhou894@usc.edu):
ReplyDeleteJennifer's lecture gave me a lot of energy and confidence, allowing me to continue to explore the creation and style I want to do.
The most important point she mentioned is the need to maintain the purest core of the artist's heart. This core can be conceptual or emotional. But in any case, you need to be what you want to express most in your heart, not what others ask you to do. This core can drive you to really create, rather than live as a working machine.
How can an artist find this core? She mentioned the need to be curious and at the same time know what you are interested in. Keeping curiosity allows you to discover new things in the uncharted territory to stimulate the foundation of your unique opinions and emotions. Meanwhile, knowing and persisting in doing what you like can gradually allow you to develop your own personal style.
In addition, I personally have another way to form the core of an artist, which is to feel pain. This kind of pain is not on a physical level, nor is it a negative emotion triggered by a specific event, but an abstract and metaphysical state. It comes from how you feel the world in your heart, how you feel life and love. This kind of pain can keep you in a state of sensitivity, inspiring you to better feel emotions. At the same time, it can also allow you to reflect on yourself and others. The process of reflection can well establish rational thinking way. Feeling sensitively and then reflecting and returning to rationality can gradually form your own core.
After finding this core, how to balance the relationship between it and work? Jennifer also made a very constructive suggestion. She emphasized the need for two routines to be parallel at the same time: developing the core and earning money for a living. But we must always insist maintaining the pure core whenever happens. The best state of an artist maybe combining earning money and expressing the core of his or herself together in the same level, which is merging these two paralleled routines into one. To reach this state requires hard work, clear goals and luck. When the artist can't combine job with core together, he or she can make them separate, but still has to explore the core in his or her free time. In short, let the core drives you to your future career, not the glamorous titles or high salaries. In this way, the artist could really grow and learn a lot.
Anna Wang
ReplyDeleteawang206
The theme of Jennifer’s talk today ow to bring your own uniqueness into your art. Being able to do something only you can do is the value of an artist. Bringing the personal voice into your work. It’s very important to know what you what to do and get something out of all the experience that will send you on the path you want to go. She prepares us for the judgments we are going to receive entering the industry by teaching us to grab on to the things that make ourselves exciting. And that makes the difference between the people who are only working and people who are creating. Always have an intent in doing everything. She also talked about how to be a leader. It is important to make someone feel free and safe about their own creativity in bringing their own solutions in production.
Charlene Xu
ReplyDeletecxxu@usc.edu
Jennifer Nelson is so inspirational on so many levels!
When I saw her storyboards I was a bit surprised how they didn't look like the “Pixar Story Portfolio” examples we often see online, but something so unique and rough yet retaining the principle elements to make them work.
But what inspired me the most was her golden advice as to how should we balance ourselves as artists and as working professionals (one day hopefully) in the industry. Actually she mentioned a lot of nuanced topics that could not be simply summarized as the art v.s. work dilemma. I related so much to her point that when your work is exposed to a wider audience on the internet you’re gonna get so “hammered by judgement,” especially when your best work gets little attention or less than what you expected. But I think the key is to keep making what you want to make without fearing or doubting anything, to keep your channels open. This is such helpful advice to me right now!
Also it was so relieving to hear that she gets 50 story portfolios that look the same. This means we can totally be our best selves and not try to mimic our predecessors! I also found her advice super useful on directing the team and make them feel like every one of them is part of the creative process.
Thank you Jen for your advice, and thank you Sheila for inviting her!
Jiamu Tao
ReplyDeleteWhat we had with Jennifer that night was not a guest speaking session but a therapy session. She came in with such a serene yet determined atmosphere talking about her career, which for me is like looking into someone I want to be but am afraid that I’m not as good. Her talk reminded me of why I wanted to go into this industry in the first place and what I still love about it and made me emotional several times.
Jennifer strongly advised to insist in what you love. I can understand how that could be a struggle for many people including myself sometimes, but she takes that as granted. It takes a strong mind and heart to do so. I wish I could be so strong someday.
Hearing classmates ask their questions was a heart-felt experience too. I could totally understand where everyone comes from and they have really asked the questions that I didn’t know I had.
Thank you so much Jennifer for sharing your experience with us!
Stefie Gan, stefiega@usc.edu
ReplyDeleteJennifer Yuh Nelson was down-to-earth and gave practical advice for surviving in this industry. She addresses the concerns of commercial art vs. pure art, which I'm sure is much debated in the art world. A purer form of art being solely from the artist without having been tampered by money or industry. Animation is a business and it can feel like we're artists trying to bend a certain way to secure a job at companies. Jennifer suggests that we always keep a form of art that is intimate and personal to us that only we see in order to keep our soul and love for art alive. She alludes to the demands of industry and how it can easily change us and make us forget what we like or our own identity as an artist.
In addition, often times students thirst to get a job at studios, for example, a storyboarding job. Jennifer suggests we practice as much as we can before we're hired, so one day when we are hired to do the job, we're ready to be thrown into production. I can imagine that if one isn't ready, the demands of production can be overwhelming as a growing artist. It was impressive to hear Jen would turnaround boards in 2 hours when she gets tests to show studios how quickly she worked. It was a good indicator for me on how quickly I should aim to work.
Jen mentioned the word "crazy" a few times because she had an unconventional portfolio at the time. Nowadays, images of gore and cannibalism wouldn't be so crazy anymore and might turn off studios. However, I took that to mean that as a story artist, you want a strong voice or vision. This is good training to be a director. I feel encouraged to hone in on my own artistic voice and have that come through in my work.
Jen was a great speaker and reflective. I enjoyed her energy and presence as she took her time to share her thoughts. She seems to live with intention, including purposefully not engaging on social media. It was a privilege to have her come to speak to us. Even though she is top of the industry, she cared about how she was adding value to our class. She wanted us to get the most out of this. I thought this was telling as this probably makes her a valuable collaborator when she is so thoughtful of her team and people around her. It would be great to engage with her again in the future.
Mind blowing lecture! Jennifer is so wise and has such great advice for young animators. She has a deep understanding of herself and her career, and is very determined about what she wants to achieve every step of the way. I connected with her a lot about preserving work that’s purely mine. As a young artist, I’m always insecure about my art, and I find myself easily caving to other people’s likes and dislikes, and changing my style based on other people’s opinions. I’m also feeling uncomfortable to post on social media, even though I know that’s the best way for companies to discover my art. But Jen made such a great point about keeping the things that’s unique to you and keep doing those. Especially with animation being so dominated by big companies like Disney who prefer a certain style, it’s even more important to find your unique qualities and passion. I’m also glad to hear that as someone at the top of this field, she’s also sick of seeing portfolios that all look the same. I was confused as to how much originality of style and unique visions matter in this field and have certainly lost my way thinking I should follow some “trendy style”. I’ve met producers that say stuff like how they just want people with great skills and not too much of their own voice, because following trends is what makes the money. But Jen herself is such a great example of how one can achieve great things by being themselves. Thank you so much Jen for your honest and inspirational lecture!
ReplyDeleteRuoyu Chen(chenruoy@usc.edu)
Georgina Gonsalves
ReplyDeleteggonsalv@usc.edu
I was very impressed by Jennifer. She has an incredible resume and amazing story reels. I was especially blown away by her concept art, her drawings are so beautifully detailed and have such strong movement, I admire such creative and bold perspectives in her drawings for an epic, hard-action effect. She is a very well-rounded artists being that she has so much experience in different areas of production. I love that she stayed true to what she loves, sci-fi and violence and continued to pursue it and be herself in an industry where many feel they need to change their style to fit in. I appreciate her advice of getting your foot in the door and then pursuing what you want to do. She was very encouraging when she told us "Don't feel bad for not being chosen for something you are not right for." This is so helpful because at our level, where we are trying to break into the industry, it is easy to become discouraged and take rejection personally. But Jennifer had such a calming and reassuring attitude and presence that I feel resonated with everyone and inspired us to pursue what we want to do.
I absolutely loved this lecture, thank you so much Jennifer! You inspired us all.
Delaney McCallum (jmccallu@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteThis lecture validated a lot of my feelings!! Jennifer had the most amazing story samples, and I was so surprised how different her personal style was from her commercial work. Her work was so bold and dynamic. I love how she described incorporating one's own personal interests and passions in whatever they do, like she did with her interest in martial arts. She made me feel that if I am rejected for something, it's because it's not for me, not because I am lacking. This is really helpful advice both personally and professionally. I feel encouraged to develop and nurture my own unique style, whereas I have felt pressure from myself as a student here to adapt my work to fit an industry standard. I feel more empowered to be myself in professional settings now, because authenticity is what will bring success. Thank you so much for an incredible talk!
Tianyun Lyu
ReplyDeletetianyunl@usc.edu
usc id :2799801213
Today’s seminar I feel very energetic and confidence that allowing me to continue to explore what I want to do. Thank you for sharing
I heard that Jennifer often mentioned that we must keep our heart. In the process of commercial creation that doing what we want to do is the most important thing. Although I think it is very difficult to maintain your own characteristics in commercial activities because you need to complete the task of the director. So over time you start to get bored with the projects at work, because you don't want to draw these boring things. So I started to be unclear about my future development direction because my specialty is painting, but at work I am painting things that I don't like to. The sharing of Jennifer made me build my confidence again.
I sometimes struggle to find a job that I like,or the job that can make money, or to enter a well-known company, but all roads lead to Rome. Don’t make too much detailed planning for your future, because I don’t know what will happened. At some point there will be changes or when the goal is changed. But this is not necessarily a bad thing.
shiqihu
ReplyDeleteJennifer is a young animator with a clear goal and her own unique style. She talks about that people need doing a lot of things with a sense of purpose. As Jennifer said, you may not necessarily do your personal stuff because you will get into you don't want to. but you wanted to do something that was close to when you was training myself to do. In fact, we need to have a clear understanding of ourselves and know what we need, which is very helpful for future employment or doing our own projects.
Personally, I am also very confused about my future employment. I don't know what kind of portfolio I should do, or find a direction that can make me more successful. Through this seminar, I know that doing something personalized portfolio will stand out from many portfolios. We don't need to change our portfolios to ingratiate ourselves with others. And when we're not so sure about what we want, we need to dig deep into the core philosophy of our art, we need to know what you're doing, is it my taste or other people’s. That's why Jennifer also says that when she does her own work, she doesn't use it as a social platform because it can be influenced by other people's comments. In the future, I will learn from her and do more of what I want instead of something to please others.
Thank you so much Jennifer for sharing your experience with us and give us so much useful advice.
Shiqihu(shiqihu@usc.edu)
Vicky Gu
ReplyDeletexingyugu@usc.edu
Jennifer Yuh Nelson was such a wonderful guest and I can't even express how grateful I was to listen to her intellectual insights on how to survive and thrive in this industry.
I wasn't sure what to expect of Jennifer when the only thing I knew of her was directing Kung Fu Panda 2. I naively thought she was just going to be another typical big director from a big company, but I was wrong. She turned out to be very soft-spoken and down-to-earth. I was surprised to learn that her personal style is drastically different from many of the films that she worked on, let alone the carnivorous village portfolio that she submitted to DreamWorks. She exhibited a great range of skills and styles, and I think this kind of flexibility is crucial when you work in such an industry.
I have also learned that there are many ways to achieve your goal, and sometimes it is necessary to make a detour. Jennifer has compromised a lot when she was working at DreamWorks because the films were all too childlike for her, but she was able to use her strength and passion for action movies on boarding and directing the kung fu fighting scenes in Kung Fu Panda. I think it was great that she was able to find some leeway between her personal work and her goal of being able to tell stories.
It was also interesting that she told us never to show our personal works. Because there are so many different voices out there, people might react to your personal works negatively, which eventually leads to self-doubt. I think this is a valid point and I totally agree. You should always have passion for your personal goals and not let anyone else disturb it.
There were so many things to take away from Jennifer's talk. I'm glad that we had her as a guest, and I can't wait to see her produce more adult animation in the future.
Gunjan Dere
ReplyDeleteJennifer was so calm and composed! I was not expecting the director of Kung Fu Panda movies to be so, haha! Jokes aside, she is very wise. I absolutely admire her cadence and the way she communicated with us — felt spiritual. I could have listened to her for hours!
My key takeaway from this talk was individuality, or focusing on your personal voice while you are working/ looking for work. It is funny when I point it out, because I just mentioned how I thought Jennifer was totally different than how I imagined the director of a Kung Fu Panda movie to be. But that's the point! She retained her true self or at knows how to center herself. Conversing with her really made me-self reflect. Something I have been doing lately, but after talking to her it feels a little more guided. I have been actively practicing to draw things I like rather than things I think people might like and it has been far more rewarding. It is easy to get stuck in a validation loop as a student, but it can be avoided if we try to understand ourselves better.
Thanks so much to Jennifer Yuh Nelson for an informative presentation tonight. Jyn is such a gentle and down-to-earth figure who I look up to. She shared her experiences and tips to survive and thrive in the industry. I responded the strongest when she talked about “being YOURSELF” and “do what YOU do” on your path to success. I did not recognize the importance of it at first. When I am blocked on my career path, there could be many barriers such as timing, style compatibility, sense of humor, level of skills, immigration status, etc. Staying true to yourself is just one of the thousand requirements we are asked for, I thought. But as Jyn discussed it in the Seminar, I realized its importance. It is one of the only two things we have control over. The other is to keep practicing. One can only do what they like and keep practicing to be ready for the next available opportunity. To me, this is the significance of “being YOURSELF.”
ReplyDeleteCherry Guo (guomengy@usc.edu)
Clara Chou (yuncheng@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteJennifer Yuh Nelson is definitely one of the most inspiring speakers of this semester. She mentioned so many things that are all very thought-provoking. Finding out what you are interested in and explore your styles without limiting your creativity. Never do art just to fit one job or one studio. It’s really interesting to see that Jennifer does so many different styles of artwork and that definitely brought her many different opportunities. We all need to find out our uniqueness to stand out from the crowd and find out who we are, and express ourselves through our arts. This is very inspirational because a lot of times, we forget our first intention of being an artist. Thank you so much Jennifer for this great lecture :)
Kacey Layson (klayson@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteJennifer Yuh Nelson was such an inspiring speaker for Seminar this past week, she was very intentional with her words and how she talked about her past experiences and the things she has learned was wise. Jennifer is a very talented story artist and director- she has directed Kung Fu Panda 2 and is currently working as supervising director of the second season for Love, Death and Robots. One of her experiences that I remember strongly was her getting her first job- to work and draw cute bunnies, which was not her most ideal position. She understood that getting that first job will lead her further to get the job that will reflect on the work she ultimately would like to create. Which led to the next idea that she shared, in how her uniqueness has helped her in her career. Throughout her career, Jennifer has been very intentional about knowing what she wanted to do and forming her artistic voice.
I found this very relatable in my journey as an artist and storyteller. How do I ask the right questions? How can I find my niche and artistic voice? Finding the media that you like and what you don’t like can be formative to finding your voice. Becoming introspective and even going deeper and asking yourself what are the recurring themes that I am always drawn to- and why? Jennifer brought up thought provoking topics, such as comparing people who are working vs. people who are creating. She spoke about grind culture and about how it can often inhibit creatives. How we should do things that we like- creating the purest form of ourselves in art and not feel obligated to show other people. I really resonated with the idea to create just for the sake of creating art for ourselves. In the long run, it would keep us grounded with a sense of identity and purpose as to why we chose to pursue this career from the beginning.
I appreciated Jennifer Nelson for giving us such an excellent and valuable presentation. It was great to have the precious opportunity to hear a great story artist’s stories. I was impressed by her honesty. And it was an essential lesson to learn that being able to do your favorite job does not mean that you can do what you like at any time. There is still a big gap between work and interest. You should be completing your work professionally and trying to learn something from it, as Jennifer said. We should always leave some space in our heads for things that interest us—then wait patiently for the idea to grow. And maybe we will be lucky to be able to share its charm with the world. I think that’s the valuable thing I learned from Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteNaicheng Liu
I thought that Jennifer Yuh Nelson’s presentation was excellent. She provided us with a lot of great wisdom. Her words about holding on to what you’re passionate about addressed a lot of the concerns I have about joining the animation industry. I have felt as though my personal interests might not be marketable or commercially successful. However, hearing about how Jennifer used her interests to guide her animation career made me feel encouraged. I think that finding what you love within a job and using that to create your own path is a very interesting way of moving towards your goals, even if the jobs seem disparate on the surface. For example, like when Jennifer explained that she directed Kung Fu Panda 2 because of her interest in exploring martial arts. I would have never expected that a DreamWorks director would have higher interests in darker, more adult themes. Being able to find an aspect that you are passionate about within your job is such a valuable skill to have. I love that approach of finding work and figuring out what jobs are beneficial to your own growth. It makes me feel as though my career path doesn’t have to look like someone else’s in order for me to achieve happiness and success.
ReplyDeleteVictoria Cruell (cruell@usc.edu)
Jennifer's talk was like therapy, especially when she was answering the students' questions. She keeps emphasizing we need to find what we like. I am often at a loss to balance what I like and what I am good at. I discovered that the things I am good at and that I will take the initiative to practice are always what I like. She mentioned that she is always prepared to be fired, but on the contrary, she's very successful. And many of the other employees she met who was fired was not ready to be dismissed. She said, "Don't feel bad for not being chosen for something you are not right for." She also mentioned the importance of keep drawing/practicing. Opportunities are always given to those who are prepared. Although we can never reach the "fully prepared state" in our own definition, we can't stop practicing what we like. It is great to have a chance to make money by doing what we really like, but it is also important to remember to keep "making money for living" and "make what we love" separate. She suggested that we should always maintain our own intimate personal art form. Only we can see it to support our love for art. She alludes to the needs of industry and how it would change us, making us forget what we like or our own identity as artists.
ReplyDeleteShengluo Zhang
shengluo@usc.edu
Shon Xiao
ReplyDeleteI believe Jennifer Yuh Nelson was a nice balance to the previously more tactical and skill-based experiences shared by other speakers. While I do believe most artists, or at least most of those within my cohort, already know to keep their art authentic and genuine, hearing the message repeated from an industry professional brings different feelings. It’s both reassuring to see a highly successful professional preach authenticity and passion over conforming to mainstream demand, and also slightly suspicious. I cannot help but believe that it is very difficult to find career opportunities while solely sticking to one’s own passion and art style. Jennifer did touch on this nuance slightly, stating that one can have their personal, “true” art as well as their marketable, industry-molded art.
I think the main message of “stay true to your own art” is one often repeated and difficult to practice, and I am glad Jennifer reiterated it for us to hear. But I believe the most impactful perspective that Jennifer offered to our class was that we can alter our view on the purpose of a job. Jennifer proposed that we view jobs as an opportunity to enhance our own skills and desires as artists, rather than an authority figure that we must serve in order to survive. I had never previously viewed jobs as classes that pay me rather than prestigious institutions that I would beg to get into. I believe my previous views on career held me back from many opportunities, because I was not excited for many of the jobs I had applied for. I thought it would be tiring and draining to work for another person rather than on my personal projects. And while this might still be true, Jennifer has made me realize that I have so much to gain from working in industry. Like her experience with martial arts scenes in Kung Fu Panda 2 & 3, I believe I can focus on the skills I might gain from any job experience, even if I am not particularly fond of the content it produces.
Jennifer Nelson strikes me as extremely passionate about storyboarding and is in love with her line of work. It was so inspiring that she makes amazing, fully realized storyboards just for herself. She even said that she does the ones for herself better than the ones she does for work. Only someone who truly loves what they do would also do it in their free time for their own enjoyment, and not show it to anyone. This is a brilliant practice that I definitely will try out. Doing something for the love of doing it without worrying about other people’s opinions and enriching your own life. I feel like this also balances how much her work work is judged and edited, since it gives her the freedom to literally do whatever and explore anything she desires.
ReplyDeleteThese independent explorations are a great way to build skill, not linger on mistakes, and aren’t burdened by deadlines or other audiences. The mindset it establishes is absolutely optimal for improving and learning. She said “your drawing now is your drawing now. It’s not you.” which only adds to my belief that Nelson is extremely down to earth and bought into the creative process. She gives herself the time and space to keep moving forward without judgement from herself or anyone else. It’s almost like she discovered the cure for artist’s anxiety. It also allows her style to be completely unique, since it’s like she's creating it in a feedbackless vacuum. This makes for some really creative work, and can be a major strength to an artist.
She relies on her own judgement completely and it must have translated confidence to the rest of her life and work as a director. “Imposter syndrome” who? She’s a leader through and through and clearly she knows it. I love her philosophy about directing, and it’s similar to Eric Darnell's. A good director gives just enough direction to allow your team to do what they do best and come up with something great to solve the problem.
What really resonated with me is how intentional she is about everything she does. Every shot does something for the film. Every project is a stepping stone to somewhere else. She got to be as successful as she is because she gives everything purpose, which allows her to get more out of it and weed out distractions. She has a lot of autonomy this way, so that even if she’s working on someone else’s moving she’s still working for herself at the end of the day. If there was a solution to staying motivated and being passionate every day, that would be it. Ultimately, her approach to work and life is highly intelligent and ambitious. She blew me away and I learned a lot.
-Nina Ceklic
Jessica Wu
ReplyDeletewujessic@usc.edu
Jennifer’s talk was inspiring in many different ways. She talked about how she found her own voice. And how you shouldn’t create works that you think studios would like. Instead, you should focus on what you are passionate about. Because it is possible that you don’t know what the studio is looking for. Moreover, it’s all about what you want to work on eventually in the future. She really is a speaker that is genuine and full of wisdom. The talk made me think about my own voice. I’m still struggling with finding it, but her talk really made me believe in myself more. Overall, it was a talk that I will think of when I’m struggling to make art.
Jennifer Nelson is an incredibly talented artist and director, and I appreciate that we had the opportunity to hear about her career journey and creative process. The work she showed us was dynamic, and I admire the stylistic and tonal range Jennifer can achieve in her art. I didn’t wholly agree with Jennifer’s statements on professional vs. personal work. My own artistic style is fairly commercial, and I don’t believe that’s necessarily a bad thing. Perhaps it’s because of the stage I’m at in my own career, but the majority of the work I produce is to be shown. At this point, I feel like it would be a luxury to make art just for me. I like what Jennifer said about how she got into the animation industry, how she described the winding path she took to get where she is now. Jennifer’s statement that we shouldn’t be afraid of getting fired made me chuckle (I am very afraid of getting fired in the future), but was reassuring.
ReplyDeletetkrantz@usc.edu, Tyler Krantz
Thank you for inviting Jennifer. I have been kept discussing with my classmates how inspiring she and her presentation is during last week. We all agree that she bring answers to many questions we are confronting right now. And I even feel like her words will be the motivation for me if I struggle with my career in different life stages in the future. The wisdom she shared with us which accumulated from her life’s experience is invaluable for me. I really appreciated the idea: “Always think about what we can learn when it comes to getting a job.” And “It is welcomed that we can try different career direction in our life, and always go for something we like and what we want to improve the most during the time.”
ReplyDeleteRecently I was been worrying that, what if I compromised my art style for a job position, and what happened If I am stuck in a position that I no longer find interesting in the future. And the simple answer came from her:” prepare to be fired every day” open my mind. I feel like the philosophy and mindset she shared with us are practical ways that I can keep on self-improvement during my lifetime. I wish I can bring what I’ve learned from the presentation with me in the future.
Lydia Su
lrsu@usc.edu
Jennifer's advice was very refreshing and at the same time, painful. Detaching yourself from your artwork and the world's evaluation of it. The same goes for not taking rejections personally. Also preserving your own art and compartmentalizing it with the professional/commercial works, separating job with what you are pursuing and also with what you like. This is what I struggle so much with, and in that sense, it was so helpful as an artist.
ReplyDeleteBut, as an international student, it was very overwhelming and frustrating. Yes those said above is a lot and I feel as if my head is going to burst, having to handle all those with moving to a whole new country, taking expensive lectures in a foreign language, and having to have active concentration every second and every moment so I don't miss single information, that is said in English. I feel like literally going nuts because all this is just too much and my mental and physical health is being sabotaged. This is all a lot and I know that the answer is to take time. I can already hear what the therapist(if I had one) would say, prioritize things and take one step at a time, don't stress yourself out. But the thing is, I can't. I can't take my time because I am an international student. A foreigner to this country, who has limited time of visa and cannot take a gap year from school to think about myself and my art. I am constantly chased by time and I am not allowed to stop running. I see things falling down from my hands but I cannot go back. My breath is all the way up to my chin, choking me but I can't stop. And I can show or say this out loud because it will just look like I'm whining and acting immature, thus "unprofessional". I am so jealous of Jennifer, even though we were both born outside of this country, unlike her, I have to burn myself on fire to make it here. When that is not the only thing I have to deal with, meaning also have to handle what the US citizens have to go through. I feel.....
Aloha Lee (haekyung@usc.edu)
Aloha- I know everything is overwhelming, especially when you look at the big picture and how many hurdles lie ahead. But from your own statement, you know the answer is to take it one step at a time. If you look at your destination you will not be able to focus and take the next step. Put one foot in front of the other and you will get there. I know it sounds impossible, but it is important to try to be present and each small accomplishment will help lead to the next one.
Delete-Sheila
Jennifer Nelson is an extraordinary, admirable person. I think she is an inspiration to all women and global animators in general. I really liked Jennifer Nelson’s exceptional personality, how mellow, open, and honest she is. She is a self-driven, hardworking, brave person that really inspired me. I really appreciated her passion for art and appreciated her personal work that was showcased in her talk. I also respected her message about being true to yourself by creating what you love and not what others expect of you! that really resonated with me. My take from her talk, is that it is ok to be different and that you are a unique artist in your own way and not to lose sight of who you are. It was such a pleasure to hear her story and be inspired by her.
ReplyDeleteThank you for inviting her to our seminar! Looking forward to meeting our next speaker as always.
Dina Garatly
I was inspired by Jennifer's presentation greatly. I've know about her after watching Kungfu Panda two, and she has become one of my role models ever since, not only because she was the director of an amazing animation production, but also because she was one of the very few female figures in the industry who got to be in the position of directing. Her sense of storytelling is unique in her own way, and I was super excited for her presence. She talked about her journey as an animation artist, such as how she found her way into the industry, how she found her own creative voice, as well as how she perceive her journey so far and shared some advice with all of us. One thing she discussed about that I found very enlightening is that, rather than creating her art conforming to the industry's aesthetic or trying to please anyone, she has sticked to her own style and expressing her true self the whole time, which not only did not dim her light, but also got her jobs and established her career ever since, which taught me that we do not need to create art only by pursuing what other people consider ' good ' , on the contrary, we need to follow our own heart and truly know what we want as individual artists, which is the only way to keep our passion and have our own voice. She has inspired me to become a better artist and I truly appreciate her presentation.
ReplyDeleteRui Han (ruihan@usc.edu)
Jennifer Yuh Nelson was such a wise and knowledgeable person, and a great speaker. Not only was it great to hear from someone who worked on things I love like Kung Fu Panda and Love, Death and Robots, but it was also great to hear from someone in her position in the industry; She’s worked on big, important projects that aren’t exactly the kind of thing she’d make on her own, but she’s also had the opportunity to make exactly the kind of pieces she wanted. I think I speak for a lot of people like me when I say, that’s the dream. She also encouraged us to not always tailor our work to what we think other people will like, but to do what appeals to us and make what we want to make. That, I think, really helped me as an artist.
ReplyDelete-Jackson Roberts (jpr02403@usc.edu)
Vicky (Shunyi) Xie (shunyixi@usc.edu)
ReplyDeleteJennifer Yuh Nelson’s speech is helpful and interesting in different way.Over all, I totally agree what she said and I am so glad that she the feature animation director also point out something about the importance of “be yourself”, which is always something that I am working hard to achieve and keep in mind.
There are other things that I want to point out is, although her idea of being an artist is 100% valid, it is very privilege and not everyone has that chance to do that especially during their young age. It’s no longer the period of time that the company, especially those big company like Disney, Dreamworks and Pixar will hire you because you have “crazy style portfolio”. They are looking for the drawing tool who better already has a decent style that looks exactly like the company’s style so they can save both money and time to train them.
Same as social media. Yes, she doesn't need a social media because she already has a lot of years of experience and connections in this industry, but for the new grad students nowadays, the company tend to hire people with more followers on social media, because of big number of followers=free advertisement=more audience engagement=more profit. And of cause, because of the algorithm of the social medias, the work from bigger accounts will more likely be seen by the company.
For the idea of “not able to get working on the show because the style doesn't fit” of Jennifer is also very valid and true. But once again, not every has the privilege to deal with that. International students has limited time to find a job, students from poverty need money to pay food to literally survive and not being homeless, there is no privilege for them to wait for the right timing. It become very important to learn how to draw in the popular style that the companies nowadays looking for and not being yourself at all.
Again, these does not mean I don’t agree with Jennifer. Everything that she said was absolutely inspiring and helpful for being an artist for the rest of our life, it is just not really 100% case for job hunting nowadays, according to my experience of job hunting, and the experience from my instructors and friends who are working in the industry.
I've known Jennifer Nelson before for her directing of Kunfu Panda 2 which was a big commercial success. But the talk she gave introduced me of her true color as an artist. She has found exactly what she wanted and continued to work toward it. She also had a very strong but peaceful mindset of how to balance personal aesthetics and professional works. And I really appreciated that she could really think outside the box. I remember she said that pitching stories are actually good for introverts because people are focusing on the work instead of the person who is pitching. Also she said it was not you who's not good enough it's only your work. These great thoughts kinda relieved me from my anxiety of being observed and compared by other people.
ReplyDeleteAnother takeaway is definitely the practical advises for storyboard artist. I'll do more cinema study and refine my skills.
Chenxue Lu
Jennifer Yuh Nelson has been one of my favorite guest speakers since I joined this program. Her vision about this industry and her personal work inspire me too much. I was always in struggling in making something that may be more suitable for this industry and my personal taste works. I have no idea which direction should take more of my time and energy. However, after Jennifer's talk, I understood how personal works and jobs insist together and help each other. I definitely appreciate how Jennifer blend her own interest and industry project making. She just made it unbelievably successful.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, I was really inspired by her words about hiding the core of the personal work while showing some of it when finding a job. Her vision about she wants to keep her true self in making her own work just inspired me so much. I am constantly influenced by how people see my works. Sometimes, just as she said, I even tend to change my works towards the direction which are liked by more people. Audience are really changing my perspectives in making art and films. Nevertheless, now I understand how I can deal with this bad condition. I am really excited to hear that how important one's special perspective and creativity are, because I sometimes lose myself in making something that I may not like a lot but maybe please the audience more. One of my dream is to become an artist that can influence others. Jennifer's talk just invokes my deepest wish to make my own unique stuff. Thanks so much for inviting her at a such a significant moment and thanks so much for her amazing talk.
Siqi Fu
siqifu@usc.edu
Jennifer's speakings are words of wisdom and encouragement to me. Jennifer reminds us that owning our own art style is important and telling us to insist on our own style. To find and grow our art style approaches, being passionate and being curious is crucial. Our world observations establish our interests, and our art style is based on our interests and knowledge. The unique styles we own are priceless. The point of being an artist is to show our uniqueness. It should never be changed by anyone else. Jennifer also tells us about the importance of clearly knowing our goal as an artist. We should carefully manage our goals and abilities when balancing our work tasks and our personal art creations. Working on art is fun, but dreamwork does not exist. Screwing with those two parallel lines would cause unpredictable consequences. We as artists should know that and clearly plan our every move.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I found super helpful that Jennifer says is how to be a good leader among artists. While artists are Creating art, we are expressing our uniqueness. It is very personal progress. Working in a safe and free environment helps us create. The ability to provide that feeling is a crucial character of being a leader. I am very appreciative that Jennifer brought these wonderful advisements to us.
Jiayi Tang
Tangjiay@usc.edu
Jennifer Nelson, our guest speaker from last week was an amazing artist and director with such a diverse portfolio of work from working on the storyboards of Kung Fu Panda to directing The Darkest Mind. Her introspections about her life, as well as her personal or professional work were unique and enlightening. She viewed her work with such incredible sensibility that I had not heard before from someone so ingrained in the industry. I thought it was fascinating how Nelson keep a very tight control on who she lets into her “creative bubble” in order not to be swayed by outside opinions that could distract her core creative endeavors. I had heard others who view and closely keep their fragile creativity as private as possible; however, Nelson took such care in guarding her personal artistic work from the impressionability of other eyes. With her calm demeanor and articulate speech, I could not help but be impressed and inspired by her intelligent understanding of her own work and talent on the page and screen. It was such amazing experience hearing from Nelson and I feel fortunate that she was able to share her experiences with us in class.
ReplyDeleteKaisey McCallion
Pedro Chinchilla (pedrochi@usc.edu):
ReplyDeleteJennifer Yuh was amazing her speech was super inspirational. She touched on a lot of different topics what I found most profound was how she described social media. She said she didn’t not use social media because it was like starting into the dragons mouth. I can relate as I myself hate using social media its such a toxic place and environment where everyone is competing for likes and attention. It’s weird to say the least, although while I do agree with her social media is where it at. In order to get recognized and your work seen you need to post on social media. Thus, I believe finding a happy medium , what I personally do is post stories just to stay active and keep the algorithm happy but I will not stay online and go looking in the dragons mouth.
Im personally deal with insecurity and imposter syndrome, it so difficult to pull the ideas and feelings out of my head and do what needs to be done. Although, Jennifer gave me a glimmer of hope when she said , your vision will always be a few steps ahead of your abilities. For example, your drawing is crap its only crap because you’re still learning but that drawing is not a reflection of you.
Also a big part of it is not being precious and overanalyzing what you’re working on, if the drawing is crap who cares, you can sit there and try to fix what’s broken or start a new drawing and move on. As, the next drawing will be better. The only way to get better and to keep practicing. At the end of the day nothing else matter, kill your ego its about doing what’s need to be done and getting to where you need to be and trusting in the process.
Interestingly enough, I have a client that is so demanding and picky but every week I think I’m going to get fired and Im always so stressed out. When Jennifer said Your going to get fired , So don’t be afraid to get fired
They will fire you an the end of the day regardless so what it does it matter; I felt that in my soul. I was in awe, she is right at the end of the day I have talents and I’m a valuable asset and I can find a job anywhere who cares about being fired. If you know you’re worth and the capacity if of skills and talent the rest will fall in to place.
Jennifer Nelson was such an inspiration as our guest last week! Jennifer is an amazing animator and director who directed and worked on one of my childhood favorites, Kung Fu Panda. Jennifer has a really soothing voice and wise personality that just feel so calming and make me want to hear from her more. She not only talked about finding your own voice in your artwork, but also tackled on some issues about facing judgements as an artist. I am actually relieved that she said it was okay to not post artwork on social media since I have been struggling with the same problem with my art account sometimes. Social media is supposed to be a place to share, not to be judged. And as an artist, we are all vulnerable about our works and what people think of them. We should only post when we are ready and not easily affected by others. At the end of the day, the most important thing for us artists is to rely on our self-evaluation and intuitions, keep doing what we believe in, rather than depending on other people's thoughts.Listening to Jennifer's talk, I have learned so much on personal growth, inner strength and creativity.
ReplyDeleteJennifer did an amazing job at emphasizing the importance of preserving your identity as an artist and focusing on whatJennifer did an amazing job at emphasizing the importance of preserving your identity as an artist and focusing on what matters most to you. I loved hearing about her experiences working on Kung-fu panda and hearing about how she was able to use the experience of working in such a well known big studio to her advantage in order to further her own growth and passion as an artist. Finding what you want to do/are passionate about in the industry can often be difficult and landing a specific job that aligns with your passion can be even harder at times so I truly appreciated her optimistic and clever philosophy of always being sure to fuel your fire in any opportunity that’s given to you. Her work was stunning as well! It was nice to see such an adaptive style and enjoyed getting to take a look at her personal works and learning how they differed from the commercial projects! All in all I loved Jennifers talk and can’t wait for this weeks speaker!
ReplyDeleteAdriel Meka
ameka@usc.edu
I just want to say thank you to Jennifer for her fantastic speech. She encouraged us to take a step back from others' comments and not be fooled by the people around us. Sometimes we can be lost in the environment and turn to pursue meeting people's preferences. But we should stay focused on things we love instead of something that gets us compliments. And it was also very helpful when she said that we should also show the things we love in our portfolio because the most attractive elements are our natural personalities. Hearing her talking was almost like a spiritual therapy journey. It was very meaningful and inspiring, and I really appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteGiulia
tzuyupan@usc.edu
Jennifer gave us a lot of advice and honest opinions. The suggestion she gave about how to keep our own artistic style and making money actually sounds a little sad to me. But I know it must be the truth, which is really hard to do whatever we want in artwork and making money at the same time. So, I am. really cherishing my final year at school, doing my thesis. After graduation, probably it will be really hard to have this freedom to make whatever I want to make, and without thinking too much about the budget. It will be hard to find enough spare time to complete own work when I have job. But I believe I will try my best to keep doing own work as I really enjoy doing it.
ReplyDeleteXiaoqian
xiaoqiaz@usc.edu