background artist and demo reels

[KevinScarborough]

To anyone who can answer this question, ,
Hi there, I am a fourth year animation student from NY attending school in Toronto at Max the Mutt Animation school (www.maxthemutt.com). Like any other student, in the next few months I will be submitting my portfolio to many places. I like to animate however I have always been interested in designing and building backgrounds and set dressing not only in 2D and 3D but also in live theatre productions. My teacher just gave my class a decision on our indie project for our demo reel. It was either to make a complete animation that has all the qualities (not only animation, but also, backgrounds, lighting,modeling, rigging etc.) or....to have a really strong piece in just one of these areas. In my case, I would choose to work on one area...of course background design. So, my question is this, provided I did choose to go with background, and decided that this is what I want to do in the industry, what do big companies like Pixar and BlueSky look for on a reel when they are looking to hire a set designer or builder? If I was to pitch myself as a background artist in 3D what may I want to show on my demo reel? One quality set with lighting/texturing? Two quality sets? Night and day shots? Camera going through my sets? Props? I dunno. How do I present that to someone? Still images of my background? If anyone has any advice for me that would be fantastic! Thank you for your time in reading my question! Take care,
Kevin Scarborough

[silver surfer]

Hi Kevin,
I might not be the right person to answer your question but I have worked quite a while in the film industry. From my experience I can say that big studios such as Pixar do not look at a reel only but also on what you have done before. Saying you need professional work experience in the field you apply. At least two feature films with a smaller company I suppose. For them experience is everything. Being good in what you do is not enough you have to be fast and efficient too. Of course you need a strong background in art and a bulletproof portfolio. Show them whatever you think proves your artistic skills. Remember those people hiring you are artists themselves and are usually able to see what you are capable of. It helps if you already know in what area you want to work in. Because you can concentrate on this thing and become really good in what you do. If I was you I would apply for an internship at first. You get to know the people working in the biz(which is really important in this industry)and you can develop your skills by learning from the best(we're talking about PIXAR, right?) I don't know anything about you and your work though. Maybe you are already prepared to work there. Try to meet anyone from that company and show them your work. You will get the best advice from someone you actually works in the company you want to be. Hope this helps...PM me if you need to know more