Laura K.P - Portfolio

Dear Sir or Madame,

My name is Laura Kračun Pižmoht, and I am writing you this letter of intention since I am applying for the Character animation program. You can find the link to my portfolio blog here: http://laurakpportfolio.blogspot.si/

One of the biggest reasons for my applying to this course is my urge to improve. I constantly strive to learn, become better at what I love doing and in it, find purpose and happiness. I hope that applying to this course will help me polish my skills, and become someone who can inspire others through my work.

Animation has fascinated me since I was a child, sitting in front of the TV gaping and starry-eyed. When some stories in particular touched me, I would often dream of going on adventures of my own, exploring worlds full of magic that could never exist. But seeing how even a child's imagination isn't that powerful, I had to find another way of exploring the unimaginable. I soon found out that the easiest and most fulfilling way of doing that was by drawing. So in a way, animated movies changed my life (for the better, I'd like to think). I love seeing the story and characters progress through the course of the movies, animation emphasizing their actions and emotions. Watching them as a child, a question would always pop up in my mind, "Wouldn't it be amazing if I could be a part of something like this?"

That question has led me to this point in my life, when I'm trying my best to achieve my dream of becoming a character animator. My first encounter with actually animating something was roughly two years ago, when our professor wanted us to animate a short story without any prior knowledge of animation programs and techniques. It was a tough challenge, but I was determined to make it happen. In the end I learned a lot about the value of determination and hard work.

When I was a child, my primary source of inspiration were mostly books. I was an avid reader of all things related to fantasy and magic. My obsessions ranged from the magical world of Harry Potter to the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness by Michelle Paver. A notable work I have fallen in love with after multiple readings is The Bartimaeus Sequence. Filled with witty lines and memorable characters, it was perfect for my young action-starved mind. I'd often sketch comics and my visions of certain characters; It was a fun and creative way to develop my skills. Another source are definitely movies from Studio Ghibli, especially Spirited Away, which has been my favourite movie since I've first seen it years ago. There was something about seeing a strong, young heroine going on adventures that made me identify with them, and seek my own exciting experiences. Ghibli movies have very interesting, touching stories, and you often find yourself immersed in the world and story that is unfolding in front of your eyes. In the past few years I've also started playing video games more often; Many of them have striking visual design and compelling stories, but I've grown especially fond of games such as Dishonored, The Last of Us and Journey. Each has an uniquely developed world and interesting characters, as well as a fantastic musical score that fits the themes of the stories.

When it comes to movies I don't really like, it's usually because of a lack of plot or interesting characters. If a piece of media doesn't have a person who the audience can relate with, it usually comes off as bland or perhaps a bit pretentious. The lack of story is usually more concerning, though, as no amount of interesting characters will make up for a genuinely boring story. I've always found Frozen to be an example of this, as the story was a bit lacking in spite of the catchy songs and flashy visual effects.

Since I've been interested in art from an early age, choosing to continue my education in the art industry wasn't a hard decision. During the course of my secondary education, I got to try my skills at graphic design, animation and illustration. All have been equally enlightening and contributed greatly to my self development. As I mentioned before, our professors have given us several animation assignments, but they weren't really enough to sate my curiousity about animation. I still want to know more, learn more, try my hand at different techniques and approaches. Of course, I'm not just gaining knowledge and experience during my time in school, but at home as well. I try to be creative in some way every day, even if I only scribble at the edge of my notebook. Recently, I've begun taking life drawing classes to improve my knowledge of anatomy and portraiture. Even though it's only been half a year since my first life drawing class, I've noticed myself improving and understanding some things better than before.

Through the years of attending art and design classes, I've learned how to use programs like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Blender and others. In our time of ever-improving technology, I've been mostly focusing on digital art, but I've never abandoned traditional art and its techniques completely, as drawing by hand and the feeling of paper beneath your fingers as you start drawing out what you've pictured in your head is one of the best feelings in the world. I find portraying emotion and feelings in my drawings to be very important, so I often study anatomy and body language by drawing from real life. A few handy skills I've also picked up in classes include storyboarding, writing a script etc.

Even though I've been focused on art for years, another one of my passions is linguistics. Learning languages has been equally challenging and entertaining, and through the years I've made it my goal to learn as many as I can. Even so, english is one of the most used languages on the internet nowadays, so during the years spent on different websites I've gotten pretty good at it. This knowledge has helped me achieve first place at two national english language competitions, and are probably the two things I'm most proud of in my academic career.

Regarding languages, I've travelled to England two times to attend language camps. It's been an interesting experience and a fun way to meet new people and learn more about the english language. Another time I've travelled abroad was two years ago, when I went on a cruise with my grandparents. We visited places such as Italy, Greece, the Canary Islands, Morocco... The culture difference was inspiring and eye-opening, and the architecture in Morocco was especially charming.

Experiencing a working enviroment was part of our school program for two years. We had to find an employer (preferably in the graphic design field) and work for two weeks. I've found it to be very educational both times, as our professors often like to tell stories of how scary and unforgiving the industry is. Learning that it can be enjoyable if you give it your best and listen to your employers was a relief and an interesting experience. During my time in both companies, I got to work with several computer programs, learned more about the printing process and even created some graphic designs for clients.

On the topic of jobs and future, after I gather some experience in the world of professional animation, I'd love to work at an animation studio and create films or animated series that inspire people and have a powerful effect on the audience. I do realise that It'll take quite a bit of luck and hard work to achieve a dream as big as that, but I'm prepared to give it my all and never stop trying. As for the funding, I hope I will receive another scholarship in the near future, and my parents have offered to help me pay for the rest.

Thank you for taking the time to read my letter, I hope you will consider my application.

Regards,

Laura Kračun Pižmoht