Industry - Brown Bag Films

Brown Bag Films is an animation studio that specialises in both 2D and 3D animation. They have won multiple awards 'Oscar® nominations for Give Up Yer Aul Sins (2002), Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty (2010), six Emmy® awards for Peter Rabbit (2014), and a host of BAFTA, Emmy® and Annie nominations for their hit shows Octonauts, Doc McStuffins, Bing and Henry Hugglemonster.' When researching into the company,  I found that the way that they present, introduce and describe themselves is extremely friendly and down to earth. I loved how, on their website, they show the history of the studios right back to when the company initially started with two college drop outs and loan. I really liked this down to earth approach as it showed how, not only being professional, but having a sense of humor.

The jobs at Brown Bag Films differ between fixed contracts and full time contracts. The term fixed contracts basically means that the applicant will only work until a specified time that has been negotiated in advance, so in this case, as soon as the animation brief is completed the applicant will have to acquire another job. However with the fixed term contracts, you are able to gain the same benefits as a full time contract. I couldn't find anything towards work placements or internships however I would like to visit them in Manchester so I will ask then.

There were a few jobs that caught my eye both in the Manchester and Dublin studio. Each job had a very brief and to the point specifications:

Background Artist - Manchester - Fixed Contract

'SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITIES:

The Background Designer will work within the Art Dept to develop background concepts and help refine the series colour palette

Specifically, the BACKGROUND DESIGNER will create four key background location concepts, based on the Art Director’s brief and the series Pitch Bible

PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Candidates will have credited experience of working as a Background Artist on a broadcast preschool series (please provide details)

Experience in Toon Boom Animate Pro or Harmony preferable but not essential' - Brown Bag Films

Fixed contract, the applicant would be working on a new pre-school series for Nickelodeon, being created with Toon Boom Harmony. It is preferred if the candidate had experience in either Toon Boom Animate Pro or Harmony but it is not essential. Your role would be to create four key background location concepts based on the brief and would need to be able to work within a team to develop these concepts, helping to refine the series colour palette. I really liked the sound of this role, it sounded like alot of fun and my main target audience with my work is a young audience, not pre - school but I believe it would be invaluable experience with learning more towards how to attract this audience to like the animation, etc.

Storyboard Artist - Manchester - Fixed Contract

'SUMMARY OF RESPONSIBILITY:

You will be storyboarding for a 2D pre-school TV series with best use of space and camera

Respond well to notes and be able to translate revisions during storyboard review and animatic process

Adhere to the quality and style of the show and make sure it is consistently achieved in your drawing

Meet all deadlines as determined by the Producer or Production Manager 

 PERSON SPECIFICATION:

Ideally you have experience in storyboarding for pre-school TV series

Must have strong drawing and storytelling skills for action sequences

Must be able to work digitally in Storyboard Pro

Clear communication skills

Strong organizational, time management and multi-tasking skills

Must be very detailed oriented and organised

Must passionate about character animation and acting

Will be required to do hands-on digital revisions

Good eye for continuity'

I was really intrigued with the storyboard artist role, I wanted to ensure that the specifications were skills that I already had, and/or know the skills that I needed to develop further. With all the skills that I had learnt from COP3 module I felt quite confident with the majority of the responsibilities and specifications, par from the software Storyboard Pro, which I have used slightly but not enough to be comfortable with the basic workspace. The main problem was the experience with storyboarding for a pre-school TV series, it does say ideally so they could be quite lenient; This was just a matter of experience within industry.


Storyboard Revisionist - Dublin - Contract

'Key Areas of responsibilities:

Work with the Storyboard Supervisor and or Episodic Director

You will be revising storyboards for a pre-school TV series/3D CGI production  with best use of 3d space and camera

Respond efficiently to notes and be able to translate revisions during storyboard review and animatic process

Adhere to the quality and style of the show and make sure it is consistently achieved in your drawing

Meet all deadlines as determined by the Producer or Production Manager 

Person Specification/Requirements

1+ years + working as a Storyboard Revisionist for TV Animation

Strong communication skills with an ability to give and take direction

Ability to work as part of a team in a rapidly changing environment'

Even though this role was not immediate storyboarding, it was still aiding the narrative sequence and I did quite enjoy reviewing other peoples storyboards, I enjoyed taking the initial idea and refining it further to better suit the following cut/scene. I was curious about the requirements that were needed for the job and it was similar to the storyboarding specifications however it leaned towards working more with the producers and reviewing through the animatic process more than the drawing side. It does, however, require a year of working as a storyboard revisionist for a tv animation, would be valuable experience towards the animation that they are planning to make.

Previz & Layout Artist - Dublin - Contract

'Key Areas of responsibilities:

Establish geography, functionality and Layout of location assets by building proxy geometries and feeding these assets to Modelling.

Previz key animation sequences with an emphasis on camera, staging, timing and functionality of a sequence.

Work closely with the Directors on sequence layout and location blocking.

Set up cameras for shots and layout action for Animation.

Complete episodic camera notes when required.

Requirements:

4+ years’ previous experience in the CG Industry in a relevant role.

Must have an understanding of visual storytelling for layout and composition.

Must have strong working knowledge of animation principles, camera set-up and proxy modelling in Maya.

Must have a good sense of pacing and timing in Animation

Must have strong problem-solving skills and attention to detail and quality.

Personal requirements

Must be able to work alone and collaboratively, often with multiple tasks and under deadline pressure.

Must be open to direction and able to embrace change.

excellent communication skills

attention to detail

Ability to work collaboratively with multiple tasks in a fast paced production environment.'

I was more intrigued with this job role rather than interested in wanting to take this job, immediately the job asked for several years experience in a similar role on broadcast or film projects. It also predominantly required 3D software which is not a strong point in my skill set. I didn't realise the amount of geography included in the role, I originally thought that the role would only deal with creating the animatic and checking the amount of space within the frame, ensuring that the structure of the compositions layout is correct for the animation and the target audience. There needs to be alot of space for such a young audience to be able to comprehend what is happening in the scene.

Sources: 

http://www.brownbagfilms.com/jobs
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