On Tuesday (10/29/19) I went to a Motion Design Panel Discussion at City Tech starring featuring artists: Brandon Sugiyama (Motion Designer), Anthony Emezu (Senior Art Director), and Greg Anderson (Visual Effects Supervisor.) Before they told their stories, Professor Larkins gave a small introduction to Motion Design. What stood out to me was when he said Motion Design can’t be used to make something that is ugly to look pretty. It is essential to have knowledge of Typography and Graphic Design to make Motion Design work. He also emphasized “train like champions” meaning to give any hobby an honest try. Afterward, as each of them shared their story to how they got to where they are today, I realized they all dabbled other things before getting into Motion Design. Brandon studied Public Policy and Journalism and amongst the many projects he has worked on, he is now doing Motion Design for Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj (Netflix show) and also did a Promo for Game of Thrones. Anthony first got into illustration and is now Art Director for Showtime and has also worked with Nickelodeon. Lastly, Greg Anderson was in Computer Science Major and now works on Visual Effects for Starship Troopers, When They See Us, and many Marvel movies.
They’ve all told us similar advice for the young creators. Creatives tend to not take chances because they are afraid of failure which sucks but people learn from it. They said that it is more of a hard lesson than a failure. It is good to feel fear but it’s important that you don’t let it push you backward, but forward. They mentioned that having a support system within the industry is important for growth. If you are stuck or don’t know what to do it is important to ask for help. However, Anthony Emezu said otherwise. He emphasized that working at an agency is completely different than working corporate. At an agency, there is no room for mistakes. Most of the times you are alone and have to figure things out yourself and learn to use what you have to complete the task. One mistake can hold the agency back big time. Besides that, the energy in the room was very uplifting and inspiring. They showed their amazing work towards the end.
