@Escape_Studios follow: @Pojemotion

Five questions finding out more about our Twitter followers, how and why they got started, and what they feel about the industry asked by Social Media Manager @TobyJOYdigital

Hi, what's your real name Pojemotion, and where are you working?
My name is Lisa Poje and I work at Copper Post, a post production house in Phoenix, AZ. I also work with True Story Films, our sister Production Company. 

Ok, what’s your role in the company, and what projects are you involved with?
I'm a motion graphics artist, however, I also do some compositing and visual effects work. I work on a broad range of projects including national, regional, and local commercials, as well as independent feature films, and corporate marketing videos. On any given project I'll be involved from concept to final delivery.

A recent example is the ASU WP Carey Degree series. We created 15x five minute graphic videos to illustrate each degree program offered. True Story Films shot images of talent in various poses to give a stop motion/paper cut out look. I worked with the art director from the beginning, helping to plan out how the animation would move and what we needed for style frames. I took the style frames plus other created elements and then animated them to the VO. Look at "Finance" to see how it turned out. 

Cool, why did you become interested in CG and how did you get started?
I've been obsessed with movies, especially animation, my whole life so it seemed fitting to go into the film industry. From the moment I made my first digital character I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do. I fell in love with motion of any kind, motion graphics, animation, visual effects, particle simulations, you name it. I wanted to learn how to do all of it.

I got my BA in Visual Effects and Motion graphics from the Art Institute of Phoenix. I've learned so much in the field and on the job, but going to school gave me a starting point and all the fundamentals to succeed.

Interesting, where do you see your career progressing, and what lies in the future for the VFX industry?
I definitely see myself moving more towards character animation. When you take away all the software, plugins and technical terms, it comes down to storytelling and making a character resonate with people.

The VFX industry is still so young and evolving every day. With newer, faster technology I can see the demand for better more fantastic visual effects with increasingly tighter deadlines. We're seeing larger file and data sizes, 4K, 8K, IMAX, etc. Add in stereoscopic 3d and we're on the brink of what computers can handle. The further the boundaries in technology are pushed, the further the VFX industry will be pushed, and it's not stopping anytime soon.

Thanks, do you have any advice for our students for how they should get into the business?
Never be afraid to show your work publicly, and get all the constructive criticism you can. Most importantly, don't take any of it personally. This will not only make your work stronger, but it will help you to separate yourself from your work. Lastly, network. Find the people you look up to and reach out to them. Learn from them. I've never met a creative who wasn't willing to share a technique or help out another artist, and the Internet makes it so easy to do that.

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Lisa, and we look forward to exchanging tweets in the future.

If you're looking to break into the industry, and would like a free careers guide to give you a thorough idea of the jobs, salaries and opportunities available, please download your copy here.

But if your reel is not getting you the opportunities you want, we can also offer you constructive criticism and tips to improve it. So why not sign up for one of our free demo reel reviews?

Also, if you are a keen tweeter, and would like to be featured in this series of '@Escape_Studios follow:', please follow and tweet us, or leave a comment on this post.

See you in the twittersphere!