How to Find an Internship in Animation

How do animation students find summer internships and placements in the industry? Jobs in the entertainment industry have always been highly competitive, and even unpaid internships can be hard to find, So how do you track them down? There are many ways - official jobs postings, word of mouth, rumours in the pub, personal contacts, even cold-calling - all of these can be effective ways to find a summer placement in the business. Below are the seven key rules we think are vital for success.

Blue Zoo Animation Internships

Applications for Blue Zoo's summer internship roles are now open. The 6-8 week paid placements are "like a real job but without the demands & expectations, allowing participants to develop and learn how a big animation studio works and real projects are run".

Blue Zoo Summer Internships

This year Blue Zoo are offering two six week internships in their London studio; one working in their commercials team, ideal for someone with bold ambitions to be an animated commercials director, and another in their TV series department for someone starting out on a mission to become an expert CG character animator! To apply head to https://jobs.blue-zoo.co.uk/

Finding a Summer Internship in Animation & VFX - Twelve Rules for Success

Interview, a short animated film by Mikkel Okholm and Mikkel Brons-Frandsen

How do animation students find summer internships and placements in the industry? Jobs in the entertainment industry have always been highly competitive, and even unpaid internships can be hard to find, So how do you track them down? There are many ways - official jobs postings, word of mouth, rumours in the pub, personal contacts, even cold-calling - all of these can be effective ways to find a summer placement in the business. Below are the twelve key rules we think are vital for success.

Internship at Leading London VFX House for Bucks Students

Soho VFX

The Animation & VFX Course at Bucks has been contacted recently by a leading London animation and VFX house looking to arrange for some Motion Graphics/Animation students to do internships, at two to four week intervals, starting in May and continuing through the Summer. The company in question specialises in "high-end moving image design".  Their recent work includes Eurovision Greatest Hits, Sunday Night at the Palladium, The Voice, Strictly Come Dancing and The BBC Music Awards.

Autodesk CG Student Awards - $360,000 To Be Won - Deadline May 13th 2015

Yes, you read that number right. Autodesk, creators of Maya and 3D Studio Max (among much else besides) have launched the CG Student Awards, featuring an astonishing $360,000 prize pool to be won by student animators and VFX artists. Not only is the potential prize money enormous, but once you enter, you still qualify for $96 worth of prizes - just for entering! Any student who is serious about a career in the animation and visual effects industry should not miss the chance to take part in this competition.  

Summer Internships at FrameStore!

FrameStore are offering summer internships

Framestore, one of London (and the world's) leading visual effects houses, have announced that they are taking applications for their Summer Internship program, newly branded as "Launchpad". So what are you waiting for? Time to start applying!

Calling all Bucks graduates - become a Jedi in Singapore

Lucasfilm are looking for Jedi masters to serve an apprenticeship in Singapore. Their "Jedi Masters Program" offers talented digital artists "the chance to learn from the masters in a variety of creative disciplines -- from visual effects on live-action films to animated feature films."

I worked myself in Singapore a few years back and can personally recommend it. The Singapore Government is highly motivated to bring in international talent, so acquiring a work visa is rarely a problem. And once you are there, you have the chance to explore South East Asia on your weekends, or just hang out at the Raffles Hotel in downtown Singapore and pretend you're Ernest Hemingway. Plus, it's nice and warm all year round and the local cuisine is seriously delicious.

Sabah Masood gets to grips with motion capture at Centroid

Vanya, Alex and Sabah

Bucks animation student Sabah Masood recently spent a week with Centroid, one of the UK's leading provider of motion capture services, getting to grips with the motion capture pipeline and learning the technical nuts and bolts of the process. We asked Sabah to tell us how it all went, and what we can learn from the professionals.

Tosin Oluyadi reports on the value of internships

Free Spirited Thinkers at work

Tosin Oluyadi, one of our graduating animation students, recently completed an internship at FST, a creative advertising agency who describe themselves as "free spirited thinkers whose sole purpose is to build, nurture and add value to your brand". We asked Tosin to talk about what the experience was like, and what she learned along the way.

BBC Academy Career Shadowing Scheme: paid placements for visual effects artists

Calling all visual effects artists at Bucks: A new career shadowing scheme has been launched by the BBC Academy, offering paid placements in some of the UK's top visual effects houses, including Milk and Double Negative. Here is a chance to get real-life experience at a leading VFX house, and  get paid to do it as well.

Summer placements and graduate opportunities in the creative industries

Mediargh.com

Mediargh.com has published a list of Summer placements and graduate opportunities in the creative industries. You can find it here: http://www.mediargh.com/jobs. Not all of these opportunities will be of interest to animators, but the list is long and there are many and varied positions available in creative media.

Take a look and see if any of them seem worth applying for. As ever, the process of applying for a position is invaluable in itself - even if you don't get the job. One of the most important skills you will learn at university is how to find work, and how to present yourself to a potential employer in a way that makes you attractive and employable.

Cinesite explains what they look for in a great student demo reel

One of the most common questions asked by our students at Bucks is: how do I get a job? The answer, of course, is to be really good at what you do, and have a great demo reel to showcase your talent. But what makes a great animation reel? After, all, different companies have different priorities, and everyone is looking for something a little bit different. Luckily, many companies, including Cinesite (which offers the excellent Inspire internship for budding visual effects artists) have posted a lot of information at their website about what, exactly, they look for in a graduate's demo reel.

How to blow a job interview in 9 easy steps

Interview, a short animated film by Mikkel Okholm and Mikkel Brons-Frandsen

By the time you get to being interviewed for a job, most animation and visual effects companies probably already want to hire you. Why? Because the thing that counts for most in getting hired is your demo reel. They are not hiring you for your good looks or charming conversation - they are hiring you for your skill and talent in digital media.

That said, interviews do matter. They are important mostly because this is the point at which many otherwise excellent candidates blow it, and throw a great opportunity away. How does this happen? Below are some of the most common reasons why candidates screw it up and fail to get hired. Read on and learn from other people's mistakes.

Summer internships at Framestore - time to polish your demo reel....

Framestore is looking for talented and creative undergraduate students to join their 2014 summer intern scheme. According to Framestore, "the Internship will give the successful applicants a unique opportunity to become important members of the creative team and gain valuable experience working for one of the largest and most respected special effects and computer animation studios in Europe".

Framestore say that they are looking for "individuals who share their passion for high-end visual effects and can demonstrate a genuine commitment to their chosen career path".

Getting your first job in the Animation industry - 12 rules for success

How animation graduates find work in the animation industry? There is no simple answer to this question. Jobs in the entertainment industry have always been highly competitive, and the supply of trained graduates competing for the best entry-level positions has never been greater. Official jobs postings, word of mouth, rumours in the pub, personal contacts, even cold-calling - all of these can be effective ways to find work in the business. Below are the twelve key rules we think are vital for success.

Bucks graduate Jaffar Ali lands paid internship with Vizrt

One of our recent animation alumni, Jaffar Ali, has just been selected for a paid internship at one of our newest industry partners, Vizrt.  Vizrt is a large broadcast company who manufacture virtual reality solutions for broadcasters, both nationally and internationally (they have 40 or so offices around the globe). Their newsroom virtual reality work fills our screens every night: ITV News, BBC, Sky, CNN,  and Sky Sports. We asked Jaffar to talk about his new internship and how he landed the position.

How do you find an animation internship?

Cinesite is one of many Soho VFX houses which offer internships

Finding internships is not easy. And yet, in an increasingly competitive world for graduates trying to break into the creative industries, it is an important step on the ladder to a successful career. A successful internship brings experience, contacts, and direct understanding of what is needed to get a job with an animation company. So how do you go about finding an internship?

Dave Berry talks internships, advertising and jobs

Dave Berry, one of our talented students here at Bucks, recently completed an internship for the advertising company VCCP which, among other projects, did the animated meerkats for "Compare the Market.com". During Dave's time at VCCP he worked on and helped to complete the advertisement for O2 shown above. Here at Bucks we take internships very seriously - placing students in an industry environment is a vital part of learning to become a professional digital artist. We asked Dave to tell us a little about his experience.

Bucks Careers Fair - Tuesday 12 March

Tuesday 12 March is the Jobs, Careers & Volunteers Fair at Bucks New University. This is an opportunity to speak directly to employers and voluntary organisations who are offering employment opportunities to graduates.