Cooler than a blog.

Why am I doing this?

Mario Furmanczyk is a guy that wrote of his first year experience at CalArts character animation program, and his journal really helped me out when working on my portfolio as well as when choosing a college. I decided that I would like to provide the same sort of resource for others regarding my experience at USC School of Cinematic Arts. This is not intended to be a guide on how to get into USC SCA, instead it's more of a resource for kids who are struggling with how to approach getting into what is arguably the best film school in the world. More of a starting point and a reflection on my first year.

High School

Preparing for USC SCA during high school takes a lot of time and energy. However, that's not to say there is a specific way to go about it or a guaranteed way to get in. There are common denominators among the applicants though, and those basically distill down to passion and genuine effort.

I approached the challenge by keeping my grades in the top 15%, participating in extracurriculars that I honestly care about and developing a portfolio based on classic principles and lots of drawing. I figure the effort I put in academically helped on the scholarship front, while the portfolio and essay really weighed in on the film school side.

The application is pretty standard. Start it early, do it right. Don't be afraid to call the nice USC admissions office too! They are incredibly helpful.

The essay is obviously hugely important. When I was exploring and going to admissions sessions and learning, the most repeated piece of advice was to make the essay count. Put your whole person into that essay, and on the short answer section, don't be afraid to be goofy! The admissions officers read tons of applications and they probably won't be interested in an application with no flavor. In addition, if you want to be considered for merit based scholarships you must apply early! Make sure to hit the application deadline. (for me that was December 31st.)

Besides that, the typical keys to getting into any incredible universities apply. If you haven't given it any effort, don't expect to get in.

That's all I can really say about getting into USC SCA though. Is all I know is that I tried my hardest and I began to focus in on my goal as early as freshman year. I'm not sure exactly what USC saw in me, but I'm very grateful they saw something! You can check out my general portfolio in the portfolio tab, though it's also not a "guide" or "standard".

Orientation

USC certainly knows how to throw an orientation, that is perfectly clear. They put you in great little groups with spirited and kind leaders, they constantly entertain you with the "SCit" and a visions and voices presentation, they get you pepped with the band, they throw you a very fun little dance, they give you all the food you could possibly want, and then after all of that, you register for your classes.

It really is a good time, lots of fun and overall a very cool event.

Make sure to be prepared to write and to learn a bit. There is so much information thrown at you that it's almost hard to keep up, but they make every possible effort to keep you from feeling overwhelmed. Don't worry about which classes you are going to take or any of that, they make it easy to choose.

The first thing they hand you is your USC Catalogue, and it has every piece of information you could want inside of it. As Freshman, students generally focus on their general education credits unless they are in an extreme program. You can expect to have around 4 or 5 classes because 16 units (most classes are either 2 or 4 units) is the standard number of classes to be taken during the first semester. The advisors work really close with you to determine what special classes you need. For example, I am strongly considering the Honors in Multimedia Scholarship option so I have certain classes I need to take rather than random electives. My advisor (Daphne) made sure I understood that I need to think about getting all the necessary classes in without going to fast. It's great!

Before registration though, there is all kinds of opportunity to learn about housing and clubs and such at the involvement fair and organized schedules. If you are really into it and want to take advantage of everything they have to offer, it's totally possible and very fun.

The animation program specifically requires drawing and two other classes first semester. Animation 101 and Animation 451. 101 is an overview of animation as a medium and 451 is a history of animation class. I had to get clearance for the drawing class but I got it no problem by emailing the department!

It feels like the animation program is maturing as we speak. All of the people involved in the program have this incredible urge to help the students and the program grow and work towards better material. Since the USC Animation program is so young, however, their isn't much student work on the internet to compete with the incredible CalArts and Ringling reels, but I don't think it has anything to do with the quality of the USC program, only the amount of time it's been around. I think (but I'm not sure) that last year's graduating class is the first class to have been through the program all four years. The quality of work being produced considering that level of infancy is astounding.

All in all, the USC Freshman Orientation was a blast. Registering for classes went incredibly smooth, and the Animation program and T.O. program really work to keep their kids moving in the right direction. The only downside that I experienced was that it felt rushed but that's kindof the point. Two days is not very much time to include all of the fun stuff they had us do. I cannot wait until the fall.

Summer 2010

Among other things, I want to get a grasp on objective c, get better at javascript, write a few short film scripts, learn Maya and After Effects extensively, draw a ton of good material including character design, and tattoo all of my belongings this summer. I also am trying to keep up a variety of small web design jobs to support the expensive habit of animation. I figure if I can learn the software as well as I know the software I already know (cinema 4d and final cut) then I can be way ahead when the school year hits. I am also going to try to pick up some of my reading for my T.O. class so I can familiarize myself with the material before the onslaught. Good thing I enjoy my alone time! I'll periodically update this business.

So due to an extremely high demand or something going on with production of the Autodesk for education suite, I haven't been able to start my learning about Maya yet. But, I have been brushing up my Cinema 4d skills! I am working on making a short film about Care Flight, and my generic character (creatively named Helicopter Man) has been modeled and almost rigged. I have all the joints and IK set up and now I have to do the skinning and weight mapping. Then on to facial morphs and some fun animation tests!

On another note, Objective C is ridiculously difficult, not in concept but in execution. There is so much extra coding for so little functionality. Maybe that's just from a guy coming from interpreted languages, but I'm damn happy I didn't go for a computer science minor or something. It's not for the right-brained individual.

Basically the USC Scendoff at Lake Tahoe was a great time, and all of the SC alumni were great people, very willing to help and very kind and friendly. I have 10 days till I take off for LA, and then only a few more till my classes start!