Bfa in Animation - Lesley university college of art and design - Nick mancini, student

My name's Nick Mancini, I'm from Scituate, Rhode Island, and my major is animation. At first, I was very inclined to not choose Boston as a place to work or live or go to college for, because it was a bit intimidating. And what kept me going with AIB was the fact that it was the only school that had, like, a dedicated room, or dedicated floor, to a certain major. And animation was one of them. And I was like, "Okay, this is going to be great." So yeah, I chose it just because the resources were there, a lot more... they were a lot more present than a lot of the other schools that I was looking at. Animation in my own words. It's like bringing everything that you've ever wanted in your imagination to life. There's a lot to master, but if you can do it, there's a lot that you can do. And then potential for it is endless. The teachers here are very personalized. They will talk with students one on one, you can reach them by email. It's not an auditorium setting with 200 students, and the teacher never knows your name. He knows who you are, he knows what you've done, and he's there to help you. So my favorite class was definitely the 3D animation Maya class. Maya, there's so many unlimited possibilities with it, and it's such a booming market, and you see it everywhere, that it's, like, one of the best things that you can get into as an animator, because you open yourself up to a market greater than if you just stayed with 2D or stop motion. Definitely one of the things that I give as advice would be to accumulate as many resources as you can. Look for tutorials, look for books, look for videos that interest you, look at your... even look at your environment. See what little intricacies they have. Because you'd be surprised how many things form that environment. Look into other art forms, especially if you want to be an animator. You're going to need to get sort of like a little grip on everything. Because all of that's going to play a role. Don't be afraid to make mistakes. Don't be afraid to have bad work. Because everyone produces bad work at some point. You know, in 20 years you're going to look at that stuff and go, like, "What was I thinking?" But you're going to have an amazing learning experience from it, you know? Don't take it too preciously, and look for as many resources as you can.