AMA. (Page 1 of 3)

It's funny to read that question then immediately look at Tom Baker's face on your avatar.

Teague: If you weren't in the VFX business, what would you want to do?

Edit:
My name is Cameron. I spent the past year in University studying Engineering, and have subsequently discovered I hate it. I am now intent on studying Geophysics and will be starting that in September. I enjoy photography, science (specifically physics/astrophysics), music (played the piano since I was 3) and playing the odd video game (WoW among others.) I've started to dabble in amateur astronomy and astrophotography, and hope to move to Vancouver Island in the near future.

AMA.

Last edited by Withkittens (2012-06-28 03:55:57)

New Answers

@TheMargarineMan, who asked "If you weren't in the VFX business, what would you want to do?"

I won't be in it forever, is my guess - but it has been my guess for years, so maybe that's not true. We'll see about all that, I'm young yet. But my other interests are varied and evolving, and new things I'd love to do spring up pretty frequently.

Most consistent among them are carpentry and teaching. I'd love to be a teacher - probably starting out at a private school or college and teaching media arts... or be a carpenter, because I just love making things and seem to have a knack for it.

That said, my dream job would be one where I could do a ton of wacky shit and have the only through-line be a personality and an interest in everything - those job positions tend to look an awful lot like your Chris Hardwicks and your Hank Greens, both of whom are the head of minor armies of online nerd presences. There really are people out there who can just be entertaining folks who can collect communities and get cool shit made for fun, and I aspire to be one of them. I'm in the minor leagues of that shit if I'm even flattering myself, those guys have huge empires.

New Questions

TheMargarineMan: What is so fascinating about geophysics, to you? Sell me on it.

BDA: What do you hope for out of your Minecraft series? What's the ultimate success on that front look like?

Teague asked: "What do you hope for out of your Minecraft series? What's the ultimate success on that front look like?"

Ultimately, long term, aside from just having fun and killing time (Which I'm already achieving), I'd like to be able to have enough people like what I do and watch my videos regularly enough* that with the money made from ads and the like I could have some sense of financially stability and have the ability to excise any sort of job that I don't love doing. So basically, my life would be making minecraft (or other LP videos) for my channel and having the rest of the time to focus on the movie I want to make or on whatever project catches my eye, without having to worry whether I'm going to be able to both eat and pay my rent this month. And if I can't get that, at least having a small but steady-ish source of income from something I love doing would be awesome.

In an ideal world.

*Reading this whole thing back I thought I should clarify something. I'm absolutely not doing this for money, I would be retarded and beyond the help of any doctor if I actually thought that would work. I love doing videos, I love knowing that people are watching them and enjoying them. And if for some gods forsaken reason, enough people actual like what I do and keep watching, then the prospect of doing it for money emerges, which would be amazing. But even if that never happens, I'll still make videos, until it isn't fun anymore.

Hmm, a biopic about myself? Never thought about it before, could be interesting...I mean I'll probably run into a few legal snags and more than a few uncomfortable questions from families of missing persons. But it could be interesting.

Last edited by BigDamnArtist (2012-06-28 04:50:12)

I know, I'll regret this if only because I don't know when to stop. Cock it, here goes, please be kind-

My name is Jimmy and I'm a DiF-aholic......I'm 35 and when I was a kid I had many interests and aspirations. I loved comics (but British ones, I wasn't really into superhero ones) and wanted to be an artist. I used to quite good when I was a kid, especially copying characters (my Fred Flinstone was legendary at school....hey, it was the 80s). When I first started watching movies, I wanted to be a stuntman, I was quite the daredevil. I used to 'impress' other kids by jumping out of windows and shit I really shouldn't have done. I took it a bit too far one dy by getting hit by a car for real. Ok, it was an accident but it fucked my back up, I still get pain today. At high school, I did drama class for 2 years. I was the only guy in the class with 12 females. That was fun.  I am an atheist and was not brought up religiously in any way, shape or form. My dad left when I was a baby and my mum used to drink a lot (she was young) so I was brought up by my gran (who has since passed away) but my mum has since got her shit together and is the kindest most amazing person I know. 
I went to college at 21 and did Media Studies for a year and Communications for 2. I got praise and actual credit for my scriptwriting classes so I thought that was my calling. In the meantime, I put my 'stunt skills' and acting to good use performing in videos for others, my favourite was when I faked a load of 'goofs' for one video, falling down stairs and flubbing my lines etc. I still talk to some of the people I went to college with but none I went to high school with because they are a bunch of bullying cunts that made my life hell. I have worked in retail ever since leaving college except that 3 year period where I was unemployed.
I have a sister 15 years my junior and a foster sister. I have been mistaken for being gay too many times to mention. I still love 80s music, 80s film, 80s tv shows, especially the cartoons and I am a huge fan of Hanna-Barbera, cartoon voice artists and The Muppets. I cried when William Hanna, Joe Barbera, Jim Henson and Mel Blanc died. I make no apologies for my love for all those things. My new ambition is to be a podcaster.......

Oh, and I have a psycho cousin who has tried to kill me twice. Annnnnnnnd- go......

Last edited by Jimmy B (2012-06-28 06:01:06)

Oh, what the hell.

My name is Sébastien, and I'm three months shy of turning 21. After trying to study computer sciences, which I hated, I got into a VFX school called ArtFx last year, where I hope to be having tons of fun for the next three years. While I entered it because I always loved VFX, I wouldn't call this who I am, because I'd just love doing so many things.
I'm into music, progressive metal/rock styles (Dream Theater, Transatlantic, The Flower Kings, Neal Morse, Peter Gabriel), have been playing the electric guitar for six years now, drums for six months, never in a band but currently trying to start making covers of video games soundtracks.
I love nature, which naturally got me into loving astronomy, as a passion for years, but now as a summer job too. I do photography, mostly nature-related photography. Astrophotography is a part of it, and I've also discovered storm chasing, which led me to study a bit of meteorology.
I'm guessing, like Teague, I'll spent some years in the VFX industry, because that's what my studies are aiming me towards. But somehow I don't see myself entitled to one field forever, and I hope to be someday that kind of guys who do tons of stuff for a living. Hell, I sometimes find myself wondering what acting would be like, and I have a thing for cooking.

AMA.

PS: before Owen asks... standing up.

Last edited by Saniss (2012-06-28 12:12:13)

I knew that is what people would ask, well, obviously or I wouldn't have wrote it. My older cousin was always jealous of me. I admit I was spoiled rotten s a child, by my gran. As I say, my mum had issues and was usually working and then drinking so I spent a great deal of my childhood living with my gran.  She would buy me basically whatever I wanted 9I fully admit I took advantage a lot, but hey- child!) and my cousins hated this fact. Even to the point that they would actually steal my toys or comics and things. One day when we were all outside playing with the kids in the neighbourhood, my older cousin took offence when I won at a game so he just attacked me. He pinned me to the ground and tried to strangle me, I almost passed out. I can't even remember who took him off of me that time.
The second time, we were teenagers and at our aunts house, hanging with our cousins. This time I didn't even have to win at a game because he was just in a bad mood and I clearly said the wrong thing and he attacked me again. And again, he tried to choke me to death. This time, however, my other older cousin (one I was close to) was there and he helped me and kicked the shit out of him and chucked him out the house. I have hardly seen my would be murderer in about 20 years as he moved away. The last time I saw him, he spoke to me as though nothing happened but he did boast that he hired a guy to kill someone who pissed him off......

So, yeah, sorry for the downer but I had a shitty childhood, was bullied a lot but I have evolved (I think) into a good person. I have never broken the law (except, downloading which is crap, sure but nothing major) and I try to treat people with the respect I would like to get. All of this is due to my mum, who, when I was 15, fell pregnant again and changed her life around. If it wasn't for my mum I don't know where (or indeed, my mum) would be right now. Probably Wales. Ugh, can you imagine?

Thanks, Saniss. And it did, I'm not rich or famous, but I have nothing to complain about. I always remember, there are people out there who have had it much worse than me.

Alright, I think I'll play serious now.

I'm a 21 year old Film Production student from Liverpool, but I go to university in Preston. I'll be going into my second year in September, I'm looking forward to this as there is a year long module which involves making a feature film, but I'm not too sure which role I'm gonna pitch for as of yet. I've always been into films since I was very young and I remember asking my mum how they did the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park. She had no idea, her answer was 'a special effects camera', to which I responded 'can we get one?'. I started a hard rock band a few years back and we did pretty well on the local scene, but I'm not to sure what the current status of the band is. I've never really had a job, the only proper paid work I have had was as a runner for a TV show a while back. With any luck though, I'll have some sort of work to tide me over for the summer soon enough. Oh yeah, I used to do some stand up comedy and I got into the finals of the 'Liverpool Young Comedian of the Year' competition in 2006, but I got beat by some guy in a hat.

So yeah, is that enough? AMA

May as well answer my own question before anybody else...I stand.

Last edited by Owen_Ward (2012-06-28 22:47:11)

Owen, what TV show were you a runner for? And the guy in the hat that one the comedian competition, has he become known in the UK at all or has he vanished into obscurity?

Well done for reaching the finals, though, that is awesome

Physics has always been a subject of great interest to me, and because it's so diverse, there are lot of different career possibilities. Growing up in Alberta, oil and mineral exploration, development and transportation has been a big part of my life (my Dad works at a Shell Refinery.) So I decided on a branch of physics that had some sort of relevance to where I lived. As a geophysicist, I would analyze data from seismic equipment to determine the locations of oil and gas.

If I'm completely honest, I would rather study Astrophysics, but the career opportunities aren't nearly as well defined. Something about studying the origins of the universe and everything contained within it just makes me feel...awesome.

In short, I chose geophysics because
1.) It involves Physics
2.) Lots of money/work

Yes, I am motivated (somewhat) by greed.
I know this doesn't really answer your question, but it's hard for me to sell it to you without any sort of experience. I'll get back to you in four or five years.
New questions:
@JimmyB: What sort of podcast would you want to do?
@Teague: Is there a place in the world that you've always wanted to travel to, but never got around to it?