Outline [Standard] Linear+ Flash Apprentice: Here's Your Chance, FIRST, YOU MUST PASS THE TEST.

Righto, then.
Anyone who wants to have me as your Flash mentor, I have prepared for you all an official test.
I want you to animate whatever you can to the song "Hysteria" by Muse, from the Absolution album.
The more in keeping you are with the general 'feel' of the song, the more brownie points you'll get, but what it comes to ultimately is the quality of work you can produce.
If anyone has any trouble getting their hands on the song, email me and I'll sort it out.

SOME SKILLS I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR

• Character animation (Seriously guys, this is a huge one)
• An eye for colour
• Ability to sync action to the music
• An attempt to draw backgrounds (just do what you can)

PRO TIPS

• Don't make a compilation of crap you've already made
• Don't use Effects
• Don't animate at twelve frames per second

Don't worry about all the other stuff. I can teach you that. I just want to see you're capable of. Flash can be taught - talent can't.

When you're done (remember, it's not a race - if you run out of time I'm more concerned with seeing something short-but-sweet than something long-but-rushed), send your submission to my email [prof-dot-fate-at-gmail-dot-com]. If you have any trouble actually attaching the file,
SendSpace works a treat.

Good luck to one and all.

DUE DATE: 1ST OF DECEMBER

This post has been edited by Professor Fate: Nov 8 2008, 03:17 PM

Righto, then.
Anyone who wants to have me as your Flash mentor, I have prepared for you all an official test.
I want you to animate whatever you can to the song "Hysteria" by Muse, from the Absolution album.
The more in keeping you are with the general 'feel' of the song, the more brownie points you'll get, but what it comes to ultimately is the quality of work you can produce.
If anyone has any trouble getting their hands on the song, email me and I'll sort it out.

SOME SKILLS I AM REALLY LOOKING FOR

• Character animation (Seriously guys, this is a huge one)
  
• An eye for colour
  
• Ability to sync action to the music
  
• An attempt to draw backgrounds (just do what you can)
  

PRO TIPS

• Don't make a compilation of crap you've already made
  
• Don't use Effects
  
• Don't animate at twelve frames per second
  

Don't worry about all the other stuff. I can teach you that. I just want to see you're capable of. Flash can be taught - talent can't.

When you're done (remember, it's not a race - if you run out of time I'm more concerned with seeing something short-but-sweet than something long-but-rushed), send your submission to my email [prof-dot-fate-at-gmail-dot-com]. If you have any trouble actually attaching the file,
SendSpace works a treat.

Good luck to one and all.

DUE DATE: 1ST OF DECEMBER

*'legally' downloads the song*
Also does this mean our well thought out resumes mean nothing?

Do we have to use all of the song? Is it ok if we go into some sound program and shorten it? Three and a half minutes sounds sorta scary for a flash newbie like me. x_x Well, I'm not really a newbie I've been using flash for four years but this would be my first full animation.

(I'm exploding-zombies on DA, by the way)

Also does this mean our well thought out resumes mean nothing?

Unfortunately, yes. Every time someone gave me an example of their 'current skill level', it was something completely different and usually very abstract. I'd say one, maybe two out of the fifteen or so auditions I had been given contained any hint of character animation at all, and another one or two that made a stab at backgrounds.
I realised that what I need to do is lay down some ground-rules of what I actually want to see (mainly more creative stuff and less technical stuff), and some kind of TOFA-like binding framework that will keep at least some level of consistency between entries for comparison's sake.
Sound fair?

Do we have to use all of the song? Is it ok if we go into some sound program and shorten it? Three and a half minutes sounds sorta scary for a flash newbie like me. x_x

That's perfectly acceptable.

Having just listened to the song, I had a pretty good immediate idea of what to do for a music video, so I'll see what I can do in the time allotted, which may not be much, but I'll give it a shot.

Having just listened to the song, I had a pretty good immediate idea of what to do for a music video, so I'll see what I can do in the time allotted, which may not be much, but I'll give it a shot.

Don't forget, everyone else has to come up with something in the same amount of time. XD;

Good luck, Amzi, you've shown promise, now here's your big chance.

Don't forget, everyone else has to come up with something in the same amount of time. XD;

Good luck, Amzi, you've shown promise, now here's your big chance.

Thanks, I'll probably need it

Hey mightyproffesorfate, long time no see.

I haven't animated anything in about two years, but I might take a stab at this just for the fun of it.

Cheers!

Oh, goddamnit - I only saw this thread now...

I might try something, but bear in mind I will have only had a week to do it, and I might have to scrap it anyway if my other animation in the works needs doing suddenly urgently.

So, watch out. Just not very intently.

This post has been edited by WormGod: Nov 24 2008, 02:13 AM

this is the most narcissistic idea ever.

this is the most narcissistic idea ever.

yes, but look at how many people would give an arm and a leg just to get some useful pointers and tips
it justifies the whole concept and out-weighs any flaws

Do you even know what narcissism is, Sporkman?

As far as I'm concerned, it would be narcissistic for me NOT to share my knowledge with anyone and just keep it all to myself.

Do you even know what narcissism is, Sporkman?

As far as I'm concerned, it would be narcissistic for me NOT to share my knowledge with anyone and just keep it all to myself.

that'd be dandy if you were straight up offering your help but the fact that you've made a thread telling people to "prove they're worthy" to be your "apprentice" is retarded and completely egotistical.

Lol, oh okay, I'm 'egotistical'.
I'm such a 'retard' for wanting to choose one person to guide and improve with direct one-on-one critique instead of giving vague, general tutorials.
Funny that no-one else has a problem with it. Seriously, I don't see why you're making a big deal of the whole thing.
FYI, I got the idea for having an audition-phase from the OCTs I do from deviantArt. It's so I don't just PICK an apprentice and realise they are beyond hope. I'd at least like to make sure people here know some basic animation principles if I am going to train them up. What I mean by "prove they're worthy" is that they have talent, so I can teach them the skills. Holy shit, dude.

I would have freakin' KILLED for an opportunity like this when I was starting out. Personalised critique advances an artist about fifty times as fast as an impersonal tutorial so I don't see why this is in any way a narcissistic exercise.

This post has been edited by Professor Fate: Nov 26 2008, 06:23 AM

I think it is fair enough that there is an audition-style process. It is a way of determining whether or not someone has any skill with Flash.

I think what Professor Fate is getting at here is that he doesn't want to be wasting time teaching people the basic fundamentals of animation. They should have that level of knowledge, and he's helping them to refine it.

It's similar to applying for a creative industry university course - you generally need to have some form of pre-existing topic knowledge before you are able to get into the course.

(That doesn't mean that I'm saying that Professor Fate is offering a university-grade education... it's just merely a comparison)

I DON'T think it's a case of him boosting his ego through this. He gets enough ego-boosts from me and his other friends as it is

This post has been edited by Doyvid: Nov 26 2008, 06:27 AM

I think it is fair enough that there is an audition-style process. It is a way of determining whether or not someone has any skill with Flash.

I think what Professor Fate is getting at here is that he doesn't want to be wasting time teaching people the basic fundamentals of animation. They should have that level of knowledge, and he's helping them to refine it.

It's similar to applying for a creative industry university course - you generally need to have some form of pre-existing topic knowledge before you are able to get into the course.

(That doesn't mean that I'm saying that Professor Fate is offering a university-grade education... it's just merely a comparison)

I DON'T think it's a case of him boosting his ego through this. He gets enough ego-boosts from me and his other friends as it is

thank you for rephrasing his post

This post has been edited by gb: Nov 27 2008, 12:31 AM

Is it egotistical? Yeah, probably, but unlike me, Prof. Fate has enough work and experience to back up his claims (I only know a lot of the theoretical stuff and don't really have the portfolio to back it up).

Will Prof. Fate's one on one critique teach anyone better than what I've written will? Definitely. Personalized attention is better anything my general tutorials will (then again, I never claim to be able to teach EVERYTHING because I know I don't know EVERYTHING), and when the original crew of the flash forum came up with the idea for this section, one of the main goals (in my mind) was to create a community where seasoned animators could pass on knowledge to anyone with interest², to which this entire concept of apprenticeship fits nicely.

In the end it's up to whoever's trying out for this spot as a minion. I'm not going to stand in anyone's way from getting to work with a great cartoonist like Prof. Fate, but there are many other ways to learn about cartoons.

For everyone that doesn't make the cut, remember that there's always the animation critique thread, and nothing's stopping you from making a thread saying "HEY GUYS LET'S ANIMATE A WALK!" or "HEY LET'S ANIMATE A WATER RIPPLE!" (it's been done before with those two examples). One of the things I'm learning at my university is that you don't necessarily need an "expert" to get feedback; the great thing about animation as an art form is that, as a medium for entertainment, a lot of the things any yokel from the street or down the hall says is completely applicable to what you just did.

Thank you, Thor, for your wise words.
As for GB, Doyvid actually posted that stuff seemingly seconds before I edited my post, so it was purely accidental that he rephrased my post, lol.
I don't mean to sound up myself when I say that this is a big chance for beginners to step up to the plate and 'pass the test'. I'm just trying to make it a little fun.

Damn I haven't even started. I totally forgot about this thing. I've been pretty busy and I dont think I can finish it by the 1st. Oh well. Good luck to whoever wins.

Ah, jesus.
Is it alright if I'm given a couple more days to do this? Like I said, I've only been able to work on this for a week, and while you don't mind if it's short... let's just say that statement probably have a limit, if you know what I mean.
Sorry if it's too much of an inconvenience, but I really want to have a bash at this, and I don't want what I've done for even a week go to waste.
At least you won't need to extend the date to let me have all the time everyone else had - I'm pretty sure I can do something alright in this time.
I'll let you know tomorrow how it goes.

I didn't get anything done due to school and other related things, and the game competition. Sorry

Heh - I only just saw the 'an eye for colour' part, and I've just done a completely black and white scruffy outliney thing.
I shall continue nonetheless! If the current trend keeps going along as is the assumption, I'll be late, but I'll win by default...

Sorry man, just checked the thread. I can't really give out extensions (that's hardly fair), but because I took so long to check into the thread I will accept what you have. But you had seriously better send as soon as you read this because it's officially closed.

Well, it's been sent.
I'm not proud of it, but being a perfectionist, when will I be? Had I more notice of this when it started, I may have turned out with something more substantial.

Also, with my birthday on Sunday, I think it's OK to say that for all this time...
...I have been and am twelve years old.

This post has been edited by WormGod: Dec 3 2008, 03:01 AM

http://proffate.deviantart.com/journal/21809454