Animator

Curriculum Vitae - Louise Hodkiss

Education:

Staffordshire University: BA(Hons) Animation - 2:1

Newcastle-Under-Lyme College: Foundation Diploma Art & Design - Distinction

A Level Art - B

A Level Classical Civilisations - D

A Level Geology - D

Haywood Engineering College: GCSE Maths - A

GCSE Science (Double Award)- AA

GCSE English Language - B

GCSE English Literature - B

GCSE Relilgious Education - A*

GCSE Art - A

GCSE Graphics - A

GCSE Geography - A

GCSE Music - C

GCSE German - C

Work Experience:

July 2007-Present, Odeon Cinemas - Part time work as Team Member, involving greeting guests and providing excellent guest service, stock and cash handling, bar work, working in a team and alone. Also trained as a Barista at the new Costa Coffee now on site.

June 2010-July 2011, Bid Red Studio - Assistant animator on several commissioned projects and also assisted and led animation workshops for young people.

October 2010-January 2011, King Bee Studio - Storyboarded and animated Flash project for short book trailer, and also created character designs and short animations for TV series pitch.

July 2010, Nexus Art Cafe - Workshop assistant for summer youth program, helping a small group learn the basics of film making and animation.

Profile:

My drawing and animation skills allow me to adapt to new software and working techniques quickly as I work both traditionally and digitally in Flash and my varying project briefs have given me experience in leading and working as part of a team, creating work for younger and more mature audiences, character designing, storyboarding and video editing in After Effects. I also have a basic knowledge of animating, modelling and rigging in Maya.

I have creative flair as an artist and especially enjoy working with the human figure, from producing commissioned paintings and illustrations for people and large scale murals for local businesses and I often combine traditional and digital techniques to create new and interesting looking pieces.

Always looking to improve my own work and practice, exposing myself to many areas of art and design, I research new techniques and am currently self-directing my own projects to improve my graphic design, web coding and Flash Action Script skills and I have a keen interest in games art, design and graphic novel art. I am skilled with painting digitally in Adobe Photoshop and am familiar with most CS5 programs on PC and MAC and Microsoft Office Programs.

Skills:

Software I have experience with includes Adobe Photoshop, Toon Boom Studio and Animate Pro, Flash, Combustion, After Effects, Illustrator and Maya.

I have strong knowledge and understanding of the basic principles of animation, with a good sense of timing and observational drawing skills and ability to work in different styles in addition to experience with teaching and leading groups to complete projects and I can work well and with initiative in a group as well as independently, as I have been a key assistant in several animation workshops with young people.

Interests:

Theatre is a huge inspiration to me, creatively and personally, and I travel to London often to see West End shows, where I often sketch the performers live - I have seen over thirty different musicals, ballets and plays in the last five years, my favourites being Wicked, Billy Elliot and Spring Awakening. My favourite animators and artists include Glen Keane, James Baxter, Al Hirschfeld, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and costume designer Susan Hilferty. I was also very awed and inspired by university visits from Joanna Quinn, Barry Purves and Ed Hooks.

My university film ‘Akihito & Matsuko’ was screened as part of Flip Festival’s Student Shorts 2010.

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