Brendan
Burch is a freelance 2D/Flash animator in Los Angeles. He
is currently a full time contractor for Knowledge Kids Network
in Century City. A graduate of the highly regarded Character Animation
program at Cal Arts, Brendan soon went to work for on-line independent
film giant, Atom Films. At Atom Films, he co-wrote and directed
the controversial short film “ChemoPhone” and animated
on many other projects. After Atom Films merged with Shockwave.com,
he went to work under his old boss, Dean Terry. Dean began a new
company, ideaRAGE, in Pasadena. At ideaRAGE Brendan developed
two original animated applications for the Pocket PC platform:
“Stylus Guide to the Pocket PC” and “Second String Sam:
Sports Fan.”
Animation
at Cal Arts was a long-term goal of Brendan’s. He started drawing
Spider Man and Iron Man comics at a young age, idolizing Todd
McFarland and the rest of the Marvel artists. He knew he wanted
to animate when he saw the making of the “Rescuers” special
on an old Disney tape. Shocked that people made a living by drawing
characters and telling stories, it became clear to him what he
should do as an adult. His HS counselor pointed him to animation
programs, and schools that would help him achieve these goals.
Brendan attended two years of CSSSA’s animation program where
he finalized his decision to become an animator. Most of the faculty
was from Cal Arts, and encouraged the students to attend the school
if they wanted to go further with animation. “I thought Cal Arts
would help me focus on getting a job in feature animation, but
instead, I left even more confused than I was coming in. There
are a lot of great, new things happening within this industry,
and I want to be there to help shape them.” explains Brendan.
Brendan
is a firm believer in the potential the Internet still has as
a strong animation/ film venue. In addition to his lucrative freelance
career, Brendan is in the process of developing two original series
for the web and television. “I’d love to have my own show at some
point and bring something fresh to the table.”
As
far as his long-term goals, Brendan wants to eventually work in
the fast paced world of advertising and commercials. “I like working
on many things at once. Any job I have that requires quick and
solid problem solving skills is very satisfying to me.”
Brendan's
thoughts on production:
After graduating from Cal Arts, the only animation jobs available
were in Flash. Having been originally trained as a traditional
animator, I was a little hesitant at first to make the jump into
Flash animation, but now I think that Flash isn’t used by enough
talented animators these days, and should be. I would love to
see more animated TV shows done in Flash. The program gets a bad
wrap because of all the hacks that use it to make garbage films.
It’s a strong animation tool and its potentials haven’t been fully
explored yet. Flash is capable of creating whole shows that lend
themselves to great design and sharp animation. The approach in
Flash is no different than the approach in traditional animation.
Planning
is still the most important part of the production. You round
up the script, your boards and designs, and talk to countless
people about your idea; then you attack. Once the road has been
cleared, Flash makes the rest of the production pretty painless.
The scene turnover rate is incredible, and the quality is as good
as you want it to be. Drawing, when working in animation, should
be second nature for everyone involved. I feel that it is just
as important to tell a good story as it is to make a drawing move
beautifully. The speed at which Flash allows one to put together
a short film is amazing… just think, we could give those sweatshops
a break and bring more work back to the states.
Like
any other job, a strong, competent, and organized crew is necessary,
but it’s more important to be a capable individual first. Cal
Arts provided most of its graduates with a resourceful approach
to their work. The most important thing that I learned is how
to take a project from conception to completion, while depending
on nobody but myself to get the ball rolling. I feel that in order
to have a strong, working team it is important to have both talented
draftsmen and people who are problem solvers.
