Student Spotlight: Oliver Cooke, 3D Modeller at A Productions
Oliver is currently in his final year of the BA Animation at UWE. Over the summer, he completed a UWE internship at A Productions, and is continuing to work them during his final year of university. We spoke to Oliver about the work and how it balances alongside the course.
Hi Oliver, could you tell us more about your work in industry and how it came about?
I am currently working as a Junior 3D Modeller at A Productions. I help making props and environments in Maya/Unreal Engine. In my time at A, I have worked on a variety of things such as 3D and 2D animation and compositing, and across a range of software from Toon Boom to After Effects.
I found my work by talking to my lecturers about opportunities, and they pointed me towards a UWE summer internship with A productions. I researched the job and the studio before I applied, and then I had my interview in May before joining for the Summer.
What do you enjoy about the role?
I really enjoy my role as 3D Modeller as I get to work in a team of lovely people who help me whenever I have a problem and are helpful in teaching me new techniques and skills to help me advance my work. I also love the work as 3D modelling is very fulfilling and I often have new and exiting tasks each day which come with unique technical and visual challenges.
What specialism or style of animation is your main focus? How did you decide on this?
I mainly work in 3D, doing animation and modelling. I also work in compositing (Post production effects). I decided to work in 3D when I first started experimenting with animation. I think I was drawn to the sort of art styles you can make with 3D, and at the time you had films like the spider verse coming out, that really inspired me to create my own animations.
How long was the internship, and how did it progress to further work with them?
I started working at the end of May, my internship lasted 8 weeks and then at the end after making some good connections and helping across projects they kept me on to work full time to work on a project that I am really interested in. I am currently still working there and contracted to stay into my third year at UWE. The uni have been amazing in helping me plan my projects around my work and helping in every step of securing my job.
Do you have any advice for students on getting work in industry?
My advice to students looking to get work in industry is to get in touch with professionals in the job you are interested in, whether they are animators or in any industry. Ask them questions you have about getting a job or making a portfolio, they were all in the same position once and know the challenges of getting a foot in the door. So don’t be afraid to get in touch, I recommend LinkedIn for this and asking people who work at local or smaller studios for a better chance of responses.
To keep up to date with Oliver’s work, follow him at:
https://www.instagram.com/oliver_cooke_/
