Paul

School: The Ferrers School

Employer: Respawn Entertainment (Apex Legends Team)

Job Title: QA Tester at Electronic Arts / Respawn Entertainment (Apex Legends Team)

Qualifications:

• A Levels: Art, History and English Literature
• Degree: BA Computer Character Animation (Hons)

Profile

After my time at The Ferrers I went on to do my A levels at Northampton College, in Art, History and English Literature. While I didn't achieve grades I was happy with, I did secure an unconditional offer at Teesside University to do Character Animation or VFX: Following extensive work on my portfolio and nurturing my artistic skills. I always knew I wanted to work in Games or Film and my degree laid the foundations for that pursuit.

After graduating in 2019 with a 2:1 I began my hunt for industry work, being extremely competitive it was very daunting. I decided to put my dream on hold and build up some savings. Jumping between several roles from sales, hospitality, shipping and receiving. In tandem to these roles I never gave up on pursuing my dream role.

I studied Computer Character Animation at Teesside University. I always knew I wanted to work in Films or Games. Teesside opened that door to me.

In the first year we focused on foundational art and 3D skills, learning the entire pipeline of the visual effects and character animation industry. From pre-production, storyboarding, concept art, pre-vis, 3D modeling, Texturing and on to rendering, post production. Everything we would need to make a choice on which speciality to take on in second year.

Between Visual Effects and Character Animation, I went for the latter. I wanted to take concepts for characters and bring them to life on screen. It was here where I found my passion for 3D modeling/sculpting. While I still studied how to animate creatures and characters, I began to focus on creating the models rather than animating them. I knew this is what I wanted to do, so following my final animation assignments for second year I went on to do a full game ready character module and final year project.

After graduating I went on to secure mentorships from industry professionals, gaining more confidence and expertise. Still working on these mentorships to this day, alongside my QA day job.

Advice to students

As cheesy as it may sound, never give up on your dreams. A quote from the grandfather of animation himself, Walt Disney, and something that stuck with me; "All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them"

No matter where life may take you, what qualifications you get, what jobs you may jump between. Always have that dream you've always wanted in view. You can and you will find a way to make it happen. It may not be the conventional approach and you may have to take a step out of your comfort zone but it is 100% doable if you put your mind to it. Fear and fighting yourself is 90% of the battle, the rest is hard work and perseverance! Good luck.

Additional Resources