Yuki Li

1. What did you enjoy most about your internship experience at Compadre?

How animators and designers strive for perfection. For every meeting and critique, I always get detailed notes, which improve the quality of my work. I used to ignore some small problems in my animations, but this experience taught me to never stop improving and learning. Also, it is such a supportive community, and I talked with many talented artists and made connections with them during these two months.

2. What was your favorite project that you worked on, and how did you contribute?
I helped with many internal projects and my favorite one is the social post for July 4th. I drew rough sketches for different scenes and designed style frames with my teammate. For this project, I tried a new style that I have never done before, so I am excited to do more experimental animations like this in the future. I also practiced my animation skills this summer and found a lot of good tutorial videos.

3. What was the most important or helpful thing you learned during your internship? The most important thing I learned is how to manage files professionally. As a designer and animator, I should name every layer and file correctly, so it will be easier for people who take over this project. Don’t forget to back up your files and upload them to serve at the end of the day. It is a good habit to keep not only in school but also in the workplace. Thanks to those who keep reminding me to back up files!!

4. If you could give one piece of advice to future interns, what would it be?
Be confident and be well-prepared. As an intern, don't worry about your abilities and making mistakes. When encountering some tough problems, try to find tutorials and ask questions. At the beginning of a project, it is helpful to spend some time on mood boards and concepts. Only if you are prepared and enthusiastic about the project, you can continue to work on it with a positive attitude. 

5. If you had to capture your internship experience in a single GIF, what would it be?

Hei Kuok

1. What did you enjoy most about your internship experience at Compadre?
Being able to talk to and learn from so many talented people; not only designers but also producers, writers, creative directors and more! It’s definitely different from working in a school environment, but a very welcome change.

2. What was your favorite project that you worked on, and how did you contribute?
It’s hard to pick, but I’d have to go with two top picks: one internal project where we had to animate the Compadre logo in a different style since it was very creatively fulfilling, and helping out some sections of the graphics package made for “The Grandstand w/ Daniel Ricciardo & Will Arnett” covering F1 racing. It was the first client project I’ve ever touched, and it was just so baffling to me that something I helped with was being broadcasted live, it just blew my mind!

3. What was the most important or helpful thing you learned during your internship? One helpful thing I picked up was seeing how the other designers organized their files and applying that system to my own work. It’s one thing to have one day’s worth of work to deal with, but when you’re working on a longer project spanning multiple weeks… you better have named those layers or you’re going to be so lost!

4. If you could give one piece of advice to future interns, what would it be?

A key piece of advice for future interns is to never be afraid to ask questions or ask for help! Although I was admittedly a little intimidated at first by the sheer size of the company and the importance of the clients we were working with, asking questions helped me relax more as I slowly gained a grasp on how things worked. Also - remember that the people you’re working with were also in your shoes at one point, so they know how you feel and (probably) don’t wish for your demise.

5. If you had to capture your internship experience in a single GIF, what would it be?