We stopped by the week-long event, which welcomed some of the biggest names in media...
Confetti’s Industry Week returned this year for a hybrid event, bringing a fascinating mix of in-person and online talks from experts in the fields of film, art, music and more.
Across a busy five days, students got the chance to gain advice from the likes of Becky Hill, Brit Award winner, and Victor Perez, esteemed director, producer and screenwriter, helping them to gain the necessary skills to break into competitive industries and achieve their dream roles.
Previous guests have included Stephen Graham, Vicky McClure and Joe Dempsie, with Confetti’s CEO describing Industry Week as “an unrivalled chance to meet those working at the top of their game”.
We tuned in to check out what two of the highest-profile guests of the week - Joe Hobbs, Lead Prop Artist at Ubisoft Annecy, and Tim Allen (not that one), Stop-Motion Animator for the likes of Aardman and Disney - had to say…
Joe Hobbs
Joe Hobbs might be living the life now - running his own team at one of the planet’s most successful gaming industries - but his story wasn’t all plain sailing. As he explained to students, after gaining an undergraduate degree in Game Art back in 2012, he found himself out of work and out of motivation. For five years, he gave up on his goal of becoming a video game artist, believing he wasn’t good enough to make it at the highest level.
In 2016, though, he decided to get back in the game (see what we did there?), studying for a postgraduate degree at the University of Hertfordshire. Through his new-found self-belief, he was able to get a role working on The Division 2 as a Junior Prop Artist, and has gone from strength-to-strength since. Determined to make sure Confetti students don’t fall into the same trap he did, the main focus of his seminar was simple - don’t give up, believe in yourself and keep pushing. If you do, you can achieve anything.
Hobbs also gave some more technical advice to students, providing guidance on how to develop a strong portfolio, smash job interviews and find consistent work within the gaming industry. “The most real seminar of the week,” was the review of one student. Damn straight.
Tim Allen
If you think stop-motion is a meticulous, labour-intensive practice, well, you’d be absolutely right. And Tim Allen would know - across a career spanning several decades, he’s worked on the likes of Isle of Dogs, Shaun the Sheep and Frankenweenie for directors including Wes Anderson and Tim Burton. His average day? Working from 8am to 7pm and filming three to four seconds of footage in that time. Hefty.
Despite the slow pace, though, it’s a practice he remains passionate about even after all these years. From having his first school project hammered by his tutors to working on Rice Krispies adverts, helping out on Fireman Sam to becoming a regular on the Hollywood scene, Allen has seen it all. Throughout that time, he’s been consistently hit with the same claim - stop-motion will one day be wiped out by other, simpler forms of animation. And every time, he’s been firm in his disagreement.
“People love the charm of stop-motion,” he reassured animation students. “They love seeing fingerprints on plasticine, like in Wallace & Gromit. It shows there are real humans behind it all. My whole career I’ve been told that technology will threaten what I do, and yet now more than ever people like stop-motion productions. I don’t see it going anywhere any time soon.” After this defiant chat, expect an influx of us Notts lot at Aardman in the very near future.
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