Our nccLIVE guest this week is animator Cam Sherrill, ’18. Sherrill will be graduating with a degree in graphic design and interactive media studies with a focus on marketing.
Madeline Klepec: When did you first get into animation? Are you self-taught?
Cam Sherrill: Funny enough, when I was a kid I loved animation and always wanted to do it for a living. I originally got into static graphic design and marketing, which I still do heavily, but pushed into animation naturally after that. I started as self-taught and then refined and furthered my skills with classes here and online classes.
MK: Where does most of your artistic inspiration stem from?
CS: A lot of Disney stuff to start. I was a huge “DuckTales” and Mickey fan growing up, and I still am. That being said, a lot of my current inspiration comes from a mixture of modern cartoons and artist. In terms of cartoons, “Regular Show” is the top of my list. In terms of artists I love, Max Hatler and Jake Matthew both use really strong color and movement in really modern slick motion graphics.
MK: What do you plan on doing after graduation in terms of art and animation?
CS: I run my own freelance company for digital marketing and interactive experiences, so I will hopefully continue with that. Other than that, I would love to work as a creative director in a marketing department. I am currently a technical specialist at Apple, and I’m looking at the opportunities they give me to move up to their marketing department.
MK: Explain your creative process.
CS: My process fully depends on the job, if a client is involved. However, because animation is so work intensive, you always need to start with some type of style board and storyboard. The style boards are heavily designed images to show the theme, colors and feeling that your animation could show. You always want to have several of those. The storyboard is laying out how the plot (in a cartoon) or the movement (in motion graphics) are going to proceed. This is crucial, especially if you’re working for a client. Animations can take days… depending on how detailed and involved it is. It is important to do everything in your power to be as efficient with your time.
Catch Cam on nccLIVE tonight at 7 on The Chronicle/NCClinked Facebook page.
