Letter of intention
Nora Marie Larssen
+47 4541 5638
Bokeveien 29 3229 Sandefjord, Norway
Application ID: 113988616
For the first 5 years of my life, knowing what I wanted to do every day was an easy task. Eat, play, sleep - repeat. As I grew, my world grew, and suddenly other people were my concern. This newfound extended compassion led me to become quite the aspiring little actress, always interested in other people and seeing things from their point of view. I soon began writing plays, songs, short films, all the while drawing as a hobby. I became part of drama clubs and went to drama camps. I was a theater instructor for children for a while and have directed both plays and skits. I was part of cabarets, shows, plays and even some film projects. At one point, it became clear that what I wanted to every day was to create. I took a year of Drama at a People’s Public School (One year diploma) in Norway and while I was there I did multiple design work. So far I have made multiple logos, corporate and informal, and posters for shows of all types and sizes. I continue to design for friends and family and occasionally do commissioned work. I still do drama and this spring I am a part of a cabaret show by both acting in it, writing for it and illustrating/designing the poster. At this point in my life I have developed some talent and passion for those three major creative outlets - drawing, acting and writing. Going after a career in animation gives me the chance to express all of my passions at once, which is why I am applying for the Character Animation Program.
At the age of 15, my father did me a tremendous service by buying me an iMac and Photoshop. This heavily accelerated my interest in design and allowed me to gain experience with the basic software necessary for it. I began making posters for various shows, I edited photos and I drew comics. I have been using Photoshop CS5 for 6 years now and feel very competent using it, and have a basic understanding of Illustrator and Animate, as well as similar programs. I also have a good understanding of basic software for both Windows and Apple OS’s. I hope to get a better understanding of animation and movement in the future, as well as organic posing and more “fluid” character expressions, so to speak. I hope to use this education program to become a self sufficient artist capable of creating creative and interesting work on my own, while also being a great team player. I would like to work on both personal and team projects, like in animated movies, games or web based design and illustration. As the industry develops, I think the increase in quality of software and more realistic and smooth animation makes the design and animation matter even more. Until now, animation has always been limited to the tools available. As more and more tools become a reality, the creativity and understanding of emotions and body language become crucial to tell good stories and present believable characters. I hope that my experience in acting in this regard will grow to be an advantage.
In recent years I have been greatly influenced by several artists, notably Feng Zhu and “Sakimichan”. Feng Zhu runs a Design school in Singapore and has worked over 15 years in the business of conceptual design for games and movies. He has put up a series of great workshop videos on youtube and his thought process while painting is truly inspirational. Sakimichan, as she calls herself online, is a chinese canadian young woman known for her fluid and organic paintings that seems both dreamlike and realistic at once Throughout my life I have been heavily influenced by the works of Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and several other smaller animation companies. My favorite animated film of all time is Disney’s Treasure Planet (2002) because of the story, the world and the music. This movie fills me with a sense of adventure and the characters are so relatable and real to me. I constantly listen to music from the movie and I watch it at least once a year. Another amazing animated movie is Iron Giant (1999) directed by Brad Bird, a major inspiration to me along with Andrew Stanton. They have both been behind several of the best animated movies of all time! “Iron Giant” leaves me in a puddle of tears every time, as it does an amazing job of humanizing a giant robotic war machine. Making good characters and a compelling story is all I ever look for, and both of those are true for “The Last of Us”, a Naughty Dog game from 2013 about a man and a girls fight for survival in a post-apocalyptic world. It sounds cliché in the midst of all the zombie centered entertainment we have gotten in recent years, but the original story and amazing voice acting made this game an unforgettable journey for me! These movies and games have had a huge influence on me as a person and I really want to give other people that experience too. I tend to simply avoid any games or movies that rub me the wrong way, but I can’t escape the disappointment that still resides after watching Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (2010). This adaptation of the much beloved animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender botched the story and ruined the characters and made a mockery of the “bending” abilities that the series is centered around. A great example of how not to respect the original work.
In 2008, I travelled to Australia with my mom, siblings and grandparents. What stands out to me from this trip all these years later is the incredible wildlife and energy that lies within their watery borders. I remember one night in particular where we drove out to the middle of nowhere and watched the sunrise with a 360 degree view. After the sun had gone down, we had an endless map of stars above us with the splendid milky way right across the sky. The warm colors in the ground and rocks there definitely define Australia’s color scheme, and the trip gave me an understanding of where national stereotypes come from and how that can be implemented in design in a positive way.
Being a student at the Animation Workshop seems to me the perfect way to become a part of the creative process I have admired for so long! I adore the exam projects when they show up on Youtube and have wanted to be a student of yours since I learned of your existence! I intend to pay for this course by means of the Norwegian State Educational Loan Fund (Statens Lånekasse) and whatever funds I can acquire throughout the summer. I hope you will accept my application and I look forward to begin an adventure in animation!
