Skip to main content

Animation Major Brandon Trevizo Places 2nd in Worldwide Animation Competition

CMI student Brandon Trevizo placed second in the 11 Second Club Competition in April 2021--a worldwide character animation competition. We spoke to Brandon about the project, theiir creative process, challenges, and future goals in the CMI.

 

Tell us a little bit about yourself!

Hello! My name is Brandon Trevizo. I am a 2D Animation & VFX major, and I'm particularly interested in all 2D from television to films, though I'm particularly fond of foreign hand drawn 2D films.

 

What is the 11-Second Club? How did you learn about it?

The 11 second club competition is a worldwide character animation competition in which 11 seconds of audio is provided and it is up to the artist to interpret that audio and animate a scene using that audio. I first learned about the competition through my animation professor Edward Bakshi. It was part of a class assignment, so participation was sort of mandatory. I actually was too embarrassed to even keep up with the project after I submitted it because I personally didn't feel it was on par with the quality work other applicants submitted in the previous months, so placing 2nd was quite the surprise.

11S3.PNG

Tell us about your creative process.

Seeing how the competition had a heavy emphasis on character acting that relied on the dialogue. I tried replicating one of my favorite gags in which the characters literally morph into what they're saying. I really wanted to exaggerate their expressions and look towards shows like Ed Edd n Eddy, Chowder, Superjail, etc. that really do a great job with the type of exaggeration I wanted to go for.

 

What challenges came with the project?

Challenges that came with the 11 second club all boiled down to time. The 11 second club was actually my 3rd-ish time attempting more character acting that wasn't just a simple walk cycle so learning new techniques while being on a time crunch while balancing other time heavy classes was a real challenge. There were a lot of sleepless nights though Animation is very rewarding once you finish your project

11S1.PNG

What are your long-term goals as an animator?

Where I stand now my long-term goals are to break into the industry and have a career in animation, once there I think future me will have a better idea of what they want to do in the industry, whether that's creating a show or working on films. The CMI program truly is a hidden gem, especially living in New Mexico which is fairly far from any animation industry and it's a great program that has given me some new perspectives on art in general. It honestly feels like it just wants all of its students to flourish, everyone is at their own pace, and it helps everyone grow at their own pace.

 

Is there anything else you would like to say about the project?

Looking back on the project now, I definitely see some of the rough edges it has and a lot of improvements it can use, though I will always appreciate it for what it is because it's truly the first animation I ever made that gave me more confidence in pursuing my craft. While I have made some pretty interesting things before, this one will probably linger with me in life the most.

11S2.PNG

The finished animation can be seen at https://www.11secondclub.com/competitions/april21/entry/JQhuNT