Personal Statement- Luis-James Yarroll
Ever since I was very young I have wanted to work in Animation. I absolutely adore it and it gives me so much joy when watching. As I watched more and more, I found myself creating stories with my toys for hours on end, all throughout my childhood. My dream started at age 4, in 2006, when my mum took me to watch Pixar’s Cars at the cinema. Since, it has been my dream to work for Pixar or any Animation Studio for that matter. All through my life I have been obsessed with film, watching hours of documentaries, behind the scenes and hidden references in films. This was miles better than Saturday morning football. I was hooked. I want to create that hook for others too.
My Grandfather was a very talented artist and my Mother attended art school, meaning I grew up around a lot of art and found myself drawing whenever I could. I never really read books as a child as I preferred the visuals of storytelling, therefore I saw myself reading graphic novels. This continued all through my schooling and I thrived in art lessons leading to a successful high graded 8 GCSE in my exam-portfolio. For the title we were given “Reflection”. I chose to do a reflection through time and focused on The Oscars.
I now attend college and study a 2 year extended diploma in Animation and VFX. The first year saw us study software like Zbrush and Maya to prepare us for industry with the topic Motion Graphic Comic Books. We had to create our own game in groups and for the final project create a motion comic. Unfortunately, this was slightly disrupted by Covid19 and we ended up missing a lot of training and industry experience. Nevertheless I pushed through and achieved a Distinction across the board for year 1 and learnt an awful lot about Maya set design. Currently I am attending the second year.
I have always loved to bring enjoyment to anyone I can. This could be through playtime as a child, story time, my career in drama/musical theatre or even through my bands music. I am an active thespian and have performed on stages since I was little. 2013 saw my first professional show and I have performed since, at least once a year. I also have been in 2 touring productions and 3 West End Shows. To me acting is a very important element to animation as it correctly displays movement and dialogue. This can also be beneficial in script writing, animation and motion capture. I achieved a grade 7 in my drama GCSE and a 9 in my devising/performance section. I am also a musician with my band The Premiere where I sing and play guitar. I also play piano and drums to which I teach in one of my jobs as a music teacher. We currently have a record deal with a studio called MAS records and are releasing music soon. We are due to play mainstage at a festival next summer after winning the slot at Beaconfest’s Battle of the Bands 2019.
During my DofE Bronze award I became a leader at my local scout group, where I started in Beavers myself, and continue to this day. In summer of 2019 I took part in the NCS programme, a 3 week charity/residential course where I helped a school of disability build a sensory garden. Upon the completion I enrolled for my Gold DofE. I am currently employed part time in a local cafe and as previously mentioned am a music teacher for primary school children where we teach a variety of instruments along with Maths and English. All of these challenges taught me the importance of teamwork and the value of happiness, determination and really showed me I had the drive and work ethic I needed to follow my dream.
Something about bringing people a range of emotions has always resonated with me and is a huge reason why I want to work in animation. I want to have my name in credits but bringing people the same feelings that animation gave me is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. This is why I want to apply for this course as it will grant me the opportunity and training to go on and achieve my dreams in the industry.
Ever since I was very young I have wanted to work in Animation. I absolutely adore it and it gives me so much joy when watching. As I watched more and more, I found myself creating stories with my toys for hours on end, all throughout my childhood. My dream started at age 4, in 2006, when my mum took me to watch Pixar’s Cars at the cinema. Since, it has been my dream to work for Pixar or any Animation Studio for that matter. All through my life I have been obsessed with film, watching hours of documentaries, behind the scenes and hidden references in films. This was miles better than Saturday morning football. I was hooked. I want to create that hook for others too.
My Grandfather was a very talented artist and my Mother attended art school, meaning I grew up around a lot of art and found myself drawing whenever I could. I never really read books as a child as I preferred the visuals of storytelling, therefore I saw myself reading graphic novels. This continued all through my schooling and I thrived in art lessons leading to a successful high graded 8 GCSE in my exam-portfolio. For the title we were given “Reflection”. I chose to do a reflection through time and focused on The Oscars.
I now attend college and study a 2 year extended diploma in Animation and VFX. The first year saw us study software like Zbrush and Maya to prepare us for industry with the topic Motion Graphic Comic Books. We had to create our own game in groups and for the final project create a motion comic. Unfortunately, this was slightly disrupted by Covid19 and we ended up missing a lot of training and industry experience. Nevertheless I pushed through and achieved a Distinction across the board for year 1 and learnt an awful lot about Maya set design. Currently I am attending the second year.
I have always loved to bring enjoyment to anyone I can. This could be through playtime as a child, story time, my career in drama/musical theatre or even through my bands music. I am an active thespian and have performed on stages since I was little. 2013 saw my first professional show and I have performed since, at least once a year. I also have been in 2 touring productions and 3 West End Shows. To me acting is a very important element to animation as it correctly displays movement and dialogue. This can also be beneficial in script writing, animation and motion capture. I achieved a grade 7 in my drama GCSE and a 9 in my devising/performance section. I am also a musician with my band The Premiere where I sing and play guitar. I also play piano and drums to which I teach in one of my jobs as a music teacher. We currently have a record deal with a studio called MAS records and are releasing music soon. We are due to play mainstage at a festival next summer after winning the slot at Beaconfest’s Battle of the Bands 2019.
During my DofE Bronze award I became a leader at my local scout group, where I started in Beavers myself, and continue to this day. In summer of 2019 I took part in the NCS programme, a 3 week charity/residential course where I helped a school of disability build a sensory garden. Upon the completion I enrolled for my Gold DofE. I am currently employed part time in a local cafe and as previously mentioned am a music teacher for primary school children where we teach a variety of instruments along with Maths and English. All of these challenges taught me the importance of teamwork and the value of happiness, determination and really showed me I had the drive and work ethic I needed to follow my dream.
Something about bringing people a range of emotions has always resonated with me and is a huge reason why I want to work in animation. I want to have my name in credits but bringing people the same feelings that animation gave me is what I really want to do for the rest of my life. This is why I want to apply for this course as it will grant me the opportunity and training to go on and achieve my dreams in the industry.