Letter of intention

Dear Sir or Madam,

My name is Vismantas Atas, I’m 19 years old and I wish to apply for a place in the Computer Graphic Arts program. It’s the first time I apply.

Drawing has always been a thing I enjoyed a lot and was good at. What I’ve liked about it the most was endless opportunities to express myself through drawings - disclose my imaginary worlds and characters to other people. This fascination is the fundament of my determination to do it for living and I believe that the Animation Workshop does not only give the education but also supplies with skills and knowledge needed to get to the very top of the industry. Creativity, ability to design, share my ideas and concepts stays my main feature and that’s why I think Computer Graphic Arts program would suit me perfectly.

The base of my artistic skills, knowledge and understanding of basic art principles was formed in supplementary art school which I’ve attended since I was 10 years old. The school gave me an invaluable experience and helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses as a man and an artist and therefore helped me to understand what career fits me the best.

Leadership is something I’m familiar with. I played football for 8 years in first junior league and during that time I’ve been an important part of the team as our coach and teammates paid a lot of expectations for my play. Before a serious arm injury which made me to change the role in the team, I was a goalkeeper and had responsibility to organize defence following our coach’s orders. During these years I’ve gained experience and understanding of teamwork and its importance. As from academic side, I’ve always shown good results and during group works or projects I usually am the one to initiate work planning and assignments, I’m also the one trying to find a creative approach to the given group project . Class monitor’s position is also something I have experience with.

Talking about the software, I have moderate experience with Photoshop and I mainly use this program yet I’m also familiar with After Effects, Blender and Unity 5 a bit and am very eager to learn new software.

Film and game industry grows and develops rapidly, presenting new technologies to our everyday entertainment and it’s not that easy to tell what it’s going to be like in the not so distant future. One thing that is for sure, people will always need entertainment and will admire film and game industry products. Being in the industry as an artist means constant learning as new software is being introduced. This movement has its own charm and being in a volatile work environment fascinates me in some way and that is another reason why I think this career fits me. I don’t fear to set goals that are hard to reach and I like being challenged. My ultimate goal, as I mentioned before, is to be at the very top of the industry, be one of the best specialists in the area, maybe even work for some well-known film or game industry companies such as Valve, Dreamworks Pictures etc.

Films, games and books are the things I grew up with and they have always inspired my creative work and boosted my imagination. As for an artist, other artist’s works have made a great influence on my skill development, understanding of drawing principles and inspired me, wanting to reach and overgrow my idols in terms of skills. Observing beauty created by others and the excitement I get when I create it myself is what keeps me motivated. Interest in other artists’ works lead me to a solid understanding of everyday life in the industry having no illusions about it. This career path seems to be the one where all my interests merge into one making it clear that it’s the right one.

 Talking about my favourite works, one of them without any doubt is ‘Lord of the Rings’ film trilogy because with help of outstanding makeup, character and creature designs, effects, beautiful captivating scenery it creates an amazing fantasy atmosphere no other fantasy film has ever created. The other amazing film is ‘The Revenant’ with one of the best camera works I’ve ever seen. Beautiful landscape camera shots and cruelty between people captured in a screen creates an impressive contrast making this film, in my opinion, worth one’s while. The best game I’ve ever played is ‘The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt’ which exceeds in storytelling. Storyline is full of intrigues, twists, interesting characters with different personalities. The game also captures medieval Eastern Europe environment and people with their culture and folk myths very well, creating extraordinary atmosphere.

It is hard to tell least favourite works but what irritates me for sure is when I see some great idea presented in different ‘skin’ over and over again. For example ‘Assassin’s Creed’ series had a great start and got very good responses from the players but now creators seem to exploit their fans for financial profit not even paying attention to quality and uniqueness of their latest products. The same could be told about the ‘Call of Duty’ series. Although I like most of the superhero films, ‘Suicide Squad’ is probably one of the worst in the category and mainly because the script of the movie in my opinion was too simple and irrational.

Correct evaluation of what industry offers is crucial as it helps to understand the demands, avoid doing the same mistakes, get better as an artist and I always keep that in mind.

Travelling abroad has always been a thing I enjoyed. After a number of travels, leaving my country for at least a week proved to be no difficulty and I’m always happy to meet new people.

I mostly rely on getting a part-time job and applying for SU to support my studies but my parents will also be able to support me for a few months if necessary. I have some work experience as I used to work as a forklift truck driver in a factory, also worked in a farm as a helping hand and know how to efficiently use tractor and most of the tools in such environment. I’m not picky in terms of a work and will gladly take any offer.

I hope this letter of intention will depict me as a worthy candidate for a place in Computer Graphic arts program. I believe this school is one step further to achieving my dreams. I hope to see you soon.

Sincerely,

Vismantas